Birds and the Bees

The Haddock house seems to have become a bit of a wildlife reserve of late. We have Mason Bees in the roof (as we did last year) and on the south side of the house we have 2 separate Bumble Bee nests in the ventilation gaps in the outside brickwork. In one of the ventilation gaps on the west side we have a Wasp nest, and on the north side a Hornet nest. So we shouldn’t have any pollination issues in the garden.

Before anyone freaks, the Mason Bees are solitary bees (they don’t swarm) and die off at about this time of year. They are not a problem. Bumble Bees are harmless as I regularly demonstrate with catching them with my hands. Hornets are good natured if you don’t upset them (not actually sure what does upset them though) and they are a protected species in Germany. Wasps will become a problem later in the summer when we dine on the patio, but Mrs H and the Juniorette know to stay calm around annoying Wasps, and then let me deal with them.

A couple of days ago I found a Vole outside our cellar steps, and a few weeks ago a Lizard (see photo) took up residence there for a while. We have a bird problem in our living room. Great Tits keep coming in through one window trying to take a shortcut to the bird feeder located on the patio. Unfortunately they keep on stunning themselves by flying into closed windows once inside the house. Our tomcat then pounces on them and eats them, feathers, bones and all. I guess its nature’s way of weaning out the dumb and unlucky ones – shame though.

We of course still get the half eaten, mangled and injured birds and mice that the cats bring home regularly. But so far this year they haven’t brought back any frogs or toads, and the time will soon come when our girl cat Minnie will start bringing home butterflies.

Technorati Tags: Birds, Bees, Marburg,Cats

You are what you eat

As the saying goes "You are what you eat", and over the last few years I have been eating a lot healthier then in the past. I eat more fresh vegetables, less meat and have moderated my alcohol consumption somewhat. Combined with more physical activity this has resulted in me probably being fitter now than I was 10 years ago.

In recent days we have changed the food that we feed to our cats. Last year we stopped feeding them tinned cat food and only fed them dry cat food. This was basically because our tomcat was becoming a lardass, and we found that on the dry food he started to lose a bit of weight. We feed them fresh meat as well when we were having some for our meals. Then a few weeks ago we found out from two separate sources that well known brand cat foods (both wet and dry) are loaded with sugars, which can make cats fat and give them diabetes in later life. So we have now switched to a dry brand that does not have these added sugars, but of course it is a lot more expensive.

The food industry over the years has been adding increasing levels of sugars to the food we consume, so doing to little kitty should come as no surprise. I try not to eat processed foods myself, so it’s only reasonable that we treat our cats the same, plus as an added benefit, without the sugar kick perhaps our tomcat won’t be quite so mental and will stop taking chunks out of our girl cat (shown above).

Technorati Tags: Cats, Health, Marburg

The weekend that was

On Saturday we took the Juniorette to Mathematikum in Giessen. It’s a science/maths museum for kids and the Juniorette loved it. We visited a similar museum last year in the Black Forest, but we thought this one was much better. The journey home was hit by the curse of Deutche Bahn. The trains were late due to an accident and the info given out by DB was, as usual, very poor. We had to change platforms several times before finally boarding a train. On the upside the Juniorette found all the commotion quite exciting.

Yesterday was a glorious spring day. With blue sky and warm sunshine it was the perfect day for a gentle stroll in the countryside. Mrs H, the Juniorette and I managed to see 5 species of butterfly on our walk – Red Admiral, Peacock, Tortoiseshell, Cabbage White & Zitronenfalter. Our tomcat Mickey claimed his first victim of a new season. He likes to catch and eat bumble bees and butterflies. Today there is one more buzzer in bumble bee heaven.

In the top Bundesliga game this weekend Werder Bremen held Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw. Bayern supporter friends of ours came to watch the game on TV at our place. It was good fun, although I must admit Werder were lucky to go home with a draw.

Technorati Tags: Juniorette, Butterflies, Werder Bremen, Giessen