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Grand Designs

 I thought you might like to see the swallows’ work-in-progress. It’s becoming an extreme sport going in and out of the laundry, because of having to dodge the swallow pair on their nest building mission, but I can’t not go in there because I need to use the washing machine, the freezer, get to the bird food, chicken food, rabbit paraphernalia…well, you know the form. Also, it is MY laundry, not theirs. They are merely renting for the summer and jolly lucky they are, too, what with their rent being free and all.

Anyway, this is Day Three in the Swallow House Build…

As you can see, they have taken as the base of their structure an old light switch and its two redundant feeder cables. The replacement feeder cable is just above them, installed by Ant the Roofer when he put in extra supporting beams for the new roof. I am guessing the swallows are starting at the bottom and building upwards, so their nest will encompass the portion of new beam just above it. Aaah, the scent of fresh wood wafting in their new abode. How lovely! 

I remember when my Dad decided we were going to move house about three or four days before Christmas in 1979. At that point we were living in a house called ‘Rockmead’ across the other side of the village whilst Dad completed the extension on our new house which was Number 5, which happened to be a cottage next to the first cottage I ever lived in, Number 4. My parents owned both Numbers 4 and 5 when they first married, living in Number 4 and renting out Number 5 to an elderly lady by the name of Mrs Lambkin. Mrs Lambkin had a dog called Nipper and she allowed us children to go into her kitchen and make jam tarts. 

Time passed, Mrs Lambkin left - I seem to remember the reason given was that she was becoming a bit of a danger to herself so she went into a care home - Number 4 was sold, we moved to ‘Rockmead’, and Dad, being a builder at the time, set about turning the two up, two down Number 5 into a five down, four up, and two more up in the loft space house. I remember being sent into the newly dug foundations to bail out rain water before building could commence. I remember climbing the scaffolding. I remember Mum being irked that Dad decided we should move in less than a week before Christmas. I remember being thrilled that, having a shared a bedroom for the first 14 years of my life, I was finally getting a room of my own! And this is why, when I smell fresh paint and new carpets, I always think of Christmas. Funny the things that imprint on your mind, eh? 

And here are these two swallows. They’ve flown thousands of miles back to the place of their birth, and they are building a new home for their babies. So wonderful! 





Comments

Anonymous said…
It is fascinating to watch them built their nest. You got prime seats! I am now wondering how your dad managed to convince your mum to move that close to Christmas I’m not sure I would have gone for it.
KJ
15 May 2022 at 15:12
Denise said…
I am led to believe she didn’t have any choice in the matter, KJ. The more I think about my Dad, the more I understand him to have been a single minded and determined sort of person. Or stubborn and wilful. Probably where I got it from.
15 May 2022 at 19:08
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