Saturday 9 January 2010

Birds and Baking.

I needed a nice warm job this morning so set about making bread - a multi-seed loaf and two ordinary wholemeal ones - and a couple of cakes.
Almond cake on the left and Banana bread on the right. No, it isn't burnt, honestly! It takes ages to cook right through to the centre and I had to cover it with foil to stop it browning too much. I used dark brown sugar which made it look even darker.

This colourful bullfinch popped in again today. They look even brighter than usual against the snow.
I make no apologies for more pictures of fieldfares - I love them. It was interesting to watch a blackbird trying to chase the fieldfare away from the food, but I was pleased to see that eventually the fieldfare stood up for itself and chased the blackbird off.

This one is very fluffed up against the cold, but you can see it's colouring and markings quite clearly.
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My home town - Chesham in Bucks - made the front page of the Daily Telegraph on Thursday. There was a photo of a lone sledger walking up a snowy slope with snowclad trees in the background and the steeple of St.Mary's church rising out of them. We were married in that church 55years ago! Someone made a booboo and got the name of the park wrong. I couldn't think why I couldn't remember Lloyd's Park which was the name in the caption. There was a very good reason as it is Lowndes Park.
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I really hope we don't have the extra centimetres of snow that are on the cards for tonight and tomorrow. Most winters we get none at all and must already have had about 5 or 6 years worth. I daresay that in 6 months time I shall be hibernating again but on account of extreme heat and humidity!! You just can't please some people.


9 comments:

Lyn said...

I love feeding the birds and get many visitors like you. I know what you mean about the snow-enough is enough!
love
Lyn
xxx

Julie said...

I'm with you on the winter's too cold, summer's too hot thing!

My aunt lives in Chesham but I've never been there.

Carol Q said...

your baking looks very enticing Heather!! nothing like fresh bread out of the oven. Didn't realise you originated from Chesham. I was living in High Wycombe before I moved to Cheltenham

Angela said...

Love your beautiful pictures of the birds in the snow and your baking looks delicious!

Lyn said...

You've been tagged!
Love
Lyn
xxx

Robin Mac said...

Your baking makes me want my breakfast. Love the bird pictures, I am glad you have shown photos of a fieldfare as I did not know them - not a bird we have in Australia. The birds must be hoping for the snow to stop as well. Cheers, Robin

Ro Bruhn said...

We're at the other end of the scale, the temperature was 111 deg F today. It's still in the high nineties at 10.30 in the evening, so we're in for a restless night.
Your bread and cakes look delicious.

Jackie said...

Your photographs are lovely especially the fluffed up bird. I made banana bread the other day and mine was very dark I think I'd call mine burnt actually.
I've managed to force it down.

BT said...

Such pretty bird photos and the bull finch is beautiful. We had one about 2 weeks ago but don't see them often. It's all green finches and chaffinches and goldfinches at the moment here. Plus the usual tits of course.

I laughed about you moaning in the summer about being too hot, I'll probably be just the same!

Oh yummy breads. I love banana bread but it does take an age to cook. It's hard not to brown the outside too much.