DUCKS CAN DANCE BUT CAN A CONGER.....??

I have passed on your comments to Higgy via his FB page 'Somerset Wildlife Photography' on which he posts the most amazing macro shots of Butterflies & all manner of insects as he is passionately interested in them & treks around in all sorts of places to find these beauties!

Well, well, well!!

Amazing to think that people still laugh at my old threads but flattering none the less!

I always used to say that if it made one person laugh then my job is done and it seems as if I've worked quite hard here!! LOL :-)

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and hoping that I'm well, I'm privilidged to know such considerate and compassionate friends (even if we've never met!)

We always said that this was the best community on line and it's obvious that this is still the case, well done to all of you!

Clare, thank you for bringing this post back but more importantly I'm sorry to hear of your job loss that's such a shame.

I will have to do a couple of posts to let you all know what I've been up to but for now a quick synopsis is...

Obviously working full time just gets in the way of all the things that we would love to do but it pays the bills.

My spare time is filled with my family and in particular my daughter (effectionately known as 'Higlet' on here!) Amazingly she will be eight on Monday but I'm pleased to report that she still loves her wildlife and in particular shares my passion for butterflies and moths. In fact her birthday party theme this year is 'Flowers & Butterflies' I have in my usual way been enrolled to spend an hour of the party making model butterflies with eleven seven & eight year olds!! The models I designed myself and will be made from an old clothes peg some match sticks and cardboard wings! I'll post a picture to explain some time!

Butterflies and moths take up a large chunk of time and I host moth trapping events in my garden for my local wildlife group which is good fun and I'm up to over 200 species now!

I still garden for wildlife and have extended my butterfly species count to 22 with the addition of Brown Argus and Essex Skipper!!

I also do voluntary work in three local junior schools where I give slide shows and talks about wildlife and in all three we now have wildlife gardens that the children have helped to create and will continue to maintain. I love this work as the children are so receptive at thuis age and thoroughly enjoy the tasks that we set.

Unfortunately my hip has deterioated to the degree that I go in for a full replacement a day after Higlet's birthday on 22nd Sept. I'm hoping that this will enable me to have less pain and do more walking and gardening!! :-)

I visit the Mendip Hills a lot which are right on my doorstep and have found some wonderful wildlife on them.

This summer I dedicated to butterflies and have ticked of a few good ones like the Purple Emperor which I'm thrilled about but it has meant travelling around a bit.

Any way I have to pick up Higlet form school now so will log back in later and post up some pictures etc...

Best regards

Higgy

Great to see you back Higgy and sounds like you've been really busy with moth trapping and the wonderful voluntary work, slide shows and talks, so good to get youngsters involved at an early age.    Sorry to hear your hip has deteriorated to the extent of needing a replacement and good luck for the surgery;  hubby had a new knee a few years ago (Australian one so he can hop really well now   lol ) and it has been a complete success with no problems at all so just keep the physio going and you'll do great Higgy :)    

Well done on the Purple Emperor, really looking forward to your threads and pics including the homemade butterflies  :)    meanwhile, take good care and good luck next week.  

As for young Higlet,   Happy 8th Birthday for Monday sweetie and enjoy your flower/butterfly party :)  this is especially for you   XX ......

Good to hear from you, Higgy.  I can see that you are very busy with many good things.  Wish Higlet a happy birthday from me (I know she doesn't know me!)and I hope your hip replacement goes very well.  In the meantime I look forward to your pics.

Hi H, glad you dropped in for a visit, wrote a long reply but tablet was playing up with a seriously wafty keyboard issue, went to gobbedly-gook mode & deleted the lot!!  Sent you PM instead!

Hello Higgy and welcome back. You have been keeping busy. Sorry to hear about the hip. If it is any consolation my father had one replaced several years ago, immediately the pain had gone and he had only the healing pain to contend with. If you follow your excerise programme you should make a full recovery. Dad was on 2 sticks for 6 weeks and driving shortly after, he has never looked back. All the best. Happy birthday to little Higlet for next week also.

Thank you all, as you can imagine little 'Higlet' is getting extremely excited now! This is probably a good thing as she's a bit worried about daddy going into hospital so her birthday and a party is more than enough to keep her mind off of it for now :-)

And yours too hopefully H!

Good to hear from you, Higgy, and welcome back.  Happy Birthday to Higlet and best wishes for your op.  My doctor said that hip replacements work out very well these days, so ditto to what others have said--you should be fine.  I look forward to more postings from you while you recuperate!

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date !  

  Although its very late on a Monday evening and Miss Higlet is probably fast asleep I hope Higgy's daughter enjoyed her 8th birthday today and her flower/butterfly party :)  is there any cake left ?  lol  

  Also wanted to wish Higgy best of luck for tomorrow when you go into hospital for your new hip.   Will be thinking of you and hope you get back to full fitness soon Higgy as we miss you on here and those wonderfully entertaining threads.  Meanwhile, behave yourself with those nurses lol and keep the physio going, you'll be racing round the garden chasing butterflies with the camera and hunting out the birds/wildlife on the nature reserves in no time !