Welsh Christmas Tea

We had our Welsh Christmas Tea yesterday, with a service of lessons and carols beforehand. I had been asked to come early and greet people at the door in my Welsh costume. So there I am, in full costume, about to pull out of the driveway, when two police cars come roaring up and surround my car, blocking me from leaving. All kinds of things were running through my head - like "are they looking for an escaped convict reported in this area, or what?" So I roll down the window and say, "Can I help you?" They say, "Ma'am, we've had a third-party call about a domestic dispute." I tell them there is another couple that lives above me in the house, but that I haven't heard anything unusual that morning. Anyway, I'm already running late, and they won't let me leave until they find out what is going on. So I go back downstairs to call my friend Audrey, who happens to have a beautiful, traditional Welsh betgwn, and would look much more elegant than me in my dance costume. Since I live way out in the country, she had plenty of time to get dressed and fill in for me. She had been planning to do so anyway, since I had asked her last week at our dance rehearsal if she would join me in costume to greet people, so I wouldn't be the only one in costume!

I was also one of the scripture readers, but I would be last in the service so I wasn't too worried about that. In the meantime, an ambulance had shown up. I guess that is standard procedure until they know if anyone is hurt or not. All the police would tell me was that there had been a fight, and it was now okay for me to leave. I did get to the church shortly after the service started. It was a lovely service, and the reading (in both English and Welsh) went fine. Lots of appreciative comments about the Welsh. During the tea afterwards, the story of why I was late provided much hilarity. Audrey, a fellow librarian (now retired), joking that the police found out about all those library fines I owe....

And here I thought it was so peaceful out here in the country!

Bird Update

My bird report this week includes the usual chickadees, juncos, downy woodpeckers, blue jays, and house sparrows. Still haven't seen any house finches in quite awhile - very strange. The goldfinches were last seen about three weeks ago. Same with the white-breasted and red-breasted nuthatches. I guess that is because of all the snow we got, and it turned very cold! We had a couple of nights below zero this week.

The big surprise was a Cooper's Hawk that flew into the evergreen tree up on the hill outside my window. The two dozen or so house sparrows that usually hang out there took off in a BIG hurry. LOL! I saw it again several more times during the afternoon on Tuesday. It's fun to get the rare visitors on my Feederwatch count days!

Another mouse story

I was doing laundry the other day when I stepped on a lump under the throw rug in front of the washer. I peered under the rug to see what it was. The light isn't great there and I didn't have my reading glasses with me. It was brown and had a long tail and looked just like a slightly dried up mouse that the cats might have been playing with. I gingerly picked it up by the tail intending to throw it away, and when I got it into the better light in the kitchen, I realized it was one of the little beets from the garden that I had harvested! They were in a pail in the kitchen with a towel over them, because Gwen delighted in rolling them all around the kitchen. I guess she had managed to dig under the towel for her latest favorite plaything!