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It's 07.50 of a Saturday morning. One of Megan's cats, Cookie, is staring at me earnestly, as if to say "Look, it's ten minutes to breakfast time, why not do all of us a favour and dish it up now? We'll not mention anything to Megan." To be fair, she'll do this at any time from five minutes after her twice daily feeds. Her sister, Mocha, is dozing on the back of the sofa, seemingly unconscious to the world, but she will unfurl and show a sprightly side to her nature when the first sound of spoon on dish is heard.

We are settling into a new routine here at Burnbank, and I realise that I haven't brought you an update on the progress of the guest room. We are quietly pleased with our attempt at co-ordinating soft furnishings, although the room needs a bit more art on the walls.

Outside, and I'm sure you don't need telling what this piece of artistry is?

A Red Admiral butterfly soaking up the heat shortly after dawn

Hang on whilst I feed the cats...

Now, where was I? Oh yes, last Sunday brought momentous news. We were showing some visitors around our new home and had stepped out into the back garden when a bird call caught our attention. Fortunately, the visiting couple were much more experienced birders than I so were not phased by (and indeed joined in with) the ensuing excitement. A pair of small birds, possibly finches, had flown into the top of a conifer tree which is in our neighbour's garden and forms part of the boundary between the two properties. All the usual feathery suspects were quickly dismissed and a consensus formed that these were a pair of Crossbills, specialist feeders on Pine or Spruce seeds.

Later recourse to ID books upgraded this to Common Crossbill, an unexpected find in a town garden. Our human guests are now rather hopeful of more surprises on subsequent visits. No pressure!

And finally, a recent Wordle puzzle brought the obvious reaction...

Well, that was lucky!