Usually house sparrows nest in holes in masonry. We've had them under the ridge tile at the gable end of ur house in the past. But this enterprising pair found a more delux home!

I didn't know there were house sparrows in America! We have a pair of house martins who return each year to their nest attached to the wall of our house. Several times, house sparrows have occupied it in the spring and raised a family before the owners got back from their winter in Africa.

The Vyrnwy often floods the A483 between Llanymynech and Welshpool. Homes usually escape, but some only because thety've invested in extensive flood defences.

Yes, I really yearn for my youth when we had inflation in the teens with matching mortgage rates (when you could get a mortgage at all) high unemployment and frequent strikes. And, on the subject of street cleanliness, that was before dog owners learned about piking up after their pets.

I've see plenty of hips, haws and holly berries, but no blackberrie to speak of. They all seem to be dried up and tiny. I won't be making bramble jam this year! Once again, our mountian ash tree was laden with fruit, but it was soon stripped bare by the blackbirds.