Up the garden path

Some light drizzle to begin with but now nice and sunny.

The day was meant to have been quite straightforward, but L heard noises this morning and a few minutes after I went into the bedroom, I could hear them too. Suspecting a squirrel down the chimney - or worse - a rat, I began to move the captain's chest which now lies in front of our now unused fireplace.

Tapping on the chimney made the scratching go quiet, so it was something with hearing! That narrowed it down. I unscrewed the front plate, peeled away the sealant and prized the board out. Nothing. I put my hand in and waved it about and whooosh! Lauren screamed, I ducked and a starling flew out of the chimney and into the window, now stuck behind the curtains.

I managed to open the window, coax the bird towards it and out it flew, so happy to be alive, it flew round and round in a huge circle until coming to a stop again. On our chimney pot! Perhaps it has learnt it's lesson and won't fall asleep up there again.