News & Updates from Joanna Swinton · Page 9

Sunday was a beautiful warm day in Walsall and at the Arboretum there was a fun weekend. In the band stand plenty of different groups had the opportunity to sing and dance to their own music.

Also the fun fare supplied plenty of excitement for people of all ages as well as the play park for the youngsters.

Hubby and I walked round to see how the baby coot was doing. He?s lost all his red colouring and is out of the nest so we can have a good look at him.

What a bundle of fluff. He?s very cute.

There was no sign of the egg that we saw previously but the bundle of fluff was really lovely. Both of these lovely cards have inserts and where designed for the men in our lives

Took Abby, our pup to the Walsall Arboretum this Sunday. The weather was fantastic. All the flowers were happily blooming. Summer is just round the corner. We got to the part where the coots were that had the chicks.

We thought there were 3 in the nest, but we could have been wrong. Then we saw this scruffy looking ball of fluff, there it was?.. a tatty chick swimming with his daddy. It was lovely to see the new life. We got another surprise when Mummy Coot moved enough to see she was sitting on more eggs, at least 3.

It?s great to see new life being formed Two of my new cards ideal for Fathers Day. Both have matching inserts. Sale starts on the 27th

For weeks as the weather has improved, my hubby and I have been taking our puppy, Abby to the Arboretum in Walsall on Sundays.

She loves it there. Abby is a very sociable pup and enjoys all the fuss that people give her.

We have been watching a pair of Coots nest building. Last week we didn?t go as the weather was very wet. This week we got a lovely surprise to see that daddy coot was very busy finding food to feed his chicks.

We can see at least 3 scruffy little heads in the nest being guarded by their Mummy.

We are really looking forward to seeing them as they start swimming. Will get a good picture as they develop. I have made quite a few of these lovely satchels that are ideal to hold small gifts.

While we were at Walsall Arboretum, we were taking photos of the lovely flowers that are there. The blossom weighs heavy in the trees and very pretty. Ideal for oriental cards. My husband is into photography and has an expensive camera so he really looks the part.

Step aside David Bailey, he is also much better looking too. So while he was clicking away another man with a camera round his neck came rushing up to my hubby and told him there was a Kingfisher round the back.

They went rushing off together while I stayed with the puppy. A disappointed hubby came back.

I asked if he had missed it. He said that he failed to get it on film but he saw it. He had just got his camera set up when it took off. I would have loved some pictures of it, but sadly, it was not to be.

I have made quite a few of these lovely satchels that are ideal to hold small gifts.

We took our puppy on holiday to introduce her to the seaside. She was not in the least bit interested. While there we visited some of the local places. One day we went to The Wetlands.

It was a lovely day and we were given a lot of history of the place while on a boat trip round the marshes.

There were loads of beautiful birds and hides to watch them going about their daily routines. While walking down the path we noticed some moving dots. When we got closer we could see they were 10 ducklings with Mum. They were beautiful.

They wanted to play about us but Mum had different ideas and quickly moved them on. We had a lovely break with just one wet day. I have designed these lovely satchels for small gifts. There will be quite a few of them, also as cutting files.