Blue Sky, Birds and a low carb fruit cake !

Wherever you are the weather plays an important part of your day. You may be stuck inside and looking out at a blue skied day wishing you were out there walking around the lake. Possibly you may be somewhere that is experiencing heavy rain and you are thinking thank goodness I am indoors. Others may even be enjoying some snow and looking out at a white world! Wherever you may be, as you sit beside a computer screen reading this, well I certainly hope some may be reading this! I do hope you are enjoying your day.

Earlier this week I was reading that in the UK "Smaller birds are surviving thanks to a warmer winter, and that there has been a 44% increase in long-tailed tit sightings. Indeed if you think you've spotted a few more birds in your garden than usual recently then you'd be right.

The warm winter has led to an increase in numbers of small birds visiting gardens around the UK this year.

According to the Guardian there has been a 44% increase in long-tailed tit sightings in comparison to figures from 2015.

But it's not just the tit that has been seen hanging around our greenery more this year, plenty of other small birds are also thought to have made the most of the warmer weather.

Other birds that have been seen in our gardens more frequently include goldfinches, coal tits, greenfinches and woodpigeons.

The results come from the 2016 Big Garden Birdwatch which is conducted by the RSPB.

A staggering 8,262,662 birds were counted, and the top 10 birds in 2016 were as follows: 
1. House sparrow
2. Starling
3. Blue tit
4. Blackbird
5. Woodpigeon
6. Goldfinch
7. Chaffinch
8. Great tit
9. Robin
10. Long tailed tit

The RSPB have suggested that the warmer weather in January meant more of the smaller birds survived the winter to be counted.

You can find out more about the Big Garden Birdwatch on the RSPB website here."

More story and picture from here

If you live further away than the British Isles, and I know many of our readers do ... I think you have similar to our RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and indeed your societies carry out similar surveys.

If you may have been out enjoying a walk, can I suggest on your return you sit and enjoy a cup of tea and perhaps a slice of low carb fruit cake ...

For this lovely cake (only 5.4g carbs per serving) here are the ingredients you need:

170g Cranberries (dried)
½ cup Rum/brandy/gin
½ cup chopped Nuts (walnuts, Brazil)
1½ cups Almond meal
1 tbsp Natvia (or sweetener of your choice)
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Mixed spice
½ tsp Baking soda
¼ cup Butter
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1 tbsp Almond essence
4 Eggs
4 tbsp rum (extra)

Icing
½ cup Mascarpone cheese
1 tbsp Rum or brandy

Please see how to make it here

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a lovely day.

All the best Jan