Baby Birds!!
There are barn swallows nesting in the pend. (Basically the hallway from the outside to the cloisters) We’ve all been watching them grow. I see them when I go into work and when I leave. It’s quite marvelous. They are very noisy peeping for food. My photos are rubbish but it’s been amazing to stand there as mama bird swoops over your head and up to the nest to feed the five babies. One of them was getting really fat, but as you might be able to see in the photo they are all pretty good size now. I’m told there might be another brood starting again before I have to take off in a month. That would be terrific.
I haven’t given you a book recommendation in quite a while so let’s keep the bird theme going with a good read I’ve enjoyed on my travels. When I was planning my trip I knew I’d need a good book for the plane. I brought Birding to Change the World along with me and it lasted a good long while. I really really liked this book. I made it last. Now that I’ve finished I’ve passed it along to another volunteer. It will stay on Iona and be passed around. This is a thing I didn’t realize there are lots of books on the island. Each house has it’s own pile of borrow books not to mention our bookstore full of them and the Abbey library and common room. I should never of feared I’d be without reading material. For a reader who goes to the library at least once a week this was a reassuring discovery.
When I travel I like to read local. I’m currently reading The King’s Speech by Mark Logue. More than the movie this traces Logue the speech specialist who helped the King so much. I've also got Teacher, Teacher by Jack Sheffield and Maeve Binchy’s short story collection The Return Journey. There are lots of good titles to dive into around here, I won’t have time to read all I want to! So I’ve taken photos of covers I want to read when I get home.
I’ve also been able to watch movies I’d never have seen otherwise. The other night I watched The Angels’ Share with a housemate and it was very good. A little rough in places but I enjoyed the story. And I even did pretty well understanding the Glasgow accent. But who can really get all those words if you are not native born! Sheesh. Make me wonder what it will be like to hear Americans speak again. Hmmmm.