Nature update (3)

[anna_wing]

The bulbuls appear to have given up on that particular branch, but are still flapping nervously around in the general vicinity, as Lap-cat and Bus-stop Cat lurk in the undergrowth and Scaredy-Cat prowls about moaning gently to himself...

I also observed a crow tugging at twigs on a bush, trying to snip them off for nesting material. It finally gave up after another crow flew past tauntingly, beak full of random twiggy stuff that it had obviously just picked up off the ground, as a sensible crow would.

Comments

[asakiyume]

With luck the bulbuls will hit upon some safe spot before they get picked off by the cats.

As for the crows, I'm imagining the first was trying to do some artisanal, withy-woven, fancy thing, and the other is doing the nest-building equivalent of buying a boxed cake mix. "It tastes just as good** for a fraction of the effort!" he cawed--only about nest making.

**I don't actually believe this and in fact enjoy making cakes from scratch, but I allow as to how cake mixes aren't bad in terms of ratio of effort to results.

[anna_wing]

I've never used a cake mix, are they that much more convenient? The kinds of cakes that I make (or made, in the days before Housekeeper joined the household) are the very basic kind where you leave the butter out until it's soft (the great advantage of baking in the tropics...), then just stir in the sugar, flour, eggs, chocolate, candied fruit etc, pour the batter into a cake-tin or the little paper cases in a patty-tin if I'm making Queen Cakes, and stick it in the oven.

If I'm feeling extra energetic, I might dust it with icing sugar and add some crystallised fruit on top. I have a friend who makes fancy French and Japanese patisserie for fun. Alas we are in different countries now, but she was basically the avatar of the Kitchen God...

[asakiyume]

Your cake-making method and type of cake are the same of mine!

I think cake mixes do speed things up a little, but that's about the only convenience, and you don't get the same richness or variety of flavor.