Three Little Piggies

A couple of weeks or so ago, late one night the outside light went on and we spotted a rather plump-looking hedgehog troddling around in our back yard, hunting slugs no doubt, and then disappearing into our shed (through an arch my rather eccentric other half cut in the door years ago - in case any stray cats needed shelter)!!!  We kept a look out for another appearance, but apart from a brief glimpse the next night, that was it.

Yesterday, in the middle of the afternoon, Graham and I were sat outside by our little pond (it was a lovely sunny day) discussing things that needed doing in the garden, shrubs trimming, weeding, a couple of trees that have grown too big and have to be dealt with, when out from the shrubbery a couple of feet away from us appeared .........

not one .......

not two ....... 

but three baby hedgehogs .........

We were so thrilled to see them and I was able to dash indoors, grab my camera and get some pics - aren't they just so cute?  They were quite unconcerned by our presence, snuffling around for food and twitching their little noses.  Graham put out a bit of cat food for them and whilst two of the "babies" headed back off into the undergrowth, the first one we spotted (the cheekiest, boldest one) merrily tucked in.  A few hours later we saw him out again, finishing off the last of the cat food.  We feel so privileged to have a family of hedgehogs living in our garden, especially as they are quite a rare sight apparently nowadays. 

Here are a few more pics of our little "family" - a bright episode in the midst of a rather stressful week.

I'm afraid I've had no time at all this week to do any kind of crafting, a shame really as I was just enjoying getting stuck into the art journalling and had been making several ATCs - however, it can't be helped and it's just had to take a backseat for now. 

Meanwhile, I've had quite a few sign ups for my Bookmark Swap, which I'm pleased about - there's still loads of time to sign up for this if you fancy having a go (check it out in the sidebar under my profile and just email me if you're interested) - looking forward to seeing which books and authors everyone has chosen to  illustrate on their bookmarks.

Well, time to sign off for the night - it's been raining a good part of the evening and now the wind has got up a bit as well, not looking good for tomorrow - what a contrast to the lovely day we had yesterday.