There are many ways of interpreting this picture, some more positive than others.

Firstly there is the ‘what the hell is she doing with a nest?’ camp – well, don’t worry, it’s last year’s nest and not a new one. Whoever lovingly made it and whoever was lovingly raised in it, they’re long gone. It is, though, made better than the average new starter home for humans I’d say. It’s intricately woven and strong enough to survive our exposed location. Those tiny little critters have done a lovely job.

If anyone still thinks we’ve done a bad thing by cutting it down, we have replaced it with three nesting boxes of different sizes and formats to suit different types of bird.

What’s in it? Those glass marbles left by Mad Maureen again, both DM and I have shot them many times over the last few weeks. I must be honest, I only did this shot as a sort of joke – an attempt to make the nest look as though it’s full of frogspawn, as every pond and puddle within a few miles of here are – there’s bucket-loads of it. I hope all the froglets survive and keep the slug population down.

You might say there’s alien beings in my nest and you might be right…..but then again, you might say there are little sparkling jewels and again, you might be right.

I could say that the marbles are just a game – and I’d be right. I could say that they’re little symbols of the cycle of life and I’d be right on a number of levels.

Someone else might say they’re little windows, reflecting the world.

You could say it’s all just a load of old rubbish and you’d certainly be right there (also probably on a number of levels).

I’d say it’s a little heart-shaped nest, a home to a million little sparkling thoughts and ideas. And who is to say I’m wrong?

I am thrilled to say that last year's shot was used in a creative writing class with seven year old children. You should see some of the things they came out with. The fertility of the imagination of the young is something to be cherished. I will cherish those stories for ever.