CHAPTER EIGHTEEN : SILENT CD

When my husband retired, we thought it was high time to get back to our roots, our childhood and adolescence memories, and to settle down in Audierne.
Before starting house-hunting, to make our search easier we listed down all the criteria required to meet our great expectations. We set our priorities, then we chose top three must-haves, and while being at it, bottom three ones,too ( our very last wish being an orchard).
Convinced we had everything under control, we embarked on a grand tour of the houses for sale in Audierne.We were quite sure we would be done in no time. How gullible we were !
One year later we were back to square one. We had been shown round dozens of places but none measured up to our desires, either in features or prices. I guess we were the local estate agents' worst nightmare !
Before giving up, we had a last disillusioned look at the websites. We came across a house we had not visited yet, and after a few " one never knows and why nots ", we made an appointment with the notary in charge of the sale.When we arrived there, it was love at first sight ( with the house, not the notary,of course).We were aware of the dangers of falling in love with a house you are buying, number one being love is blind ! Yet, we swept away all those warnings. We were walking on air ! After a gruelling quest for the Holygrail, we had found it ! It fitted all our requirements from the top must-haves to the bottom ones ! Yes, there was an orchard with a majestic cherry-tree !
Three months later the house was ours.
Since then we have had no regret. The house is comfy and the orchard delights our taste-buds, and the maggots' ones, as well ( organic apples are tastier !).

Just a slight drawback : the cherry-tree is as majestic as ever, but it is also a giant bird feeder.Birds pick the cherries off, even before they are ripe. Since we arrived here, the only cherries we have eaten came from the greengrocer.
You know how much we love birds. We have even considered becoming members of LPO. Yet, this Spring, when admiring cherry blossoms, I started feeling a bit resentful. Last Winter we had welcomed tits,blackbirds,wood pigeons,robins and starlings, fed them and even saved some ( remember Hypolais) and then ...overnight those sweethearts had turned into a squadron of rmerciless raiders ready to go on a cherry binge.This time I wanted the biggest share of the loot, I would not content myself with stones !!

I had four solutions :

. attach a bird netting to the tree : considering the width and height of the 
  object of desire, forget about it !
. use a fake owl or cat in or near the tree  meant to move it regularly because
  birds aren't that silly, so too binding.
. hang windchimes ( birds don't like loud, ringing sounds) : I had been 
  offered one by my daughter but too nice for the little rascals !
. hang CDs : they reflect the light, shine in the sun and birds think there's
  a predator coming towards them. 

I remembered I had a cardboard full of old CDs ready to donate to the charity shop. Why not pick up some to scare away my spongers ? 
By fluke I came across 3 CDs of the same songs by the same singer. Great !!
I tied a string around them, hung them on some branches and I thought I had parried the attack. I went back home, rubbing my hands.

The day after, I rushed to my cherry-tree. No more fruit !! Gone away with 
the wind ?? Of course, not !

I could hear the chorus of the birdies singing a joyful song of Thanksgiving !

What I didn't know is that CDs only work when there is direct light, so when it it is night time ... have a guess !