The last time we were in Ireland the elder Grandson, Fionn , asked me if I had fat balls .
It was his Mother who had to explain eventually what he wanted to know.
Fionn goes to his other granparents two or three days a week and there his Granny Noirín , a great friend to garden birds , lets him help her to tie up balls of fat from the tree to feed the birds.
As soon as we got back to France we set about organising a fat ball for our tree.
Now this was not as easy as it seems because to put the ball in a position where we could see it from the terrace it had to go on a high branch of the tree, about 20 odd feet off the ground.
After a lot of misses, cursing and bashed fat balls we eventually have found a method , by attaching a weight on to the string we now can lower and raise the fat ball from the ground when it needs to be replaced.

Once we had got the first one up it just hung there forlorny for the first week, ignored by the only bird who frequented our garden small enough to use it ; the Black Redstart.

Then he twigged it, immediatly followed by some several Tits (of various types ) a sparrow and I think a chaffinch.
Now when I come down in the morning there is a positive flurry of excitement about the garden as various small birds joustle for position to get their breakfast.

It is thoroughly entertaining.
Thanks Fionn, and Noirín.