Hope you all enjoyed your extra hour in bed!
Squirrelled??
Good evening, all. Once again, I need to apologise that I can’t go all the way back to my previous post to make all the replies I should, but thanks for all discussions, news and photos – and it was great to see that Margo is doing so well!
Annette – good to have you back, and thanks for starting the week for us. You seem to have very quickly got your house and garden back to normal. Ms D is Delightful as ever, and so bright looking for that time in the morning; and thanks for other pics too – I am looking forward to seeing more of the places you went with your Sister.
Clare – so pleased you had a special sighting at Minsmere on Saturday, and that Limpy got photographs.
Brenda – how clever of you to settle after waking “early” Sunday. I didn’t benefit from the extra hour as I coughed through the first part of the night (no problem since) and got up at normal time – silly really, as normally I am very much a GMT person! I agree with you, the dark evenings have come as a bit of a shock, especially as we have gone from sunny days to dreary ones at the same time as the clocks changed!
Linda – I think being busy and being tired did have a causal relationship, I just seem to have so much to do right now! This includes ironing OH’s thicker shirts which were put away for summer, sorting pillows and cushions after buying new ones last week, baking, etc etc – all normal stuff but it all takes me so long. I saw the Physio again today, and if I were to fit in all the exercises for neck, arm and leg, I would never do anything else in the day! Sounds like a major makeover next door to you; I hope it will be quieter when they move to the other end. I hope you will soon have Baby News to share. (Our second was two weeks late). Nice kitten pics.
Heather – familiar story re OH and cupboards. I made mine dispose of stuff this weekend – saying anything he hadn’t worn since we moved here should go – mostly for someone else to use, so not actually throwing away. We moved in eleven years ago! You can grate any hard cheese to serve with your minestrone. We bought some Old Winchester at the Farmers’ Market – wonderful flavour, eighteen months old. Funny that you and Linda both mentioned my forward planning for meals – that is what I was doing for part of today!
OH is sitting reading, J has gone to the Gym. Not sure what I am doing next after posting, but it won’t be very energetic!
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Geez. What's the deal with posting pix these days? I just uploaded four small jpgs and nothing happened. Will try again: Here's a familiar sight - Manhattan - from the Staten Island Ferry, plus just one of the High Line, a former elevated freight railroad now turned into a 1.5 mile long park that winds through Manhattan's west side.
More from the High Line
It's a wonderful little retreat in the midst of one of the noisiest and busiest cities in the world.
More tomorrow; in the meantime, here's where my sister and I stayed with my friend at her parents' (now deceased) home on a lake an hour and a half north of the city.
.
WA trip cont. Next morning on through Beverley, Brookton, Pingelly Popanyinning, Cuballing (don’t you love these names), a refreshment stop in Narrogin, on through Wagin, Katanning. There we had a brief toilet stop & the bus was just outside the tourist info. We descended like locusts, collecting maps of towns we were to visit next few days.
Detour through Gnowangerup & Borden, both had birds as street art (see my pics) on to the Stirling Ranges, up to a lookout near Bluff Knoll, a 3,606 ft peak. The Stirling Ranges National Park has infertile soils, heathland & scrub vegetation with rainfall up to 40 ins a year. Mild & damp weather produces some 1400 species of plants. Wild flower country. We saw a few wildflowers around the carpark. Drove through Porongurup Ranges to Mount Barker where we visited a Banksia Farm which has the only complete collection of Banksia species in the world. On 7½ acres they’ve planted 1000s of Aussie native plants since 1985 & transformed a bare farm paddock into a thriving ecosystem. Besides banksias are grevillea, hakea, dryandra, etc. Arrived in Albany for 3 night stay.My pics HERE.
Annette - I am enjoying your pics. Love Delightful MissD. It is too tedious for me to post my holiday pics here, so I have been giving the link to my flickr photostream. People just have to scroll back & back and then click on thumbnails to read info.
Good Morning Everyone, There has been a heavy dew this morning. Everywhere wet but a lovely clear and sunny start to the day. The rain counts for the north of Scotland have been tremendous over the last couple of days and I see the rain is moving down today, so more of you in Scotland will see the rain today.
Heather, In a way, I do sympathise with your OH and his shoes. I was trying to clear some of my shoes, but I do have a few pairs that have only been worn once/ twice as they were bought to match 'special outfits', which I don't know when I will ever wear again. LOL Glad to hear Sheana is a little brighter but, as you say, good and bad days are to be expected.
OG, I usually only plan a couple of days in advance for our meals and even then I can change my mind on the day. I find I have changed since the children left home. I think the hour adjustment caught up with me this morning. I was awake before 5am and couldn't get back to sleep so got up to make myself a drink and then didn't return to bed.
Annette, Interesting to see that they have left the actual rail lines in the park. I have seen a few old rail routes here, that are now country walks, but the actual lines have been removed. ( Not sure health and safety would allow it here) As you say, it must be a wonderful place to retreat to, in such a busy city. Love the house you stayed in and the setting it seems to snuggle into. Thank you.
AQ, Thanks for further photographs/ description of your trip. I need to follow you on the map now. I do love the names of the various places.
I have a hairdressing appointment at 9am and I still haven't showered !!
Hi Linda, An early post means you are not on your way down the motorway :-))