WEEKLY CHAT (non-osprey topics) SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014

RITA: Only us chickens here today by the looks of it. I've been rearranging stepping stones (for the third time!) that we're putting near a hose hookup in the garden. This time I took a photo of them and then numbered photos AND stones so a certain OH won't forget where they're supposed to go once he's leveled the earth.  Heather is away; ditto Lindybird; everyone else must be busy.

Annette - How efficient of you to photograph and number your stones to get them correct.  I need a new path to my greenhouse and so might follow your example!

re- teddy bears, I have a small pink Steiff bear and several other bears, one which I bought at an Antique Fair, the seller told me that the lady he bought it from was in tears handing it over but she needed the money, so I thought I would give him a good home. He had very neat darned patches on his legs and body,so she must have loved him. I am thinking of giving all my bears to my grandaughters now, except for the two I mentioned yesterday.  

RITA: Well, when you have an OH like mine who is constantly rethinking projects, you need some kind of record of what was decided on!  :-)   Oh dear, what a sad story about the lady who had to give up something that had such great sentimental value to her, but at least her bear to someone who'll give it a good home.

WA trip cont. If you are following a map, our next 2 nights were near Busselton at Abbey Beach Resort. Some pics of our motel. 1 indoor & 2 outdoor swimming pools. Too chilly, the main pool was inhabited by ducks.

Besides the motel there are apartments. If I’d kept walking to the left, I’d have reached the Indian Ocean.

The dining room. Some of our group had rooms on balconies like these opposite, our room had a better view, facing outside.

We had a day trip to Margaret River, a town with a wonderful choc shop. (I took some home to OH. He looked at the labels, pointed to the use-by date & said “I’ll have to eat this one first”. Oh, my heart sank, I had been so busy choosing which flavour that I didn’t think of use-by dates. Ha, it was dated next Feb!!!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say he scoffed the lot in a few days.) An interesting rammed earth church, sadly not open, leaving me to peer through windows.
Travelling on to next stop, we came across a huge display of kangaroo paws growing beside the road. My flickr pics HERE

Hi folks, lovely to read your news so far.

Lindybird - I expect you are on your way or have arrived in the Canary Islands (I think you said)  Enjoy your break.

Well nearly done all my C.shopping (on line). Just a few more bits and pieces to get.

Dau's birthday on Friday so we have bought her a trip to Harry Potters World at Leavesden, I am going with her and have included lunch in the package so should be an enjoyable day.

Like your pics AQ. Also the animal one from Lindy.

Caught this handsome bird at Pete's Pond this afternoon and also mum and family of I think, Egyptian goose. Correct me if I'm wrong.

and one of the eagles in Florida

 Male has just brought in a stick for the nest.

click on the little square to get the pic up

Lynette - would think that bird at Pete's Pond is more like a crane of some sort. Egyptian geese are about goose size (surprisingly!!) and are quite colourful birds.

AQ - where did you get your interest in churches from - the numbers are really amazing that you have seen and photographed.  Didn't realise that Kangaroo Paw was a plant - thought you were referring to the real things! Presumably there is a similarity.

Evening all:

AQ; Learned something new - rammed earth!  Some nice pix of that and the other churches, but loved those wildflowers (the delicate pink ones that sprayed out - they look very much like a plant we have in our nurseries here, but I can't remember the name).  Your Kangaroo Paws are much fancier than ours; maybe they get pedicures.   :-)    Don't like inside-facing hotel rooms - claustrophobic and potentially noisy.  Also can't imagine much chocolate is still in circulation by the time t its use-by date rolls around. 

Lynette: Clueless about Pete's Pond visitor. I disturbed something large with wings eating lunch (I think) in the front garden today when I went to check the mail. I saw it fly off out the corner of my eye, but when I looked over to see what the flapping was about, all that was left was a small whirlwind of tiny pure white feathers.....    :-(

LizLFW: You took the question (to AQ about her interest in churches) right out of my mouth!

Had a rather discombobulating day - was busy with OH discussing garden-related and other stuff when he got a phone call that lasted almost two hours!!  Sort of sidetracked everything else and by the time he hung up I'd had lunch and was off on other projects, though I did make it to yoga.  Will try to get back on track again tomorrow.

Have a good Tuesday everyone.

Lynette -  the beautiful bird in your picture is a grey crowned crane, they have them in a country wildlife park near us, lovely birds with that beautiful crown of golden feathers!

Good morning, all. I just realised I haven’t yet posted on this thread! On Sunday, OH was making holes in walls for a new plinth heater in the kitchen as I have been complaining about cold air when the back door is opened. This meant that some of the time he had all the electricity off, and other times part of it with a threat of more. I could have used the Surface on battery, but I kept out the way by wrapping Christmas gifts, ordering some Christmas food and generally sorting stuff. In the evening, we went to church; J played in the band morning and evening services.

Yesterday morning J was mysteriously ill – pains in his head and neck, weakness and dizziness. He didn’t attempt to go to work, and in fact slept through the morning and afternoon, and is still at home today, feeling a bit better. He has Wednesday off, so is likely to be fit for work on Thursday.

We had a slow start Monday, only doing shopping (him), baking cornbread (me) and routine stuff and then were out in the evening; we enjoyed a talk (local National Trust group) about the Scottish Enlightenment in our area. This morning, OH is making final connections to the remote switch for the heater (it is on a plug, so no power off today); I have done some ironing. I have a haircut after lunch, and I don’t think we are out this evening (or any more nights this week).

AQ – I agree with Linda that those oversize plush animals like Miss3’s dog are not really toys: I am sure your puppy will be a much-loved companion, while the large one will sit and gather dust somewhere! More interesting holiday account and photos, thanks.

Margo – sorry you had a wet weekend; the weather here has improved: sunshine by day, and not even cold at night.

Brenda – I hope your trip was enjoyable yesterday, and that you have a good time at lunch today. I think new bedroom curtains for J will come before ours: his face south so are showing signs of fading; also, I had ours cleaned quite recently, so it would be a waste to get rid of them yet! I let go of my teddies years ago to make sure OH got rid of his disreputable one, but our granddaughters still have “Aggie” bear which my Dad bought for Daughter#1 when she was a baby.

Rita – we are thinking of going to a Pantomime this year for the first time in ages, as we were put off when commercial ones stopped being real family entertainment. This one is a newly written Peter Pan, which has local interest in Dumfries. I agree about the Crane; the one at Kincraig loves to have a conversation if you stop by his pen any length of time.

Lynette – enjoy your Daughter’s birthday trip!

Annette – sorry the day was discombobulating for you – it is most unsettling when you are making progress with stuff and get interrupted like that. I hope today will run smoothly!

Well, onward and upward – coffee time, methinks! Have a good day, everyone.