WEEKLY CHAT (non-osprey) SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2016

Happy New Week.

  • OG: Cough, splutter - thank you - splutter, wheeze - for asking. Actually slept reasonably well considering and throat is better, but nose (where are the tissues!) could run a marathon.  I swear this darn weather has something to do with it - hot, hot, cool, hot, dry, windy; rained on Sunday with "cold" wind, now hot and windy again this week. Awful.  May have to emigrate to Scotland....   Sorry some of your plants got frosted, but good you've got backup.

    Heather: What? Where? You're unwell too?  

    Lynette: Hope they can sort the cat without additional expense or worry...  Love that river boat - and the cottage. Looks very restful. (Ice cream delivered to your deck too!)

    Hallo everyone else.  :-)

  • LYNETTE - Sorry about Cat - IF the current diagnosis is proved correct, I guess it will need tablets forever.  Thanks for sharing your photos - nice that you gathered some history of the property where you stayed.

    ANNETTE - my, your weather sounds a bit like ours; never known it quite as changeable here on south coast of Scotland.  No frost this morning - wetter.  I thought I read that HEATHER was unwell - maybe I got it wrong!

    Shopping later - but it will include lunch at Loch Arthur!

    Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!

  • Your phenomenal memory is correct, OG! I'm still spluttering but thankfully OH has kept clear of both me and the bugs!

    Lovely pictures, LYNETTE, just love the fireplace.

    Hope you feel better soon, ANNETTE.

    The news from Nepal is dire. We have been wondering for a few days if the UK would send Gurkhas and heard last night that they are on they way.

  • HEATHER - feel better soon!  Pleased OH didn't catch it.

    Mission acquaintance in Nepal is safe, but his Nepali wife says her mother and sister are in tents in Kathmandu - and they are the lucky ones!  I am disappointed in news media's disproportionate coverage of Brits out there for pleasure.

    Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!

  • Agree, OG. About the media coverage.
    Unknown said:

    HEATHER - feel better soon!  Pleased OH didn't catch it.

    Mission acquaintance in Nepal is safe, but his Nepali wife says her mother and sister are in tents in Kathmandu - and they are the lucky ones!  I am disappointed in news media's disproportionate coverage of Brits out there for pleasure.

  • Lynette. Aldous icecream van was our regular street supply when I lived in Norwich from 1948 to 1966!  What memories the icecream boat picture brings back.

  • Hello Everyone, Sunny but quite cool, with a cold wind. Just washed four pair of jeans and they are blowing in the wind. The sheep seem to be getting earlier and noisier each morning. I guess it is the lambs looking for Mum and Mum calling them. I love to watch the mother calling and the young lambs running, and knowing, from across the field, which is their mother.

    Heather and Annette, Sorry you are both still feeling so bad.

    I see from the news, that people, as always, are being so generous, in answer to the earthquake appeals.

    OG, Neighbour, a widow, is getting a Jack Russel, which is black and brown in colour. Her last dog died at 18 and was so quiet and docile. She is so house proud, I think she may be in for a shock with a 9 week old pup :-))

    Lynette, Loved your holiday photographs. I see you have made EE rather nostalgic.  

  • BRENDA - I hope that your neighbour's Jack Russell is quieter than the one next door to us! Maybe all to do with the training. Our neighbour's dog drives us mad, he is very territorial and barks and throws himself against the fence if he hears my OH working in our garden. Last night, we were in bed, they let the dog out for a last 'visit' and he started barking oh so loudly.Just incessant barking until they take him inside again.I believe that several of our neighbours have complained but it makes little difference. My OH, a dog lover, says that it is not the dog's fault.

  • Morning all:

    Much better today - well, cold now evolving into cough, but head is back to normal size and weight and nose is taking a rest.  :-)  

    Heather: Our neighbors have a Jack Russell too; they let him out about 9:30 p.m. and he barks until he goes back in, but most of the time he's quiet (most likely in the house).  Our other neighbors have a hound that sits in the driveway when the husband is working in his garage and lets out an odd howl/bark every 5 seconds or so. Thankfully, he's not out that much either.

    Brenda: How lovely to hear sheep!

    OG: Good that your mission friend is safe, but Kathmandu is in ghastly shape.  Media coverage here is pretty broad in terms of who's lost, killed, and the associated destruction.  We apparently have, near here in Santa Paula, an internationally known dog-training facility that sent minders/dogs to the area to search for survivors, etc.  The awful thing is that access to some areas is almost impossible (not to mention folks now stranded on Everest in bad weather).  Of course, we all watch and wonder what a 7.8 would do here. Our local first responders warn us that the community could be without any support services or help for at least 3-5 days because they'd be heading to schools, hospitals, etc.; their working motto being something along the lines of "go where we can do the most good."  I took a Community Emergency Response class, which stressed the need to keep a supply of enough basic items on hand for that eventuality; not to mention the danger of downed power lines, fires, and gas leaks!  Our houses are nearly all wood, which is infinitely much more flexible than brick, but would burn easily....Charming.

    Must get a bit organized around here as things are getting a bit dire in the laundry and refrigerator.

    take care everyone.  

  • ANNETTE I read a very scary article today about what could happen in California, the San Andreas fault etc etc and tectonic plates under pressure :-(( If my memory serves me right though, they weren't predicting anything imminent.....

    Apologies for my unscientific language.