WEEKLY CHAT (non-osprey) SUNDAY JUNE 28, 2015

'Allo all.  Hope it's a good week for everyone.  Ghastly news from Tunisia - those poor people, sitting on the beach enjoying the sunshine....

Heather:  There's at least one situation like yours in every family (sometimes two or three!).  Makes you wonder where these folks came from  I mean, can they really be related to sensible grown-up like us?  :-)  

Diane: We're on the edges of a tropical storm system heading into the Southwest which could end up in your neighborhood in a few days.  What a pain. It must keep on on edge the whole time.  I do hope the trees around your house are sound   We don't have many needs when it comes to cars, but we just have our trusty Honda Accord and our lovely old 73 Ford Ranger, which guzzles gas big time and is a bear to drive down Santa Barbara's narrow streets (narrow because of parking on both sides - and not narrow at all compared to some roads in England!).  The truck is in great shape but sits out most of the time and it's is beginning to rust in a few places. It takes up the entire garage and I'm the one who takes it and the stepladder to the do-it-yourself car wash where I nearly get blown off the ladder by the water pressure. Truck is too big for a drive-through wash.  Anyway, it's slowly deteriorating and I'd rather see it go to someone who will really care for it - it's pretty much a classic a this point.  I'm thinking sort of long term for a newer SUV with minimal bells and whistles that is versatile and economical.  We're looking at hybrids, but there's not a big choice in the smaller SUVs.  The Toyota RAV 4 will come in a hybrid version for 2016 - at a cost of about $30K!  Typically we buy newer used vehicles but with the recession, folks seem to have hung on to the popular models much longer than usual and the ones advertised on, say, craigslist, have lots of miles on them.  Still, there are much, much worse dilemmas to deal with in the world.

Lindybird: Good news from Glaslyn then.  Ha! Liked the 1-in-5 joke.

That tropical storm that's east of us has brought clouds, humidity - and a sprinkling of rain!  More sprinkling possible in the next two days. Hey!  It's wet. we'll take it.

  • Victoria trip saga continued. Day 5 Another long day excursion, first south to Port Fairy, known as Belfast in its early days. I was lucky that the Anglican church was open for a meeting and I was able to see & capture the famed Ferguson & Urie stained glass windows. Then a wander around the town before departing for Koroit which hosts an Irish festival – plenty of shamrocks & leprechauns lurking! We drove past another extinct volcano, Tower Hill. Near Woolsthorpe we had afternoon tea at Quamby Homestead, another old property that now doubles as a B&B. House set in a lovely garden. Warrnambool was the last for the day but with only ½ hour and being very weary, I viewed the tourist info shop looking at the ridiculously priced souvenirs. The energetic had a quick walk to city centre. A long drive “home” to Hamilton. Scroll back through my pics on flickr.

  • AQ - Sounds like a tiring, frustrating day. But as you say, you all 'survived'!!   Laughed at little Miss3 and her statement!! Hope there are not any more immunisations on the horizon yet - ours seem to have had several in succession.

    I may,   may!    - post a pic of The Outfit later, but with my head missing LOL!    According to whether I can get many photos taken of me: after our Youngest got married, we realised that the family friend who had volunteered to take the official photos had taken none of us two at all, except in a large crowd picture!   A relative took a photo of my OH & I together, at my request, during the evening reception.  Her camera was a disposable one and it was later discovered to have disappeared. So we never had a record of the occasion. ... not of ourselves, anyway.

  • aquilareen said:

    Welcome to Linda's Wildlife Refuge. LOL  It gets worse, AQ  -  I'm still here and not in bed (its nearly midnight here...) because when my OH returned from his Club, he put Bonnie outside and she came back in with something brown in her mouth.  We decided she had found a dead fledgling on the path.  There were feet and a birds tail sticking out.  We chased her around the room, under the dining table, out again, back again....  Eventually I did a rugby tackle and held onto her and my OH tried to extract the thing, so she promptly swallowed it.  Ugh.  All going to bed now. Hope she's not sick in the night....

  • ps.  Not so hot here, now.  Just normal summer temps thank goodness.

  • Totally knackered after wonderful day, much of it on the beach - just us four girls - had so much fun with Ms. D splashing about and shrieking like idiots at every little wave. Will catch up tomorrow.

  • Good morning, all.  It's feeling fresher here, thank goodness, though it's still a lovely sunny morning.  Just read that the Dyfi chicks are being ringed within the hour so I'm looking forward to finding out what Glesni and Monty have produced this year!

    Our herring gulls are red listed birds.  Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.

  • Good Morning, All. Having a cuppa in bed after a bad night - just didn't sleep! Never mind, off to enjoy our day with the family today. Clare - that's good news, I also look forward to seeing what sex the chicks are at Dyfi. AQ - will read about your adventures later. Have a good day everyone.
  • Loved the toad story, by the way.  Reminds me of the time a baby gull threw up all over my foot!

    Our herring gulls are red listed birds.  Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.

  • Good morning. Finger almost normal now – being careful (sensible), and doing the advised massage thing. Term ended yesterday, so J is around and about. He received pressies from “his” main boy, that boy’s teacher and the school because he is leaving; his new dept head has made contact about plans for next year – looks like he will still be off on Wednesdays. Mainly pootling about at home today, hopefully OH mowing, and both out for a talk at the museum this evening, about smuggling on the local coast.

    Rita – I hope you can keep clear of the norovirus.

    Linda – enjoyed reading about your wildlife encounter! Since you didn’t mention her this morning, I assume Bonnie didn’t chuck up whatever-it-was in the night! Have a lovely day with the family.

    AQ – wouldn’t it be better to take twins into doc’s office one at a time to avoid them setting each other off?

    Thanks for all other posts – have a good day, everyone!

    Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!

  • BTW - have I missed something?  I haven't seen BRENDA for ages - is she on holiday?

    Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!