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.

  • Please can you all note that we have set up a Monty thread for photos and any thing else regarding Monty.Anything contributed would greatly appreciated. we will also do a Glesni and Nora which will follow soon many thanks.  

    "Birds are, quite simply, little miracles - and as such they require care and consideration."

    Magnus Ullman

    My Flickr account is here


  • Hello All -  Happy Independence Day to all in the US.     Hot again today but there is a little breeze.       Have been taking pictures of some lovely flowers in this garden, it  makes a change from photographing my own garden. Apparently there was quite a bad storm in the night here , everyone else was awake but I slept through it, busy having dreams about Hopitals etc,!!!

    AQ  & Lynette, thank you both very much for your encouraging remarks about my knee operation.  Three days to go now.   Thanks to everyone else also.

    Brenda - I do not know how you play bowls in all this heat as the greens are usually in full sun. I also enjoyed the Heather Watson/Serena Williams Match last night.    Sorry you lost the match against the men last night, but hope you enjoyed the supper afterwards.

  • Morning all and thank  you for the July 4 wishes (though I suspect the U.S. would've done better if England had won the war: Not as many guns around to start off with.... .  :-)

    Sister e-mailed saying they had storms in her area last night, but they hadn't cleared the air and it was still muggy. I got on the BBC web site and saw shots of some amazing lightning strikes, including one in Bournemouth, which made me wonder how Margo fared.

    Margo: And there you are. I'm sure you would've got under the bed with Billie given the chance.  That's a lot of lightning strikes!   I love storms; ours are rare and very puny, but they get spectacular ones in the desert southwest during the summer.  Good luck with the chemo. Wonder what made it so difficult last time round...

    Brenda: A lightning App?  Must look into that. Sorry some of your best players were AWOL with disappointing result.  :-(

    Limpy: Thanks for the heads up re Monty. Assume you're keeping very busy.

    Lindybird, sorry about the ghastly journey south, but good that you had a good visit with the kiddies in spite of having to watch out for wayward peas and sweet corn during dinner. Hope the trip to Wales is easier.

    Off out later today to meet up with kids, but plan to Sort Out Closet this morning while listening to my favorite radio show, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (Diane may know it). I have a wide closet with two sliding doors and the middle area is not easily accessible so will have to move shelves, racks around.  Don't have any dressesanymore - just tops, skirts and pants, so don't need "long" space. Right now, everything is stuffed in the right-hand side of the closet.   All very fascinating, I know. :-))

  • Please can you all note that we have now set up a Glesni & Nora thread for photos and any thing else regarding Glesni & Nora.Anything contributed would greatly appreciated.Many thanks.

    "Birds are, quite simply, little miracles - and as such they require care and consideration."

    Magnus Ullman

    My Flickr account is here


  • Hi, Annette. Yup, I listen to Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me every week. I love it.

    I'll start the new thread later this evening. I know you're busy with family.

  • Hi Annette in SoCal.

    Yes Clare says that I'm doing to many hours there at Minsmere But I do love being there, as Clare will find out when she starts there.

    Sorry I don't get on here much, but Hi to everyone.

    PS I do look in on the thread when I can.

    "Birds are, quite simply, little miracles - and as such they require care and consideration."

    Magnus Ullman

    My Flickr account is here