WEEKLY CHAT (non-osprey) SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2015

Good Morning Everyone. A cool sunny morning.

Clare, I guess they found you plenty of manual work to do, yesterday. That is what happens when you appear so enthusiastic and agile :-))) Sorry you needed painkillers, though. It must have felt like a long drive home.

I have had to withdraw from a bowls competition tonight. I don't feel full of energy and I wouldn't be popular if I started coughing around other players. I went to the supermarket yesterday and was surprised how many people were coughing. Very annoying as we both got through the winter without a sniffle. This is just coughing and occasionally going light headed !! Nothing that we won't get over :-)))

I put grass feed down before the heavy rain arrived. The grass now needs cutting. The recent winds have dried everything in the garden so quickly. We had to soak the hanging baskets in bowls of water as they became so dry, even though they are watered daily.

I need to hang the washing outside now. I decided to wash our jeans, as they should dry today.

Good afternoon, all

CLARE -  Since you were at reception (I think!)I imagined you shaking hands with the world and his wife, hence the pain. Happy to see that you felt better this morning.

BRENDA - I hope that you stop coughing soon. My OH has got the same thing and as he is not a good invalid, he is suffering aplenty. Sorry that you are missing the bowls.

OG - I like the sound of bacon pancakes...  

LYNETTE - Hope that you found something to occupy your time alone!

ANNETTE - Our pool pump used to fail regularly, we replaced it several times until my OH said - in capital letters - that enough was enough. We now have a pumpless, fountainless ,fishless pond:-(( Irises grow in it and water lilies if we are lucky.

I missed wishing LINDY an enjoyable break. Sorry --

AQ - Looking forward to your pics, will do that this evening when under the duvet and with peace and quiet to study them. What a shame that you had to change your Nanny day and miss an excursion.

Things in France remain dodgy. My brother and his wife have to decide which house to sell, England or France. As things stand, the housing market in England is better than in Brittany. There are, though, other complicating family issues.

I hope that MARGO is managing OK and hopefully feeling a little bit more positive. Lovely, MARGO, that your sister could spend time with you for a couple of days.

I'm wondering about DIANE and her computer problems,given her need for the internet in order to do her job.

We continue to have unsummerly weather. (My PC is telling me that is not a proper word. I don't care) Our grapes are tiny,much smaller than peas. My runner beans are an inch long. My brother is already eating his :-(

On that happy note I will finish here and think about what to cook for dinner tonight.

Take care, all

Morning all:   Lots of effort here in finding the dentist/wannabe-Great White Hunter/major idiot who shot Cecil.  The U.S. Fish & Wildlife folks are cooperating with the Zimbabwean authorities, but can't locate him. He's closed his dental office due to protesters and gone AWOL. I think he'll need to get plastic surgery, change his name, and go back to Square 1. 

Brenda: Fountain is possessed!  It was running again yesterday morning when I got up.  Suspect a short in the pump may be the culprit, but won't try standing on my head at the CFI plugs until it acts up again.  Sorry you caught your OH's bug; hope you can schedule that celebration soon.  Gave up on hanging baskets here this year due to drought...   We had another tropical storm buzz through yesterday but again, went behind us in the mountains, although other areas got lots of rain. Very high cloud formations and some decent rumblings to our north....

AQ:  I love the backstreets of any towns - lots of history just in the old stores, houses, plants, even the width of streets, etc...  Don't think any of our Buckleys managed to organize themselves that far from home, though "young"  Dennis did end up in South Africa.

Heather: Clare was out in the woods yesterday at Minsmere, doing maintenance, hence the achy limbs.  Hope you're over the family visit. Granddaughter and Ms. D are back here this weekend for 5 days prior to school (for both of them) starting up again.  Seems like they were just here - oh wait- they were!  Wonder how you say "dodgy" in French - fingers crossed things will get sorted in a halfway reasonable fashion.  I routinely thumb my nose at my PC; bet Diane is doing more than that right now. Do hope she'll be back online soon.

Clare: Good job the maintenance work is - what? - just once a month?  When are you back there again?

Daughter down for the day today and due to arrive (she has a massage every week or so at a place near us).  Back later.

Don't forget to run out and see the blue moon tonight - your last chance until 2018.

Heather, I hope your brother and his wife are able to make the best decision for them. A worrying and painful time for them and indeed, for you all.
Sorry to hear that your OH still has his cough. My OH woke me around 1.30am last night, as he woke up coughing. Trouble was that I couldn't go back to sleep. Once the coughing session was over, he soon went back to sleep !
Our neighbour's grapes were stunted for a while, but are now looking quite normal.Another neighbour is now providing me with far too many raspberries and carrots. I have started to freeze the carrots.
I, also think of Diane, as she also uses her computer as a tv for certain programmes, beside needing one for her work.
I do hope your weather improves.

Annette, I would think you have just recovered from previous house guests and now you have your granddaughter arriving again with Ms D. I am sure you are looking forward to their visit, though. I hope you have plans for them.
Your daughter obviously feels the advantage of regular massage sessions.
Must check for the blue moon now. I can't see any glow on the patio yet.

Still no word from Dibnlib. I hope all is fine with her.

Linda had a good journey to Wales.
Margo really does appreciates her sister and niece keeping her company.  

Nanny days on Friday are different. I learnt that Dau tries to get chores (cleaning, changing beds) done earlier in week, leaving just the washing, dishes and babies to put to sleep on Friday. Yesterday she had planned takeaway for tea and as there was little to do, she sent me home 1½ hours early. So strange to be driving home in daylight and I surprised my OH. He quickly recovered and asked “I don’t have to get tea?” No, though I must say getting tea would have required him merely to put prepared defrosted quiche in toaster oven to heat up!

Grey & raining this morn, not as cold, expecting 14 C.

I forgot to mention that about 2 weeks ago, a humpback whale was seen frolicking in the Port River at Port Adelaide. A police boat monitored it to keep idiots away until it found its way out to the Gulf. Last seen off Semaphore.

Did anyone see a report (ours reprinted from Daily Mail) that the Arctic polar ice cap has 40% more ice than 5 years ago according to experts at Uni College London. Also that NASA reported sea ice at the Antarctic was at its greatest extent since records began 1979.

AQ: Yes, did see the report on the Arctic polar ice cap. Go figure.  Here's to more early releases from Nanny care!  :-)

Good Morning Everyone.

Nothing planned for today. I just need to do a small local shop.

Our son and his wife moved out of the company apartment yesterday and moved to their own. Their furniture and possessions from England were being delivered also. They will make a Face Time call today, to show us around their new home. I guess they were tired as they were in bed by 9.30pm.

AQ / Annette, We did see the report on the Arctic Polar ice cap. I remember some years ago they were threatening another 'ice age' for us all.

AQ, Sounds as if you should change your nanny days to Fridays. LOL

OG, I forgot to ask how your daughter and her OH coped with their trip to Paris, via the Euro tunnel.

Time for a coffee and a toasted teacake.

Good morning, all.

Lynette – pleased the weather was good after all for your Kids’ Week; does it end with a special Sunday service? I am sure you found plenty to do while your OH was busy at cricket. I have a number of small jobs which I prefer to tackle when I am on my own here.

AQ – sorry the Clare Valley trip has not worked out for you this time. Sounds like the Friday shift could be much better for your well-being, even if it does impinge on weekend plans! . We saw the reports about the plane wing; they say it won’t shed much light on missing facts about the Malaysian flight.

Brenda – sorry you caught your OH’s bug; I hope you are both recovering well. My Canada Cake recipe came from Daughter#1, who got it from her MiL, who got it from her Sister in Canada – we think. It is a rich boiled fruit cake – D’s MiL serves it buttered, but we don’t add extra fat to things like that! We are also finding the wind the worst enemy of our garden this year; it blows the peas, beans and even rhubarb and bruises them, as well as drying everything out, even after rain. Is your Son’s apartment on the ground floor to accommodate Penny’s needs – I kept imagining her travelling down in the lift with her legs crossed! Haven’t heard from Daughter#1 since Paris – she was due in London Thursday and then back home tomorrow. Nothing from them on FB, but it may be that she is keeping communication tools away from her OH to ensure he takes a break from work! I think they may have been traveling London to Paris and back direct on Eurostar, so not affected by road queues

Heather – I hope things have calmed down after your busy week with the young ones; do you have any plans to visit the baby down south again soon? J’s bacon pancakes were delicious and he also cooked a sausage hash for us yesterday, so I have put weight on! Sorry about your brother’s difficult decision – maybe he should have decided sooner? Some of our runner beans have reached three inches, so I am hoping they will continue to hold on, but a lot have fallen off after they set.

Clare – I hope you have recovered from clearing pathways etc at Minsmere! Will you volunteer for the next work party as well as doing reception duty?

Annette – strange about your fountain; must be that common mystery “a transient fault”! Nice for you to see GDau and GGDau again so soon. You mention back to school for both – is GDau studying for further qualifications? (forgive me if I should have remembered something here!). Couldn’t see the Moon of any colour last night! After a very pleasant day, with some gardening in the afternoon, we had a lot of cloud and rain in the evening and night.

OH went back Thursday as arranged to complete the messages which had failed, but no joy with either. Tyres for my car had ended up in Dunfermline instead of Dumfries, and spare mower blade had been sent in the wrong size. So he went yet again this morning and both were successful! We decided against our original plan to go to Dumfries Show today, partly because we are not trusting the weather, but also because I would be too tired for dinner out (anniversary) this evening.

Now need to assemble some salad for lunch.