HAPPY NEW WEEK!
Last week's Chat thread is here.
Anyone can watch the partial solar eclipse here. U.K.: tomorrow morning at 5:30 a.m. Eastern U.S.: tonight at 12:30 a.m.California: tonight at 9:30 p.m.
CLARE- steak and chips OK? Festive dinner sorted :-)
My Mother wouldn't eat any fowl or pork. Christmas she ate ham and beef. She loved fish though. Neither of my children would ever touch baked beans and still won't, just like their Father and Grandmother. Trouble was that their friends' mothers always thought that all children liked baked beans !!!
BRENDA- we are the same. None of us like baked beans except for Sam, when he comes I get a few small tins in. If I can get away with it I don't cook turkey on C Day. Much prefer to provide a juicy rib of beef or sirloin roast.For the life of me can't see what people see in turkey but each to their own, my OH likes it.
Pleased to see that Linda and Heather had a dry day. It is still raining here :-(( There has been some heavy rain all day and it will continue overnight.
Annette I did laugh at your description of your date with the footballer. Here, I honestly think that it has become immoral, the amount that footballers are paid. Some of the very young players don't seem to know how to cope, with so much money, at such a young age.
Heather, I do love your OH's expressions. So glad to hear that Sam will be with you for Christmas.
Linda, Sorry you had such an unsuccessful trip this morning. I really do hope the new cream works for you. You must be so excited now, for your son's wedding.
Hello. Got my chores done and now I feel a little better: our Eldest rang and they are now off work and preparing for their Big Day - they go down to the venue tomorrow and stay until Monday, so their Honeymoon starts before the wedding, even! Little Amber has had a bit of a tummy upset which was going around at the nursery, but she is now recovering.
I keep bathing my eyes: the drops are good, and soothe them, its just that the skin around the left eye especially is sore, red and puckered up. Not a good look when you're hoping to look your best. Vaseline has been my saviour, although I did put some honey on the sore bits today and it didn't seem to do any harm.
When I was young, I only liked green veg, not any other. Except when my father came back from a business trip to The States and got us all eating Sweetcorn! Now I love all of my veg, except perhaps Broad Beans. My children would eat anything small & round, but not leafy. My grandchildren all eat just about anything!!!
Hope the heavy winds and rain are not too bad for you folks in the South: we have no wind at all here, and its dry.
Heather: I love your OHs expressions, too! Not heard those......
Good news that you are to enjoy Sam at Christmas. It really does make things fun to see a child open their presents. I adore turkey; it has to be cooked properly so that it isn't dry, or it doesn't taste too good. We eat it cold for days after Christmas, too.
Brenda: We are getting excited, now. Its been a long time coming, as they got engaged ages ago and were supposed to be married a whole year ago, but now we are nearly at the starting gate at last. I looked up the hotel on the In'net today and it does look very nice, an elegant country house. All our relatives who are coming are hoping to make a weekend of it and enjoy themselves, so we just have our fingers crossed for dry weather.
Am just off to bed, but have managed to upload some of my pics from the Tatton Flower Show last July!! It was the first time I used my new camera, so I was excited to see how they came out.
Here is the first one I took, of metallic horses just inside the entrance:
EDIT: Of course, they are not horses, shows how tired I am, they are deer LOL!!!
Evening all: Cool, not humid; what else could a person want?
Heather: Love majorly. My granddaughter uses it now and then. She also uses shocker! for something negative that was all too predictable. Anyway, nice to know you'll see Sam for you-know-what. Hmmm. Google asked me if I meant Hallyracket, but didn't get a definite definition (can I say thatt?). Anyway, your OH's description sounds disturbingly like someone who shall remain nameless....
Clare: Chips are wonderful. Heather has sorted out your Xmas dinner.
BrendaH: I think we were raised on baked beans - with sausages mostly. Yum (well, at least then).
Lindybird: We have had some wonderful sweet white corn on the cob here this year - very sweet and even better slathered with butter and sprinkled with salt. Re the eye, just be sure to stand in profile! :-) Sincere wishes for perfect (or even tolerable) weather. Re the Tatton deer, I can see them with twinkly white lights at C*****mas.
Off to shout at the Rebublican candidates! Have glass of wine at hand.
Up at daughter's again tomorrow; chronic cabin fever setting in now. Eeeek. I have suggested she come stay with us, but she's comfy in her home and can get around enough to cook a meal, etc., but only for brief periods.
Annette: I'm also preparing to watch the debate on CNN live stream. I just wanted to check on you. Authorities have issued a tsunami warning for Hawaii, due to that HUGE earthquake off the coast of Chile (8.3 or 8.8?). I'm assuming that it will not affect the California coast -- and you. Take care.
Last weekend’s report. The weather was beautiful about 29 C, blue skies, sunshine. We left city 7.30 am for long drive north, 40 + 2 tutors + driver, 2 stops along the way for food &/or toilet. Near Port Pirie we drove through Telowie Gorge. The regeneration after last year’s bushfires was good to see. [If you fancy a drive, take Google StreetView along the Port Germein-Murraytown Rd, say, west of Bangor.] We had brief stop in Murraytown (v small), Fullerville (only former church & some ruins), lunch in Booleroo Centre. Cafe opened just for us. Plenty of time for a pleasant walk around town. Next to former Arwakurra school, an abandoned ruin, nearby white clay was mined 1950-65. Along back roads, unsealed, some just dirt, we came to Pekina, yet another sleepy town, hotel still in use, not much else. 2 Catholic churches (old 1876 & new 1925 & I’m not sure how often services). Another back road to an old Lutheran church, still roofed, but no windows, doors or floorboards.
Booleroo Whim settlement was based around a govt well. Nothing but an info board overlooking the gum trees in the creek, very quiet, very pretty, down the road another church, Uniting, this one still in use. Another back road, in the corner of a paddock a white-painted church, Lutheran, closed, just a shell. The present owners have put an info board behind the grill door and we had a glimpse inside. This district was once farmed by settlers with large families. Times change, small farms are combined, smaller families, young people leave for the city. Amenities such as shop, hotel, bank, churches fade away.
A brief stop at an old stone shearing shed that once housed 40 shearers who shore 40-50,000 sheep each year. We stayed in Melrose for the night. As nowhere had enough beds, we were spread across 4 locations - cabins, 2 hotels & former bank! I shared a cabin with another lady, we had 2 bedrooms, bathroom, & kitchen/sitting area, quite comfortable. It was a 10 min walk to the hotel for dinner. Delicious roast & veg + sticky date pudd. To be continued.