Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 25 October 2015

Margo - sorry to learn of your recent news, it must be hard to stay positive but do try and I'm sure they will do all they can. Thoughts are with you at this times.

OG - at least they are getting on with the bathroom now so hopefully your new one will be installed pretty quickly after that. Hope having the lowering of the keyboard and monitor will help your neck feel a little better.

Lindybird - thank you for the lovely garden pics. Off to Malta hey, well at least you will be following in royalty steps albeit many years later.

Brenda - nice to see you having lunch out with fellow members but at the golf club!  lol.

Never been to Malta but SiL and OH went some years ago and really enjoyed it. As you say - a holiday is what you make it.

Annette and Diane - Hi.   Hope the storm passed Diane without too much flooding and that you are recovering from it.

Lindy - how lovely that your grandson is 1 already, how time flies.  I keep looking on FB for some friends we made in SA as her dau. posts pics of their little girl. As I probably will never know the joy of grandchildren its lovely to watch her growing up.

Rita - what lovely colours and pics you took. Yes, I read that we are in for a cold hard winter as they said a hooper swan had arrived earlier this month, l month earlier than expected.  We can only wait and see.

Been a miserable start to the day but brightened up and then rain again but at least with the nights closing in you can shut it out.   Still uncomfortable and if not much better on Friday will try and get in to see the doc again otherwise I'll try and sit it out till Monday when hopefully the blood test results will be back. I'm pretty sure its nothing to worry about.

Again - prayers are with Margo at this time and with all who are feeling unwell or undergoing any treatment.

Evening all:

Lindybird: Congrats on the new tablet. My sister and BiL managed to book time in Malta during one of their worst winters, with gales blowing the curtains in their room, even with the windows closed and rain seeping under the balcony doors. How long will you be there? Four pairs of shorts sounds right to me.  Good Lord - Matthew is one already? Eeek.  Did your eye flare up again then or has it been icky all this while?  Had a smile at the thought of you organizing everyone else's tables, etc. to accommodate Bonnie.  :-)

AQ; Practice for kindergarten? That's a new one on me too. 

Rita: Last day was the final day of filming - don't anticipate any further contact. Re butterflies, a butterfly from the southeastern U.S. has been spotted this year in our area - it's a Giant Swallowtail with a wingspan of up to 6 inches. Can't readily find a freebie image, but lots on Google Images!  :-)

Clare: What a cute photo for Margo!

Wendyb: Have fun in Stirling.  This is Daniel Craig's last Bond movie isn't it?  Thanks for the update on the rescued dog.  :-)

OG: Gosh, what upheaval you're going through.  Old Amersham? That must mean there's a new one since I left - we lived very close; such a pretty town (then at least). Wow! What a thrill for grandson to be involved in the Harry Potter movie.  I suspect neither of my elbows will get a look-in!  :-)  Carlisle sounds like a much better option; good luck with that.

Hi also to Brenda and Lynette!

Got really hot and very windy here again today - ugh!  Two more days of this. :-((

Hi, all.

I don't know whether I can follow a post by a famous SoCal movie star! LOL 

Annette: Seriously, I've been fascinated by your account of the work on the movie. I can't wait to watch the film just to see the truck and maybe the briefest glimpse of you! I think I would've been really nervous driving the truck during shooting, but then you're a good driver (and I'm not!). You worked some long hours, but what a fab adventure!

Brenda: I hate fireworks (too much like gun fire), and I always feel so sorry for the wildlife in the vicinity. Hope you're well.

Lindy: I enjoyed all of the photos from the garden show. I think the beautiful display with the skull reflects the Mexican "Day of the Dead" celebrations. I read that 2015 has been proclaimed a "Dual Year of U.K. and Mexico" -- a year-long celebration of cultural exchange between the two nations -- so that might explain the council's theme at the show (even though the actual Mexican holiday isn't until 1st November). I liked that display the best. Glad you found the thorn in Bonnie's foot. I hope your eye heals soon. It's always so annoying when something is wrong with an eye. Have a wonderful time in Malta and I hope the weather is kind to you.

Heather: I hope your daughter's knee and ankle is healing well and will not continue to give her trouble. I know you love your grandchildren, but tending to children is hard work, so no wonder you were tired. I hope you're getting some rest now. I would like to see the Faerie Glen on the Black Isle, where your OH was in the movie.

AQ: The same to you. I know that your child-minding schedule must be so hard on you physically. Try to take care of yourself as well as possible. Go easy on your back.

Lynette: I'm so sorry that you're having pain. I hope you heal very rapidly.

Rita: I hope you're healing well. I was so very sad to read that you may have to move from your home. I hope you can explore every possible option. Such an awful and unfair dilemma for you and your family. I've been thinking of you. I loved your garden photos, especially those large lavender flowers with the long blooms. So lovely. (Sorry, I don't know the species. I don't know much about plants, although I love flowers.)

Clare: Loved the wee Robin photo. You may have already seen this art work, but it showed up on my Facebook feed this week and I thought of you. Hope Limpy and Helen are dealing with their grief.

Wendy: Enjoy your long weekend!

OG: I'm glad that the funeral and travel went smoothly and that you were able to catch up with relatives. I so hope that the work on the bathroom progresses nicely and that the results are everything that you've hoped.

I am so very, very glad that you have the option of getting your radiotherapy in Carlisle! I know that the idea of all the travelling to Edinburgh was distressing you. So happy to hear that it won't be necessary. Sometimes (often!) it pays to protest unacceptable decisions. I will be thinking of you each and every day of your treatment.

Hello to George, dibnlib, and everyone!

Unknown said:

Diane,      How lovely to be able to see those deer so close to you. I am sure that must be good for the soul.

Exactly how big was that spider? Not something I would like to meet.

I hope Patricia has run out of steam before reaching your area.

Thanks for the moon info. Have you a special interest in such things? It has been too cloudy here recently to see the moon at all.

Rosy: I usually post about the full moon and other space stuff. I love astronomy, and I'm always boring everyone on this thread to tears with detailed info about celestial happenings. LOL! I even badgered poor Brenda into getting up in the wee hours of the night to watch the last eclipse. LOL LOL

I enjoyed your description of the seagulls. Your language was so poetic ("They are perched around the boats in the mornings like strings of pearls"). Lovely! I think birds do enjoy themselves. I can tell when the red-tailed hawks here are happy.

I healed from the spider bite right away. It was just an American House Spider. They normally aren't aggressive, but the wee fella was scared by the rustle of my trouser leg and panicked. It's my own fault for not sweeping up my cobwebs. LOL

Diane: Sorry, but you've got the wrong Annette. :-)  Don't spend your money on the movie until I see it first and let you know if the truck survived the editing.  :-)   Brilliant of you to note that 2015 was the UK/Mexico year, which would indeed explain the Dia de los Muertos theme in Lindy's photos.  You do NOT bore everyone with news of celestial happenings and yes, Rosy's description of the gulls was lovely.

Off to bed at this end of the country.

Good Morning.  Dull & wet here today. Such a lot of posts!  Well done to some of you for long replies!  Enjoyed Rita's flower pics - there is still some colour in our garden too, in the absence of frost. Nice Robin pic from Clare - which reminds me to mention Dianes great little cartoon of a corvid - love it, Diane!

Never got back last night to do my post, was busy with phone calls etc. Enjoyed them all, must add to Annettes comment that Diane, you do not bore us with your knowledgeable posts on celestial bodies and space exploration!! It's all wonderfully interesting and adds a lot to the threads!  By the way, there's just been an item on BBC about an Owl saved from exhaustion on an oil rig :-)

Good morning from me too.  Carpenter started early today, and plumber has arrived with some lengths of pipe lagging and various other bits and bobs.  Need to ask for an hour to have a shower during the day between water switch-offs as they will be installing loo frame and shower tray as well as finishing plaster board and floor repairs.

Wendy – thanks for confirming Doggie’s new home – great news!

Brenda – it turned out that the small length of skirting board was “rescued” from that bathroom in about 2006, during previous alteration, and is going back exactly where it came from!

Lynette – a few glitches with the bathroom – some parts ordered wrong or still delayed, but the basics will be usable sometime next week!  The three of us haven’t yet fallen out over sharing the small wet-room!

Annette – Old Amersham is still very pretty, with some real up-market shops and cafes – the other part is Amersham-on-the-Hill.  Marlow is similarly very traditional, but everywhere down there is oh-so-crowded with parked and moving cars.

Think I should use some parts of today to get more pro-active with the Christmas cards – haven’t really started yet – used the excuse that I was designing in my head!