HAPPY NEW WEEK and HAPPY FULL MOON!
Last week's Chat thread is here.
The Full Moon is Tuesday. It's the last of three consecutive perigee full moons (so-called "supermoons"). However, its appearance will be more subtle due to a Minor Lunar Standstill.
We are well into autumn here in Indiana. The winds are gusting today, and the brightly colored leaves are falling. The Texas storm front is flowing into the Midwest, and the remnants of Hurricane Patricia will be over my patch on Tuesday and Wednesday. Not good news for my leaky roof.
I've just been bitten hard on the ankle by a spider, who has painfully reminded me that I really need to clean my house!
Many white-tailed deer have been grazing around my yard this past week, and I've spent a lot of time just watching them. If I stand still and stay quiet, I can view them from the doors and the windows and they aren't bothered by my presence. They're so beautiful; they nourish my soul.
Everyone have a great week and enjoy the moon!
Best wishes to OG and EE. I hope they've had safe travels and OG's treatment regimen will be effective and as easy as possible on her body. Thinking of you, Margo.
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Thought I was well behind, but see that I posted yesterday. Plumber and carpenter did a full day yesterday and a busy one – a lot of making good and stripping pipework and flooring back to basics rather than extra joints – great job. Plasterer and his young apprentice (a girl) were here today; not so pleased with his work, looks a bit rough, but I think I shall be happier with it as progress continues – when it does! Nobody coming through weekend, and can’t have them Monday as OH has flu jab, then I go for my pre-op assessments. I think we shall get the plumber and carpenter again next, to fit cabinets etc.
Linda – I was also told that Blepharitis is chronic and will keep returning. My eyes are very sore at the moment, with building dust in the air - and as a fine film through the house; but I did get a duster out and find my furniture today! I have completed 16 Christmas cards in two days, so a good start. Have a good time at Matthew’s party – and safe travelling there and back. Lovely Swan family in Wales!
Brenda – you are right about the radio coming with the men; they even left it playing when they went into town for some extra pipe and some lunch yesterday! But I do like the main two – same ones that did my wet room before, which I think says something good about the company. Sorry about the insect bites – they are such a nuisance when the warmth of bed sets them off itching. I hope everyone had a pleasant evening at the AGM – are you or OH on the committee? No further news from the hospital: nurse had suggested I would hear a date after their Wednesday conference, but I didn’t bother phoning to ask as I can hopefully find out next Wednesday; or maybe they can’t schedule me until I have met with the anaesthetist because of possible complications.
Rosy – so pleased you are enjoying a lovely relaxing river cruise – sounds idyllic!
Dibnlib - Carlisle isn’t yet definite – but I shall be fighting for it! Sorry about the crown – when will you get your RCT? And when is it you go to Barcelona?
Annette – pleased about your cooler weather – mostly warm and wet here right now. Some golf courses here also do very good lunches in quiet surroundings. I think it may have been I who started the discussion about the drowning bees!
Rita – that blackbird will have appreciated your berries, and much better than wasting them. I hope you and Amber enjoyed a pleasant walk at Rosemarkie – lovely spot! I also like seeing the waterbirds on the lake at Brodie. Pleased the missing item appeared!
A lovely thing happened today – my GP phoned before morning surgery. She had received my diagnosis and wanted to know how I was getting on and which operation I would be having. She said she won’t keep phoning to be a nuisance, but I must contact her if I need to. She also clarified that I must keep on the monthly blood tests there and she will monitor those results and any others from the hospital which will appear on screen. I told her about the Edinburgh v Carlisle question, and she said that for me treatment nearer home and sleeping in my own bed would definitely be her choice, and I should push for that scenario. I really appreciated her call.
Just seen the time – must have supper drink and then to bed.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Evening all: New yoga class was quite a workout! But did like the instructor (an older, experienced woman) so will be attending again.
OG: Sounds like things are moving along pretty well with the work on the house. Very nice and reassuring that your doc called to touch base with you.
Rosy: That trip sounds wonderfully relaxing; hope you're taking photos to share! :-)
Lindy: Swan family is lovely - and so regal!
Rita: I too have almost thrown out separately packaged items - usually parts necessary to assemble the main item - and then end up standing on my head sorting through the trash bin.
Tomorrow is Halloween; I got a smaller amount of candy to hand out this year and really hope we don't get too many visitors. Take care all.
Happy Halloween (or Harvest, Samhain, All Hallows' Eve, All Saints' Day, or whatever you celebrate or don't)!
A massive asteroid (actually, a dead comet) will narrowly miss earth today, passing only slightly further away than our moon (1.3 times the earth-moon distance). It will come even closer to our moon, missing the moon's orbit by only 180,000 miles or 280,000 kilometers.
The asteroid looks like a skull -- seriously, according to NASA; look at the NASA photos -- and some of the news media have named it "Spooky".
The closest approach is at 16:59 GMT/UTC (that's 4:59 p.m. GMT/Universal Time). The big rock is 400 meters or about 1,300 feet wide (a quarter of a mile) and will be visible by telescope. It's traveling at 78,000 miles or 126,000 km per hour. It's the largest known asteroid to sweep this close to earth until 2027.
The really scary fact is that this dead comet/asteroid was discovered on 10 October, only three weeks ago!
Lots of info about Spooky HERE.
The Slooh Observatory is going to track and livestream Spooky, the Halloween asteroid. You can watch here.
Am I the only one awake in the UK?
Heard fireworks here last evening, about 10:20pm so I guess not too late - would rather not hear them at all, but guess we shall get them for at least another week - urghghgh!
J gone out - buying clothes this morning and then cinema this afternoon. I am going to iron now while OH goes food shopping.
Good Morning Everyone.
I guess Linda is already on the road to her son's, for Matthew's Birthday celebration.
Thanks for the asteroid information, Diane. They did mention it on this morning's news but didn't mention, Spooky.
In Christian religions,' All Saints Day' is on the 1st November, hence All Hallows Eve on the 31st October, ( Hallowe'en ).
'All Souls Day', a special day of Remembrance for Souls of the Departed, is November 2nd
Their is a great deal of history to read about, concerning these actual dates.
I don't mind giving sweets to the little children, but I do object to teenagers, who are often looking for money, and do frighten some people. This happened to my daughter-in-law in London, who refused to give them money and so they threw eggs at the house windows and damaged garden plants.
OG, There is a hotel outside of our village, which has weddings most weekends. They seem to have fireworks every Saturday night, but they don't continue as long as the bonfire displays. I know about displays that will be taking place for every weekend during November, so that one place doesn't clash with another. They do seem to get noisier every year.
Hello all
I've enjoyed your chat but have not been posting for a couple of days. No reason, just lacking volition!
Yes BRENDA, All Saints Day tomorrow. Elgin grandchildren who attend an R.C primary school are well up on these things and often tell me about them! They and our other 'local' younger grandchildren will be visiting us tonight. It is usually quite a simple affair, they will have practised a poem or song,or similar and get rewarded with some sweeties. The nuns will have ensured that they know about praying for the souls of the departed, on All Souls Day and remembering about the Saints, tomorrow.I do appreciate though that more fundamentalist Christians object to any Halloween events because of the Pagan origins.I agree, there is interesting history about how these dates were chosen by the Church! A bit the same as the choice of 25th December????
It is a beautiful clear day here. OH will probably sweep up more leaves this afternoon. We were both doing this yesterday. The downside of having trees, I guess :-(
Youngest daughter is still on crutches. Serious soft tissue damage to the back of her knee. I don't know what will happen when her OH goes back offshore. OH and I are going to Madeira on 12th November and I won't cancel that except in the worst circumstances, nor would she allow me to. We'll have to wait and see. He is a subsea systems engineer and works ad hoc so never knows when he will be needed. Some offshore boys are on a rota and can make plans. Not so for Paul.
DIANE - I'm about to look for Spooky!
Regards to all-
What odd weather – a wet day again, but once again beautiful sunshine and dry for about an hour before sunset. Now we have mist and breeze – didn’t know we could have those together!
Ironing done, lots of small catch-up jobs done. OH got a new shaver – so we had the usual conversation “How many old ones will you keep this time”. One he wanted to hang onto was my Dad’s – and he died in 1996! Have made chicken and pasta salad for tea – thrown in several odd bits of this-and-that – tastes really yummy!
Brenda – we don’t pray for the dead in the protestant churches after the committal in the funeral service, but we do remember them. I don’t mind the pagan origins of Samhain or the remembrance practices of other faiths and denominations, but I am not happy with what “hallowe’en” has brought into these practices, and I worry about unaccompanied children on the streets and causing fear or distress to people in their homes. I expect some of the Gretna wedding venues have fireworks in wedding celebrations – we just don’t go there at weekends!
Heather – sounds as if you are still recovering from last weekend’s nannying and nursing! Sorry your Daughter’s injury went so deep behind the knee; I hope it will be recovering before SiL goes back to work.
No plans for tomorrow – except maybe outside jobs if dry. We are not searching for a church until All-Hallow’s and All Soul’s are over – and then Remembrance Sunday to follow next week – because this isn’t a good time to be sampling their services! Got to think how to express my “religion” on the hospital form, as they prefer a denomination to “Christian” which is my own preference – not a religion, but a faith!
Unknown said:Got to think how to express my “religion” on the hospital form, as they prefer a denomination to “Christian” which is my own preference – not a religion, but a faith!
I know what you mean about Halloween.......our neighbourhood is like Beirut at the moment.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.