WEEKLY CHAT (non-osprey), SUNDAY November 29, 2015

May The Force be With You, Brenda!!   Hope you may enjoy the film, anyway -  the original films did have quite a bit of humour in them!  Liked the story of the cats!  I didn't know that cats could become diabetic.

I posted my overseas cards yesterday, only 6,  five to very distant cousins “met” through family history and the other to the last of my mother’s penpals whom I “inherited”. I arrived home to find the first card from an earlybird friend interstate. I shall never get my cards out before her!!! I forgot I was going to put the Advent wreath on the front door. No time today, nanny duty again.

Hi, all.

I opened my front door on Tuesday and yelped as a small bird frantically almost flew through the door into my enclosed porch. R.T. Hawk was right behind him!!! The hawk altered course and flew past me, giving me a stern but patient look because I'd ruined his hunt. Sorry, R.T.!

I spent four nights at my brother's. My niece (age 11) wants to be a writer and insisted that I read her newest pages and "critique" her work. LOL Of course, I was very supportive. My nephew is now 6 feet tall and has a bass -- bass! -- voice and a beard. He's 14 but looks and sounds 25. He sings in the choir.

I've been busy since I came back from my brother's. I had to make an unexpected trip to town yesterday, so I also stopped and got groceries and supplies. By the time I was leaving the store, blizzard conditions had set in and I drove home in heavy sleet and snow. Limited visibility, slick roads, and lots of sweary words!

I think I've managed to catch up reading your posts and will reply this evening.

I won't comment about the horrific news here and abroad. I'll just say that I'm glad Annette is okay. First thing I did when I heard about yesterday's tragedy was to look at a map for the distance between her and San Bernardino.

Replies to follow.

Hello again!  My contribution to cleaning was a deep clean of my bathroom cabinet and drawers, so ended up as one of my flinging sessions!  I created space, so even moved stuff from a tiny wall cupboard near my side of the bed, and cleaned that too.  OH did the “real” cleaning of both shower rooms – although he will still make more mess decorating, he wanted to clean some grout dust off the tiles in his shower, and some mundane routine cleaning too.  Weather started promising, but ended up dreich with pouring rain and we have mini-moats around the trees in the garden.

Brenda – a good suggestion but the words “gently” and “massage” do not fit together in EE’s vocabulary!  But he did find a loose wire in the extractor fan – then this afternoon the light bulb blew in the same room, so that had to be changed!  (I would really like a new extractor fan in there, a really strong one as in the other shower, but maybe not to have to pay for it right now!)  I also wouldn’t want to go to see a star Wars film, but maybe you will be ready for a post-Christmas nap by 27^th December!

Linda – we had our first Christmas card yesterday – from my 97 year-old Aunt – and another today from an old friend in Lancashire.  Think I might post the non-letter ones very soon, just to shift them!

Rita – sorry about the lost post – and the weather there!  Oh, naughty Amber – I imagine her being impeccably well-behaved, but it sounds as if she had fun with the wool!  But a good excuse for eggs and bacon!

Annette – so pleased Peanut seems to have recovered overnight.  Yes, it is a good age for a G.pig, but I hope he will last a bit longer!  I hope Lightning behaved well at the vet – will you be learning to administer her insulin?  An elderly couple down the road had to give twice-daily insulin to their equally elderly dog – he lasted several years with their careful management of medication and diet.  It will be good for you to have Christmas without the family and to spend the time enjoying visits from friends – as you say, you can go to AZ later.

AQ – I don’t have many overseas cards to post, but thanks for the reminder.  Had an email from cousin in Belgium today; when she went back from helping her sister start clearing Uncle’s house, the searches at the port were very thorough – she was asked if she had any sharp implements: she had her Dad’s hedge cutters in the boot of her car!

Diane – poor RT, missing his lunch like that!  A good thing you needed that trip to town, so that you stocked up on essentials before the blizzard, but sorry you had to drive home in it.

Well, another day nearly done – with some painting planned by OH tomorrow!

Didn't finish posting when I wrote earlier, but the phone rang & it was Eldest, who is full of a cold, probably brought home from  nursery by little Amber. He says that she is chattering away now, often to herself - but it's all gibberish, LOL!!

Rita - poor you, what a muddle to sort out. Don't know if I would have had the patience!

Annette - phew!  Hope Peanut continues nibbling. Perhaps he was just pining for home.....

OG - another day, as you say. But a bit more progress on the bathroom front.

Diane - Sorry the weather has closed in. Keep warm!

I went into town for my prescription and some bits & bobs.  The lights are now lit and some of the shops have little Christmas trees suspended above their fronts. Very pretty.

Hello All,

Yes, Annette, we got back on Tuesday, and am still jet-lagged. I always am. Even the hour change when the clocks go back/forward confuses me.

I have commitments on Wed. afternoons and Thursday mornings, but tomorrow I can get back to normal.

Glad to know that Peanut seems to have recovered. We all  appear to be rather attached to him by proxy.

You seem to be getting to know the vet rather well. Hope the injections are not too difficult, for you ( or Lightning.)

If I can remember everyones news,

Good to have encouraging news from Margo. Best wishes to you. Hope you enjoy more nice meals out soon.

Thanks to OG's multi- tasking electrician, her shower room is nearer completion.

(not to mention all the cleaning going on)

Lindybird has been replacing delicate items destroyed by Bonnie. Oh, and some more seasonal  shopping too.

Brenda, I am not into Star Wars either. I am more of a Trekkie, but that shows my age!

Rita, very fortunate that your wool was not destroyed.  Amber must have been  quite careful with it,

Diane, Sorry R. T hawk did not get his meal, but you saved the small bird.

Margo: I'm so pleased that you've received some positive news. The Joe Brown concert will be here before you know it. I hope it's a grand time.

Heather: I'm sorry about your brother's travel difficulties, but I hope you enjoyed a lovely visit. I hope your rash is now diminished. I noted your intention to visit Iceland next time. I've always thought it would be beautiful. :-)

Rita: The knitting must have been too much temptation for Amber. She must have been gentle with the yarn. Glad your project could be salvaged.

Lynette: Good on you for keeping up with the gym!

Rosy: I'm so glad you enjoyed your time in the Midwest!

Brenda: I was so sorry to read of your OH's health issues. I hope he'll be much improved now. Like Rosy, I am also more of a Trekkie, but the new Star Wars film will probably be well done.

Lindy: Happy belated birthday to Tomasz. I hope his dramatic portrayal of the camel will be a success. I was amused to read that you'd watched "Big Hero 6". I watched that with my niece and nephew, and I thought it was cute. I also watched "Gone Girl", which I remember you all discussing. I was not impressed with that one.

AQ: I was so sorry to read of the tragic bushfires. I'm glad that your old home place survived, but I'm sorry that your mother's homestead burned. So very sad. The looters are disgusting.

OG: Lovely to read that you've been feeling so much energy. I hope the pain in your leg and the bruising will diminish quickly. So happy that your bathroom is now nearing completion. I hope you will love it.

Annette: I'm glad that Lightning's teeth were successfully extracted, and I hope her diabetes can be controlled without too much distress for you or her. I hope the wee Peanut will be okay now. Perhaps he just had gas, and he didn't feel like eating until it...um...passed. I had a laugh over your water vs. vinegar incident. Vinegar gives me a monster headache, so I would have hated that!

I hope I haven't forgotten anyone. I had a nice long post composed, I neglected to copy it, and I lost it just prior to posting. Arghhhhhhh! I reconstructed this one from memory, so if I missed you, don't be hurt.

Take care, all.

Evening all: Just in from dinner acknowledging a volunteer in the local mental health field who has done fantastic work over the decades. Good food and some nice wine too - after a rather frustrating day I ended up feeling like a human being again.  

Peanut only ate the one piece of lettuce and apple slice this morning.  I tried to feed him medicinal mush again without much luck, then decided to look for any pointers online and YouTube came to the rescue.  I realized the vet gave us an applicator that was much too short and fat for poor Peanut's little mouth, so I resurrected an old eye dropper that worked much better. Managed to get a good amount of mushy medicine into him this evening without any fuss and will keep that up tomorrow.  Lightning is off to vet in the a.m., probably the last time for this vet. OH and I will probably switch to the one that our friends use. Our current one bought out our old-time local neighborhood (and inexpensive) vet when he retired and really jacked up the prices.

Brenda: From what I hear, you don't have to find a vein to give a cat a shot of insulin. Good luck with the Star Wars family outing. :-))

AQ: Hope nanny duty isn't too exhausting and that you have a good weekend.

Diane: That was one lucky day for RT's dinner.  I read "Gone Girl" and ended up completely exasperated by the amuont of time I'd spent reading it only to come up against a Really Stupid Ending.

OG: Mini-moats around trees sounds wonderful. Ditto flinging session. EE sounds very handy, even if he doesn't do massages. :-)  Granddaughter (former vet assistant) assures me that giving insulin shots is no biggie.

Rosy: Any idea when you'll visit the States again?

Must tuck in Peanut and take myself off to bed.  Have a good Friday all.

Annette: Best wishes for a better day for Peanut. Here's an article and a comprehensive list of foods, noting which ones can cause problems for guinea pigs. I have no idea whether it's credible or not. Just wanted to help.

I agree about "Gone Girl". Really dumb ending, and it also reinforced ugly, archaic stereotypes about women. Not my cup of tea.

The good news is that my brother gave me a couple of his passwords, so I can watch a lot more TV shows and movies online. (Don't tell anyone. LOL)