Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 20 December 2015

Evening all:

AQ: Coming to a botanic garden near you: The first corpse flower to bloom in Australia (according to Oz's ABC news network) is set to overwhelm visitors at the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden near Adelaide. Hope you've got it on your list of "must sees" or should that be "must smells?" The heat will likely make it all the more pungent.

Lynette: Thanks for the lovely card. I'm all for a peaceful New Year.

OG: Sounds like all your medical must-dos are taken care of before the holiday. Has OH finished the bathroom paint job?

Lindybird: Lovely shots of the boys. Looks like your OH finds them quite exhausting just to watch! :-)  I see ornaments on windowsills no problem with little boys - just dogs.

Went to lovely concert by a local a capella group yesterday afternoon. Lots of traditional and seasonal and mostly English songs/church music. This particular group has been invited to perform at the Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod in Wales next June and is busy raising funds for their trip. They actually sang Suo Gan - a Welsh lullaby - in Welsh (no wonder I couldn't understand the words!). But here's an odd thing (thank you Wikipedia): I Googled "Welsh language" and saw that it is spoken in Wales (duh) but also in the Chubut Province of Argentina where there are about 5,000 Welsh speakers, with about 25,000 total Welsh speakers in all Argentina, the ancestors of whom went there in 1865!   It didn't say specifically why they emigrated, but I'm wondering if it was for mining.....   Or maybe they got lost on the way to Oz in the same way Columbus tripped over the U.S. en route to China.

Anyway, hawk was back today and I had my annual physical (all okay) and then I went off to yoga. Our instructor has been leading very low-key, relaxing classes to offset the general busyness of the season - a very welcome respite for most people.

Have a good Tuesday all. Will be thinking of Margo.

Hi, all. I'll come back here and make replies after I get groceries tomorrow. Dreading the crowds.

Lindy: The photos of Bonnie are adorable. What a lovely dog. Your grandchildren are so photogenic. They are just gorgeous and bursting with personality!

Annette: You might like this link.

Everyone take care.  

Good Morning, All.   Up early as Bonnie escaped upstairs when my OH got up at 6.30am!   Had a wet greeting whilst I was half asleep.

Thanks You for the pretty card, Lynette. Likewise, a Happy Christmas to you.

Annette -  windowsills are quite high ones plus Bonnie is confined to the car on winter visits, with two walks with my OH to nearby woods. He actually managed to get a ten minute nap during the mayhem, whilst we were all watching "Fantasia" which I hadn't seen for ages. EDIT -  I took down with me the 'Antlers' as they already had one pair - Matthew didn't seem to mind wearing them and had them on for ages!

Diane -  We're hoping that the children have inherited all of their respective grandparents best points, they certainly all have a good sense of humour, LOL!!! Thanks for posting the link about the Welsh connection!  I was going to ramble on a bit about the situation there, which I have seen at least twice on travel shows on the TV - it really is rather unusual. When we go to our holiday home, it's in a part of Wales where most of the natives speak Welsh all the time:  it's very difficult to learn and apart from the odd word, we confine ourselves to just hoping we understand the road signs!! Not like any of the other European languages which often have similar roots and things in common. Welsh is out there on its own!

Good Morning. Still very wet and very windy. ( max 50mph today )

Linda, I have sent you a text. Your Grandsons are gorgeous and are obviously enjoying your visit. The roadwork road signs on the Wirral are written in both English and Welsh, probably because Wales is so near and the Queensferry bridges.  

Annette, Sounds like a fabulous concert. I didn't know about the Welsh speakers in Argentina, but my OH seems to know.  

Diane, Hope you manage to shop without too many problems.

Lynette, Thank you for your card and Christmas wishes. I hope you have a Very Happy Christmas.

Just spoken to son and his wife before their flight to Heathrow and then transfer to a flight for Glasgow. They are going to be so tired when they arrive at her mother's house. 

Just a quick post to let you know visit to Consultant was good. Blood transfusion has done the job and HB is 99, nutrients have gone up but platelet level down again. For now will continue to receive a lower dose of chemo and have to let them know if I feel in need of another transfusion. Will have the usual blood test before chemo on 4 January so that will give an indication of HB level. when things settle down it may mean s transfusion every 2 weeks. Consultand says it is Ok for me to extend the time between treatments (5 weeks) which much to my delight means I will see Jie Brown on 5 February.

Finally there is a drug on trial at Bournemouth hospital which may be of benefit to me. The news has only just been released so next time I see her we may find if i would be eligible for or whether  the age aspect will come into force again. I think it would mean having the treatment over 3 days. Fingers crossed that I might be able to receive the treatment. At least there is some hope.

Sister is coming down this afternoon with her grandchildren. Apparently they are fizzing with excitement.

Will post again before Christmas.

Take  care all.

Love  Margo x

Some wonderful photos. Bonnie is quite beautiful and nice pics of grandchildren. LYNETTE  nice card thank you.

One of these very changeable days, blue skies, followed by torrential downpours. We just about stayed dry on Bensons walk. Nice to meet a chap we hadn't seen in ages. He is RAF and now based at  Brize. His family decide to stay here, nice that he is here for Christmas.

A friend who lives in Fochabers has a daughter who is a nurse who works at The John Radcliffe in Oxford. She is working a full shift on Christmas Eve then plans the long drive north immediately after. We will be thinking of her on that long drive. I am sure my friend  won't be happy until she is safely home. 

Margo, that is good news. Always nice to know that there are more treatments becoming available. Great that you should feel well enough on 5th  February.

Enjoy  your afternoon with your sister and excited grandchildren.

Nice pictures of your grandsons, Lindybird.

Didnlib, That does sound like a very long day for your friend's daughter.I suppose younger people can cope with it.

When I lived in Chester, I heard Welsh spoken a lot (particularly in Marks and Spencer)  I wanted to find out what was all about, so went to some Welsh language  classes.

As Lindy said, not a language as you know it. Apparently, it is related to Breton, but I don't speak that, either! It was fun though. I met people who  had insisted on speaking English at home as children, to the regret of their parents. They later wished they hadn't been so anti. It was much more difficult later.

I was learning (but didn't get very far) the North Wales version. Apparently there are differences from the South. Any Welsh speakers reading this?

Such good news Margo and was thinking of you when meeting a close friend this morning.

She is having treatment for a second cancer totally unrelated. Bad news a month ago that they were stopping chemo but better news as she will have further chemo which will include Avastin(?) and she is so positive as she knows it will buy her more time.

Dibnlib my youngest is working 8 nights with her autistic children and finishes shift Boxing Day morning and is determined to drive the 625 miles up here that day. Worries me but as you say youngsters have more stamina and she loves driving.

Morning all:  Brilliant accomplishment by the folks at SpaceX yesterday, bringing a rocket safely back to earth after launch. Who ARE all these smart people!

Diane: Fascinating link re the Welsh in Argentina. Thank you so much for passing it on.  It's interesting that the folks there have become more interested in their Welsh roots rather than let them disappear into the past.  Good luck with the shopping.

Lindybird: All the girls in the local bank were wearing antlers this week - I even spotted one of them taking a phone call from a customer while busy sewing a pair back together!

Margo: Oh great news - and wonderful that you have the all clear for the concert.  Now you can really look forward to Christmas. Hope the new treatment is an option - don't forget to lie about your age if you think it will help.  :-)  Love the expression "fizzing with excitement." 

dibnlib: Can understand your friend's anxiety over her daughter's drive, but maybe the traffic won't be as bad that late?  Well, we can always hope - also that no accidents or bad weather delay her.

Wendyb:  My granddaughter (she just changed jobs) was an EMT on 24-hour shifts  on an ambulance in Arizona and used to drive hundreds of miles in a shift. I wasn't thrilled about it, but she loves driving and now she misses being out on the road.

Rosy: I didn't realize Welsh was so distinct from other Gaelic(??)/Celtic languages - or that there were differences between regions (and in such a small country).

Who was it on this thread - a couple of years back - who used to play an instrument in an orchestra or sign in a choir? I remember she used to mention it quite regularly....

Going to friend's house for brunch today. The four of us typically meet at a restaurant but nobody fancied putting up with the noise and bustle, so we're taking a dish each and will catch up in peace and quiet.

Off to get organized. In the meantime, lovely gray skies and strong breezes with occasional showers here while folks in Cumbria are apparently getting flooded again.