HAPPY NEW WEEK!The New Moon (the dark Moon) is on Tuesday.
Last week's chat thread is here.
Everyone have a wonderful week. Spring is almost here!!!
Good morning. Did ironing early. Been for repeat blood tests – no mishaps this time. Now expecting carpet fitter – saw his van nearby, but possible he will have to return to shop between customers. Rain overnight, weather now good, but with wet ground yet again.
Brenda – thanks for Linda’s update – pleased they are feeling relaxed. I hope the demolition noise and dust will be completed before you want to throw open all the windows and doors for spring!
Diane – if USAF can lose control of a weather satellite, it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that they have everything else under control!
AQ – pleased your weekend went well and with cooler weather – but sorry it was so painful for you. Good luck for Wednesday’s shift.
Heather – red cabbages are so big, so mine is slow braised with onion, apple and spices, and then I freeze it in portions for two (J won’t consider it) and reheat in oven (or microwave if oven isn’t on). We had it with Christmas dinner last year. I hope your OH isn’t overdoing the gardening now he has been able to get started!
Not sure of plans for afternoon, but I think we have decided not to go to gardening group this evening.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
OG- I don't know whether to admire my OH or shout at him! He is outside pruning another rose border. BRENDA- Inverness has it's own microclimate, it seems! We have had very little snow this winter but can see it on the hills all around us. There was quite a strong north easterly wind when I came back from Tesco this morning. I don't need to buy food each day but like to get outside for some walking. Tomorrow I will walk to town, must visit the underwear shop aka M&S.
Morning all: Sunny today; more rain tomorrow.
Diane: Thanks for the update on the solar eclipse. That's an expensive piece of equipment (the weather satellite) to go kerpooey so soon. I don't think "kerpooey" is an actual word; probably should be "keflooey"...., but maybe it's my own personal adaptation of kaput.
AQ: Congrats on an extended "holiday" and hope you've already looked at more weekend away options. I only wash my hair a couple of times a week; otherwise it gets too dry, what with our typically low humidity. When do your temps start to drop? Now that the series has ended, I'm anticipating several years of Downton Abbey rerun marathons. Well, it's better than multiple repeat showings of Aging Backwards and Are you Ready for Retirement?
Heather: How many roses do you have? We do all our pruning in Jan/Feb; mine are bursting with green leaves and buds right now. As one who frequently fails to follow her own advice re gardening, hope your OH doesn't overdue it... I think "microclimate" has become the go-to term that weather forecasters use when they can't explain why we didn't get what they told us we would. Talking of which, we had snow at 4,000ft yesterday (lasted long enough for the local TV station to zoom up and film it for the 5 o'clock news).
Brenda: Assume there was no alternative to taking out that old maple tree? Trees always seem sort of sacred to me....
ANNETTE - perhaps 35 or so roses in our very small front garden. OH does a half prune in the Autumn and then another about now (!) before they bud. I always think about our German friends in Bavaria who have about 120 roses to look after. I know that OG doesn't have them because they are so labour intensive and she had to help her Dad with them - am I right OG?
OH is now dozing after his busy day. He is so fed up about getting older and not being able to do what he used to. We had a cauliflower and broccoli cheese bake for dinner and I encouraged (forced) him to have some broccoli.
I think it will be an early night for us both, OH has to get the car into the garage by 8.15am tomorrow for MOT. He will get a lift back home and they will collect him in the afternoon. Unfortunately grandson who is an Audi apprentice is away on a 'team building' week in Cumbria somewhere, so he won't be having the pleasure of working on Grandad's ancient (11 year old) car.
Me again! Carpet finished. Thought I hated it at first! Previous carpet in there was green, but room is now grey and blue. The new carpet looked greenish in the empty room – horror! But once all the accessories were back in, especially the silver-grey “bathmat”, it looks the correct colour! Only a new towel-rail awaited now – and the final invoice for the work done before Christmas!
Heather – that sounds an awful lot of roses! I think you have to admire him – I assume that if the cold wind was causing him any health problems you would know about it – and at least he’s happy, and while he dozes after working he doesn’t need to try to hear what you are telling him!! I hope the MoT is satisfactory tomorrow. Good that Callum is on a team-building exercise – I hope he is enjoying the experience! Well-remembered about me and roses! Dad loved them, and was very much encouraged by a moneyed lady across the road, who I think helped him buy some of them, but he was a slave to them!
Annette – I think “kerpooey” is a lovely expressive word! Possibly a combination of caput and kerfuffle?
Follow-up at the breast clinic in Dumfries tomorrow. One ward of the hospital main block is closed with “Nora”, so we shall go in via the Macmillan Centre entrance! We shall then go for lunch at Loch Arthur, and buy a few organic things including soya-free chocolate for Dau#2 and then shop at Morrisons. It will be a long day, so we haven’t gone out this evening.
Talking of seafood, winkles always put me off but give me cockles and mussels from the seafood stall at the seaside any day and I did try oysters once in Scarborough and they were delish.
Diane - probably wouldn't like to meet one in the dark then but wouldn't mind observing them in daylight hours but are they nocturnal?
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/wildlife-webcams/loch-of-lowes/
RSPB Giving Nature a Home
Its showing it on my Day and Night page ( gleaned from Tiger and Chloe's pages).
AQ - glad you enjoyed your weekend trip. Make the most of your days off before Nanny duty again. Rest those feet!
OG - glad to see you are nearly finished with the refurbishment. Do hope final invoice was not too much of a shock.
And this is the eclipse in progress, courtesy of slooh.com
looks like its almost through