Hi all. Just starting this 'coz going out to birthday dinner with OH tonight (Indian - his choice). Back to catch up with last week's final posts later, (which included a great photo from OG's trip).
Interesting that you both have connections to The Wirral, BrendaH & dibnlib. I used to go there over 40 years ago, when I lived just north of Liverpool. Now married and living in Cheshire, my OH who is a local, has hardly ever been to that part of what as you say, was Cheshire once (tho for others, we must explain that Cheshire is a very large County). We had lovely weather today as not so hot as yesterday, and of course nothing like the number of people I imagine must have been there over the weekend - the girl in the ice-cream shop had run out of a number of things,there had been such demand. - - must go, Ijust heard the rush of wings......
Hi everyone - just to say a big thankyou for all the pics and posts etc on this and the Daily Update pages. It really is great when making short visitations (!) to the camera page. I can then look at the DU page and quickly get a real feel for what has been happening. OH tells me that he heard the news of the second chick on his car radio today. Our ospreys really are famous!!
HeatherB: I know what you mean - this system of having the two pages doing different things is working really well, I think. Its much easier to catch up on things when you've had to be away from the screen for however long, either an hour or a day, or even a week.
Annette: Sorry to hear about your lovely Chinese Elm tree, I do hope you can save it. Now that the whale watching is finished and your OH is going to be away, you can have a 'holiday at home'.... don't blame you for saying you won't cook for a while.
Have been popping in to see the baby Hummingbirds cam, and they do look comical jammed into that nest now that they've grown so much.
Thanks to Alan and also to dibnlib for the lovely squirrel studies. Also enjoyed OG's seagull picture.
Margobird: You had a busy weekend, and only just unpacked from Venice! How was the 'Hairspray' show? did you enjoy it? And did baby Rhys cry at his Christening?
Must go and water my Sweet Peas now, before it gets darker.
Lindybird and Brenda The Wirral sounds lovely, especially with views of wading birds. Glad your day out was enjoyable and that dog had a good time too.
Icelandic volcano update - remains quiet but just noticed the small pipe to the LHS of the crater seems to be giving occasional hot-spots again - the marker on the TI camera keeps going to that area.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Hi OG, yesterday, I did read that although the ash eruptions had stopped, there were still moments of hot steam. Maybe that is what is now showing.
Window boxes planted up for side of shed, veg plants fed, whole garden watered. OH trying to reconcile some charity accounts – I’m keeping quiet! George – glad you are finding time to read, but realise you are very busy with family concerns. I do hope BiL gets the all clear for surgery to go ahead next week. Annette - we too had some clouds this afternoon – they looked quite menacing for a while, but nothing dropped out of them – still very hot, and sky quite clear this evening. I hope the dentist was helpful. Alan (and Margobird) – I have been doing the full catch up thing after a week away, and got myself confused, so probably everyone else too! I think Hamish could do agility – but his owner would need to be fit and willing too! Lovely Snowdonia Squirrel (even if it is grey!!) Dibnlib – lovely Real Squirrel!! Patriciat – House Sparrow chicks are so noisy, and they don’t always stay where the parents leave them, so it is such hard work feeding them! One particular family, “The Three Amigos”, are keeping us well entertained, but there are doubles and a single also. Lindybird – so pleased you and OH and Dog all enjoyed your day out on the Wirral – which I still think of as part of Cheshire!
Went for routine blood tests this morning. Way overdue for steroid injection – Dr and I are never available at the same time, and nurses are not allowed to give them (actually wouldn’t have got it today because of this silly virus thing!). Couldn’t even make appointment for after next holiday – they are in the middle of changing the computer system, so nurse suggested phoning from away otherwise all the appointments will be booked up before I get back! So it’s grin and bear it a bit longer.
Now time for a “little something” before bedtime. Good night/evening/day all. Thought you might like this Bar-Headed Goose at the wildlife park - not sure where he is from, but very handsome!
Hi everyone.The starlings have started to bring their youngsters to the garden. I always think baby starlings are so cute and hillarious to watch, especially when they land on the roof of the bird table and then look puzzled as to how they'll get to the table below. LOL.Diane: Thanks for the list of weird town names. In Scotland we have a few places that are pronounced completly unlike how they are spelt. For example in Glasgow there's and area Milngavie which is pronounced Mulguy. In the eastend of Glasgow there's a street called Causwayside Street, pronounced Cozzyside Street. There's also a village not too far away from me, which is Queenzieburn. This is pronounced Queenyburn.Alan: Glad you enjoyed the holiday in Wales. Brilliant Heron picture.OG: Thanks for posting the GSW picture. They're fabulous birds to watch. patriciat: Well done to Tweed on winning the rossettes.Terry: That's a great astronomy picture.Lindybird: I had to laugh at that picture. See that's exactly what happens when parents let their children watch zombie movies. LOLAnnette: Hope your weather gets better. There's nothing worse than high winds for the damages caused.Everyone: Thanks so much for all the great posts, pictures etc. A very Happy Monday to all.Paul
Warning! This post contains atrocious spelling, and terrible grammar. Approach with extreme edginess.
Evening all: I see the live cam is down. Let's hope it'll be okay tomorrow.
Alan: Cute little squirrel - such appealing little critters.
dibnlib: Do all red squirels have punky hairdos? :-)
Lindybird: Lolly on a stick!? :-) Sounds like a really special day out. Good for you. With whale counting done, I'm thinking of volunteering at the Wildlife Rescue Center, which is about 5 minutes walking distance from the house. They really need people right now to help feed baby birds, mix up food, clean out cages. Also to pick up injured critters and monitor the helpine. They ask for two hours a week minimal commitment, which is the same as the whales, so we'll see.
OG: Handsome fellow, your goose! Was busy in the garden today too. Cleaned out the area under the Navel orange tree, which is looking sickly, and fed it a special organic lunch, then deep-watered it. In the meantime, the Valencia orange tree, which looked terminal last year, is now lush and healthy. They're within a few feet of each other, so no idea what's going on. Dentist was great - he's very conservative and always tries the minimal treatment first - he's pretty sure my tooth was tender from bashing into its opposite number below, so he shaved a bit off it and said to wait a day or four to see what happens. It's already feeling better. Was in and out in 15 minutes (my kind of dentist appointment!).
We have an arborist (actually another transplanted Brit so he must be good, right?) coming at 9 in the morning to look at our Chinese Elm tree and see what can be done. I think we'll also call another tree person for a second opinion, then I plan to get in touch with the company that pruned the tree last Fall and present them with their proposal ("prune to minimize loss" - ha!) and the subsequent problems we've had - we already had to call them back in January due to branch loss, and we really don't want them near the tree at all now. But I do want to make them aware of the problems. \
Heron: I like the sound of Cozzyside Street (pronounced Cozyside of course!)
The oil spill in the Gulf is really beginning to wreak havoc in the wetlands, with Brown Pelicans now coated in oil and folks trying to rescue them. They've closed the fishing grounds so many people are now facing financial ruin with lost livelihoods at the very beginning of their busiest season. The general feeling here is that BP doesn't know how to fix the problem A lot of people are calling for the Feds to take over (and do what? said one commentator on the evening news). I think this is going to have major long-term repercussions as far as offshore drilling goes....
Paul/Heron: Those pronunciations are hilarious! Those would give a tourist a headache trying to figure them out!!! I hope you have recovered from your illness!
OG: I loved the picture of the bar-headed goose. My Dad laughed when he saw it; he liked him, too. Thanks! Sorry about the delay in your steroid injection; not good. Hope you recover from your virus very soon. Lindybird: Loved the zombie baby! Sounds like you had a lovely day -- and Dog did, too. Alan and dibnlib: Loved the squirrel photos.
Annette: I hope the dentist fixed your tooth without charging you an arm and a leg. By the way, this website lists 100s of interesting webcams: http://www.earthcam.com/. They have a great search engine. I thought you might be interested in these:
New Mexico cams: http://www.earthcam.com/search/ft_search.php?s1=1&term=%22New+Mexico%22
Arizona cams: http://www.earthcam.com/search/ft_search.php?term=Arizona&vars=0:27:1:0
New Orleans cams: http://www.earthcam.com/search/ft_search.php?term=New+Orleans&vars=0:12:1:0