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).
Strange news (could be distressing?) on Black Bear Centre site (posted Saturday). Where is Hope? and what is Lily doing?
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Hi all: Sounds like many folks in the UK were too hot today; still probably a lovely weekend for the folks who only get Saturday and Sunday off.
OG: Sounds like your trip to son resulted in some handy housecleaning for him. Marvellous, isn't it! :-) Hope he likes his new job. Congrats on finishing the ironing. But what? A virus? You need another vacation. By the way, I keep reading about "scarifiers" on these pages. I've assumed you're all talking about lawn mowers that make such a racket they scare the wildlife, but would like to confirm what exactly they are. Oh! Ceanothus is almost 100% certain to be in our new garden; I especially like the "Dark Star" version, which is striking (doesn't smell like real lilac though!) Toothache lurking quietly; gum is sore in that area, so rinsing with salt water and hoping it's just a superficial and temporary thing.
The Lily/Hope followers have posted their observations at http://www.bear.org/website/lily-a-hope/live-den-cam.html Interesting.....
Diane: Ugh.90 degrees - with how much humidity? Re town names, Truth or Consequences (inadvisedly, I think) renamed after the TV show, was originally called Hot Springs after - the hot springs that now fuel spa resorts in that town. It's a very small town, and the spas aren't obvious. Why isn't such a weird name, I've often looked at towns, locations where people live and thought, "Why.....?" :-) I always wondered about Normal....
BrendaH: When we went to Folkestone on our annual holidays way back when, we made several trips to Dungeness, where I climbed those circular stairs inside the lighthouse - no rails on the inner edge; scared the life out of me. There's a nuclear power plant there now I think... Congrats on the Ernie win! Do you take the money and run or roll it back into more tickets?
Patriciat: Had to laugh at image of Indy hiding in tunnel. So Tweed has graduated? Is that an age or ability thing? How many levels of rosettes are given out?
dibnlib: The Spitfire went u/s on taxi-ing. Should I ask what happened? :-) Is your OH an historic plane fan?
TerryM: Marvellous shot of the ISS. Thanks for the link. Bet Tiger would like that.
Annette, Re the lighthouse, I thought you may like to click on the link below and see that you can still visit the lighthouse. It may bring back memories, but there is a stair rail now.
http://www.dungenesslighthouse.com/
Annette:
Scarifiers are machines similar to lawn mowers that are designed to remove dead grasses and other unwanted material from a lawn. They use a variety of metal tines (usually wire, but also solid metal blades) that contra-rotate to remove it.
They are essential tools on fine lawns because they help to restrict the thatch layer (consisting of the material that inevitably builds up as the grass grows and is cut off by the mower) which if left unchecked will prevent water and oxygen reaching the roots and will encourage pest and disease attack. It also removes any moss that might build up over the winter months and promotes a healthy lawn by restricting lateral growth .
Brenda: Thanks so much for the Dungeness Lighthouse link!! What a kick! I love the idea of being able to rent it out for private parties - nice to see it being used. I remember that we went out on the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch trains - used to really love that ride. Always such a thrill.
Sandy: Aha! All is clear. I know thatch - we have that here too - chokes the root. (But why call them scarifiers?) An odd name.
Really high winds here tonight may have fatally damaged our wonderful Chinese Elm. When we bought the house, we knew it had a split in the trunk. The previous owners had cables installed that stabilized the tree and for years it's been fine. Last fall we were worried about a large limb that was hanging out over the road and on the advice of the tree pruning people (a reputable company), we removed that limb. But it seems to have thrown the whole tree out of balance because over the last few weeks, when the winds have been consistent and unusually wild, several smaller limbs/branches have come down. Now tonight, a really large limb is down - hanging (safely) at the side of the tree and we can only assume it's not helping the general situation. I hate to see this happen, since it's a wonderful shade tree and none of the other Chinese Elms in the neighborhood have suffered similar damage (which is actually very surprising). We'll have to get someone over tomorrow to remove the hanging limb and then consider how - or even if - we can stabilize the remainder. Maybe the thing to do is plant another tree close by (while we're redoing the yard), keep this one as long as is safe and hope we live long enough to enjoy shade from the new one. Oh dear.
Hi, all.
Alan: Welcome back and glad you had a good time!!! You were missed. Absolutely wonderful photo of the blue heron!!! I so adore herons. Lindybird: Forgot to say that I loved the beautiful pic of your lilacs. Also, thoroughly enjoyed the photos of happy Buzz. What a good dog! Hope a new airport doesn't threaten the purple herons. TerryM: Great shot of the ISS! Brenda: Congrats on your money from ERNIE. OG: Your holiday sounds terrific. Hope you recover from your virus very soon. Annette: Temps here near 90 degrees for the next 5 days, and humidity is 85%+. Hope you get your sore tooth fixed without too much discomfort or expense.
I'm going to bed early this evening, so everyone have a nice Monday!
EDIT: Oh, Annette, so sorry about your wonderful tree. I always hate it when we lose a big ol' tree here. Just awful. Hope you don't have any more wind damage.
Sleep well Diane. But OMG - 85% humidity! Aaargh. If it gets over 30% here (with high temps), we're all fainting dead away.....
Checked in on Phoebe and her two chicks today - they were on a roller-coaster ride with the wind.
G'night all. Have a good Monday.
Unknown said: Dianne – thanks fro link to spillcam – diidn’t get on when I tried – but may have been busy – must try again.
You can try the BP website -- the cam is underwater, 5,000 feet below the surface, at the site of the explosion and the gusher. The BP link is too long to post here, but here's the direct link to Media Player:
http://mfile.akamai.com/97892/live/reflector:46245.asx?bkup=46260
Here's the original government link: http://globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam/
Note the eel (?) on the left retreating from the oil and gas.