Hi all: Pesky cam is down again. Don't forget to check the last page of previous week's posts for a hallo from Caerann and somewhat worrisome news from Phoebe's nest.
Hot, hot here today. Now the wind is back up - chimes are chiming madly and motion sensor lights are coming on and off as the hanging plants sway in the wind. Nice tree man is coming next week; hope our Chinese Elm doesn't sustain any more damage in the meantime.
OG: Hoping to organize a similar video for my daughter's 50th (or rather, have my clever friend help me do one).
Alicat: Oh man; not good news about the hummers. Tried to watch the video, but more than 12,000 viewers were also on the site and the video kept freezing.
Diane: Fascinating about Zaca Station Road! Thanks - must've been a tiny railroad since the distance to Los Alamos is just about 9 miles..... I knew there were wineries up there though haven't visited them yet.
Really tired, so not staying around late tonight. Planning a lazy day at home tomorrow and Monday. Take care all.
Saturday evening – had to do a rescue soak of hanging baskets today after being away Thursday into Friday when it was very hot – despite having water retaining gel in them. It feels like it might rain overnight, but have sent OH out watering everything – better to look silly if it does rain than to lose plants if it doesn’t! I’ve done the greenhouse veg etc, but he is using the hosepipe on all the rest. Yesterday at Gardening Scotland was very enjoyable – biodiversity, sustainability and working with nature were the themes in the gardens, but there were some wonderful new plants there too. I find it difficult taking photos at shows because of people in the background – and sometimes sticking their heads in front of the camera - but may have some worth posting.
Been catching up with news, pictures etc. Share everyone’s shock and horror at happenings in West Cumbria – apparently our local police were put on alert in case he came over the border. Lindybird –I also envy you living near John Lewis – can always think of something we need when we find one – often haberdashery, because where else can you get those things these days? When Dau#2 lived in Aberdeen, she was within walking distance of John Lewis there – heaven! Margobird – have to admit that Hope’s was the first site I checked on when I got home last night! So glad she is doing well so far. Diane – so awful that woman drove off with the newly fledged peregrine chick – how could she fail to see it? Annette – there was a cupcake stall at the garden show – and loads of stuff decorated with pictures of cupcakes! Jsb – thanks for the warning about the parcel which was interfered with. Pleased you got what you wanted in the end – but there are some very unscrupulous people about. Dibnlib – we actually stayed at the Quality Hotel at the airport, because it is right next to the showground at Ingliston, and they let us leave our car on their car park all day! Imagine it was a lovely day for Loch an Eilean yesterday – and I am sure Dillon enjoyed Chanonry today too! We had intended to go to an Osprey day at Caerlaverock today, but were too tired. Also, the person who was supposed to come to look at replacing our boiler next week phoned to ask if he could come today instead. We had decided that if we were paying for Dau#2 to have a new boiler, we ought to replace our own very inefficient 15 year old model! We wondered about solar panels too, but the job would be huge, and advice generally seems to be that it is not worth it in a two-person household.
Still got the windows open here, so being serenaded by a very tuneful blackbird! Goodnight, all.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Here is an interesting way to help you visualise the size of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
I fear for migrating ospreys come August.
See http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/
Tiger Signature
Hello Tiger - not seen you around here for a bit. The link certainly gives an idea of the scale of this disaster. Absolutely horrendous and not good for me to see it right on top of my homeland and its surrounding area/shores. I really hope the leak can be stopped soon. It has already caused such suffering for so much marine life that I think we barely know the consequences as yet. There is a lot of oil rig maintenance work takes place here and one of the latest planning applications was for a huge windfarm to be erected in the same area as the oil rig work takes place, but out into the river Tay estuary. Heaven knows what impact these huge wind turnbines are having on marine and birdlife. I think a lot more research is required. What do you think Tiger?
Hi Emma,
My level of posting does vary. On 24th May I celebrated my 11th year as a poster but I did not realise it had passed until now. Anyway I am not likely to disappear any time soon.
You are right about the wind turbines as I do think they will be detrimental wildlife. Worst thing about them is that they are not that green. When you count up all the carbon used in making the windmills you find that they do not rate well again other forms of energy.
The oil slick is having terrible effects on the birds. I know some people are making heroic efforts to clean the oil from the birds but it is a pointless task. Apparently most of the cleaned birds are dead within a month of release.
That is truly dispiriting Tiger. I saw a clip on the news yesterday or the day before of a pelican completely covered in oil. One of the joys of visiting Florida in my experience is seeing the pelicans living freely along this coastline and that clip brought home to me just how dreadful this situation is. These beautiful shores will probably never recover. Some forms of marine life and wildlife will be completely wiped out by this disaster I'm sure. I hadn't realised that the birds chances were so slim after cleaning. What a woeful predicament and of course BP will pay their fine and it will be business as usual within months but no-one knows how long the environment will take to recover. Anyway, thank you for the link. As I said, the scale of the slick iis more easily appreciated when you see it measured against our own terrain.
Yes a rather grim article here on the outcome of cleaning birds. See http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,693359,00.html
That is really abysmal reading Tiger and of course Der Spiegel is a highly respected publication so I am in no doubt that the article is genuine and reports what the experts think acurately. It is indeed grim. The worry of course is that BP can't stem the flow of oil at all and that this could go on and on but at least they seem to have slowed the flow down a bit. What a truly desperate situation and because of the impact this oil spill has been having environmentally, little consideration has been given as far as I can see to the eleven people who lost their lives in the initial explosion. All very disconcerting and worrying.
Time for me to call it a night. Delighted that Spelbound won Britain's Got Talent. I think we'll see a lot of them in the run up to the Olympics. Bye for now. Emma.
Starting a new thread.
TIGER so sorry to read that most of the cleaned up birds perish within the month. We saw a photo of a pelican struggling in the oil and thought oh good as the write up said it was 1 of 35 saved and cleaned up, but maybe it was all in vain