Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey Topics), 12 June 2016

HAPPY NEW WEEK!!!

Last week's Chat thread is here.

Seems like a lot of folks on this thread have been facing adversity of one kind or another. Sending you all best wishes and good energy.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

  • Seems awful that we were talking trivia when something so awful has happened. I'm shutting down on here now, OH and I retiring for the night, but as normal, I'll hear the BBC World service news during the night, so will hear the latest.

  • I've decided to ignore news for the foreseeable future. It's all so insert sweary word) depressing. I'm so tired of all the media soul-searching that goes on until the next mass shooting - of which we have so many in this country - when it starts all over again.

    That aside, did someone say there was Pavlova for breakfast?

  • Good Morning.  Sad to awaken to hear more of the story of the shooting, which has done nothing except rob many families of their loved ones. I fear this will not be the last of such incidents :-(

    Rather grey skies here, and more of the same damp weather to come this week. We intend to make progress on our redecorating whilst we can't be in the garden. The dining room wall is covered in sample strips of yellow paint, some brighter and some lighter than we have at present - which to choose? I like it to be a cheerful yellow, as the room is darkened by the conservatory attached, and I have a Mediterranean theme with pictures and ornaments which echo our holidays in sunny climes.

    Off for breakfast, which is porridge, not Pavlova!

  • Morning all!

    Just to make you chuckle, OG! The person who never ever wastes food has just discovered a very wilted and unusable lettuce in her cool box. OH, how the mighty fall......

  • Good Morning Everyone. Light rain here at the moment. The garden doesn't need any more watering, but storms and heavy rain forecast for later today. The flowers on our roses, peonies and rhododendrons ( a deep red) and many cottage garden flowers have taken a battering.

    A very sad situation in Orlando. An horrific end for so many innocent lives.

    I did watch the Royal parade. I do think she has held this country together, in spite of her own personal problems. I would hate to think that we will ever end up having a president.

    The village party went ahead, in spite of the rain. We only looked in for the last half hour. There was still plenty of BBQ food remaining, but we didn't partake. We did have pieces of the Birthday cake though, which really was delicious.

    I usually find I can produce a meal for unexpected guests, or we take them out to a restaurant. It doesn't happen very often these days though. We have had occasions when visitors have stayed longer than we thought and the next meal time is approaching.  If it is the family, I don't worry too much. I just say, you can have this / that, or we go out :-))

    Alan. Beautiful peonies. I just wish the flowers would last longer.

    Linda, A wonderful series of photographs of your walk in Wales. Thank you for sharing them.

    Back later, I do need to go shopping !!

  • Brenda:  I enjoyed all of the Royal fuss over the weekend.  The older I get, the more I appreciate all the hard work that the Royals do.  I have in fact, been defending them on another Forum, where some idiots seem to think that having a President would be cheaper (!!) and preferable. Glad your village party went well.  Its nice when people make the effort to be sociable in a community.

    Its rained a lot here, in spite of a break from it yesterday, and at first it destroyed all of the poppies which had just come out, as they are so delicate. Now our peonies, like yours, are hanging their heads and looking limp.  I think I may pick some of them and have them in the house instead. 

    Glad that the Welsh pics were enjoyed.  I have some now of sunsets; we had two wonderful sunsets whilst there recently and I took hundreds of pictures.  Will put them on after my lunch break.  (Edit:  Not all of them, LOL!!)

  • Here are some of my sunset pictures:  they were all taken within a few minutes of each other, standing on our local beach as the sun went slowly down.

    Finally, the glow in the sky afterwards:

  • LINDY - what lovely photographs. Enlarged etc, any one would make a lovely picture for your house. Maybe number 2? I'm no expert but that one is particularly lovely, to my eye.

    Dull but not cold here today. OH went to the bowling green. Didn't win today but had a great time, apparently. He is now sitting in the conservatory doing the ever essential crossword puzzle and codeword puzzle.

    Stepson and family left Inverness today on their way to New York. The flight from Heathrow to JFK is delayed by two hours:-(

    They have got several things organised in advance, including a helicopter flight over NYC and a visit to the Twin towers memorial etc. I'm pretty sure that shopping will be somewhere on the agenda! Before we know it, they will be home again, a week tomorrow.

    We chose not to tell them about my OH's chest pain a few nights ago. The last holiday that they had planned to the USA, the year before last, had to be cancelled because OH's daughter in law's father died just a few days before they were due to go.

    We are pretty well up to date in the garden, an ornamental pear needs pruning and shaping and OH will water pots and baskets etc  this evening. The cold wind has burnt some of the begonias :-( No roses in bloom yet but plenty of buds. Also, despite spraying regularly, the dreaded mildew has made it's annual appearance.

    A week to go and we will know about son in law's job. I can't remember a time when there wasn't something to worry about...

    LYNETTE - good to hear about the new car and fingers crossed for your new kitchen!

    BRENDA - thank goodness that your village party was not cancelled. A lot of folk would have been very disappointed, I think.

    I'd better not mention food, OG ( see my post of this morning). My halo fell off, big style!

    Hoping that MARGO is still feeling OK and regards to all -

    Haven't checked for typos so apologies for any here.
  • Some sunshine, some showers, but OH is outside staking cucumbers, thinning beetroot and hoping to weed among the peas.  Sparrows have been “dust-bathing” between pea rows and got a taste for nibbling off the young shoots from the plants, so don’t know whether we shall ever get a crop from them!

    Linda – pleased you can use non-gardening weather for your decorating – always something to be done in a house!  I do appreciate the Royal Family, especially the Queen, who I think is a marvel (as her Mother before her) – I just don’t find the knees-ups particularly entertaining viewing!  We did see the end of the highlights to watch the flypast, whichever day that was.  Thank you for sharing your lovely Welsh sunsets.  Can you tell me, please, how to make portrait orientated photos insert the right way up?  Mine always end up sideways!

    Heather – had to admit I did chuckle, but was sorry you had no Sunday visitors to eat up that lettuce!

    Brenda – sorry some of the flowers are getting battered by your heavy rains.  Pleased the party could go ahead – a lovely thing for the young ones in the village to remember.

    All I seem to have done today is make a shopping list and send OH to Tesco and the butcher, tidying, ironing and veg prep!  Although we have counted our shirts etc for going away next week, to plan washing according to what we shall need.  Now got to prepare some rhubarb for tomorrow.

    Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!

  • Ha Ha OG! We did have Sunday visitors, stepson and his wife bringing me a red pepper and a green pepper that she hadn't managed to use before their holiday. My OH not very fond of peppers...