Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 16 April 2017

I hope that all will be well with Benson, DIBNLIB.

Thank you all for your news and chat. I got back from Shropshire on Monday evening, felt quite wiped out yesterday and have been working in the garden most of today. I leave for Denmark a week today and there are garden jobs that must be done before I go.

I'm thinking about OG every day.

Best regards to all.

Dibnlib: I'm sorry to hear about your concern for Benson. I'm sure the vet will be able to find out the cause. It's awful when you feel there's nothing you can do yourself to help a much loved pet.

Heather: Its not surprising that you were tired after your busy trip. Gardening is tiring, too, using muscles we forgot we had until they ache afterwards! But it's very therapeutic. You must be looking forward to going to visit your friends in Denmark.

Bonnie came home to dig out yet another hole in the lawn, and also had to be washed (again) after rolling in something dead in the fields when walking {{ sigh }}

Some strange wet stuff is falling from grey clouds. Could this be autumn at last? Oh dear, OH has caught my bugs and is feeling miserable. A good thing s-i-l is home this week to coincide with school holiday, as neither OH nor I is fit for nanny duty. Dau had a 1½ hour phone winge about kids. No use me helping her if I spread this virus through her family.

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My Interesting Encounter. My shopping expedition takes me to small suburban complex with supermarket, Target, and in the connecting mall, chemist, newsagent, bakery, hair salon, florist, etc. Yesterday I had finished my shop & was plodding with trolley through mall when I saw A Happening. A woman had stopped to let 3 children (aged 4-8, I guess) have a ride on one of those money-swallowing cars for kids. As the youngest climbed out of the pusher, it, laden with shopping bags on the handles, fell backwards. The woman said “Ï was minding the grandchildren, trying to help my daughter doing her shopping and I‘ve smashed the sauce.” Indeed, red sauce was spreading in main thoroughfare. Grandmother obviously not used to pusher usage & how to, or not to, load it.

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I helped her unload & lift pusher. I said I would stay with kids & shopping bags if she went for help. (I wasn’t feeling very fit to do more.) The supermarket refused to help and told her she had to find the centre’s cleaner, which she did. As I drove out of car park, the woman, treking to her car, waved. All seemed to be well, though perhaps no tomato sauce this week’s menu!

AQ: Well done to you. If that incident had happened in the United States, we would have assumed that the sauce was blood and a shooting had occurred. Everyone would have run like crazy for the exits.

I look forward to reading about your holiday when I finish this part of my project in the next day or so.

Hello to everyone.

Annette and anyone interested: Tonight at 12:13 a.m. in California, 3:13 a.m. in the eastern U.S., and 8:13 a.m. in the U.K., two new crew members will launch for the International Space Station. NASA TV will livestream the event here.

Diane/AQ: Had to laugh at Diane's comment about the spilled tomato sauce (although it's too true to be funny).  

AQ: You earned another sparkle in your halo for helping the grandma, but the market gets a black mark for not rising to the occasion. Hope your cooler weather sticks around.

Diane: Not sure I'll be up that late, but thank you!

dibnlib: Hope Benson did all okay at the vet.

EE: Thank you for updating us on OG.

Have a good Thursday all!

Annette/AQ: When I lived in downtown Indianapolis, one time I was walking down a major street deep in the heart of the city, surrounded by tall buildings. A car back-fired right behind me. I instinctively threw myself on the pavement and rolled military-style behind a metal rubbish bin to protect myself from what I thought were bullets. I found myself practically in the arms of a man who had leapt forward and dived behind the same bin when he heard the noise. We were both a little embarrassed. Strange times we live in.

Nice to hear from Eagle-Eye. Best wishes to him and OG!

Good Morning.  Damp and dull again, here. I will be refilling the washing machine, then going out shopping - I may look at cheap mobile phones, as if I bought one it could be used as a spare in future. Several people I know, keep a cheap mobile under the drivers seat in the car in case of emergency. I use mine sparingly, and mostly use it for texting quick messages to my children. That way I keep in touch without interrupting their busy lives.

AQ - I see you've been a good Samaritan and helped someone out - I find it very sad these days that people often walk on by in these cases, not willing to offer to lend a hand. Hope your OH and yourself, both recover from the nasty bug.

Diane - Laughed at your story of reactions to a loud bang, but it's sad, too. Thanks for the tip off about the ISS.

Supporting Chris Packham all the way. The massacre of migrating birds in Malta is truly awful.