Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 22 October 2017

Be sure to check last week's thread for an update from Lynette and for great photos of Lindy's holiday!!!

Rosy also had a late post on last week's thread expanding on Lindy's travel pix.

Lynette: Good luck finding a cruise that fits your preferences and your budget.  Too bad the house saga continues.  :-(

Diane: Thank you for starting us off.  Joe got a standing ovation from the packed theatre auditorium before he even opened his mouth. He spoke for an hour and 15 minutes, then answered (vetted) questions for another 45 minutes. We had a lot of UCSB students in the audience and more were watching the live feed in an auditorium on the university campus. His main comments were addressed to them, recalling his early political days in the 1960s when, he claims, the country was split far more severely that it is now. Still, he worries, things are worse now in that people have stopped listening to each other at the political and personal level). His worry is that in addition to the lack of civility or respect so much in evidence, there's no substance in the current debate. For example, he asked how many people in the audience could explain Hillary C's position on a variety of issues during the campaign. "What was her plan?" he asked. He stressed to the students the importance of engaging with the process, but he also seemed genuinely optimistic and encouraged that more and more Americans are speaking out against the divisiveness (I'm sure you saw Bush and McCain's comments last week.) Anyway He spent the last 15 minutes responding to a question about his book, due out in November, about the loss of his son Beau. He knows history,is clearly very knowledgeable about the issues and has no delusions about the realities of tackling those issues. The question of whether he'll run in 2020 didn't come up, but judging from his reception, he'd get a lot of votes here in SB.  So who'd be your first choice?  

Anyway, it took an age to get out of the parking structure and am now am facing a pile of ironing with daughter arriving tomorrow for four days and still have to switch bed linen!

Have a good Sunday all.

Good  Morning, All.  Thanks to Diane for starting us off again with the very beautiful Goldfinch pic.

Rosy, yes, they're lavadas. We saw some, and had them explained to us, and were offered a walk along them but my knees are no longer up to it. 

Lynette - I agree that our 7 day cruise last year was quickly over. This years was 12 days, plus one day travelling, so seemed much longer. I would suggest that the best deals are usually available either when a cruise is first advertised (look in the press, as it's before they even do the following years brochure) or alternatively, at the last minute.  I used to work with a man who waited until he had some holiday leave owing to him, then rang up the travel agents and said "what do you have for next week?" - he usually paid about half price, he reckoned, but of course his choice of destination was more limited.

Here's today's pic:

Love the goldfinch, DIANE and hoping that we shall see the original one back on here, soon xxx

LINDY- OH and I did one levada walk, years ago. It was a short one suitable for elders!

LYNETTE- Sorry about the family home. Your brother must really want to stay there, I'd have given up on the rogue landlord by now. Even council orders get ignored, there is an eyesore building on our High Street and the owners have procrastinated for a very long time despite the involvement of the Council.

Must go, just got a call from grandson. He is coming to wash his car and I must unlock doors and gates.

It's certainly a dreadful situation for your brother, Lynette. Not one that any of us would like to face.  I thought that the authorities had more "teeth" these days over the matter of conditions for tenants.

We enjoyed our steaks last night, even though I forgot to put the onions in the potatoes! So I sliced them quickly, then braised them in oil in a small pan and threw them over the steak.  Then, when clearing up afterward, my OH broke a dinner plate :-(

Today I awoke and hobbled to the bathroom, as I seem to have laid awkwardly and made my knee twisted and painful. As the day's gone on, it's eased but I still have trouble going up stairs.  We visited sis-in-law this morning and she had her grandchild's King Charles Spaniel to stay, plus one grandchild, plus a really dopey and affectionate Black Labradoodle! 

Made more cards this afternoon, so not had time to put more pics on here, but hope to, tomorrow.

Thank you, Diane for starting the week with that beautiful bird.

Sorry for your brother's situation, Lynette. What a dreadful landlord.

I am glad that I am not the only one to forget an essential ingredient, Lindy. You seemed to have remedied the situation admirably!

Went to OH's golf club for lunch today. He cannot play now, so will become a social member.

I had a smoked haddock tart with mustard sauce, then trout. I can't remember what it was called, but it was stuffed with lemon slices and had a flaked almond coating. Then, my favourite, rhubarb crumble. All very good.

Annette: I am a progressive. Ol' Uncle Joe is not. I suggest you look into his record. I can't say more because I'll get banned from this site.

Rosy -- My face must have been a picture when I had shut the door on the oven, bustled around the kitchen a little, then come across the onions still sitting on the chopping board!! Bah! Usually I forget things because they're still in the fridge or something, but I had put the onions out in a prominent place especially!

Your lunch sounded delightful.  We made bacon sandwiches today, a real treat as we don't usually indulge in much bacon nowadays.

Must get some sleep, another busy week ahead. Don't know how I ever had time to go to work.