Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 14 January 2018

Have been drowning my sorrows over the fact that you can "pick your friends, but not your relatives......." as the saying goes. Ho hum.

Talking of relatives, my Aunt was sharp as a tack well and long into her 80s and her mother was even older when she made us laugh.  My great grandmother, who I remember well, was what they call a "character".  She had a home cookbook with her favourite recipes written down, and her poetry and jokes were written on the margins: maybe that's where I get some of it from. She died aged 98 sitting in a chair, having just put her scones to bake in the oven.

(How I wish I knew where her recipe book went)

ForestBoar -- the little whirligig has been going for some days now,  every time I post, and sometimes my posts won't post. Bah!

Hooray!! - it went round for ages, but THEN IT POSTED MY POST!!!!!!!

I am little whirligig, I'm here to drive you mad:

Sometimes you post things which are good, but

Sometimes they are bad.

If you have something to impart

Which you really wish to share

You'll find I've gone into a sulk -

You'll be tearing out your hair!

Other times, when it's all humdrum

With no ospreys on the nest

The posts will always come out fine

Even though you've not written your best -

For we're all guilty of the quick, sharp, post

With very little thought,

When we wrote without our brain in gear

And said things we shouldn't ought!

Lindybird: Great little verse!  I too have noticed the pokey whirligig which has definitely been more in evidence the last week or so.  What a shame your great-granny didn't at least live long enough to eat one of those scones.  Wonder what families would be like if we could choose them..... I bet there'd be a lot of people signing up for the option!  :-)

TeeJay:  Thanks to the link for those gorgeous photos. As I said on that thread - they almost make me want to move there.

bjane:   Re upper age limits: Indeed, somebody would sue.  :-) Oh dear; was your courthouse on an island before the flood or was it built there deliberately (maybe the site of the original jail and they wanted to discourage potential escapees?)  

ForestBoar: You would have no trouble at all getting an exemption with all you have on your plate!  

Lindy: I forgot to tell you that I really liked your photos early in this thread. I enjoyed the pics of the stags very much. I'm sorry your relative disappointed you. Lovely story about your great-grandmother. I wish you could find the recipe book!!! My Scottish great-grandmother was as tough as boot leather.

Clare and Limpy: I've enjoyed your photos in this thread. You are both so talented. 

Heather: Thanks for your kind comment to me earlier in the week. I had to laugh at your 2002 Plum Chutney. I was aghast at the age of some of my condiments the last time I cleaned out my refrigerator. 

bjane: Fascinating to have the courthouse on an island!!!

Annette: I know you were joking about emigrating to Denmark (they do seem to be a happy people). However, I actually gave emigration some thought a while back. I was told about an editor position for the English-language division of a Latin American Internet news media outlet (very political). The job was in Quito, Ecuador. I thought very seriously about closing up the house and going down there for a year or two. I decided against applying for it, because I'm not sufficiently bilingual. I used to be able to read Spanish fairly well (I never could speak it adequately), but I've forgotten nearly all of it. At the time the job came up, my house was freezing and I was frustrated with every aspect of my life, so Ecuador sounded pretty danged good. LOL!

Annette-the city is one of very few in the world with the government offices on an island. The courthouse and memorial building were dedicated in 1928. They were built on the bridges over the Cedar River which was a divider between two towns that became one city incorporated in 1849. When the river flooded in 2008 it was decided to save them. There used to be offices in the lower levels and parking and a walking tunnel. Those were all closed off. The county jail is still there but rebuilt (only building that's new). The island itself used to be home to a gang of horse thieves before automobiles came.

bjane: An island refuge for horse thieves. Sounds like the beginning of a best-selling novel! LOL Or TV series. 

bjane: Love it - a former home to horse thieves! So - you're in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, right?  Was just browsing some historical photos courtesy of Google; I see the historical society is moving (has moved?) to the Douglas Mansion.  But my, that was an awful flood in 2008.  

Diane: I used to have a boss who made frequent trips to Ecuador and Peru and I remember him talking about Quito. He used to fly all over the place down there on rinky-dink airlines and said that when a pilot wanted to know where he was, he'd just drop the plane down through a  hole in the clouds and look around! That job sounded interesting, but where do they advertise those positions?

Annette: I "liked" and "followed" that organization on Facebook, so I get their articles in my Newsfeed. The organization includes available jobs in their posts. I like to read news from diverse sources abroad. I find I get a more balanced view of world events. We don't always get the full, accurate story from U.S. media alone.

 I was tired, but I stayed up tonight to watch the vote in the Senate. I don't have much faith that we'll have a functioning government anytime soon.