Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 12 August 2018

LINDA - that must have made quite a difference to the conservatory.  It's amazing how much longer blinds and curtains (even paintwork)  last these days, with more non-smokers around.  One thing I don't understand about the modern milking parlours - the ones where the cows come in when they feel ready to be milked: how do their udders get wiped?

BONNIE - I hope you have forgiven them the disturbance now you have more space in the conservatory and are being treated like a big girl, no longer confined to the crate at night!

Morning all:  

Diane: Did not stay up for the launch; toppled into bed at 10.

OG: Interesting about Gaelic/German similarities.  We had Latin at school so German declensions/sentence structure wasn't such a big shock.  Still, didn't realize it shared the latter with Gaelic. Glad J is doing better.

Heather: Glad the brood is bringing food.

Lotsa laundry on the agenda for today; the first load is underway. I also need to pay special attention to a few plants that seem to be feeling sorry for themselves and will be Facetime-ing with niece about her trip.

Hi, all. 

I found three (3!) wild turkey feathers near my front door yesterday. I guess the hens are molting (moulting). At some point, apparently, they're coming to my door! LOL!!! Perhaps I should invite them and their broods in for tea? 

Lindy: Congratulations on your personal evolution, learning so many new skills as a young woman! Well done!!!

I can milk a cow and a goat the old-fashioned way, sitting on the three-legged stool without modern technology. I learned as a little girl, and the first time I tried I sent the milk directly into my shoe. LOL

I can drive a tractor, and I can even replace the battery and the spark plugs on a small tractor. 

I can drive a car, but NOT well. I'm a terrible driver, and it's a darn good thing that I rarely drive outside of my rural area. 

I swim like a rock. I was required to take swimming lessons in school at 13. I loathed it. I would make up bold excuses, citing all manner of ailments and conditions, to avoid the swimming classes.

I lied so much and so creatively that my physical education teacher finally called my mother to report my behavior. My mom informed her that I could well become a successful and productive citizen without knowing how to swim. LOL! My parents were labor union liberals, and they thought that the school forcing me to swim was a bit too authoritarian. LOL! Today, I can manage to swim short distances, but not with any grace or elegance.

AQ: I spent a lot of time in a small boat on the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast as a young woman (when I was married). I've seen too many big sharks in those waters, so I have no desire to go swimming in the sea. I love the ocean, but I don't feel the need to be in it. LOL!

OG - In our time, the cows udders were wiped by us, with a big cloth dipped into a bucket of disinfectant type stuff between cows! The newer milking parlours  have an automatic brush with similar cleaning liquid on it which is applied as the cow enters the parlour - they even wear a collar with a microchip which means the machines recognise the cow and keep track of her milk yield!

Diane -LOL!  Your skills are certainly impressive and useful!  Yes, I had a big boost to my confidence when I learned so many things in such a short space of time. In particular, my father looked suitably shocked at my getting a driving licence as he had flatly refused to let me learn or practice in his car. He thought women were incapable of such things, bless him! In fact, learning to drive has been one of the most useful things I ever did. It was certainly needed when my father died and I was needed to drive my mother all over the place, including long trips to visit her relatives. I love the ocean, too, but don't want to be in it!!

Gillian: A hearty welcome to this thread! I would so love to visit your area of Scotland. It always sounds so beautiful.

My ancestors are from Scotland, and they built the house I live in now. They immigrated to the U.S. and briefly settled in what was then officially called the "Indian Territory," which later became the state of Oklahoma. They traveled by covered wagon to Indiana and homesteaded the land that I live on now. I live alone, except for the wildlife (a pair of red-tailed hawks, deer, rabbits, squirrels, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, lots of woodpeckers, and a big fat groundhog with attitude.

I'm glad you can now spend time with your grandchildren after having worked so hard when you were younger. I hope you continue to have a wonderful time with them. So nice to have you here on the thread. 

ChrisyB: I am so very sorry that your brother, D, is so ill. I am sending him my very best wishes for a smooth treatment and rapid recovery and healing. Take care of yourself. 

Such interesting posts, homesteading in the US, milking cows and stories of achievements:-) And enjoying Bonnie's blog, LINDY!

I'm in bed, early for some but not for me. The roast dinner was great- I didn't do anything, didn't even peel a potato! Youngest son in law did all the prep and cooking. I did protest ( a bit!).

Hope everyone had a good day and that FORESTBOAR and family managed to get out for their usual Sunday lunch.

How nice to have a roast dinner cooked for you Heather! Lamb is my favourite too!

Thanks Diane for your concern, but my brother is not feeling ill as such, though he does have symptoms and is perhaps rather more tired than before. It is a worry though of course.

I must join in on the swimming topic - we were all expected to swim from an early age and my father was always a keen swimmer, and diver, so made sure we could swim, mostly in the lake rather than in a pool. My tiny junior school, (which closed many years ago), took the top class, aged 10/11, to the lake in the summer term, I remember being very cold on at least one occasion!  On any holidays we would be in the water, whether a pool or the sea., and also in the lakes if a warm summer. I have not gone swimming at all for years but my sister goes regularly to her local pool, and a brother up here in the warm weather last month was in Coniston a few times.

Diane, your family history is interesting. How lovely that the wild turkeys came to call. They have obviously heard that that you are a 'soft touch' for all wildlife and would be welcome at your door.

I was also one of those who were bussed to the local outdoor swimming pool. It was freezing cold, but we were more hardy then.

Most of us hated it and made no progress at all. As Lindy (I think) said only the very few who were any good, got any attention.

Best wishes to all, especially those with health problems, or those  who have friends or relatives who are unwell.