WEEKLY CHAT (non-osprey) SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2018

Evening Everyone from an occasional lurker.  Sending good thoughts to all of you and hoping your various issues and ailments resolve themselves very soon.  Apologies, this would be too long if I responded personally to everyone.  Just thought I'd offer a few possible book ideas for Pat (and anyone else who might be interested).  Firstly, a sort of partial biography of an organisation, a history of the beginnings of the RSPB thanks to a couple of women's groups campaigns against using feathers and whole birds on women's hats in the late 1800s and early 1900s alongside of the campaign for votes for women in the UK.  The book is 'Mrs Pankhurst's Purple Feather:  Fashion, Fury and Feminism--Women's Fight for Change' by Tessa Boase.  I've nearly finished it and am very much enjoying it.  I heard the author give a talk on her book at Birdfair at Rutland Water in August.  Also at Birdfair, I heard Stephen Moss talk about his most recent book 'Mrs Moreau's Warbler:  How Birds Got Their Names'--a very interesting talk but I have not yet read his book.  Finally, a slightly older book (2014) which you may have already read is 'H Is For Hawk' by Helen Macdonald.  She acquired a Goshawk and trained it as part of her way of coping with bereavement--a fascinating, moving and inspiring book.  Good luck and have a great time, Pat!

Gardenbirder - Good to see you.  Thank you so much for your book suggestions.  I have noted them all.  I'm very grateful - always good to be introduced to something new.

Those sound interesting, Gardenbirder: I've got the last one already on a list of "Must reads".

Don't worry about replying to each and every one of us! -- you'd be here all night! Nice to hear from you :-)

PatO – No one will take on the newsletter until you name a date and say “that’s it, I’m finished”. In my experience, volunteers hang back until there is a definite vacancy. World tour? Are you coming to li’l ol’ Adelaide? We do get some cruise ships. I don’t have a Kindle. Before I go away, I browse library’s books-for-sale rack for light (weight) paperback books that I discard when finished. On one of my trips, I took classics, eg Kidnapped (well, I was visiting Scotland!)

That Hong Kong bridge would be too scary for me to drive upon. Once upon a time, leaving Edinburgh, I was determined to avoid the Forth Bridge & intended to drive north via Stirling. I came to a roundabout, saw a sign to Forth Bridge, panicked & took a left turn. It was too soon to turn and I soon realized I was on my way to Bathgate, not on my agenda, but never mind, it was an interesting drive.

Food shop this morn. OH has been in a Can’t-be-bothered-to-go-out mood lately, so I bought stuff for salad rolls for lunch. Yep, he’s decided to be out for lunch. I shall enjoy my salad roll! Then it is off to nanny duty. There will be some news to catch up. Miss7 had a Guides camp last weekend and the twins had their first half-day at Kindy on Friday.

More photos from trip:   The first is a broad and hopelessly inadequate photo of the Painted Desert There's no way you can tell distance, but that dark thin shadow is from a distant cloud and the horizon is miles and miles away.

Just a few miles south of the I-40 are these strange formations known as The Tepees, formations of multi-colored mudstones more than 220 million years old.

This area was inhabited by various peoples over the centuries.  They carved images and symbols into the rocks near the Rio Puerco River (dry most of the year).  Here are a couple of examples. Don't know what this "staircase" symbol stands for, but.it shows up in a lot of Native Art.

And here's the real thing (National Park Service photo).

Just beyond the Tepees and the Petroglyphs is the Petrified Forest.  The first photo shows part of the vast landscape where, if you look carefully, you can see some tiny, tiny dark dots.  These are just some of the remains of trees that lived more than 200 million years ago when the entire region was heavily forested.  The trees were washed by a river and quickly buried by sediment.  Then the area was gradually lifted up (again over millions of years) and when the sediment had been worn down, the trees had been fossilized by the minerals that had covered them.  All the petrified pieces are now quartz,, which comes in different colors depending on the mineral the original tree absorbed.  

And that's if for now.   Last batch will be the Grand Canyon.

Take care all!

Annette - What amazing photographs!  Thank you so much for sharing them.  I have heard of both the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, but didn't think they were anything like this!  Almost makes me want to come to America!!!  No, Won't be touching mainland US, just Mexico, Panama and Guatemala - although with things happening there at the moment, I wonder whether they will change the schedule?  

AQ - We have three stops in Australia - Sydney, Hamilton Island and Townsville.  I'm afraid my knowledge of Australian geography is sketchy so not sure whether any of those are near Adelaide (I do know where Sydney is!).  I really must start doing some serious research about all the places we are visiting so I can get the most out of my time.  I am meeting an online friend in Sydney - very exciting - and am hoping to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

I will try to post a list of the places I will be visiting - and any hints and tips would be most welcome.  I have three books of information about excursions, sent by the travel agent - choosing is impossible, particularly for someone who finds any decision very difficult!  

Good Morning, All.  Dry here but not very blue. Colder weather now forecast for the end of this week, when temps will be much more like the seasonal norm. We have had the heating on, in spasms, but not as much as usual for this time of year.

Annette -- What fabulous pics, thanks for posting them. I too, had heard of the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, but never seen personal photographs of them. Your niece must have been thrilled to see them first hand.

AQ -- Hope Nanny duty goes well. Hard to think that the twins will be off to Kindy already, it doesn't seem long since the excitement of their birth. A new stage for them, and their parents.

Pat - It all sounds so exciting. My sis in law once went to Australia on a tour which included going up the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and was so glad she had taken on the challenge, she said it was well worth doing. You will have to do some research to see what you'd like to see most in each port of call. I know it's always a hard decision!

Thank you, ANNETTE for the pics! I like the examples of native art, esp. the bird :-)

I'm having a catch up day, son is away in Aberdeenshire doing distillery tours.

PAT- you will be away so long, the Kindle is a great idea. I'd be lost without mine, when away from home. Looking forward to seeing your itinerary.

LINDY - I've had the heating coming on, also.

Regards to all, sorry for replies that I've not made.

PS - thinking of OG, I think that she has her telephone consultation tomorrow.

My son leaves on Saturday morning and our Danish friends arrive on Saturday afternoon :-)