Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 24 March 2019

DIANE: Thanks for the Channel 4 info. I watched Sky on YouTube but will check out their website (thanks for that link; have bookmarked it). Do take care.

Good Morning. Sorry that you're still not feeling good, Diane. Hope that resting helps.

Amber was wearing one of those coats with a big hood, when we took her to the park. She saw the ice cream van but it was not open for business, so we had to hang around for fifteen minutes till it opened, as she was not going to leave without an ice cream! When I saw the size of it, I didn't think she would eat it all, but she manfully chomped on until it was all gone :-)

Pics from our holiday soon., but not many as we have been there so many times I don't wield the camera every day.

I often watch Sky News for a different slant on things from the BBC reporting.

Dull and misty here but supposed to brighten up later.

Good morning on another bright, sunny day – and warming up nicely. We shall be going to the garden centre later. We need a couple of plants: another Clematis for where the everlasting pea gave up, and some more periwinkle to fill a difficult damp corner (what we have isn’t spreading fast enough for me, so I thought we could by a new one and they will gradually intermingle). We also need some composts and horticultural grit – and smoked Bavarian cheese for OH from the deli! He was pleased to do his little bit of cementing before we went out yesterday, and that means I can easily get into the side garden – he bumped the chair through on Saturday, and it was encouraging to see the progress of Fuchsias, Geraniums and various herbs in the greenhouse. He’s really worked hard in some quite short opportunities between the weather.

LINDA – pleased to see your tongue is recovering! We don’t bother with much colour, just one bed of flowering shrubs, in the front garden, as we spend more time in the back, although we are going to put an attractive conifer by the ramp, to break up the amount of metal. Bonnie is looking good, and very calm. The photo of Amber with her furry hood and huge ice cream made me think of “Selling ice-cream to Eskimos” – not PC, I know, but an old expression!

LYNETTE – M&S desserts look good, but I never fancy eating all the sweetness, and we rarely have a pud at the end of a meal in any case! Won’t be doing anything special for Mothering Sunday, which is also my birthday once again. J will be out at dinner time, and we can’t get around to a full meal at lunchtime.

ANNETTE – traditional M&S items are mostly sold online these days – as with all the other stores which are gradually leaving our high streets and shopping malls.

DIANE – you seem much more keen to watch the “Brexit” shenanigans than I am! All so farcical – why don’t they just revoke Article 50 and get on with running the country? I did sign the petition, but there is no sign of it coming up on the timetable although it got millions of signatures! Sorry you are still not feeling well – doesn’t politics make you worse?

On that note, I will cease my ramblings, wishing you all a good day.

Quite dull here today but not raining (yet)

OG - meant to ask you - how did the trouser shortening go? Will you have lunch at the garden centre?
Granddaughter Amy has a weekend job at Dobbies garden centre, she is at college during the week. She is usually on the tills in the café and very usefully, has a discount card for said place.

LYNETTE - good news about your husband's aneurysm.
I don't usually eat puddings but we shall have a couple on the table at the weekend. All my three daughters will be here on Sunday. Youngest son in law is still working, in Egypt, he will arrive home next Wednesday.

ANNETTE - I think that a couple of years ago you asked me if Amy would be able to get the Freestyle Libre patch. Well, at the diabetes clinic yesterday she got wonderful news - funding is available and she will get it very soon! No more finger pricks!

I continue to be worried and embarrassed about the Brexit stuff. I was listening last night to radio 4 programme 'Today in parliament'. At the end of each nightly programme there is a brief resume of what has happened in the House of Lords. A crossbench peeress gave the most succinct statement which I won't repeat here. However, for me, it summed up the whole fiasco very well.

Granddaughter Isla was awarded her green belt in karate last night. She is so pleased and so am I!

LINDA - yes, a big icecream and a lovely photo :-)

Off to the kitchen - making Cornish pasties. Speaking of pasties - I hope that AQ is enjoying cooler days!

Congrats to Isla on her green belt, Heather. She is right to be pleased.  Good news for Amy, too.

I waver between switching off the tv when Brexit is mentioned, to trawling the news sites to find out what, if anything, is happening. Progress doesn't seem to be on the cards much. The sad part is that as it has all taken so much time and effort, a lot of other issues do not have time to be debated.

Dull here but I've just been out tidying up in the garden: my OH did some pruning yesterday and of course there are bits of things laying around which he has not noticed when clearing up. I don't complain because I'm just so grateful that he does it, and that I have him here to do it! We have a regular Greenfinch on the sunflower feeder now, its lovely to see. Still only a handful of Goldies are appearing, though - possibly because our good friends a few doors away are feeding them better than us!

Was thrilled to see that Mrs G has once again returned to Glaslyn nest. They will be celebrating there, I'm sure.

OG - I adore smoked cheese!

Annette: Hey! There's an official U.K. Parliament site that live streams all the proceedings of Parliament for free without subscription. Just go to this LINK and scroll down to "Follow the Latest Business." Click on "Watch." And then click on "Watch Live." You can follow the House of Commons or the House of Lords. You can click on U.K. Parliament on YouTube, if you'd rather watch there.

Hi, everyone!

LINDY: Lovely that your birds are showing up regularly now. Your Greenfinches are a beautiful species, as are the Goldfinches.

OG: I forgot to answer your question. Yes, I knew that this full moon was called the Worm Moon, because this is the time that worms are supposed to begin breaking up the soil. No worms here yet, though. The ground here got so cold during the polar vortex that it's still frozen. It's still getting cold here at night, and staying fairly chilly during the day. It was 25F or -3.88C (that's minus) last night. I think my worms are going to have to rest for a while. Spring is late!

I was sitting in the car park at the supermarket last week, waiting for a prescription to be filled. I looked up and saw a massive red-tailed hawk flying above me. He was soon joined by a big female and they glided all around the land surrounding the parking area. I then noticed that they had a huge nest there. They were beautiful in the sunlight.

HEATHER: Congratulations to Isla for winning her Green Belt. That's a wonderful accomplishment!

Morning all:

Lindybird: I was wondering (having a silly moment) what the new, politically correct version of "manfully" would be - personfully??? :-))

OG: Ah - another lovely UK garden center. I'm jealous. But thinking your "everlasting" pea might need a new name: "the pea formerly known as everlasting"? Wonder if smoked Bavarian cheese might disappear with possible EU departure. Hope not. Being in a "word" mood this morning, I had to check the origins of Eskimo and see it derives (according to Wikipedia) from "ayas-kimew", the native Algonquin words used for their northern neighbors "person who laces a snowshoe." More info here: www.npr.org/.../why-you-probably-shouldnt-say-eskimo. Re retail closures, we have a huge space formerly leased to Sears (very old store; was great for tools and appliances) and there's talk of building a housing development in its place. Meanwhile, we're still lacking a decent hardware store (Home Depot doesn't count) in our area. The reason Diane and I are hooked on Brexit is because we simply cannot stand to see/hear/read about what is going on here! I signed the petition too (being still a UK citizen).

Heather: Hurray for Amy - garden centers rule! How's her diabetes these days? Ah, good news I see. :-) Re the crossbench peeress, I don't know what she said but may be along the lines of "couldn't organize a p***-up in a brewery." Was just reading about karate colors and their significance. So Green represents growth and Blue, her next level, represents the sky and the light it provides to all living things... I love those kinds of connections.   I wrote a short blurb on Mardi Gras the other month and apparently the Green, Gold and Purple colors associated with the event also have spiritual meanings. How old is Isla now?

Diane: Thank you - yet again for the Parliament link (for when I don't want talking heads). Maybe Worm Day would be more accurate than Groundhog Day..... All prescription waits should be broken up by such uplifting sights.

Hope AQ enjoyed her first outing of the year - did she decided not to come back?

OK, off to start the day. Take care all.