Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 14 April 2019

Good Morning. Gosh, lots of posts on here. Will come back with replies later, right now I have to go wash my hair & 'hose down' ready for our busy day.
(Just used a nasal spray for my hay fever, which I don't like using unless it's really bad, but needs must)

Hello all-
LINDY - thanks for more pics. I have visited the salt flats in France, Guerande - the salt from there is pretty expensive, especially the Fleur de Sel. From memory, that is the naturally very white salt that they harvest. The other salt is a greyish colour and would normally be used in cooking.

OG - Middle daughter left school the very minute that she could legally do so, wasn't at all academic. As a consequence she has always worked in shops, pubs, cleaning etc. Her first child was born when she was 20 and as her ex husband is an Army man she moved around the country for years, never really needing to work (Army houses, husband an Army officer earning a good income).

ANNETTE - Amy is at college at the moment so in full time education. It is a long story. She got an A in Higher Spanish and was told by the school that she would easily get a degree in languages. However, Amy being Amy (!) decided that she wanted to pursue a career in Childcare. So at present is working towards a degree, which entails her leaving college after the preliminary qualification, then working full time in a child care setting while simultaneously studying for a degree. So she will leave full time education at the end of the next academic year when she will be 19 , hence her Dad will not have to pay maintenance. And he won't, he has another family now..... Callum and Amy will both pay their Mum board and lodging money - no choice. But if/when they leave home, daughter will have even less money coming in, hence the need to plan ahead and try and obtain a full time job. No social housing here - at least unless you are officially homeless. I can't help any more than I do, already, there would be murder committed if we shared a roof :-)

ANNETTE - my son did set up an online shop but it was very quiet so it is in abeyance at present. He does have a website.

Have arrived OK, after a long day. We took a little longer because of heavy traffic on the roads.

Off to put a Cornish pasty in the oven....

Good that you are there x Enjoy the pasties !!
AQ - our Danish friends live in an ordinary area but quite a few houses have boats in the garden, loads of folk sail, it seems to be a national pastime in Denmark!

Regarding hedges and neighbours. When the big front hedge here was removed a few months ago it was interesting to see that our neighbours had pinched a few inches of our garden to put in a stone gate post! It really isn't worth making a fuss about as the fence behind it sits on the boundary line. I had a wee chuckle, though. They probably thought that it would never be noticed.

Heather: Ah OK, so daughter working just part-time now - a good reason to plan ahead. Had to smile at "murder" possibility - I thought that would only be an option in our family! :-))

Have decided to download Pandora onto my iphone (just signed up for a free trial), so that when I go out for a walk I can play music with an energizing tempo. Podcasts are wonderful, but sometimes the topic is so interesting I get more immersed in that than in keeping up a lively pace.

The redacted version of the Mueller report has been released. Will hold off getting involved until the more reliable news sources have had a chance to go through it.....

Annette: This is the most motivational, energizing song in the entire history of the world. I can move mountains to THIS SONG. 

Food shopping in Dumfries this afternoon, then we came home on the "low road" to buy ice-cream at Drummuir, where we also had ice-cream milkshakes. Hedgerows looked good with Gorse still in bloom but contrasted with white Blackthorn. Plenty of young lambs still appearing, and also some very young calves out in the fields with their mothers.

All having lunch out tomorrow - have 10% voucher to use at a hotel in Gretna Green. Fine weather is continuing, so probably gardening before and after!

Though I bought the usual brand, I didn’t like the hot cross buns, too dry & stodgy. Luckily OH, who in previous years rarely ate them, thinks they are good. The rest are all his!

Diane: Thank you for the Springsteen link. I love that group he played with. I've bookmarked it for future reference. :-)

OG: So good to hear that you're out and about and enjoying yourself, new lambs, garden, etc. Hope the Gretna Green lunch is good. Sounds like the ramp, etc., has helped with getting around?

AQ: I was buying the same crackers (things you put cheese on, etc.? don't know what they're called there) for ages and then they suddenly got very salty. I don't know what happens to tried-and-true products. Maybe your hot cross bun baker cut corners baked some in advance and froze them for the Easter rush....

Just FYI, Pat O is now in the Red Sea en route to Safaga, Egypt; Aqaba, Jordan then through the Suez Canal
to Ashdod/Jerusalem, Israel and on to Valetta, Malta, Gibraltar, Lisbon and Home on May 5.