Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 21 April 2019

AQ: Our gasoline prices are on the upswing, with California leading the way as usual. It's either some refinery is doing routine maintenance, or it's the summer gasoline "blend," or something has broken down somewhere in the world.

LYNETTE: Sounds like a nice Easter. Don't ask me what's going on in the world; sometimes I wonder about the human race....

Had a very lazy day; we're having a warmer-than-normal spell, but it should be back to May Gray soon.

Take care all.

Good Morning. Grey here, Annette! A surprise, after days of bright skies. There is rain expected as it comes up from the south, all across the UK. The garden needs it, though.

My hay fever was so bad when I got home that both of my eyes swelled up and even after it had gone down, I was left with big puffy lumps under each eye - too awful for me to venture out today, shopping. Bring on the rain on now, to give me some relief.

I also despair of the human race. It seems that there are more people being taught to hate others, than ever before and in more modern ways.

AQ - Its been the same, here, mad in the shops in a frenzy of food buying, you do wonder who eats it all. I have a whole shelf full of books waiting to be read, but hardly ever pick one up these days. Where does the day go???

An item on our North West News last night, showing one of the ospreys pairs in The Lake District, who have both returned once more after several years of pairing up. At least the empty nest at Loch Garten is not the norm.

Off to hose myself down and then put away the clean clothes (for some mad reason I took far too many warm clothes away with me). Laundry to put on the line before the rain starts.

Also going to investigate buying Bonnie a new harness: she is difficult on an ordinary collar and lead, and needs a proper body harness so that she is discouraged from pulling too much. The one she has is very shabby but for some reason my OH ignores it

Good morning. 

Re the Hawaiian Goose: it is pronounced “Nay Nay”.

LYNETTE – sounds like a good time with family over Easter.

AQ – I never know what I can see during eye tests – I think my brain gets confused and gives up when confronted with the bright lights!

ANNETE – I can’t keep up with diesel prices for our car – it has such a large capacity and good efficiency that we seldom buy any!  Am I right that after May Gray you will have June Gloom?

LINDA – started a bit cloudy, but is bright now, with sun getting through very thin cloud – humidity way up, barometer way down – not expected to rain here until late evening.  Sorry the hay fever got so bad around your eyes – mine are just itchy.  I hope you find the right harness for Bonnie.

A nothing and everything To Do list in the diary for today – fitting in various odds and ends!

ANNETTE/AQ and all: Gasoline/petrol prices almost certainly will continue to surge. Months ago, in an effort to drive Iran's oil exports down to zero, Trump decreed that any country would face steep, punishing sanctions if they continued to buy/import oil from Iran.

Trump granted waivers to some countries, and they continued importing Iran oil, but those waivers expire on 2 May. Prices have been rising in anticipation of the deadline. On Monday, Trump shocked the oil market by announcing that he'll no longer waive the sanctions. Oil prices jumped another 3% on Monday morning.

Oil prices were already up due to refinery outages, as well as trouble in Libya, Nigeria, and Venezuela and now they could soar. Just Google "Trump Iran sanctions gasoline prices 2019" for up-to-date info.

Personally, I'm going to fill up my car tomorrow and also fill my gas can so I'll have lawn mower gasoline.

Morning all: Busy here - plumber is due any minute to do what might be a quick and easy job or muhc more complicated. Fingers crossed for the first.

OG: Yes, June Gloom - but maybe not in June; could carry over to July. One never knows. Have a friend coming up from LA next week for two nights and it looks like May Gray will be back for sure by then.

LINDYBIRD: What a pain that your allergies are so bad. How long does it last - just the Spring? Ever thought of getting tested for specific allergies? I did that decades ago and used to get shots that became more infrequent the more I had (if that makes sense). Never had a problem, but then stopped getting them and now allergies are back, but easily (sort of) controlled by over-the-counter meds. But what works for me doesn't work for granddaughter. You have to keep trying before you find the right one. Watch out for the nasal sprays; you can get rebound congestion or something if you use them too much....

Having lolled yesterday, must now hustle as a former colleague called a wants to stop by Saturday morning on her way back to the LA area from a trip north. House looks like a bomb hit it - a dirty bomb at that. "My" room is littered with photo albums, shoe boxes with now-organized envelopes stuffed with photos and negatives, plus frames with/without photos. Not helped by large fold out project table holding scanner and various bits and bobs that leaves not much space for more than one person.

DIANE - good to see that you are contemplating putting the mower to work, but sorry the fuel prices have risen by a large margin. Watch out for those snakes and other critters when you do get around to it!

ANNETTE - I hope the plumber completed the job without too much hassle. I am sure your friend is stopping by to see you, not your house, on Saturday, so don't knock yourself out in preparations!

OH is busy assembling new plastic mini-greenhouse which is larger and will replace two old smaller ones which gave up last year - having to move things out of real glass greenhouse to make room for tomato plants. He says the rain is arriving - forecast had brought it forward a couple of hours, but it's now happening at the original time! Can't be too much: the Goldfinches are still stuffing themselves in the Willow tree - they even saw off three Greenfinches this morning, which usually win any arguments due to being bigger!

ANNETTE – Regardless of the world price of oil, our petrol prices go through a cycle, lasting 10-14 days usually. A sudden leap to over $1.60 a litre, then the price ever so s-l-o-w-l-y drops to a low of $1.29, before the next sudden increase. I wish they would just find a price in the middle and leave it there. Since nanny duty has reduced to once a week my fuel expenses are much reduced but I don’t always need to fill up the week of low price. Bleah. It is like the supermarket – this week margarine is on special (but not my brand), next week potato chips, etc, etc.

OG – It is the Field Test for glaucoma I dislike as the results are entirely up to me. My eye doc has a new machine which is twice as fast as the old. This visit I escaped before I started seeing non-existent flashes, or missing flashes, and before I got a crick in the neck from sitting still.

I woke before dawn and thought about the good people attending Anzac Day dawn services. Dau#2 used to attend nearby suburb when she played clarinet in the band.

AQ: Huh. I've never noticed those kinds of cycles here, but I'm usually zooming in and out. Maybe you could top off during the cheap times?

OG: Plumber had no problems today; will be back to do some grout work in a few days - and also to redo the grout around the kitchen sink, which has got really tatty over the years.

Take care all; have a good Thursday.

Happy Birthday to you, AQ. I hope you have a wonderful day. Here's a cake for you!

Lamington Cake, an Australian specialty
Photo labeled "Public Domain" (copyright free)