Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 7 July 2019

HAPPY NEW WEEK! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! 

  • Hi, all. 

    CNN is livestreaming from several sites (no audio) as Barry heads inland to New Orleans. Barry will likely become a hurricane before it makes landfall sometime tomorrow. The Mississippi River is already deeply flooded and swollen to record proportions, so no one is sure what will happen in New Orleans when the hurricane arrives (for example, whether the levees, which were rebuilt after Katrina, will hold). 

    Hope you all are well. I just thought some of you might want to look at the dramatic livestream video. I'm working, so I won't stay around to chat right now. 

  • Hooray! I've actually managed to log in a long time being told 'error' - 'error' - 'error'. Hopefully this will now work.

    I have been able to read all the posts, but not able to join in. I'm not going to go back and respond to everyone! One thing that I did have to agree with, though, was AQ's comment about the women at Wimbledon being so loud! I almost gave up watching ladies tennis years ago because I have more respect for my ears. Not sure whether I will watch the final tomorrow - I have never enjoyed watching either of the Williams sisters, so I will probably stick with the golf! Going to be difficult on Sunday - men's finals, last day of the Scottish Open, and the cricket. It always seems to be feast or famine for sports fans.

    My holiday seems a very long time ago. I did think the relaxed feeling would last at least as long after I returned as I had been away (if you see what I mean!) but it didn't. Although I have been practicing that most difficult word 'no', I don't seem to be very good at it! So I am now doing almost as much as I was before I went away. Back to golf and bowls, but have only played badminton once since I returned - must get back to that as well. I heard a suggestion recently that we should all put a line through our diaries on one day a week, and try to keep it free. I told myself that was a good idea … but haven't quite managed to do it yet!

    Hope everyone is keeping well. Heather, I for one enjoy reading about your family's 'doings' - please don't stop sharing! My family is so small - but I will be celebrating my great-nephew's third birthday next weekend. Can't believe he has been with my niece for more than a year!
  • Morning all:

    Diane: No live stream on CNN right now, but it's close to hurricane force and with a nasty trajectory.   I see that Acosta has resigned.  What a disgusting cesspool the White House is.....  

    Back later; glued to Nadal/Federer match!

  • Everything okay here - lunch out and then some relaxed shopping, and treated to a coffee by J! He has now gone to folk group. Summer came back today - brilliant! Getting prepared for the Manchester trip - timing washloads to have clothes to pack!
  • Well that was a super match with Roger going on to the finals on Sunday. :-) Lots of grunting from Rafi, which is probably why I prefer Roger. Will likely watch the women's final tomorrow with the mute button on; the screeching is worse than the grunting.

    Heather: My niece buys a lot of clothes at charity shops - she has a great eye and always looks great - sort of a boho-casual combo look where I'd just look old and untidy if I wore the same things! Met a couple by the motel pool in Indio (where it was 107F!!) from NE Scotland (was going to ask exactly where but the chat went off in a different direction). They've been here since 1980, still had their accents and were taking a break from their home in Ridgecrest where they've had all the earthquakes. The wife said she was looking forward to sleeping in a bed that didn't move all night. So youngest son is the one who was evacuated last year; hope the job is secure. My niece is taken her nephew to Whipsnade tomorrow and was busy trying to figure out how to avoid the Silverstone traffic (but at least her livelihood doesn't depend on road works, etc.)

    Rosy: I'm sure your granddaughter will appreciate the ice cream.

    FB: How many cats do you have?

    PatO: Hope you're practicing saying "No" out loud to get used to hearing the word comeout of your mouth. The other thing is to not answer the phone or respond to a text asking you to volunteer until your "of course, I'd love to" reflex has settled down. :-)

    Diane: Just missed another live stream from NOLA.  Up to 10 inches of rain expected, plus storm surge and winds...   A city that should never have been built in that location.....  Not that we helped by destroying the barrier islands.  Oh well....

    I spent hours in the car yesterday. Traffic into LA on the 210 was slow, then the 134 was slow and I was getting tired, so I stopped off at Ikea (a rare visit), then got messed up looking for the freeway on-ramp to continue the trip. Finally found it only to join yet another slow ride, which got even slower once we'd come down the hill into Camarillo (where I stopped for a coffee and to stretch legs) and then even more slow coming into Santa Barbara. This at 2:30 pm on a Thursday?? Unheard of. No idea where they were all going. As it was, I still managed to walk almost three miles according to my phone. Must've been all that schlepping around Ikea. Am planning a watch-tennis-with-occasional-putter-round-garden weekend.

    Take care all.

  • Annette: 2, brother and sister - say no more!!!
  • Me, too, Annette - a bit of tennis, a bit of gardening, a bit more tennis. My OH is looking forward to the cricket on Sunday. First, must go and restock the fridge tomorrow. Where has all the food gone which I bought recently? Hours in the car make me feel like I have to unfold myself like a rickety deckchair when I get out. You must have been tired.

    FB -- I love cats, even though they think they rule the world.

    PatO - Your trip must have left you with many great memories -- lots of us followed your progress around the globe with interest. But I know that feeling which hits you later, when you get back into the old routines, and wonder if you dreamt it all!!
  • Good Morning. How can it be the weekend again, already?

    Horrible looking predictions of how the storm Barry will hit the coast of Louisiana, on our TV News. A very slow moving, heavy rain belt. Oh dear. I do hope the defences will hold.

    Dry here, and no leaves moving in the garden.
  • Thank you for whoever sent the overnight rain!

    Its a pleasant cool start here for a change. For the first time in my life I have been suffering with heat rash (Prickly heat) so this is much welcomed although the forecast says it won't last.
  • I have remembered why I have been both busy and tired - I must be a bit more awake this morning! Granddaughter #2 (the student midwife) is moving into her first rented house with friends. This has inspired J to sort out his storage in our loft, so she can come and choose what she would like; her sister had first pickings last year, but there is still a lot there. so it is all coming down to be sorted and we are separating into "what she might want" and "what goes to charity"!
    I should have remembered what we were doing as it is still ongoing, having taken a day off (very enjoyable) yesterday! J set out for a train to Carlisle today, but there are none running and the replacement buses were full, so we shall work together getting everything down the ladder this afternoon. This morning would be okay for the garden if OH wasn't busy with messages, but this afternoon we could get some rain-showers.
    Good to read all the other posts - and glad FB got rain at last - we also get freaky dry weather when cloud formations divide and pass by on either side!