WEEKLY CHAT (non-osprey) Sunday July 21

Pleasant here. Been for a walk on a big beach, and Bonnie made us laugh by running through the water puddles left behind by the receding tide. Then -- -- she found some dead fish on the stony shore, and rolled in it!! A bath followed, with doggy shampoo, when we returned to base.

OG well done on finishing the newsletter! It must be with a sigh of relief. Enjoy your fun packed weekend.

I love the sound of the salmon salad, ANNETTE !

OG - Paul had to get off the rig on Monday if possible, which he did. Many flights were being cancelled due to fog. I don't think there are scheduled flights every day. The rig is north east of Shetland Isles.

LYNETTE - Sorry that the heat and lack of a stick spoilt your trip, somewhat. I know that tourist shops here sell collapsible walking sticks but if you're not often in that type of shop you wouldn't know that.

LINDY - Bonnie never lets you down, likes to keep you on your toes :-)

We are waiting for rain tonight and temperatures more suited to our homes and ourselves!

Morning all: Another tree trimming company has just come by and will give us a quote after last year's company's rates had jumped somewhat more than we expected. Lots of paperwork going on here; meanwhile I'm still scanning my little heart out every evening. I'm up to 2004 and am thrilled that from 2007 we had a lot of photos put on CDs, which should reduce the actually scanning time! :-)

Hope all are well and that the heat is diminishing somewhat.

I've decided that this house has too much loft insulation! It is currently 30.4° c in my bedroom..... Great in the winter, though!

Goodness, it must be hotter in Scotland! -- its quite pleasant here, "normal" summer temps.

My sympathies.

Annette -- I put all of my pics onto CDs, although I read somewhere that they degrade eventually. But by then, I will have degraded, myself, so what the heck!

Hello everyone,

I am feeling rather ragged. G/ daughter left today. Her mother came to fetch her and she has gone to the Nottingham area, where she will now be living, She has been in the US since she was two.
We will miss her, but two weeks of 10 year old activities has been rather tiring,
On Wednesday, we visited the new children's garden at Kew. It is for children aged two- ten. It does what it says on the tin. Water play and sand for the young ones, and suitably challenging climbing equipment (a lot of natural materials) for older ones. Plenty of seats in the shade for Granddad to rest on!
The plant borders were lovely, but wasted on the children, but something for everyone.

It seems like we have all been hot and bothered (in the UK) The trains to the Midlands were affected by the heat, but D in L and G/daughter managed to get to Nottingham via the scenic route.

Glad you enjoyed your day out LYNETTE, despite the heat.

North Wales seems the place to be at the moment. Enjoy the "normal temps" LINDY.

Hello to OG, Heather, Annette, AQ and anyone else reading.

ROSY: So your family who were living in Ohio have now moved back to England? I hope you will get to see them more regularly. I understand your being tired. I usually enjoy dog-sitting for my friends in Indianapolis, but I found it quite tiring and nerve-wracking this time. I'm not saying that dogs are equivalent to children! LOL Just that providing attention and care is draining. Get some rest now, Rosy,

ALL: I hope you all can stay cool and safe until the heatwave breaks. It was ghastly hot in the city, but it's cooling off to seasonal temps here now.

Good Morning. No wind here at all, after quite a breezy day here yesterday, with fast moving clouds going over. My OH has a red face after sitting on our deck yesterday, I don't think he realised how much the sun would reach him as it felt cooler in the breeze.

Diane, You are right, its a responsibility which weighs on you, and yes, children and dogs both need much the same care, its just that children come out with lots more chatter and questions, LOL!! Glad its cooling off for you now.

Rosy, the gardens at Kew sound lovely, didn't know they'd put in a new children's area.

We're off to the biggest supermarket, to stock up on supplies. This afternoon we have an appointment with a man whose company does the decking for caravans like this, I've persuaded my OH that it would be nice to extend this one, more around the side, giving us more outside space. We'll see what he says.