Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 28 July 2019

Hi Diane: Thank you dearie!! Looks like you spent the worst of the heatwave in Indianapolis with the a/c and the dogs.

I went to the beach this morning. It was a gorgeous day. Packed some nuts, apple, string cheese and water. Got there early (9:30), set up chair and umbrella, already had slathered myself in SPF50, pulled out my book (biography of Eric Clapton) and had the most wonderful three hours. Did cover up after a bit. There's something about the sound of the surf that's so relaxing..... :-) I should do that about one day a week; it's better than umpity glasses of wine.

Hallo to all. Have a good Sunday.

Annette: Yup. We're back to normal. It's always hot this time of year here, but at least it's not that lethal heat now. I'm glad you had such a wonderful day. No reason you can't do that several times per week! Seriously.

Thanks DIANE. ‘Tis blissfully cool here. Today started out cool & sunny – we both were weeding before lunch – now the rainless clouds are back. Yesterday while I was hanging washing (with freezy fingers), a huge flock of ducks flew over, followed by several batches of stragglers. All sounding like schoolkids on an excursion LOL. I guess they were taking a trip from River Torrens to the Patawalonga (Glenelg).

AQ - Your mention of Glenelg took me straight to a beautiful area of the Isle of Mull (my favourite place on earth!) where I have often seen sea eagles. It's a lovely, peaceful area which I yearn to revisit - haven't been for a couple of years. The whole island was hit by The Highland Clearances in the 18th and 19th centuries. Those who went overseas, taking their (normally) agricultural expertise with them, set up in places like Australia and Canada, taking the names of their homes with them - hence Glenelg, Calgary etc. Calgary is one of the best examples - on Mull it's a very beautiful horseshoe-shaped beach, a few houses, a bit of hilly but fertile agricultural land, and not much else; in Canada I understand it's a huge city! Don't know what your version of Glenelg is, AQ, but I can't believe it's anything like the original!

Having survived the heat reasonably well, it's now quite chilly and cloudy. I'm off to Hickstead for the fourth and final day of the show. We have had two days of increasing heat followed by one day of almost continuous rain. Wonder what today will bring?!?!?!?

Have a good week, everyone.

Good Morning Everyone, and many thanks to Diane for starting us off again. Glad that the furnace temps have stopped for you, Diane.

Annette, your morning on the beach sounds wonderful. I love the sound of the surf, too. We were remarking on it yesterday, in fact, as we noticed the gentle waves here and were comparing them to the huge rollers which we see coming in on the surfing beaches when we are in Fuerteventura.

No weather here today! A rather grey sky and much cooler temps, with a little light rain forecast. We may go to the Garden Centre for a poke around. Hope everyone enjoys their Sunday.

Thank you, DIANE!
I'm not staying on here just now, my gas boiler has died this morning and I'm waiting for an engineer...

There is always something !

Morning all:

PatO: I had no idea Calgary Canada had a tie to Mull.  I also had to Google Highland Clearances.   Fascinating. Thank you!

Heather: Ugh.  Will the boiler man charge double on a Sunday?

AQ: According to my iPhone, it's raining right now (10:30 pm) in Adelaide.  How's the rainfall total shaping up so far this year?  And when does your rainy season end?

Just saw this item on BBC website. Fab photos of osprey fishing. www.bbc.com/.../uk-england-leicestershire-49096866

Ooh! -- -- Thanks, Annette! What great pics, and what a good story. Happiness all round.

Heather -- Hope the engineer's been by now.

We shared a nice slice of choc caramel with our cuppa in the garden centre, sitting in the greenhousy part where you can look out at a beautifully planted slope, showing off lots of the plants available. But this time we were looking out at the rain rather than the sunshine. I inspected, but resisted, a half price clothes rail, and we came away with a cute board book for a certain small person and a pretty deep red heuchera.