Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 19 January 2020

OG: I'm glad J is okay after his surgery.

Diane: Thanks for starting us off.  I'm just in from waving my arms and raising my voice at the Santa Barbara Women's March.   So nice to see so many young women in attendance - not only in the crowd, but also up on the stage in leadership positions in the various groups represented. Lots of men of all ages there too.  I'll e-mail you photos of some of the signs - probably not appropriate to put on here.  :-)

Annette: I figured you were at the march. I look forward to the signs. LOL

OG – Glad all is well with J. I hope “other issues” resolve soon.

LINDA – Your new wall unit looks very like Dau’s. Hers are filled with tubs of toys, games, puzzles, building blocks, etc. She allows one tub down at a time, hence there is always something new to play with. BTW would you please slow down; you are making me feel inadequate <grin>

ANNETTE – It does not sound hopeful for the nightcap oak. See here or here for earlier info on species. Probably not easy to reach location to check survival. Also they don’t release exact location to prevent vandals.

DIANE – Thanks for update on your critters.

Yesterday I heard squawks from the crabapple tree. A flash of colour as something flew off, moving too fast, either a lorikeet or rosella. This is when the peaches ripen. Poor birds must be wondering where the peach tree has gone. It could have stayed, there is a tiny space between the house-to-be slab and the fence! No progress on that building, traditionally builders had January off.

Blissfully cool today. Fortunately I wore a light jumper to church – they had the overhead fans on, making a draft. No rain here, just a few drops this morn, not enough to wet anything.

AQ: I'm so very sorry for the rare trees. What a shame. Also, too bad about the peach tree. I'm glad you're getting some cooler air. It's about time. I will try to direct some more your way.

Very cold here tonight with high winds and a "feels like" temperature of minus -15F or minus -26C. I'm telling this weather front to go visit you. 

AQ:  Hmmm.  Not good about the oak.  Too bad they can't be whisked away to be bred (like pandas) safely in other parts of the world.....     And now I read that somebody took out a peach tree?   Unnecessarily?  Argh!

Whisking pandas to southern climes has not produced the patter of little feet. LOL.
The peach tree was removed along with everything (except the lemon tree) on house block behind us. Now the previous owners & tenants never ever watered the lemon nor peach, hence the peaches were dry hard little rocks and only fit for birds. Fruit that fell over our fence became compost.

Thanks to Diane for starting us off again. Unbelievable that its Sunday again - I feel as if at least 2 days went missing this week. Sounds very cold there, so I won't moan that we have a frost again this morning!

AQ - I suppose Ikea stuff is the same around the world. We were surprised once to see some of their pictures of beach scenes on the wall in a restaurant on the Canary Islands! Which are Spanish, of course. They have branches in Tenerife and Lanzarote, it says on their website. I liked the unit we bought because it's multi purpose - you can buy doors for it, or containers including the two woven baskets I had. (Which are black, not the strange colour in my pic!) Sad about the peach tree.

Foggy outside, not sure what we're going to do today. There's always the ironing pile, or more books to sort!

I was in the middle of a post, then the landline phone rang. Site went offline and also got signed out from here. Will attempt another post later. Meantime, regards to all....

Good morning, all - and a happy new week. Thanks to Diane for the information about what the moon is doing. Makes looking at it so much more interesting.

Very frosty this morning. Took ages to scrape the windscreen. Good job I didn't have too far to travel this morning, for a change! Still frosty where the sun hasn't got.

Lovely 'escape' yesterday. We started in Eastbourne. Parked about a mile and a half from the pier and walked along the beach, in all the stones (not easy walking!) and - as the tide was out - around a lot of the breakwaters. The sun shone out of a cloudless sky - amazing for mid-January. Then we walked along the pier and looked back - an almost Mediterranean view, with the sun shining brightly and both the sea and the sky a wonderful blue.

After fish and ships we walked back to the car, a bit higher this time, as the tide was coming in. Then drove to Seaford, where we walked again and watched a spectacular sunset. We left a bit too early - the sky turned almost blood red, which we could see over the cliffs. Wish we had stayed just a few more minutes to capture it with photographs - but it wouldn't have done it justice. One of the best sunsets I have ever seen.

We walked six and a half miles altogether - and not always easy walking! - and there was real warmth in the sun. A fabulous day and a great escape! Made even better for me because my friend was driving, so I could soak up the countryside for a change!