Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 19 January 2020

Quiet on here today!

Since 05 January I have been reading the journal I kept last year on my World Cruise. Today I traversed the Panama Canal - and I can remember every moment of it! A really exciting day, even if I did end up looking a bit like a lobster! Sometimes it seems like a lifetime ago, but other times it seems just a few weeks ago, and my memories are still very clear. I still can't quite believe I actually did it …

Dang.  Lost my post thanks to not signing in.

PatO:  My niece visited us in September 2018 and relived her itinerary during the same period in 2019  ("A year ago I was on the train in Chicago/in Santa Fe/ at the Grand Canyon.....")  Has your trip whetted  your appetite for more wanderings?

Lindybird:  I'm feeling down in the dumps about what's going on in DC and hiding out in books and the garden....  All so awful.

Pat -- You must have such memories. We all "watched" you as you travelled, wondering every week whereabouts you had got to next, according to your itinerary.

Annette, I do hope you get the chance to see the Monty Don gardening trip on your tv -- this week the final part is advertised as The West Coast.

Went to a clinic with my OH this afternoon, for him to be signed off by the skin consultant: she said to let her know if he has any concerns in the future, but I was surprised that she did not search his body for any other strange marks. When we got home, I spent an hour sorting out surplus cutlery, as I inherited my mother's huge supply and we already had plenty - I now have to admit that as we rarely entertain, we really don't need that many serving spoons!!

Also trying to sort out how to fit my tablecloths into a drawer which is too small.

Just checked to see if I was signed in. I wasn't!

Thank you DIANE for replying to my question about your local critters at the end of last week. Glad you still have some around.
I do not have close encounters with wildlife like you do, but we live near the Thames, so I see plenty of water birds. I can see three heron's nests from my window, all in the same tree. I am amazed how close together the nests are. At least two are active at the same time. The herons are busy flying around with twigs in their beaks now, and land in the (communal) garden quite often.
Last year's swans and cygnets are spending more time apart. We have a family of five cygnets and another of two.
I love to see swans fly. They are so elegant.

LINDY; It is hard to part with nice things that have belonged in the family, but there is only so much one can use.
I find that I never have enough serving spoons, though, so please send some over! Mine keep disappearing at our Summer Party in the garden. Sometimes they turn up the next year, but not always.

Good to read all the memories of various travels.

AQ : Good that your grandmotherly duties have come to an end, but great that you have been involved in the twins upbringing. Enjoy your free time, and hope you get some decent weather to enjoy it.

Best wishes to everyone else.

Lindybird: Did the skin doc check out your OH  thoroughly when he first went there?  If so, she probably would have noticed additional suspicious changes.  I'll keep an eye out for Monty!

Rosy:  Nice to have swans for neighbors - so cute and then so elegant as you say.

OG:  Any news on how J's eyes are?

It's my b'day next month and OH asked me what I wanted.  This year I actually came up with an idea and have set it in motion:  I went to a our local nursery (garden center with only gardening stuff here - no fun at all!) that specializes in roses this morning and got the name of a guy they recommend highly who's going to come and check out my Cecile Brunner climber, which needs some really knowledgeable person to clean it up at this point Some of the old canes aren't producing much at all and I don't want to do anything too drastic myself. . He'll either tell me/show me or actually do the work himself but will also see what's what with the large older shrubs.  If you don't keep up with stuff here, it takes over everything.   I was talking to the neighbor down the block on the way back. She also has a large-ish corner lot, and she was bewailing the fact that so many gardening services (usually referred to as "mow, blow and go") aren't particularly knowledgeable or careful.  The other thing on my list is to have someone finally come out and fix the irrigation.

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OG - apologies, didn't realise it was a more complicated op. Sorry to here he's having real problems since adjustment and do hope they can sort it our for him.
No need for re-decoration as it only dripped through the ceiling.

Li ndybird - always did like those dresser types of furniture - looks good in the room. When first married we had a round table with a pop up centre piece but didn't come with us to Northampton, not sure why , I think it got damaged at some point.

Just read on FB of a Scottish osprey being found in a bird sanctuary and they have ringed it.

OG - glad to hear that thins are moving re J's glasses problem. Do hope they can fix him up with something temporarily at least.

HeatherB - re emergency plumber, it only took him 15 mins to suss it out. Still, we wouldn't have know what to do so despite the cost at least we weren't flooded out.

Annertte - That man doesn't know when to stop. He comes over very crass with his statements. Grr. don't like him one bit. The sooner he comes out of office the better.

Good Morning. Misty white here again, but my OH has gone off all the same, as he says if it lifts they can play golf.

Annette, Having expert advice or work done on the garden is a great idea for a present. Hope he can sort out your roses. The consultant noticed the mark on my OHs upper leg when he had the chest one removed, but it was the one which turned out to be benign. No one has looked thoroughly at every inch of him, though, which surprised me. I did read in a leaflet about the subject that most of these nasties are usually on the main trunk, though.

I'm going to potter again, as if I get a little done each day, we will eventually have a tidy house again. The drawers which had the cutlery & etc in are now in the study, underneath the new bookcase, and are destined for files and stationery.

ANNETTE – Love the “mow, blow & go” description. Yep, that’s the  lawn men we’ve had!

Adelaide had a cool 20 C day. News that the Cudlee Creek fire officially out and Kangaroo Island fire “contained”. Meanwhile not so good elsewhere with 4 fires declared emergencies in NSW & Canberra. US water bomber crashed near Cooma, killing 3 crew. Such dangerous work. Such brave men so far from home..