Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 2 February 2020

Ha Ha Ha DIANE. I am ready for less sunshine! Having said that, here we had an inch of rain Friday night. Very welcome, it was. Twice as much in Adelaide Hills & Kangaroo Island, so I hope the last lingering fires in stumps & trees are now out. There was flooding in Port Lincoln & KI. Fires near Canberra are still serious.

Thank you, Diane, for another bright start to the week. How cheerful! I'm sorry you've had such a grim winter, and hope that you get some spring sunshine, soon.

AQ -- Conversely, glad you've had some rain. You must be longing for cooler temps.

Raining here, as it has been overnight, but it's mild for this time of year and it's supposed to be dry with the sun peeking through, later. We may go to a Farmers Market if we can get ourselves moving.

AQ - pleased about the rain - almost enough to make a difference. Read about the Koala colony apparently killed on an industrial scale by post-logging felling - good to see there is to be an enquiry.

LINDA - no sunshine here - just a grey day with showers. OH gone to church, I am staying home.

DIANE - I knew it was Groundhog Day, but hadn't noticed the palindromic date. I hope you have a spare carrot for your Groundhog! I believe it is being marked here as Hedgehog Day to raise awareness of their habitat needs!

Still feeling low (as well as angry) over leaving the EU - only hope now is Independence for Scotland and a European mindset to allow us back in. Probably not in my lifetime.

Diane, thanks for the link to the date. It also happens to be my sister's birthday, so that makes it even more special than usual! Odd day here. Started with heavy rain, now the sun is shining, but not very confidently. Small bits of blue sky but mainly heavy cloud. But very mild.

Am on my mobile - had probs again with posting this morning. Happy Groundhog Day, everyone!!

Saw on another Site that next year there will be another palindromic date: 12.02.2021.

Sunny here: just been walking round the garden and it's almost nice enough to sit outside! Took some pics, as things are blossoming.

First hellebores.

Snowdrops.

Another kind of snowdrops, with pretty crinkly edges to the petals.

It's frosty here -
Thanks DIANE for getting us going!
I hope that ANNETTE is enjoying the family visit..
I've just had roast lamb, first time I've made a roast for myself for a long time.
OG - There are a lot of strong feelings about leaving the EU. I can see both sides. I heard an interview the other night - from New Zealand. There are apparently some strong feelings there regarding the way that their traditional export market to UK suffered when we concentrated more on EU trading. The implication was that we shouldn't expect to pick up where we left off. Most of my brother's expat friends in France are very angry about things but the impression I get is that they are more concerned about how it will affect them personally ( health care etc) than the bigger picture. As for Scottish Independence - I know many folk up here who are desperately wanting it but their rationale leaves a lot to be desired, sometimes !! I wasn't made to feel particularly welcome when I moved up here in the Seventies because of my English accent. Lots of muttering about the Highland Clearances and so forth. It was amusing to see the reaction when they learned that my father was a Highlander and that Gaelic was his first language. All of a sudden, I was one of them !!!!!

Forsythia.

A pink shrubbery thing which my OH pruned heavily last autumn, so it's still recovering. 

This morning, we went to a Farmers Market where we had fun wandering around, looking at the crafts, and the people! Tried some sausages and some yummy cheese, but came home with a pot of tiny Irises and two pretty hair bows on slides, for Amber.

Here's the Iris: