WEEKLY CHAT (non-osprey) Sunday, February 23, 2020

Had to post quickly as son phoned. Like most of the shop keepers in Shrewsbury, he has been unable to trade for several days because of the flooding and shutting of car parks etc. Now every effort being made to say that the town is open for business.

HARELADY - I enjoyed reading about Seraphina and Luna! Enjoy your visit to see the new babe.
OG and all - I agree with your thoughts about the new virus. There seem to be a lot of differing opinions about transmission and incubation period etc.
Here, yesterday, all hospital visiting was banned because of norovirus. I am healthy ( as far as I know!) but will not buy food such as fresh salads and so on from open containers in supermarkets or unwrapped bread, cakes etc. I've been that way for years. Too many people don't observe basic hygiene......

Pat - The weather's been very changeable, here. The window cleaner came this morning and worked in bright sunshine. As I stood at the front door, paying him afterwards, the heavens opened and it hailed! He had to run back to his van!

Heather, that sounds like a pleasant day out with your daughter. Hope she's pleased with her car. I keep adding to just a few Portmerion plates which my mother left me - I've now got enough to serve lunch for 4 or 5 people, but not sure when I'm going to use them! Of course, where we go to in Wales is very near to Portmerion itself and on occasion we see special offers on the china but not as much of a bargain as that!

Edit:  I agree about the hygiene thing. Our local supermarket stopped putting the bread on racks and shelves and has now displayed them on old wooden table tops,  which you can walk around, which makes me cringe as someone only has to sneeze....  And I always, always wash my hands as soon as I get home.

We were busy this morning. My OH cleaned the glass oven doors for me, then put in some failed light bulbs. Then I helped him and we put up the CD shelf we had taken down from our dining room, and relocated to the study. Then he went out for coffees with his golfing pals, as they're all missing their golf but it's just not fit to play and the courses are closed.

He came home admitting sheepishly that they'd had bacon butties after their coffee, so he missed lunch!

Morning all:

Diane: I think you should put that day trip to see the bison on your list of things to do once the weather warms up - you could go on a weekday with fewer visitors (watch out for school groups though!).

OG: I love Greek Yogurt - Costco sells their own wonderful organic nonfat brand that's still very thick and forms a major part of my diet!

Heather: Sounds like a perfect day out.  We have a store here called Pier One - it started back in the 60s/70s with lots of hippie-style clothing, jewelry and imported goods from India, etc. at great prices We had one near my house in Long Beach and I was always popping in there. It became very pricey and life-style-y over the decades and has just announced it's closing all its stores. Anyway, I contacted the development's management office and suggested they get in touch with TJMaxx's corporate office and tell them there's an opportunity for a store in that location (the nearest one is 30 miles away). It's in the same development as Costco, the new Target, Home Depot, etc. Then I called TJMaxx's head office myself, spoke to someone in marketing who sounded very interested and took all the info and said he'd pass it on to their Real Estate office. Fingers crossed somebody picks up on it. When Orchard Supply Hardware closed their store around the corner, there was a general wailing from folks on the neighborhood website about the lack of a good local hardware store and lo and behold, 18 months later Ace Hardware arrived. :-) And yes, I see a lot of Portmeiron stuff at TJMaxx; also at Marshall's, their other (somewhat cheaper) discount store chain. What kind of car did daughter end up with? Do hope business picks up for your son and other folks....

Must do stuff today.....

Just one short shower of sleet this afternoon, plenty of cold sunshine and J walked home dry. OH is trying to decide whether to get a DVD/CD player as the one in the lounge was part of the old DMR which we replaced at Christmas. Looks like he is ordering to collect at Curry's next week.

I've developed a strangely swollen and painful lip - looks like an insect bite. It came up in the night. Have been putting "Bonjela" on it, and swelling seems to be going down slowly.

HEATHER - glad Wednesday worked out well for train journey, time with Younger Daughter and journey home in Elder Daughter's new car (hope she is pleased with it) and some bargain shopping too!

I seem to be missing people out rather too often recently - please forgive me.

The corona virus leads the news in Aussieland. Probably because 1) many Aussie Chinese were visiting g-parents in Wuhan for Lunar New Year and had to be retrieved by plane & quarantined for 14 days, 2) many passengers on the cruise ship in Japan port were Aussies, some caught virus & are in Japanese hospitals, others rescued by plane & are in 14 days quarantine near Darwin – at least 8 of these now have the virus, 3) Aussie universities rely on fee-paying Asian students and those from China are required to spend 14 days in another country before arriving here. The Uni year is about to begin & some unis are delaying the start of first semester. So far all people with virus in Aussieland have come from overseas; no person to person spread - yet. However our govt is planning for the worst. Our economy is badly affected as we import so many goods and so many tourists visit from China.

Good Morning all, Just a quick pop in before I get ready for work, to say that Baby has a name at last - Lily Katharine - after my Daughter, Sister and Aunty Kitkat who we lost in 2017.

I really didn't expect them to include it as my Son in particular is still suffering badly from Sister's death as she died just a few weeks after James was born but I am so pleased they did.

Anyway need to jump in the shower and leave enough time to scrape the car as we have a thick frost.

Have a good weekend all.

Harelady - How lovely that your daughter's name lives on in the new baby. A wonderful way to keep her memory alive within the family. Hope you enjoy the morning exercise scraping the windscreen - fortunately I don't need to go out early today, as we have a heavy frost here as well.

Good Morning. Pouring rain here, expected to last about 24 hours. Ugh. We had a dry night but there is so much water everywhere it's going to cause mini floods across roads, and gardens may be deluged.

Harelady, what beautiful names and how good that your daughter will always be remembered.

I hope OG's lip has gone right today after a painful day yesterday.

Hi, all.

Harelady: Congratulations on the birth of the baby and the beautiful name. I wish the little one and your family all the best. 

OG: I hope your lip is healed now. I also hope you all enjoy the new DVD/CD player.

Annette: I hope you get your TJMaxx. I had one near my apartment when I lived in Indianapolis, and I spent too much money there. LOL

Heather: I'm so glad you had a lovely day with your family.

Lindy: I hope you can get solid, definitive information that will help you make the best choice about your holiday. Not offering any advice, just want the best for you. Also, I forgot to say that the last photos of your grandchildren were adorable. Such lovely little ones.

AQ: I hope your OH feels better.

Lynette: My condolences for your family's loss. I'm so sorry.