Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 8 March 2020

Good Morning. Dull, wet & drizzly here.

Had a good night. Lots to do here, today. Rather tired of the full coverage of the virus situation, but I suppose we can't complain that there's not enough information about it all...... Personally, I think that too much of it causes panic, but I was pleased to hear that they are trying to clamp down on a lot of the misinformation being put on the internet.

I agree about the media hype, LINDY. Whatever happened to ' keep calm and carry on'? When I think of the blitz and how folk went to bed at night not knowing whether they or their house would survive - I feel rather ashamed of what we have become...

OG - I hope that J settled into this church as I remember he left one church - or at least I think that I remember !
I was sorry to read about your awful night and hope that you don't have a recurrence of the cold, like EE

The party went very well, great atmosphere, dancing ( not me!) and the food was rated highly. The only thing that I made was smoked salmon pate. All else was either bought in or made by my youngest son in law and/or my eldest daughter.

LINDA - glad you have found the energy for your preparations and packing!

HEATHER - J has tried at least four churches since he moved to Dumfriesshire, but he was happy that he had been to "ours" yesterday. The people are definitely opening up to change with the new ministry arrangement and part-time minister. Glad you had a good family party.

Weather here will be atrocious later, when I have to go for blood tests, but the morning has been bright since 7am! J also has a blood test after work this afternoon - a TFT to decide if his thyroxin level needs to be changed again.

Rather dull here, but my OH got out for his hair cut and to buy some throat lozenges - he really is still suffering. I've been busy assembling all the little piles of items from around the house, and doing the usual HW.

Heather - Sorry no time to say earlier, but I'm glad the party went with a swing. I'd love to try your pate, bet its good.

OG - Good that J is trying out all his options! Hope the weather is not too bad for you this afternoon.

Tried to post a pic of our magnolia buds yesterday- no go.  Today, they're open!

ANNETTE - I hope that the videos get sorted out! Your poor OH, what a shock....
LINDY - I'm pretty sure that the dry air and sunshine in the Canaries will help you both a lot x I miss our annual November trip to Tenerife. It really did blow the cobwebs away!

Morning all:   Seems we weren't quite done with Stan, Ollie and  Maria.  I went waltzing up to the library yesterday, waved the video case at the woman behind the desk, told her the story and opened the case to show her the disc  - only to see Stan & Ollie printed on it!  Huh?  Mumbled something (she probably thought 'poor old dear" and brought it back home, put it in the player and lo and behold - the first in the series of previews they insisted on showing before Stan & Ollie was promoting the video about Maria Callas. I figure I must have seen the Callas preview, got it from the library, watched and returned it quickly, but forgot about the preview. And OH, when he turned it on to watch Stan & Ollie, missed the 'The Following Preview...." announcement and when he looked up he saw Maria Callas.  Honestly, talk about losing the plot.....   

Diane:  Forgot to say I was up early yesterday and had a wonderful view of the full moon.

OG:  Four-legged friend was buried in the AZ garden yesterday with due ceremony.  I still say Hallo to Lightning when I'm near the place where we buried her in our garden..   Glad J liked the church; hope the new minister and arrangement attract more folk.

Heather/Lindybird:  So here's the plan:  I need Heather's family to cater my next gathering and Lindybird's husband to spruce the place up beforehand.     I'm surprised that magnolias grow outside there, but I guess they need a wet climate....

Speaking of which, it's very gray and cloudy here with one storm looming offshore and more behind that.  Do hope we get enough rain to bring us up to a normal amount for the year.

Take care all.

Annette: Our magnolia is a modest few feet high, and lives in a large tub near the house (as you can see from the bricks behind it) But over the road from us, there is a pink magnolia which is nothing short of magnificent: it is almost the size of a small house! They seem to like it here. Glad the Stan & Ollie mystery was solved. I know that almost all DVDs run trailers now before the film starts, and my OH moans a lot when he has to sit through them unless I FF.

Done lots of things today and now going to sit down with a sherry in hand and slob....

Good evening all: We returned from Malta late on Saturday. Very glad to get my poor OH back home. The holiday was not a success health-wise.
Trying to get a GP appt. proved a Herculean task. Apparently, because of the corona virus all GP bookings have to be made centrally. A lengthy questionnaire has to be completed on line. I did not see all the questions, or how OH answered them, but I could see he was losing the will to live! The end result was not a GP appt, but to go to A&E .
I did not think this was very sensible, so went down to our surgery. I was told by the young receptionist that he should follow this advice. Our surgery is usually very good, with mature, sensible people. I asked how sensible was it for someone not feeling well and coughing all over the place to sit in a crowded A&E for hours. All OH wanted to do was have a telephone conversation with someone who knew him and his history. Another receptionist came to my aid, and said she would ask the GP to phone him at home. Job done. Antibiotics prescribed, for me to pick up in the morning.

Lindy, I like your daffodils and magnolia. We have a magnolia tree with white flowers like your photo in our communal garden. Big buds, but flowers not open yet. I am joining you with that glass of sherry.

OG ; Are you happy with the Wiltshire Farm products? I googled the company and it looked good.

Hello to Heather, Annette, Pat, Diane ( the full moon looked magnificent, thanks for drawing our attention to it) and everyone else not mentioned.