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Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 29 March 2020

Diane in Indiana
28/03/2020 22:43

HAPPY NEW WEEK! 

I hope everyone has a good week and keeps healthy. I'm hoping that everyone on this forum will avoid the virus. Sending you all protective energy. 

BIRD NEWS FROM MY PATCH

The big Barred Owls are nesting at the bottom of the ridge right across from my front door. Every time I go outdoors, one of them gives me a booming hoot. Last year, they nested in a tall, old locust tree on the levee by the creek. We had so much flooding that the nest site turned out to be a precarious perch. I think they remembered it was a dangerous location, so this year they’re nesting low in a tree across from me. They are incredibly loud. Their call sounds like, “Whoo cooks for you? Whoo cooks for you?” They can also caterwaul just like large apes when they're feeling aggressive. They can chill my blood sometimes. LOL!

I walked up the hill to town last week to get a couple of meal items at the little general store. I looked up, and R.T. Hawk was flying above me. He landed on a tall silo and watched while I went into the store. Then, he escorted me back. I think he thought he was protecting me from the big Barred Owls, which are his enemies. I hope they can all stay away from each other. R.T. and his mate are nesting far back in the flood plain away from my house right now.

  • 04/04/2020 11:17
    Usual Saturday absences, I see ;-))
  • 04/04/2020 12:30
    Lindy, I am very glad that you managed to get back from the Canaries. You keep us all up to speed!

    I am also sorry that you are feeling so cut off Diane. Hoping that it doesn't last too long. I am thinking of you, as I think we all are on here.

    I love the gardening quotes, AQ. They are very appropriate for our communal garden at the moment, as our gardener is unable to work, so some of us are tackling the weeding.
  • 04/04/2020 12:37
    It is amazing how time flies. I finished off making a bran loaf which had to soak overnight. Had breakfast and did a bit of jiggie. Our morning walk involves a steep climb so we leave it till about 30 mins after brekkie. Had our dog walk and queued for paper and milk at our local shop. Came home, morning cuppa and a slice of bran loaf, and while OH made sweet potato soup I did the on-line RAD exercises. Amazing, it is now 1235. We received the government letter this morning which I am sure I will find riveting!!!! Hope you are all well.
  • 04/04/2020 13:39
    DIANE- so good to read that you are OK, but not so good about the new phone:-(
    It doesn't seem that long since your brother died - indeed, time passes quickly.

    LYNETTE - to be in charge of infection control and then become infected says so much about equipment etc..
    I will have to stop watching and listening to the News.
  • 04/04/2020 14:23
    AQ love the gardening quips esp the one about pulling to check if it is a weed or not. How very true that is. Garden Centres are closed here, not quite sure why, as gardening is a form of exercise and the queues could be regulated the same way as they do in supermarkets. They are having such a bad time of it as they may have to dump many plants they have been bringing on. Some will have closed, never to return. How sad would that be.
  • 04/04/2020 15:05
    DIBNLIB- Simpson's have just set up an online ordering page, good news!
  • 04/04/2020 15:47

    A shame that not only will the gardening centres lose money & perhaps go out of business, but there will be lots of waste.

    We heard about a plant nursery not too far away who were taking online orders, so I ordered from them yesterday. This lunchtime I opened the door because I'd heard the postman, only to find that there had also been a delivery - there were 6 baby tomato plants, a set of garden bedding plants, & a bag of compost on our step!! Yipee!

  • 04/04/2020 18:08
    Busy day here loads of housework and OH pressure washed our 5 wheelie bins...
    Tesco came up trumps with only one substitution but the dogs really don’t mind what name the apple has just as long as it’s round.
    I did a field and hill walk but solo as the dogs had spent ages bringing out toys from the shed and chasing round and round .
    Long chat with eldest and she and her OH are delighted how much they are saving in fuel costs whilst working from home .
    Youngest still stressed about the situation but her students enjoyed the hot x buns she took in this morning even though she wasn’t even on duty.
    I had already decided not to do the 6 troughs along the cottages front wall thinking garden centres would be closed. I gather some will reopen but I think I will concentrate on the back garden .
  • 04/04/2020 20:29
    Sorry I'm late today - no excuse, not busy. OH didn't work outside - cleaned our bedroom instead.

    Loved the garden funnies this morning. I was very cross that they made garden centres close - you'd think they would at least want veggie growers to "dig for victory!" And flower displays would mean a lot for people needing to walk for exercise who maybe haven't got gardens of their own.
  • 04/04/2020 20:33
    It's been a hectic day again!! I've not stopped all day, there's been lots to see to, interspersed by looking at my phone & tablet to note the latest posts and messages.

    Not had time to ring two people we need to check up on. Must earmark them for tomorrow.

    The Big Birdseed Drama

    Yesterday, when I came back from shopping, I had my OH with me as he had been off to the chemists whilst I was busy shopping, to fetch a prescription. So no one in the house but Bonnie. There in the front porch waiting was a large, mysterious parcel. "My bird seed!!" I exclaimed.

    After we had dealt with everything else and greeted an ecstatic dog, I went to get the parcel. I tried to pull, push and slide it, but it was too heavy and my OH took one end so we could get it through the hall and dining room and hurl it onto the conservatory floor, laying down. It stayed there until after lunch, when I got my scissors out and attacked one end. Then the other end of the cardboard box. Went to kitchen and came back with my strong shears, which will cut ANYTHING! Then said "See how you like this, this'll get you open!" It exposed a big 20kg bag of seed, quite a lot of loose seeds in the box, and an invoice. I examined the bag to see why seeds were escaping: there was a bulge and a tear as I think the bag had been squashed en route.

    I decided to leave it laying there and deal with it later, as my OH had by now gone to sleep in a chair, so I didn't want to disturb him. I grabbed some of the loose seeds and took them into the garden for the birdies. Then I retired to our sitting room to look at a recording on the TV. When I returned to the conservatory, I found to my horror that my OH had found the bag, moved it from inside the remains of the box and set it upright! "Weren't there a lot of loose seeds?" I exclaimed, "And did you see the gash in the side of the bag??!"

    He said that he'd swept up the seeds but not noticed anything. I looked, and there was already a trickle of seeds down the side of the bag. Now, there would be no way to move anything without a tsunami. We got hold of it carefully and about 2kg came out!!! We managed to lay it down gingerly, seeds going everywhere. Then I got him to fetch some strong tape. Meanwhile, more seeds came out.....

    Eventually, we tamed the beast and cleaned up with a dustpan & brush, and the hoover. The escaped seeds were then poured into the top of the bag at last. Phew. Not a lot missing. A big bag to find a home for but my garden birds won't go hungry for a long time!