Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 19 April 2020

Oh ANNETTE, I remember the humming birds in California and also seem to remember that they are drawn to anything red...

How lovely to see the hummingbird, Annette. :-)

Another normal day - Church Magazine in the morning, then several hours outside this afternoon. I had two bright ideas which came together for once. The corner around the compost bins was looking a mess and there were bags of secondhand golden chippings hanging about behind the garage, which I had been saying should disappear. Jobs done! And the compost area looks so clean and tidy now. Still need another idea to deal with the other bags of chippings! But I have a happy OH as he loves to mess about with landscaping rather than "real gardening" with green things!

Dibnlib, A lovely flowering tree.

AQ, Sorry that your multi coloured sleeveless vests do not seem popular with the Trio. A lot of effort to make three.
Children have their own ideas about what they will wear as they grow older. That is why I now make only blankets and scarves. There is always someone who will like a particular colour combo.

OG, What are golden chippings? Where have they disappeared to? Oh!, I think you mean that they are scattered around the compost area. Glad it made your OH happy.

I have been trying to remove a low growing conifer which is dying off. I never did like it much anyway. I will have to wait for the gardener to finish the job, as it is very woody in the centre and beyond the scope of my loppers.

I would love to see a hummingbird in the garden. I have seen a moth that looks like a hummingbird (but not here)

Well done OG, now, as you say, for another idea to keep OH happy. I'm sure you'll think of one.

LINDA, DIBNLIB & HEATHER - I have not inspected my new library books yet. When I arrived home, I wiped the outsides with disinfectant and I am going to wait at least 24 hours in case any little coronas are lurking inside on the pages. I am not keen on selecting books from the catalogue & its precis. I can’t see if the text is too highbrow, or too flippant, or the font too small. Yes I am very picky! Dau#2’s & my libraries both offer the click & collect option.  Despite its large size, that of Dau#1 is completely closed.

ANNETTE – Hunter gatherer outing. Love it.

ROSY - It is about 3 years since, unexpectedly, eldest g-dau asked for a knitted jumper. All through her teen years home-made was a no-no LOL.

Monday (I think) I disturbed 2 rosellas in our backyard abelia. Yesterday as I hung the washing the two flew into the crab apple tree and serenaded me. I continued pegging and they flew into the abelia. Now its branches are very whippy and not really strong enough to hold their weight, so there was quite a lot of movement. When I finished pegging, I crept inside without disturbing them. Here are two pics of the Eastern Rosellas last year in the abelia.

Evening all:

Heather: We are seeing more hummingbirds this spring than last, when we had such a fabulously wet winter that the desert bloomed madly and they had no need to seek out paltry gardens  I'm hoping the trend will continue through the summer.  They do like red flowers, but we have a violet-colored salvia and they're partial to those too.

Rosy:  Thanks for asking about golden chippings - I was puzzling too.

AQ: Aren't the grandkids a bit young to be so picky - or maybe I mean discerning, which is a good thing (except when it comes to hand-made goodies from grandma).  I didn't make it to the library's honor book table yet...  Very exotic birds indeed you have there.  Re books, I typically go to the Amazon website before I reserve anything form the library. They have the "See Inside!" invitation to look at various bits, including the first chapter and I tend to give a lot of weight to the first few paragraphs. Re the quotes, it would appear that our clueless leader is a fan (albeit an unwitting one) of de Beaumarchais.  Or maybe Mark Twain, except Mr. T doesn't get the facts first.

Bought a soaker hose for the orange tree so I can deep water it regularly through the summer.  Some of the current oranges are split, which is one sign of not enough of the wet stuff.  

Take care all.

EDIT: Was just in garden to put sprinkler on a corner where the irrigation is useless and lo and behold! here comes a hummingbird for a quick evening shower.  :-)

ROSY How beautiful, lucky you.

Good Morning. Things have been slightly surreal lately, but this endless sunshine is just plain weird!

Apparently, we're having the driest April in over 300 years.

My OH has just gone off to water his greenhouse at the allotment.