WEEKLY CHAT (non-osprey) SUNDAY MAY 17, 2020

Good morning – here goes:

ANNETTE – thanks for starting the thread. That was a scary explosion/fire in LA – I hope all the firefighters recovered well. When you posted about the guy at the party … ! ... I really did LOL! The painting stones to leave as random connections has caught on here, too – a great idea. Rain … in May… in California? We were desperate for some rain, but have had several small amounts, although I think the shower at silly-o-clock this morning has actually reached the roots of garden plants at last. I hope you find a suitable way to celebrate your OH’s birthday – and then Grandson too. Hard to realise it was forty years since Mt St Helens blew!

DIANE – hope you got to the shop and home dry on Saturday evening. Those Californian Poppies are truly impressive, growing en masse like that. Himalayan Poppies (Meconopsis) do really well in Scotland. I hope you will get to see the emergence of the Moth – or at least see it while it sits still to acclimatise itself when it emerges, whether this month or next.

AQ – thinking of you, hunting for factual Unicorn books! Pleased the scrapbook got the girls’ attention – maybe will equip Daughter for more than one bedtime? Glad you got the laundry dry despite the lawn man’s tardy arrival. My worry about the Orange Peril and his “preventive medicine” is that he will claim it has worked and try to insist that all workers take it to preserve the economy!

DIBNLIB – what is the subject of your current jigsaw? My current book last week was Monty Don’s story of Nigel (and their garden and past dogs) written four years ago. In the final chapter, he referred to approaching old age (Nigel was eight at the time) and how we have a duty to let go of our older dogs when the time comes, having taken control of their lives. Friday would have been Nigel’s twelfth birthday. Nellie seems a very different temperament, and I can’t say I think much of the newer dog – when he first showed her, I misheard and thought he called her “Ratty”!

HEATHER – sorry you are spotting so many silly people misbehaving – makes your own situation harder – BTW, did you ever tell us what was the outcome of youngest SiL’s Covid test?

PAT – glad your area has had some warmth and sunshine, after you had it not so good during our mini-summer!
LINDA – I love the depth of colour in those new Poppies.

ROSY – congratulations on the recent anniversary – but sorry it wore you out despite being a lockdown virtual gathering.

HARELADY – lucky you, envy you the open recycling centre! We have been told ours in Scotland may be one of the first steps of easing – at the end of this month.

Been trying to remember what I have been doing but getting nowhere. I do know that yesterday afternoon I was keeping out of the way of OH and the Elders’ virtual meeting – which apparently went well, although it is apparently giving the two of us (the Communications Team) an extra job to do next week as well as producing the June Magazine. Which does remind me, I need to get on with some transcribing of written contributions for that.