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.

Been outside to pull the remains of our first radish row - not bad for May! Next row are coming along fine. Also picking salad leaves now. OH stayed out to remove an unnecessary branch from the Alder tree. A bit dull but pleasantly warm out there this afternoon.

A warm day here so did quite a lot of garden work, came in and found that I was covered in greenfly. Between them and snails eating my hostas I was not a happy bunny. Anyway, nothing for it but to jump in the shower as I was itchy ( probably psychological!).
Thanks to all for your news, I can't make replies just now, brain and body are both tired :-)

Morning all:

AQ:  Wish I'd thought of "you have to have a heart"   :-))

PatO: And  "Brain?"  :-))    

OG:  There are always some lemmings who will follow their - ahem - leader over the cliff, except in this case the leader would make darn sure he had a nice soft landing. I've ordered The Story of India DVD set by Michael Wood from our PBS station.  OH was in India in the Peace Corps way back when and has good memories of his time there.  Besides, he's a history buff.  Friends and family are going to call, etc    Still fretting about grandson's gift.

Harelady:  Actually, it's very common to have lots of aftershocks when you've had a good-sized first quake like the 6.5 near Tonopah.  They can go on for a year or more, typically getting smaller all the time. I see the Nevada ones are in the 1-3 range, so some of them wouldn't even be noticed.  Occasionally a large one will be followed by an equally large or even larger one, but that's not usual.  And what Diane says is true - that fracking is causing quakes in otherwise stable areas, but if I'm not mistaken, fracking isn't the profitable venture it once was.... Diane?   Meanwhile, I was encouraged to read that Coca Cola and another large company are working on replacing plastic bottles with bottles made from plant-based materials that would biodegrade very quickly.  Fingers crossed.   

Off to sort out my little world.  Thanks all for your news.  

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Sorry, OG, you asked me about youngest son in law. He tested negative. He is off to Aberdeen tomorrow, has to be tested again before he flies to the oil rig ...All being well be will be away for three weeks which includes a couple of days each way for tests. His company have booked out a local hotel to accommodate the boys. The tests are paid for by the company, not NHS ones.

HEATHER - I hope the fresh air and garden work will help you sleep tonight. Glad S-I-L was negative when he came off the rig - sorry to see he is already having to go back. Pleased they are all getting tested outward and inward bound!

ANNETTE - that would be wonderful if they can succeed in making plant based bottles for drinks - though my first thought would be to ban fizzy sugary drinks - especially those containing caffeine! OH birthday DVDs sound a good choice - well done.. Can't help with Grandson - I'm useless at ideas for men!

My two are trimming each other's hair this evening - dare I look?

Hello all, quickly skimmed through all the banter going on.
Lovely to read what you've been doing and saying.

Keep on smiling through we will get through it even if there are some idiots out there flouting the advice given. They probably will be saying something else if they contract it but we don't want that as it will be passed to others. The minute the weather is gorgeous they seem to come out in their droves, particularly to the beaches and its so difficult to maintain social distancing on them. Common sense people, please.

Away from the lurgy, hope you are all coping well and not getting too down with the restrictions. We have to belive they are for our own good. It will be nice to socialise once again. Although we don't have grand-kids as such we still have family that we can't go to and hug yet. Send a hug over the air to all loved ones - yeayh - and we will meet again one day.

Take care all. Weather down here has been great with warm sunny days and tomorrow predicted as the hottest this year so far.!!!!! phew.

Annette: It's true that high oil prices allowed the fracking industry to thrive. But now there's a glut of oil on the market, and prices have collapsed. So, U.S. expensive fracking operations are no longer as profitable. However, if the politicians in Washington D.C. get their war with Iran, prices will soar, and the frackers will roll in cash again. That's also the reason for U.S. hostility, sanctions, and blockade against Venezuela--to strangle their oil production and export.

To err is human, to blame it on somebody else shows management potential.

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

Notice: Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

My boss just reminded me it’s MY job to manage my work/life balance. So I am replacing my laptop with a box of wine.

Thanks to Diane and Annette for replies re cocoon and Earthquakes!