Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 24 May 2020

Lindy: I think that peony you posted is the most beautiful one I've ever seen. That's saying a lot, because the peony is the official state flower of Indiana. They are much beloved here, especially in rural areas where almost every farm house or cottage has them growing somewhere in the yard. Yours is lovely.

Annette: Cocoon is still not open. It probably will soon because the weather has turned hot here.

We're all waiting with bated breath here, Diane!

Indeed we are - I hope DIANE actually sees her moth emerge!

ROSY: One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold,
Seven for a secret, Never to be told. Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss, Ten for a bird, Never to be missed.
There are other variations around, but I think this was the one used for the ITV children's programme "Magpie" back in the 70s (actually 1968-80).

Thank you OG. I often see enough for a wish. I remember "Magpie", but my children used to watch "Blue Peter" more.

Diane, I love the idea of a state bird and flower. How lovely that your state flower is the peony. My granddaughter learned the names of some of the state birds when she lived in Ohio, but she never was much into flowers. She liked the cacti that she saw on some of her trips. They are the only plants that interest her when we visit Kew Gardens.

Just a thought
One thing I've learned in life is, money can be a very lonely companion. Kindness matters most.

(Words of advice Apr 2020 from 96-year-old Joy Wheatley, who has witnessed multiple crises, including World War II and the Great Depression.)

How true.

How beautiful

We took Mum to see Cats in London and have also seen it in Edinburgh. Loved it, music, costumes, everything. We also saw "The Lion King" in London but didn't revisit when it was in End more recently. I did want to but OH didn't.

A beautiful morning here at last, Off to give Benson a nice long walk very soon.

Amazingly we still have chrysanthemums left from the anniversary bouquet OH bought me over 4 weeks ago. He said he will buy the same again at the end of the week as on Sunday it will be a year since Mum died and I am feeling a bit sad.

Good Morning. I'm late on parade as I had a job getting off to sleep last night, so eventually had an on/ off kind of rest, during which I heard our doorbell playing a tune in the small hours! It was a different one to the tune it's been set to play, and has done it before. My OH is dismantling it now!

Bright sunshine here. Thanks to AQ for the wise words.

ROSY - good that your GDau is interested in Cacti as a growing thing - a lot of young people just pass them by without noticing them.

AQ - today's thought is probably one which will find its way into our magazine; I confess you have been providing me with a lot of space fillers this month!

DIBNLIB - thinking of you. Have a lovely walk with Benson.

LINDA - sorry about the bad night and the wayward doorbell. I slept well till something after four, gave in for a bathroom trip before five, took ages to get back to sleep, so could not get up at seven; had to be up at eight for OH shopping at seniors' time.

Weather is back to summer again, so obsessive near neighbour is mowing again - does it three days a week in fine spells! OH is hoping to scarify and spike our grass today, but also has a Zoom meeting after lunch.