Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 28 June 2020

Morning all:  Our Governor has ordered bars in seven counties to shut down again. . Santa Barbara County is on his 'recommend to close bars' list along with some others and I suspect our county medical director will do that today.  OH and I were desperate for Mexican food last night (haven't had any since early March!!) and I toddled over to our favorite restaurant to see how things were. Only three tables inside (windows and doors open) and their outside tables reduced to 6, all well spread apart.  I got stopped at the door by someone wielding one of those point-and-shoot thermometers, who declared me safe to enter and order take out.  Everyone in masks and gloves and the cashier squirted hand sanitizer on my hands ('so you don't have to touch it')  after the credit card transaction.  We were happy campers.

Diane: They have the same problem in the Southwest with visitors to canyons where a friendly river can turn into a sudden raging wall of mud following thunderstorms many miles upstream.  A whole family was lost a year or so ago. Hope your creek doesn't overflow....  

Wendyb:  Glad you got the dogs on a owner-friendly schedule.  I'm booked for a haircut tomorrow.  :-)

Lindybird:  So nice that 'yogurt' is no longer the 'yuk' word it was when my grandkids were small.  I've mentioned before that I used to get frozen yogurt and tell them it was ice cream...   Per Wendy's note about the Welsh border being closed, how does that affect plans for a visit to the caravan?

OG:  Haha.  Had to smile at the thought of you pretending to make greeting cards (though I know you really have done it in the past).  Hope the clearing out is cathartic.  Sounds like just a spruce up for the kitchen then...    Oh, and happy late birthday to J.

AQ:  How's your rainfall so far this season?    The house behind us was painted before it went on the market but they missed the trim on the eaves that overlook our house, were gone before we noticed and I didn't have the heart to tell the new owners after they moved in. .

A busy week here.  I'm going to roll up the runners and two carpets and take them to be cleaned while all the work is going on.  And we've been measuring various bookcases in various rooms with a plan to replacing the two tall dark heavy ones OH still has in his office with lighter and lighter-colored ones that might work better and not dominate the room.  OH hates this kind of stuff whereas I could spend all day shuffling furniture around to see how it looks here or there.... And I'll be the one re-organizing the routers, modems, cables....   Oh joy.

Take care all.

Started the cupboard clear-out - not sure where to put stuff until we can get rid! Done enough for today. Had a good meal - a family favourite: chicken in wine and cream sauce - J loves it.

E-E had his Zoom meeting - no plan to open church until they are really sure - so many vulnerable members.

Will probably play a board game this evening - last time was Monopoly which I hate - grumbled all the way through and then won!

Wendyb:  A lot of rules for a small island.  :-)

CNN's headlines are often a bit too dramatic and simplistic, but the do cover earthquakes and other disasters very well.  Lately, I've been checking the website each morning in guilty hopes that a certain world leader has suddenly been called to that great sunbed in the sky.  The U.S. Supreme Court got the main headlines this morning, but they were only slightly larger than those addressing the world-shattering news that Costco has stopped making half-sheet cakes that serve 50 people.  This is allegedly part of a plan to discourage large gatherings....  

I'm going to make lunch and have a nap.  It's all too much..    

My OH had a good laugh at the sun lounger in the sky :-))))

DIANE – That’s some creek! Hiking? More like a white water rafting weekend, or should it be muddy water rafting. Holidaying people can be so stupid - “It won’t happen to me.” I hope you are dry and safe.

ANNETTE – We saw that your state was going back to increased restrictions. That must be worse than the first time. Our state has had average rainfall this autumn. Perhaps I should not complain about these dry days after all.

Our state’s run of 33 days with no new cases ended yesterday with 3 testing positive, all in quarantine from last weekend’s returned overseas travellers. Meanwhile Victoria had 75 new cases yesterday, making 2 weeks of double digit numbers, and they are increasing. Authorities are considering suburb lockdowns to contain the outbreak clusters. It is doubtful that we will open our border with VIC as planned in 3 weeks. School holidays next week and thus more wanting to travel.

OH is wandering around, wondering whether he will go out to lunch. I wish he would decide as I need to plan a smaller tea if he has been out. And also what will I get him for lunch if he stays? <sigh>

Just a thought

As one door closes so another opens,
as one bird ends his song, another sings.
And as one chapter finishes, another is beginning.
There is no end to life, nor anything. (Karen Rene)

Thanks, AQ and Annette. I'm okay. The creek that flows along my patch used to flood all the time. A few times it threatened the house, so I'd been worried about it. Flood insurance is very, very expensive here, especially in my "zone," so I can't afford it.

But then a local rich man (a millionaire) built a recycling and trucking operation back in the woods on the other side of my creek. Suddenly the state (or the county?) came in and worked on the creek. They dredged and expanded the tunnels where the water flows under the major highway. I'm not real clear about exactly what they did, but my creek hasn't flooded since. I guess he used his wealth and influence to motivate the politicians. I can't complain. LOL

Good Morning. Drizzly here. OH gone off in hopes it will dry up, as forecast.

Diane, I'm glad you've benefited from the money spent on managing things in your area, at least you don't need to lose as much sleep over wondering what will happen in a deluge.

AQ, I agree about people being relaxed on holidays, thinking nothing ghastly will happen to them. We've had outbreaks in some areas, and the powers that be are as usual moving too slowly to change the rules locally, to stop it spreading. Much talk on the media but not much action!

OG - belated good wishes to J on his birthday. Can taste that yummy chicken dinner!

Good morning. Dry so far to day, cooler yet humidity still fairly high - E-E is hoping grass will not be too damp to mow this afternoon. He shopped in Tesco today as he chose to stay home on J's birthday. E-E won our game of Trivial Pursuit last evening. He has a secured a slot to deliver our recycling to the tip tomorrow. J is in bed - had a "funny tummy" - decided it was caused by too much rich food.

WENDY - living almost on the border, I would prefer it closed to keep the English out! I am English by origin, but I like to think I would not be travelling huge distances to visit beauty spots.

ANNETTE - I hope your dream will be fulfilled, to hear that news about the sunbed in the sky one morning - I don't usually wish that on anyone , but desperate needs call for desperate measures!

AQ - so, Covid did come back with the returners, just as you expected. If my OH was like that over meals, I would insist that I was told the night before, as I do with J in "normal times". Another useful thought, thanks.

DIANE - good to read that you don't have such serious worries over your creek - stay safe!

LINDA - I hope your OH will get his golf today, to help him relax. Have you met Lulu yet? Maybe you'll manage a garden coffee this afternoon.

May return to the cupboard this afternoon - and I foresee competition about what goes in it next, so will need to move quickly (relative to my normal snail's pace!) to ensure I get first shout!