Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 5 July 2020

Where did that post go? Silly me - lost the lot! Will just post this to let you know I am still around! May try again later if I find my brain!

HEATHER Tomorrows weather is much better than todays. Best wishes for your granddaughters birthday and I hope she gets that BBQ.

At the risk of boring you all. We had a squirrel in the garden again this morning.

I should of course have said that I saw a red squirrel scurrying across our garden!!!

Didnlib, I think it is lovely that you keep seeing red squirrels. I think the last time I saw one was in N Wales some years
ago.

I remember getting quite excited seeing them as a child when my mother used to take us for a walk in the woods sometimes on our way home from school. That was a very long time ago, before the grey squirrels took over down south!

Went out to clap for the NHS birthday, but only one other couple doing the same, in the distance - after a couple of minutes, two of our near neighbours came out.

Went out this morning to a garden centre/nursery and looked for raspberry canes, but none there. Bought only a couple of ice creams! which we quickly took home, and then ate after lunch.

Thank you,,DIBNLIB. Fingers crossed !!

Hope your granddaughter manages to enjoy her birthday, Heather. It's been very mixed weather here today and tomorrow doesn't look much better.

A scurry of squirrels sounds great!!

I was off in a hurry
When there seemed to be a flurry, out the corner of my eye.
It was three little squirrels
Wearing buttons and frills - they were in bibs to the gills
But were not going to stop, for me.

I looked there askance, as they all did a dance
With flowers in their hair. They did the French tango
And some kind of fandango:
They didn't have a care.

I wanted to ask them
Why no one had tasked them
With a true explanation for their lack of hesitation
But when I spoke, they just weren't there!

So I had been in a hurry
Not prepared for a scurry, which shows that we all should
Not worry, but take life as it comes,
Without a care. So there!

Heather:  Amy is 19?   Have we really been blathering away on the Weekly Chat for that long?   My sister's grandson (grandnephew to me??) celebrated his 10th last week.  His parents have always taken him to the seaside, which he still wanted to do this year.  So they piled into the car and were the only people on the beach in a howling gale!  His Dad said it was terrible.  Still, no problem social distancing!  :-)    

dibnlib: How wonderful that the squirrels are showing up so often.  What's the situation vis-a-vis gray squirrels?  Are the red squirrels making any kind of a sustainable comeback?  

Lindybird:  I do hope you're keeping all these verses!   I went over to Costco this morning and got raspberries (California-grown organic) and they are marvelous.  Then I stopped by the Farmers' Market and got some wonderful white and yellow peaches from my favorite Central Valley growers.   It was interesting at Costco - they've taken down all the barriers that had us all winding back and forth in a single line to enter, but people were still lining up as if they were there, but they weren't limiting numbers. Everyone was in masks. Another trend:  It's not unusual to see signs saying, "No shoes, no shirt, no service" (surfer protocol methinks).   Now I'm seeing 'No mask, no service."

Was pretty quiet around here last evening.  The neighbors set off small noisy fireworks for about one minute for their two little boys and the students across the road did the same with noisier ones about 30 minutes later.  We could hear fireworks around and about the neighborhoods, but it was sporadic and very short lived.  They're illegal due to wildfire fire danger but I guess a few people were desperate to celebrate something....  

Hardly ever keep any of it, Annette! Sometimes have to go back later, to see what I was blathering about!

Lockdown came before we could dispose of garage stuff. Today was the day for Stage 1. First I convinced OH to stack his “save” boxes tidily out of the way. No don’t get distracted by this and that - today’s project is simply to remove the small electrical discards (extinct computer, kettle, toaster, etc etc). I had already packed 3 boxes to go but his stuff was obstructing the door nearest drive & car. No, don’t start looking for other extinct computers - let’s just get rid of these. Load the car. I’ve checked Google for location of “Unplug & Drop” and off we go. Up the road and back and up, no, it is not where it was last time (how many years ago?). No signage. I drove home, rechecked computer. Oh yes they’ve moved. I looked at Google StreetView, no way to drive in & drop off. I phone and learn there is a back lane. Off we go again, man had said he would help, well, he appeared, too late. A simple half-hour task took 1½ hours. I am now wheezing and have a headache from the disturbed dust. I can’t face Stage 2 which requires me to book the council hard rubbish collection. At least I can now drag that stuff out the cleared space to roadside when I get a date. PS - Yes, I know a smart phone would have helped, mine is simple, OH’s was left at home.

I chose today's quote yesterday while I was in a better mood.