WEEKLY CHAT (non-osprey) SUNDAY JULY 26, 2020

A miserable 8° when I looked at my weather station early this morning. Now creeping up a little but we are in for heavy rain which has, in fact, just started.
LINDY - I'm sorry about the peas. I wonder what has happened. I don't suppose that they are the right variety to cook whole, like sugar snap peas?

AQ - Thanks for the invitation! - I'm there!! Love the black swans. Hope you enjoy your natter with friends.

My OH is not sure about the peas. Its possible they did not get enough water at a critical time, yet its been pretty wet here for the whole of July. No, couldn't cook them whole. I ate several pods full just standing in the kitchen, its probably the best way to enjoy them! Not enough of them to cook for dinner, but never mind - every year something does fail when you grow veggies. My OH picked lots of blackcurrants and is good about sorting them out and trimming them later, so I will make a pudding for him tonight of them. He also brought home a big bag of beetroot, which he loves to eat on the side of his plate with whatever we are having for dinner. He has cooked them up and they are ready now for when he fancies a few: they are nicest when eaten small before they get too sort of grainy.

Been pottering around the garden, and my OH is of course out at the golf course. Bonnie is looking hopefully out of the window to see if she can see him coming....

Annette, glad the flooring is going well. Hope you get a good sleep and then can gird your loins and face the day now that you are on the home strait.

I seem to be one step forward and then two steps back at the moment: trying to get things done, but ending up just pottering. Suppose it will all get done in the end.

A wet Thursday morning here – plenty to do indoors and some deliveries expected. Very unlikely to watch the launch as J will be waiting to hear Nicola’s “final” decision re schools reopening week after next, and I fear we shall have to be on hand to try to calm him down!

ROSY – wonderful to see Green Woodpecker – we used to get the when I was growing up (Thames Valley). A sad time for your family indeed – and difficult for you. I met some of the “Home Angels” visiting other patients in the hospital when I was in, and they were lovely, and the two who came as substitute for the cleaner were very good but she was useless really – used to work at the fish factory and was made redundant when it closed.

LINDA – have had good cleaners when we were in Lancashire, but not doing so well here – best one gave up houses to clean at MacD in Dumfries! Happenings next door to you will be getting interesting! Young couple next door here (where old lady used to be) seem to have actually moved in but work strange shifts so don’t really see them. The ones across the road seem to have decided their family is complete – we saw the cot going to the tip! We haven’t grown beetroot this year – have to be selective in the small veg garden.

AQ – wetland reserve looks excellent – enjoy your lunch! Pleased you managed to get the kiddie knickers! VIC situation does look serious – hope they can contain it.

ANNETTE - good to see your calmer post! Hope today goes well too.

HEATHER – not quite that cold here, but we have had the duvet on for the last three nights, having abandoned it in the first heatwave and not bothered with it till now.

Well, better think what’s next, then persuade OH to do it! Just had coffee together.

OG - hope that J will be alright. Thinking about you three.

Well, I wanted to go back and see what I had written on here in January. But after finding that the only way to bring things up was to go back to 2009!!! when these blogs started, and then turn the pages only a month or two at a time, until 2020... something happened when I got to 2017 and the page went blank, darn it.

Is there any way to go back just a few weeks on here? It now seems impossible, which is ridiculous.

I don't know, LINDY but I'm sure someone will !
I will be very surprised if the one day of Summer arrives up here tomorrow. I have garden jobs to do which involve dry weather ( moss killing and weed killing on paths).
Today has been endless! I'm very unmotivated and haven't achieved very much.

Here you go, Lindy:
community.rspb.org.uk/search
If the link does not work, then enter Weekly Chat into the white search box at the top of the page (that is on a laptop--sorry, no idea where things appear on a phone, tablet, etc.!), then, if you are on the Loch Garten thread, scroll down and in the lower right hand corner of the page which comes up, click on Advanced Search, then click Most Relevant to open a dropdown box and then click on Most Recent. If you are searching from the Online Community Home Page, then the drop down box appears immediately after searching Weekly Chat, skipping the advanced search option. Please let us know if it works, if not, I'll try again--good luck!

Edit:January threads are on pages 3 and 4.

Thanks to people thinking of J - he is extremely anxious and making life quite unbearable for us today. Luckily has taken himself to his bed a few times so it isn't continuous!

Annette - glad all home safely. I bet you'll be relieved when the work is all finished but oh it will look nice. I love watching My Dream Home and the demolition that goes on etc.

Lindybird - Those lilies are gorgeous, your neighbour must have the right touch..

So proud of our Dau who has worked tirelessly over the last couple of days tidying the garage for us. Took 3 trips to the local tip today to get rid of the rubbish. Never had the garage looking so good.

OG - sorry to hear about computer but pleased to hear they will deliver one fairly promptly. As to cleaner , I take it it was because of Covid 19 and isolation. What a great OH you have in saying that he will do the cleaning. Can't get my OH to do anything. Should really get a cleaner in about once a fortnight to do general cleaning as I'm finding it harder and harder to do thorough cleaning. Just do the basics. Still its better than nothing.