Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 2 August 2020

Need I say it, wet again! Morning started with E-E shaving J's head for him - maybe this will become a regular feature instead of going to the local barber shop. BTW, mine is still very curly despite being cut!

LYNETTE – sorry your DiL still has symptoms – sounds like retiring would be the best thing for her, at her age, to give her body a chance to get stronger. Is she the grandmother of the new baby? If so, she could have some good times there! Glad you sorted out the financial problem.

AQ – sorry some restrictions SA have had to be re-imposed because of carelessness over the border. I see your OH decided he would go out for lunch rather than avoiding eating out. J had a “snack” in Subway yesterday morning after his blood test and got the Boris discount – don’t know why he needed anything as he had breakfast cereal and a blueberry muffin at home, and came back to a filling lunch!

I had put an “either/or” in the diary for today, so OH will be cleaning the kitchen and dining room this afternoon.

Thanks, everyone for news and chat.
I second what OG said above to LYNETTE and AQ!

OG - Son and Sam may well be up here for a few days in October, if Sam is off on half term and son can get his two part time staff to do extra days in the shop.

LINDY - Exciting for you to be seeing your son and Amber next week. Glad that the boiler is fixed!

I had computer problems this morning, my tablets were OK but my pc kept telling me that I was not connected to the internet. I was having an OG moment and was quite convinced that my computer had given up the ghost. Tried all sorts to no avail. Phoned son, who was in the shop trying to do his VAT returns in between customers. He was clearly not in the best of moods but talked me through things and bingo! All is well. Although my son in law here used to run computer sytems for the schools, my son is trained amongst other things as a Miscrosoft systems engineer - whatever that may mean!

HEATHER - I hope Sam's half term will coincide with part of the October holiday, so that Sam can also see his cousins. Glad your Son could sort the PC over the phone. When my old one gave up, we couldn't even take stuff off it, so had to return to factory settings!

ANNETTE - I'm happy that you got to do something from the 'other life' !! How is daily life in your area these days?
DIBNLIB - was that DW sports? I hope that you will find something else....

Youngest family are on their way here from the Wildlife Park at Kincraig. It will be interesting to know how they got on with the new systems.

OG - I have never met J, but didn't imagine him having a shaved head ! I hope that things at school will be acceptable for him. It's all so uncertain. Middle daughter is feeling upset. She and a cleaning colleague worked on Monday and Tuesday, only to hear today that the Deputy Head of the school is complaining. Daughter says that they did everything as normal, but there were workmen in the school who presumably used the staff room and left crumbs on the table.after it had been cleaned by daughter.... I think that everyone seems to be anxious about everything. I've tried to tell her that the Deputy Head will be worrying about everything and it's a bit of ' kick the cat'.

Heather:  Hope middle daughter was able to let Deputy Head know that workmen were in the staff room after she'd cleaned it.   Daily life here - at least for us - is not as strange as at the beginning; maybe we're just used to it now!  Masks are the norm and many grocery stores are still restricting the numbers of people inside (most lines move pretty fast) and sanitizing baskets and carts before you use them. In fact,  you can't move for hand-sanitizer 'stations' on counters and at doors pretty much everywhere. Bars are closed and restaurants can't serve inside but have expanded into car parks and sidewalks, though we aren't in a rush to eat out.  Hairdressers can work outside - my usual place has a small patio where I've seen people getting al fresco haircuts. :-)

OG: Is a shaved head usual for J?  What about an earring?  No tattoos I imagine.  :-)

I bought some 'jackets' for our canister vacuum cleaner (also for the part that you push around) to protect the new paint job on the doors and baseboards from my bad 'driving.'   They attach with Velcro and am going to tackle that this morning.   I was playing with the idea of getting slipcovers made for the old armchair in 'my' room, but there was a cartoon-like "boing!" the other night and now there's a definite depression in the middle of the seat cushion, so there goes that idea.  Meanwhile, the two incredibly tatty armchairs in the living room are hidden under throws......   Amazing what we find ourselves getting used to!

Off to Be Constructive!  Take care all.

Yes Heather, it was DW.

sorry to hear your daughter had an upset at work. Hope family enjoyed Kingussie. It is years since we visited. Love that the animals all have big areas to roam.

Yes, DIBNLIB, they had a great time, thank you!

PAT- I hope that you enjoyed time with your friend!

ANNETTE - know what you mean about getting used to things. Two of the chairs in my conservatory either need to be replaced or worked on by an upholsterer. I keep putting it off.

Hi!

HEATHER and ANNETTE – J’s hair has a long history. He had nice hair as a child and until his brain tumour. They shaved what they needed for incisions, but when we realised he was beginning to lose it all with radio and chemo therapies, we took the remainder off. He even lost his eyebrows, and they have never fully come back! When his hair first grew again, he resembled a kiwi fruit! It grew well, and he had sensible styles as a schoolboy; I think his long-hair phase was when he was doing his A levels, and I liked it long, but he decided to have it cut. When he was in his twenties, at college, it started to recede noticeably, and then about ten years ago it was also balding on top. That is when he decided he should have it shaved off – first a number two, now more often number one. And no, Annette, he has neither tattoos nor piercings!

HEATHER – we have some great memories and photos of the Wildlife Park at Kincraig, and admire the conservation projects with which they are involved. Favourite animals for me are the Snow Monkeys and Red Pandas! Pleased the younger family had a good time – a final treat before school next week, I assume. Sorry about your Daughter’s problem with management – I hope she was able to tell him it was clean when she left it! Don’t leave the chairs too long – our wonderful local upholsterer gave up last year – we shall miss him!

ANNETTE – lucky that so many places can continue to work because of making use of outside spaces – nobody could do much outside here in the recent wet weather – but after all that is Scotland! Sounds like new chairs are next on the shopping list for you …