HAPPY NEW WEEK, HAPPY NEW MONTH, and HAPPY FULL MOON!
I hope everyone has a safe, healthy, joyful week!
The full Harvest Moon is 2 September. It's late on the night of 1 September for Annette.
For the gardeners on this thread, HERE is a photo of cardinal flowers blooming on the prairie at a state park near my hometown. Cardinal flowers (lobelia cardinalis) are wildflowers native to our prairie. It's a member of the Bluebell family. They depend on hummingbirds for pollination. I just thought they were a happy sight.
We are all allowed grumpy days, OG. At least you all achieved something today. We were preparing a late dinner, when some friends from across our park appeared, wanting to chat before we left tomorrow. We had a socially distant chat then went in to cook dinner, about 2 hours later than usual! Hope we don't get indigestion through eating late. Half packed, and rain predicted for tomorrow so it will be fun trying to get stuff into the car in the morning. Ho hum. Have measured up for new net curtains on the bedroom windows here, as when I replaced one at the dining area last year, it made the others visible on that side look old and grey in comparison, from the outside! There were nets originally on every window except the kitchen, which has a blind, but we did away with most of them altogether so that we can see the scenery better. I like the idea that my OH polishes the mountains, as he certainly likes to clean things..... LOL!!
OG: Hope you all wake up on the right side of the bed tomorrow.
Lindybird: Have a safe drive home.
Discovered that the irrigation to the escallonia, which was behaving itself at the beginning of summer, has apparently gone on a work stoppage. Didn't solve the problem, but managed to simplify the confusion about the whys and wherefores. Got extremely dusty, dirty and a backache in the process but an antihistamine, a shower and a nice glass of wine later will take care of all that.
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/wildlife-webcams/loch-of-lowes/
RSPB Giving Nature a Home
Unknown said:CLARE - how lovely to "see" you after all this time, but sad that it took such a dreadful subject to bring you back. How are you these days - still working at Minsmere? And how is Helen - what is she doing now?
Sorry about that. We've been through a bit of a depressing time and the last thing I wanted to do was post a load of misery on to this lovely thread. We're all fine (more or less). Limpy's Parkinson's is pretty stable and we actually had a pretty good lockdown - he was diagnosed with PTSD last year and has been getting some excellent help with it. When lockdown started he was told that for the sake of his mental health he had to get out daily, despite his being highly vulnerable. My main target has been finding safe places for him (well, us) to go birding - mostly in south-east Suffolk, with a few trips into Essex and Norfolk to break the routine. I'm very relieved he has come through this time so well.
I can't see either of us returning to Minsmere to volunteer. Limpy remains a volunteer at our local Trimley Marshes reserve and I'm hoping to join the local voluntary coast patrol later this year. Helen started working in a local pub last month - she was on top of the world when she got paid last week! After what was a very dull lockdown for her it's good to see her so much happier.
I think this week marks the eleventh anniversary of the Weekly Chat - long may it continue!
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
BTW I hope you people are saying emu correctly. It is “ee-mew”. Definitely NOT “ee-moo”.
Not an indigenous word. It comes from a Portuguese word for ostrich. A Professor said that asking if there was a single Indigenous word for emu was like asking whether there was a single European word for dog.
Quiet on here today...... Nice to hear from you Clare: sorry you have all been having a rough time of it, and especially Limpy {{HUGS}} I hope that as things begin to ease up, you can get out and about more. Its a big shame that you can't both do your volunteering as you used to. Great that Helen has found work in these 'difficult times'. AQ: Yes, we always say "EE mew" !!!! Never knew that it came from a Portuguese word, though. You might gather that I'm back home now, after a wet but uneventful journey. Everything all right here, after our ten whole days away! My OH has just come home from picking green beans at the allotment and is now preparing them for our dinner later. Have had a mammoth session opening all my birthday cards and some presents, waiting for me since Monday. Our Eldest sent a card marked on the front "From Your Favourite!!" LOL!! He bought me the game "Bananagrams" which we have never played, so hope its as much fun as Scrabble. Youngest got me an RSPB Osprey book.