Hi everyone: And a good Sunday and rest of the week to you all. Don't forget to check the last posts of last week's chat for clever moving graphics from Tiger and Alicat (and maybe some others), pix of OG's friends' garden, late updates on one thing or t'other - and pix of my trip north! :-)
Weather these last few days are more like a not-very-nice English summer day. Unbroken gray skies, low clouds, and a constant soft drizzle. All very odd. On telly they were saying we had a couple of days of summer and now it's back to May Gray and June Gloom. Although tomorrow through Tuesday they're forecasting rain and possibly thunderstorms! A good day for doing inside stuff - like researching a new laptop. Spent ages reading about replacing the LED bulb in my laptop and it does sound a tad daunting: The Dell forum folks gave a link to a video, but you apparently - according to several folks who know - have to be "very, very careful." I didn't mind that but was especially put off by the news that the LED bulb (long and slender) was made of a very brittle glass that likely had lead in it, not to mention mercury. Also, do not have the tiny soldering iron or the special tape. Sounds like one of Alan's "Destroy It Yourself" projects! :-)
OG: Poor son with bad toe - definitely not a good time to develop problems - but ugh! - what a nightmare to find his new apartment so trashy. Just awful. So good of your OH to go up and check out the appliances, etc. Don't you hate it when "our" kids run up against this kind of stuff!
patriciat: I suspect there's more than one Mission San Miguel - wonder which one Lonnie Donegan (and U.S. artists) were thinking of. There is an old pueblo next to the mission I visited, which oddly has a Scottish name - The Rios Caledonia Adobe. According to the history page: In 1846 William Reed, Miguel Garcia, and Petronilo Rios bought the San Miguel rancho from Pio Pico, Governor of the Mexican Nation. Rios and his wife, Catarina Avila, had twelve children and moved into the adobe in 1851. In 1862 German-born Warren C. Rickard purchased the property from the state of California on a possession claim. In 1868 George Butchard named the adobe the Caledonia, a Scottish word meaning Scotland. He operated a stagecoach stop, tavern, and inn. According to local legend, Jesse James and the Dalton Brothers visited the inn.
Enjoyed reading all the posts; back tomorrow. Take care dear friends!
Morning chores done – ironing will be my standing up job for after lunch. Weather much brighter than forecast. While we were way, it was so good that most of our visits were outdoor ones. Here I am at Ridgeway Craft Centre, North Derbyshire - note blue sky!
We bought garden ornaments from a very friendly potter – will keep you guessing until they are unwrapped and can take a photo! We had some lovely soup for lunch in the little café/bistro. Chocolatier came in with samples for the café lady and friends and gave some to us – so we just had to go and buy some for ourselves! It’s a sad little centre, as local authority owns the land, and wants to sell to release capital.
OH and Son just phoned. One of the friends had replaced shower tiling Friday, and they will be able to use it tonight. Son says it all looks much better now his Dad got the bunged-up vacuum cleaner working and they have assembled his own wardrobe. They had been to the tip again and are on the way to another friend’s garage to store unwanted items. He says there is much more space than he thought and he is a lot happier. His toe is healing well, but a bit sore. These lovely friends are all people at Son’s church and have been so supportive and practical. OH and Son didn’t get to today’s service because of going to the tip, but they called in at the end for coffee, and were made very welcome!
Time for my veg soup lunch.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Hi All went out for a meal last night then went to a local pub i think i had too much to drink last night as i started dancing to the music im going out shortly to a reserve near by to test my new scope will speak later and let you know how it is
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Hello OG, lovely to 'meet you'. Brilliant blue sky. I will be patient and wait to see your pottery. I am going to enrol on a pottery course, which starts next spring with two potters in Kent.
Alicat, How is your vision this morning, if you were drunk last night. You may have trouble using your scope !!
Woodpecker has just been on one of our feeders.
Had lunch, done ironing and some extra tidying. Been sorting photos – dumped some, cropped others etc.
Joan – so pleased you have some sun. One of the Chaffinches has returned today - and a large flock of Starlings. Had to look up Skemmies – is that Irish or Geordie? There were two here earlier. Swiss chicken – is that with Swiss Cheese? I don’t like Tiramisu but OH has it whenever it’s offered!
Diane – pleased you are taking breaks from all that work! I almost always have travelling/running dreams – meet the most bizarre people – and never get wherever it is! Daughter’s wall was a saga in itself! They got builders in who started before last Chr******s (assuming that word is still off limits!) Snow stopped work – then sand was too frozen to start again – then, well I don’t know full story, but they never came back! So someone else finished the job and it was not completed until September! But it is rather nice – they have 1/3 acre corner plot, and this wall is just on the one side, where the fence got pushed over by neighbour’s Leylandii – which are now a rather ugly sight above the wall.
Brenda – Son had paid one month rent in advance and is supposed to be setting up monthly standing order, but I think he should get one month free for the hassle. When we had dogs, they used to make me very nervous on my own, because as well as unexplained sounds in the empty house, I heard the sounds of dogs reacting to unexplained sounds! I hope you will enjoy the pottery course when it comes – looks very calming. Dau#2 tried classes and saw it through to finish a chess set for her OH, but really suffered with her eczema, just as when she was at school. Both she and Son still have pieces they made at school – hers is a lovely head, which was so good that teacher glazed it for her – known in the family as John the Baptist, although the model was actually a friend in class – and his is an excellent head of one of our dogs, which didn’t get glazed because teacher wasn’t doing that by then! Lovely photo of your very smart G S Woodpecker.
Alicat – pleased you enjoyed your birthday evening, and hope you are enjoying scope right now.
Here are some photos from Rother Valley Country Park – set up on old quarry site around 1980s, so well established for water and land based wildlife as well as human activity.
Hi OG - the 'Swiss Chicken' had Swiss cheese on the top ... I think that was the only connection to Switzerland! Skemmie is a common NE England name for a pigeon (Trafalgar Square type!) ... but may be used elsewhere, I'm not sure. Lovely photos from your trip ... and nice to 'see' you!
Joan - avid bird and nature watcher in Northumberland!
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Hello Everyone: Lovely pics, OG!
Have had such problems on computer, couldn't even get on here yesterday or this morning...
Eldest Son has just left, after being a star and sorting this out for me - he and the new girlfriend came for a Sunday lunch of roast lamb followed by apple pie. Then he looked at my desktop which is junked up with all sorts of files - he said that there are too many and its slowing everything down too much. I said to New Girlfriend that it probably resembles my bookcases - too many things kept for too long!
Off now to read all that I've missed in the last couple of days...
Site refused to upload more pics, so I gave it a rest and got domestic again – fetched in tomorrow’s dinner from garage freezer then had a mug of hot chocolate (very naughty – with marshmallows too!) because I was cold – it’s gone quite breezy now, and I already have the light on. Then I decided to “delete browsing history” to tidy up computer. Think I also need to get rid of some other “junk” files and even applications that I don’t use. OH wants me to get a new PC, but I don’t want to learn another new operating system yet!
Lindy – glad your Son has cleared your old files so that you could come back to us – I had assumed you had set off to warmer climes! Is the “new” girlfriend another new one, or still the same new one? Sunday lunch sounds good – I hope you had mint sauce! Restaurants always seem so surprised when I ask for the appropriate mint/apple/horseradish sauce.
Birds at Rother Valley:
Specially pleased with these Grebes. Mrs (I assume) came with three juveniles, had a conversation with Mr who came out from the bank to greet them, and then he went off to demonstrate his diving.
Finally for this session, predictable photo from that area - taken through windscreen while OH was driving up the street towards Chesterfield's crooked spire:
Unknown said:
OG: Those pictures are just wonderfully stunning!!! Thanks! My Dad enjoyed them, too. Is the bird above a gallinule? It looks like our common gallinules.
Edit: I meant to add: Thanks for posting the picture of you! You're beautiful!!! It's so nice to put a face with the name!
Hi, Lindy. Glad you've gotten your computer sorted. Yay!