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 all
Having fun with the visitors. Went to a corn maze and finished with ice cream yesterday, so good time had by all.
OG, that was a lovely picture of you and it was great to see:)
Annette, hope you had a good sort out session.
George, hope your son is doing OK
AQ, hope you had a great trip
Linda, love the funnies, thanks. Like the police car in the cement! lol
Hi diane, you are rushing around a lot!
Margobird, sounds like you're having a super time and eating healthily:)
Morning Joan, Tiger and Alan
Afternoon all i used my new scope yesterday and it is great can't wait to go and use it again
index thread
lg stats
4th Scottish Conker Championships to be held in Peebles next saturday:
http://www.bordersforesttrust.org/fx.default/scheme/events.aspx
Good afternoon all thank you all for enquiring about son. He seems to be alright now and him and his wife have decided to spend a few days with me instead so my my cleaning was not in vane. Loved all the the pictures and chat and the history lessons. Have signed the wolf campaign as I think they are beautiful animals.
OG hope your son's problems get sorted out and Annette hope your G/D is able to work things out.
Hope the horses, geese chickens and the rest of the animals don't get fat on all the extra food they are getting.
Son has asked for chicken maryland for his meal tonight so will have to go and do the preparations.
george g
Hello, georgeg - Glad to hear that your son has suffered no long term ill effects from his fall. You sound a dab hand in the kitchen- hope they enjoy their stay with you and can have a nice break in spite of missing their holiday as planned.
Tiger: Sorry, no idea where the pictures are from - all around the world, I should imagine. They were sent to me in an email from a friend & I have some more, but will not be here next Monday as on my hols, so next instalment will have to wait!
Annette: What a beautiful granddaughter. You must be very proud of your family. So glad to hear that the three of you had such a good time together - something to remain in the memory for a long while.
OG: Have enjoyed your various pictures. Nice to 'meet' you in the photo! Sorry to hear that your son has had such a rotten time with the new flat - what a disappointment. Good though, to know that he has friends who will rally round to help.
Lynette: You are in my thoughts at this time.
Alicat: So pleased to hear that you had such a welcome surprise on your birthday! I would have been very keen to get out and test it as soon as possible, too. Hope you have many happy hours with your new scope.
Gary: You are really doing your job as Tour Guide this year, with all your visitors. That ice cream sounded well deserved!
Alan: Thanks for link to conker Championships - nice to know that they are still being held in spite of all the 'Elf & Safety' these days!
Sorry if I missed anyone - not much time to be on here at present as so busy cleaning my dreadfully neglected house, and trying to pack for our long awaited hols at the same time. I have been popping in and reading it all, just can't keep up at present with replies.
Very much enjoyed our lunch with Eldest Son yesterday - his girlfriend is very nice and we had a good chat afterwards. They had been on holiday to Italy recently, to attend a Wedding of a friend, and had a really good time although he scared himself to death driving on the 'wrong' side of the road for the first time. Youngest Son has been on the phone to say that they have been out buying yet more stuff for the new arrival (due on 22nd November) - he can't believe how much one new small person needs! They have just spent the weekend cooking lots of meals to put in the freezer, ready for the great event and afterwards.
I am trying on lots of clothes, old and new, as I thankfully am a little slimmer than last year, so need to check which things fit. Now I'm terrified that I'll put most of the weight back on, on holiday, and be back to square one again.... Never eat the huge fried breakfast at the buffet as OH does, but on the other hand, I do just love croissants.....
Take Care, Everyone.
Good afternoon all and I wonder if anyone can help. My friend's OH has downloaded MW Snap so I can take capture shots. Have taken a capture shot but it there is no picture. Just a black square. Wonder if anyone can help and tell me why and what to do so I can actually see the shot taken. Thanks a lot.
Margobird
Hi margobird - I use MWSnap, but I'm not sure how much help I can be ... but I can tell you what I do! Right click the icon on the bar at the bottom of the screen and then click on 'window/menu' ... then put your mouse on the picture you want to snap and click ... the picture should appear in in MWSnap. You then need to save it to your computer. Sorry if this is what you already know!
Joan - avid bird and nature watcher in Northumberland!
Index Thread
Hello everyone - We arrived back last evening, from Edinburgh. The homecoming parade was well attended, sun came out just as the first of the pipe bands headed down the Royal Mile. SiL was spotted in advance since he was in the Colour Party. All were in combats - ie working uniform. The wounded were beside the saluting dais, in a position of honour. I spotted SiL apparently talking as the parade passed us. He informed me afterwards that he was 'reminding' the soldier on his left that they were supposed to be in a straight line!( He wouldn't repeat to me the language he used) ----- Lots of clapping, some cheering. After the march we all followed 1 Scots to Holyrood Palace Gardens, where the medal presentations took place. Guess what - OH and I forgot to take our camera, but eldest son did and got some great shots, which he put on a laptop so that the family could relive the occasion, next day, Sunday, at Daughter#2 and SiL's home. SiL had a lot of photos - strange from a war zone but I guess that we envisage firefights every day, whereas the reality is different. SiL's interpreter took a lot of the pics. One thing that surprised me is that Afghanistan is a rather beautiful country. I saw poppy fields - they looked gorgeous and it took a moment or two to remember about the opiates. Lots of beautiful children, all looking so happy. A picture of a very basic building, a school. Children inside, laughing. Sadly, SiL told us that the Taliban blew the school up a few days later - maybe because girls were being allowed to attend. Boys in the morning, girls in the afternoon. Education of females is not in accordance with Taliban principles. SiL has lot to tell us, he intimated to me that they will be coming North to see us before too long when we can have 'a better talk.' He is sleeping better and has now started 5 weeks leave. They do have de-briefing and the whole idea of not giving them leave immediately is so that they are not in a war zone one day and home with family, the next. SiL used the word 'decompression'
As if that wasn't enough, #3 SiL is awaiting the Defence Review. He is stationed at RAF Lossiemouth. BBC news this evening was very pessimistic regarding the survival of our two Highland RAF bases, indeed, about the Tornado Flight. SiL is attached to 15 Squadron, Tornados.
Thank you to all for your posts and (holiday) pics, Thoughts going to Lynette at this time.
Take care all -
The next photos are from OH’s special day out – which I also thoroughly enjoyed – to Barrow Hill Roundhouse, near Stavely. The Roundhouse (actually a square one!) is unique in itself, but this was a day when the recently built A1 Class mainline steam locomotive, Tornado, was running there! I took many pictures of the event and the historic turntable, as well as some steam “visitors” and Tornado itself, so will just post a few:
Fowler steam road roller:
Model Foden steam truck:
Running the turntable in the 26-road Roundhouse:
Tornado (OH was in one of the carriages ready for his little ride behind the engine):
Gary – pleased you are enjoying your visitors.
Alicat – so pleased you enjoyed using the scope – what did you see?
George – how nice that your son and his wife are coming to stay a while – and that all your cleaning wasn’t wasted – I hope he is enjoying his special meal this evening. Glad that he recovered.
Lindy – you found time for a good long catch-up post today. So the holiday starts this weekend – and you have done the fashion show of your holiday clothes. It is good that you get on so well with Son#1’s new girlfriend. Son#2 and his wife seem very well organised for the arrival of SweetPea!
Margo – sounds familiar story about MWSnap – same thing happened to me, and Annette – Terry too, I seem to remember, but I think she got it sorted.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Good evening DjoanS and thank you so much. I will be bald soon as I am tearing my hair out and my friend's OH is probably doing the same, although he returned home as he is not staying with us. Will give it a try tomorrow probably and let you know.