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!
Dark and dreary – not quite dreich – yet! Too much cloud for a frost this morning. Thawed rhubarb for today – another sign that summer has passed – only beetroot and carrots left in the garden now, and a few remaining salad leaves – although OH did spot a flower on the runner beans! Still a few little flowers on sweet peas – lasting ages because it’s cooler – and other spots of colour here and there.
Which brings me to another trip on hols, with amazing plant colour. Sheffield Botanic Garden (restored for new Millennium) – how do I choose? First a few from OH:
The Rose Garden (statue is Pan):
The Pavilions (gardeners were emptying the bedding from around the urns - such a shame when they were still so colourful):
Autumn in the Four Seasons gardens (proves I was there too!):
Rock and Water Garden – he also took a short video of the waterfall here, having just discovered the wee camera also does video (always read the manual!):
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
What lovely pics of the gardens, OG. So colourful.
Was looking on the BBC News website for something to cheer me up during the current depressing Crisis Management, when I found this - "How Your Cat Manipulates You" !!!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8148192.stm
--- made me think about poor AQ being ousted out of bed early in the mornings by Jasper!
Also you could look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11553099 which I meant to put on here the other day....
Hope you have a great hol Lindy! PS thanks for the links. Will have a look in a min.
Auntie, glad you passed your exam. Bet you're pleased that's over.
Thanks for the skink info AQ, very interesting.
ChloeB & Tiger's Osprey Data
Lovely pics OG, very colourful.
No frost here today. It clouded over last night and has been a wet and windy morning. Keeps looking like brightening up but not for long. What a contrast to yesterday.
ChloeB said: Auntie, glad you passed your exam. Bet you're pleased that's over.
A bet well placed Chloe :)
my photos in flickr
Just took a pic of the Brugmansia in the conservatory. First time it has ever had 4 flowers at one time:
Hi Guys
I feel so stupid, I signed out of the group temporarily because, as I said, I was finding it quite addictive and I was also getting out of my depth in terms of not being as keen on all birds and wildlife generally as most of you are and not having anything much to talk about. Then, like any addict, I had to get my fix and checked in today. So many kind messages and thank you to all. It only goes to show what a great bunch of folk post on this site. I will take the break for a while,( OH is correct. We arrive back from any kind of shopping/ event/holiday and before I have put the kettle on, I am rushing up the stairs to switch the computer on.) So when I have recovered from withdrawals I will be back, hopefully in a more relaxed fashion and await the return of EJ :-)))
Hello everyone. I have been lurking but have been prompted to came back to say how very sorry I am Lynette to hear your sad news. Living with Alzheimer's must have been so painful for you and your family. My lovely mother died when I was only 21, but even at my pensionable age I can still shed a tear or two when I think of her. My thoughts are with you.
Can I take this opportunity to say a huge thank you for all your news, history and geography lessons and of course the wonderful photos so many of you take. I love the sauntering tiger and the flying osprey! I have followed up Tiger's links to Pale Male and his mate, and read a long Vanity Fair article about them. Amazing that two birds can be loved by so many and cause such a stir. It is very breezy here on the Cambridge/Essex border today with high flurry clouds scurrying across the blue sky. We had a frost yesterday and a harder one this morning which was still showing when I surfaced from the duvet. This cold weather has brought in the first of the fieldfare to the trees in the garden. Unfortunately our apple crops was very poor this year, following last year's huge crop. I left many of the windfalls for the thrush, fieldfare and redwing, but all they have this year are the remains of the rowan berries, the pyracantha and coteaster berries, oh and a number of ornamental crab apples which they tend to ignore.
Belated birthday greetings to Paul and Alicat, and I hope your days were enjoyable. I love all the info about local fauna, and of course the numerous cats and dogs and horses you all have. The galahs, which I have found out are your (AQ) native parrots - pretty colour, and your lizarda. I too was surprised about camels in Australia, but old Google sorted me out - apparently the first camel arrived in 1840 and came from the Canaries! An interesting site to learn more: http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/camels-australia.html#camels-australia-history. OG love the photo of the water vole - I haven't seen one for years. Wow, what a long cat Tiger and what a lovely colour. Diane I am tempted by the sound of your Kahlua. I may have to get the ingredients! George how lovely to live within spitting distance of Vane Farm. I have a friend who lives west of there and I have been a few times now. Diane so sad about the bobcat, but what a wonderful looking animal they are.
Lindybird and Tiger thank you so much for pointing us to Robert's new thread Just a thought. It is delightful. As I sit at my laptop in the kitchen, the sun shines in and shows up the dirty windows and exposes the dust and cobwebs inside I can see a goldfinch, a great tit and two blue tits on the feeders! When I took voluntary retirement some six years ago now, I stood up to thank everyone for the kind words etc. I am not used to public speaking so although surrounded by friends and colleagues I had know for 18 years I was nervous. But my parting shot was to read the poem by Wm Henry Davies, called Leisure.
"What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare. No time to stand beneath the boughs and stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight, streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at Beauty's glance, and watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait tillher mouth can enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare." I have made it a policy to find that time to stand and stare - no wonder I, like a lot of retirees, say I don't know how I found the time to go to work!
Hope I haven't out-stayed myself. Will try to look in more often.
Sheila
Birdie's DU Summaries 2018 https://www.imagicat.com/
HeatherB I too have found this addictive, particularly when EJ and Odin were with us. Even then I 'lurked' for probably nearly three years before dipping my toe in the water and then that was it. I have found it difficult to keep up lately with so much wonderful news and information being exchanged, but I still felt a part of it all. It's like having a group of friends with shared interests, even if you, like me, only dip in and out. There is so much to learn, not only on osprey, that would probably pass you by. Would we have heard of conker championships or camels in Australia were it not for folk here? I doubt it!! So pop back when you have the time and the inclination.
Alan I just love your Brugmansia. Is the alternative name Angel's Trumpet? Do you keep it indoors all the tme, or can it go outside when the frosts have passed. I have never grown one.