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!
Forget the mudslide. I just poured myself some Kahlua and it tastes very nice! Cheers.
Tiger Signature
‘Evenin’ all! Been a chaotic day with OH home – amazing how quickly I had settled into doing my own thing my own way! He arrived mid-evening yesterday with photos of Son’s flat after they had sorted a lot of things. Much more space than old flat: “room to swing a cat” so Son is back to the old plea of “can I have a kittie?” Don’t think he means it this time! Very nice kitchen – and he does enjoy cooking. Bathroom big but should really have some landlord’s attention, bedroom also a very good size. He phoned this morning and said “I woke up in a very nice flat” – so he is obviously happier and appreciated his Dad’s help. Another call this afternoon – he was locked in! The door lock failed one day last week and he had to pass the key through letter flap to be opened from outside; ok since, but today it did the same – when he was due at work at 4:30 and he was still stuck at 6 :00 – haven’t heard from him since!
Heather – missed your post yesterday evening just before mine. Sounds like a wonderful weekend for you and all the family – must have been proud of SiL in the Colour Party at the parade. Good to hear he is sleeping better and having a good long leave at home with the family. “Decompression” does make sense now I think about it! Haven’t read details of Defence Review yet – but did notice civilian staff are to be cut – ok so long as that doesn’t reduce support for active units.
Patricia – your “Dog agility winter league” brings home the fact that winter really is coming – I have been trying to ignore it so long, but probably need to face up to it! Yes, that was OH in the picture!
Lynette – Tornado is not actually old! The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust was set up in 1990 “to build and operate a Peppercorn class A1 Pacific Steam Locomotive”. This was because all 49 old examples had been scrapped, but engineering diagrams were found to be available. Hydraulic and boiler tests were completed in early 2008, and later that year Tornado moved in steam for the first time, at her Darlington birthplace. Final certification to run on Network Rail was granted early last year, and she was revealed to the public in full livery at York last December. This is a very abbreviated account – see http://www.a1steam.com/
Diane – sorry about Bobcat death. How big are they? I’m sure you didn’t really grow up “the wrong side of the track”! Thanks for pic of “your” Gallinule.
Tiger – isn’t Kahlua a coffee liqueur? Never tried it – and now don’t drink anything alcoholic due to meds.
AQ – thanks for report on Jasper’s doings – like the division of care both ends! - and for the update on your birds. Weekend tour sounds good, despite weather. Many churches here, esp in the Highlands, have become at galleries. I don’t think we eat Fava Beans here – mainly in Spain, I think, but could be totally wrong on that! Like “silent cop” as a name for a roundabout – seems so long since policemen used to stand at road junctions!
Terry – enjoyed playing with Marine Traffic!! Thanks.
Alan – more great Goldfinches! Thanks.
Joan – think I might post more photos of Tornado some time, when nothing else is going on, for the Dads, Brothers and OHs!
Alicat – pleased you saw so many waterfowl with the scope – amazing what colours you see when you can get closer views.
Brenda – there seem to be even more steam railways and centres than there used to be – I love them! I like the smell of the warm oil in the moving parts – and got quite excited about having black smuts and steam on us and the car to prove we had been there! (Strange person, I hear you say!) Pleased you managed to the coast – we had occasional drizzle till mid afternoon then dazzling sunshine. Only trip out was to Chiropodist – oh, and Tesco.
Sorry, this got longer than expected – everything was so interesting and deserving of comment. Will now shut up a while – may just pop back later with pix of Bolsover.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
HI all: Wow. Torrential rain, lighning and thunder since yesterday evening! Amazing. Drove to book club hostess's house last night and were treated to a front-row seat of the approaching storm. Now listening to loud bursts of thunder as the third lot disappears over the hills. Power has been on and off and on and off.
Heather: Hope s-i-l has chance to relax now; not happy news about blown up schools. :-(
Margo: Had same problem with MWSnap; will try again per suggestions by others before next year rolls around (and it's rolling around pretty fast - almost November! - Aaack!)
OG: Lovely pix again - you must need an assistant when you zoom around with all that equipment!
Diane: Kahlua mudslide sounds dangerous. We have a lot of bobcats and mountain lions in our hills - in fact we have a bobcat family at Lake Los Carneros, just half a mile up the road. Haven't seen them but others have.
AQ: We eat Fava beans here too.
Tiger: It's still the Wild West in a lot of ways.
Terry: Fascinating maritime site; have bookmarked it for additional visits.
Thanks all for pix and comments. Take care ; back later.
AQ, Thanks for your trip report and lovely photographs. I had to google fava bean. I found they are part f the staple diet in Egypt and are used in some Mediterranean dishes, so if I have eaten them, I didn't know. I love the mini roundabout being called a 'silent cop.
Diane, I forgot to say earlier that I hope your eye is alright.
Margo, I hope you are not bald, pulling your hair out with the MV snap. I must have a go.
Terry, I have just had a look at the 'marine traffic'. My last choice was the English Channel and I couldn't believe how busy it is.
OG, I do hope your son has been able to sort out his lock problems. We had similar problem a couple of weeks ago, but we couldn't lock the door. I would love to see more of your ' steam' photographs. It is one time I don't mind being held up when in the car, that is, when when the gates close to let the steam train cross.
Annette, That sounds like a very long series of thunderstorms. I think you need a rest from them now.
The rain arrived here this evening, after dark, and sounded quite heavy. Going to have my haircut tomorrow morning, and very unusual for me, there is no rain forecast.
Hey, Annette. Unusual time for you! Weather sounds very dramatic. OH is very good at carrying photographic stuff – as well as the scope, bins and his tripod. But when we are “walking” my scooter has advantages – when I use the big one, I often have my camera in front basket, two tripods or tripod and monopod in their bags slung behind the headrest together with the long lens, bag containing scope, bins and accessories between my feet – and all he has to carry is small camera and other odds and ends! The car has ramps to run that scooter in (seat off and handlebars down) but he still has to put in quite a lot of effort, so may not be able as he gets older – so we enjoy it while we can.
Here is Bolsover Castle (on site of earlier mediaeval castle).
left to right: Ruined East Range (1610 to Civil War), wonderful Beech Tree, Little Castle (1613 to 18)
Riding School Building – part of Stable Range (mid 17th century)
Model of whole castle
Castle from nature reserve – below castle ridge, on site of former coal mine (a bit misty)
Brenda – you posted while I was uploading photos! Son phoned about 10:00pm – he eventually managed to get hold of a friend who came and let him out with key passed through letterbox. He had tried other friends whose numbers he had, but didn’t know this particular friend’s number. When he phoned me at 6:00, I offered to use online directory (he hasn’t got landline, broadband and paper directory yet – maybe tomorrow) but he didn’t know the surname! Being my usual devious self, I looked on his church’s website and found minister’s phone number, so he phoned him for friend’s contact details! He went to work during the evening and is now back home and locked in for the night – hopefully to emerge in the morning! His mobile only works in the bay of one of his windows, which rather complicates matters – old granite building again. He had a spare key cut today, so this friend now holds that for him. Sorry, it sounds awfully complicated, I think I could have written it more clearly if I was more awake!
Got to get up early so OH can move car for road surfacing and get me to dentist, so goodnight, all.
Hi folks, I got the inevitable news this afternoon that my mum had passed away about 3pm, peacefully in the care home where she has been for the past 3 years. After being out this morning, down to the gym, and then looking at new TV's, I came back and received the news about 3.20pm from my brother. It is a merciful release. So have been running round, packing and am off up to Manchester tomorrow so will be ~"off air" - so to speak for at least the next week.
Diane - loved the pics of the bobcat - they are handsome, aren't they.
OG - thanks for putting me right about "Tornado" > its still great that they were able to build her from old plans and re-create an old engine.
Thanks for all your news and pictures.
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/wildlife-webcams/loch-of-lowes/
RSPB Giving Nature a Home
Thanks for all the chat. Dau rang from Dubai where temp was 35 C. It seems they were spending their time by hotel pool. They found Europe very cold. Last day - they return tomorrow lunchtime.
The "silent cops" are rare now. They are being replaced as they are the bane of motor cyclists. Replaced by roundabouts or traffic lights or "traffic calming devices". The latter term amuses me as they don’t calm the drivers - the very opposite in fact. Blocking through-streets, one-way streets, and the favourite, narrowing the roadway so only one car at a time can pass. Oh and speed humps - I hate them. They are painful for sore backs. Enough ranting.
Weekend tour continued. Lunch stop in Laura. Those who have done trips before take cut lunch for first day. These country delis are so slow in producing food & drink. We scoff our sandwich and spend the remaining hour walking to see the sites. We did detour to buy a Golden North icecream, made in the town. Most of my pics are of churches, I love the old shapes. Many are no longer in use with falling congregations and amalgamations. eg The Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, Bible Christian & others combined to form the Methodist church in 1900, then then joined the Presbyterian & Congregational to form Uniting Church. The Lutherans had several synods and most towns had 2 Lutheran churches until 1960s. So plenty of surplus churches.
This is the chimney of an abandoned copper mine we passed soon after Wirrabara.
Next town was Melrose at the foot of Mount Remarkable. The mount, 3178 feet above sea level, rises abruptly from the plain. It is covered in trees. A popular camping & hiking area. It's stopped raining and the bus window is now covered in dust & grime!
We had a drive around Melrose then an hour to explore. The original 1854 courthouse & buildings is a wonderful museum. Out the back is the 2-room prisoner cell block. Nearby an old camel wagon, taller than I. This wagon, hauled by 20 camels, used to take wool from outback stations to Port Augusta to be shipped to London markets.
Along the fence were old farm implements. This is the famous Ridley stripper to harvest crops, invented in Adelaide in 1843. It was pushed by a team of 3 horses. Two teams working 3 hour shifts from 8 am to dark could reap 10 acres in a day. A great improvement on hand reaping.
One building had olden days settings (kitchen, laundry, etc) and old artifacts. This is an old mangle. I remember my mother using one to press sheets when I was very young. "Don’t get your fingers caught."
to be continued
Lynette Such sad news, but a great relief to you too. My thoughts are with you and your family.
Lynette,so sorry to hear your sad news my thoughts are with you and your family
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