Weekly Chat, Sunday November 14, 2010

You are so right Tiger. I was reminded this morning that the Queen is now 84 and the Duke is 89.

Lovely sunset pic, OG.    Wish I had been there, esp. as you mentioned hot chocolate & shortbread!  Glad you enjoyed your little pootle around the craft fair.  I have to be careful not to go to too many of those, or I too, end up with full windowsills!

Sorry to hear we have another member with computer problems, Wendy.  When it comes to colours, must admit I am schizophrenic when it come to things like that, & on one day I will buy a very businesslike black version, on another day, a colourful / pink one!  (love your crazy penguin!)

Did thoroughly enjoy all three of the books I took on holiday:  Strangely, they all had USA connections!!   First, a Joanna Trollope called "Girl from the South" which was the best I have ever read from her pen. It had as the heroine a girl from South Carolina who travels to Britain to escape the influence of her upbringing & family.  She meets a photographer there, who goes back with her to USA & enjoys the wildlife in her area, including some wonderful birdlife, so that was a bonus for me!

Then I read "Made in America" by Bill Bryson, which actually I havn't finished yet!  (too busy exploring/walking/sleeping!)

Best of all was "Return of the Osprey"  by David Gessner -   Wow!     Cannot recommend this too highly to all you osprey fans out there - very readable, and a charming account of how he discovered for himself the joys of watching the ospreys nesting & raising their families, in the area around Cape Cod, USA.   So many of the things he writes are familiar to us who have spent hours watching the webcams.  He found himself, somehow, in the watching and the patience he needed in watching the birds' struggles. Wonderful descriptions of the scenery & wildlife he encounters, and little bits of information, such as the meaning of pandion haliaetus, the ospreys official name.  I bought my copy from Amazon online, but I'm sure you could get it from a good bookshop.

The quote at the bottom of this post is from his book.....

Lindybird  Yes "Return of The Osprey" is a book which I intend to read when I get round to it. His later osprey book is "Soaring With Fidel". This is a rather handy tool for looking for used books. See search for used books.

According to this tool there are 265 copies of this book available in the world. One is as cheap as 2p.

There 263 copies of "Soaring with Fidel" with one at $0.75. I guess postage would bump that up a bit.

Gessner has an internet site at Ospreyworld. At the start he was promising to turn up regular but I think he rarely if ever appears and the forum is sadly spam infested. Someone from DPOF had plans to do a makover on the site but it does not seem to have come to anything.

Evening all: Lovely day here; was at the gym this morning , which was unusually quiet; then home to water a few of the plants, fill the birdfeeder, start dinner stuff and get ready for week ahead (still act as if I have to leap up Monday and rush off to work or something).  Remembrance Day is Veteran's Day here, but Memorial Day (in May) is the big holiday (at least that's how it seems) for remembering sacrifices made by those in uniform.

Pink gym clothes and coordinating iPods and computers!  I know someone whose daughter works for Nike and this lady has shoes in every color under the sun! Sounds like fun but I'm definitely more the mismatched type- whatever I can pull on gym-wise that will camouflage as much as possible and computer now a mix of old black laptop and even older gray monitor, but they all do the job.  When I do get a choice, it's usually boring sensible black (classic I tell myself).

Lynette: Congrats on your winnings. Casinos are fascinatingly depressing - and I absolutely hate Las Vegas.  On the rare occasions I'm in one (we have them on Indian land here - it's a way for the tribes to raise money) I usually put aside $10 to put in the slots, but those machines are so complicated these days I'm not sure I'd know if I'd won anything or not (which is maybe the point).

dibnlib: Typically avoid any concentration camp images any more. Did go to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC years ago and saw huge piles of shoes owned by inmates - very moving. Brilliant but devastating museum. Was quite depressed for a few days.

OG: Tooth seems to be behaving itself today thank you!  I love wood - so warm and alive in spite of being dead, if you get my drift.  Sounds like a nice day out. Lovely photo perfect way to end a November day; makes me want to snuggle up by a fire (sun, however, is only just slipping over the horizon here).

TerryM:  Jury duty fascinating; very interesting how jurors really do try to work together and listen to opposing views (maybe we could give lessons to the politicians?) 

Lindybird: Thanks for the info on the books. I'm into yet another Kurt Wallender mystery......  Have reserved the Bill Bryson book from the library.

Off to toss in a load of laundry and get dinner organized. Have a nice Monday all - and special hallo to those I've not mentioned individually.

 Continuing wedding saga. While the guests, plus some invited just to the ceremony, stood around snacking on canapes, the newlyweds dashed off to another location for more photos. The reception was held in the "barn" and with less than 40 guests we all mixed and mingled. M-i-l stayed until dinner began when she went home chauffeured in the wedding car. All arranged by bride. The evening began with speeches by bride’s parents (as instructed!). We decided to share - OH said the expected thank you’s and toast while Yours Truly gave advice. Not one for speeches, I adapted from Google a lovely recipe for marriage that begins "In a large bowl of love mix: One part of Faith, One of Patience, Another of Sympathy (adding more if needed) . . . " A slight hiccup when our glasses of wine for the toast, placed handy earlier, had been cleared by waiting staff. (I was already juggling reading glasses, speech copy, microphone, nerves.)

Amazing menu, specially chosen by the happy couple. (They like their food.) My entrée: slow roasted free range pork belly with pear, cider & vanilla. Simply delish. Alternative was spring salad of buffalo mozzarella, Spanish jamon, watercress & nectarines. More speeches - groom’s parents followed by Miss14. She surprised with a very mature speech. All the more amazing as she had left her copy home.

For main course I had boned spatchcock stuffed with truffles, crisp camembert, black cabbage (looked green to me!) & sweet potato. Delish, though I had to pass camembert to OH after 2 bites as I started wheezing. (Spring + dairy = botheration). Alternatives were lamb back strap with goat’s cheese stuffed zucchini flowers & red capsicum, or Wagyu eye fillet of beef, enoki mushrooms, shiraz jus & compote of garlic & shallots. Mains served with rocket, pear & parmesan salad, beans with garlic, & Pommes puree.

Speeches by dau, sil & best man. Dau said such nice things I got teary, me who doesn’t cry at weddings. The rain may have stopped but the garden was muddy. Bride was oblivious to the changing colour of her hemline. 
 

 Dessert was the wedding cake - a dream of a chocolate cake served with Clementines, Jersey cream & orange syrup. We also had an extra slice to take home. It was just as melt-in-the-mouth for lunch next day. 
 

 The newly weds tried to slip away quietly but the guests had other ideas and formed the farewell arch. This was mother & dau.
 

 They’ve gone to NZ for honeymoon. Children are staying with Dau#2 during week (close to their schools). I’ve volunteered to stay with them at their home weekends, so they can do their own thing (and homework) in their own rooms. Once a mother, always a mother <sigh>

Hey AQ: Lucky me - get to see the wedding photos tonight!  They're lovely - Dau#1 and her Brand New OH make a lovely couple - you can see how happy they are. Just wonderful and again a very simple but elegant dress. Like your magenta outfit.  That setting is very nice; so good the weather behaved!   Finally - a chance to see Miss 14 - very pretty girl - funny how these kids can surprise us isn't it?  Forty guests sounds very manageable - I'd like that.  Menu sounds very interesting; I could manage that too, especially the dessert. Good for you - now please relax and enjoy some down time after all the months-long arrangements (don't even think about Christmas!)

Morning, All, & Happy Monday!     Two big Ohs!  from me this morning - first one was when I went into our bathroom & saw the amazing frosty pattern on the window!

Next Oh!   was coming on here and having the pleasure of seeing the wonderful pictures from our dear AQ, of the second Wedding of The Year!   As Annette says, what a lovely, unfussy dress, so elegant was the bride.  And you looked just great yourself, AQ!   It sounded as if it was all what you wanted, a lovely, family wedding and the rain held off, too - hooray!   Thanks too for detailed dsecriptions of the luscious food served - that cake is to die for....   (of course, you know just what to do with any leftovers of the feast,  just post it on to all of us)

We enjoyed our Sunday walk with the Dog, and saw lots of other dogs of all kinds, plus saw several Buzzards wheeling and circling.

On Saturday we visited Aged Auntie, who had had her birthday whilst we were away - she wanted to hear about all our holiday adventures and of course Dog somehow managed to get his jaws around three digestive biscuits during the course of the chat.

Good news that the poor couple kidnapped in Somalia a year ago are finally freed - what a wicked lot.  Sobering to think that they could so easily have been killed.

Here are this weeks Monday Smiles-  this time, pictures of children.....

(is that a pic of our dear margo in an earlier life???!!)

-- have a good week, everyone!

AQ  Those pictures are just stunning in such beautiful surroundings. As always you write to well as to convey the drama of the occasion in such a way we can all share it. Thank you very much.

So you get rain in South Australia again? I thought you had been suffering years of drought?

About number 2. I am sure you are right there.

Lindybird  I am not sure that my first reaction was to smile at those. Still I see what you mean :)