Weekly Chat, Sunday November 14, 2010

OG I remember being taken funnel spotting...still couldn't tell which was which but being small they were just BIG!!

Darn it!  Just clicked on Chloe's Ark Royal link (surprise! Couldn't see a thing coz it's the middle of the night) and then somehow lost all my reponses to posts prior to that. Grrrrr.  

Diane: As you can see, have chosen a rose from the lovely options you so kindly provided. Thanks dearie!

Here's an abbreviated version of what I lost:  Sorry to hear about harrier hen decline (doesn't sound healthy environment for grouse either); also that Lindybird got call about arrival of - oven - not Sweetpea! Thanks ladies for updates on Gretna Green. Amazed to hear that Charles actually said that when he got engaged to Diana (now I understand a little better what Tiger meant by "baggage").  Have vision of Margobird doing a Hyacinth Bucket - pronounced Bouquet of course - waiting for the mailman with letter from LG.  Alan: When it comes to outlet stores, a woman will go through hell and highwater  - and swampie land - to achieve her goal.

jsb: A parakeet?  Where are you?  Costa Rica?  But no - Surrey?  Amazing. Here, Neighborhood Watch groups keep an eye out for burglars, not birds.

Djoan: Fab photo of Ark Royal. What lovely lines.

Sheila:  We do take the controls on our vehicles for granted - until we're in a different one.  I will stand and stare come whale-counting time.  :-)

WendyB: Nice you got to M&S.

Likely to topple into bed again tonight - heavy rain forecast for next two days. Hurray!  Daughter and I decided against horse trials what with gloomy weather forecast. Instead, spent early a.m. jump starting her truck (she left the lights on yesterday), visiting her horses, and scarfing oatmeal at favorite breakfast eatery. Then came home via Costco where no fresh fish in sight, just masses of turkeys.  :-(

Take care all and have a nice Saturday.

Annette  Love your new avatar.

There is an interesting caption competition which should appeal to people here. See  here.

Why don't people save their posts to the clipboard as they go along? That way if something goes wrong you can always get it back. Just highlight your post and then right click the highlight and click <copy>  This sends a copy of the post to the clipboard.

 To retrieve something from the clipboard you right click at a point in the post and then click <paste> on the menu that appears.

The second part of my quiz.

7. A doctor gives you three pills telling you to take one every half hour. How many minutes would the pills last?

8. A farmer has 17 sheep, and all but 9 die. How many are left?

9. A butcher is 5' 10'' tall. What does he weigh?

10. A boat has a ladder that has six rungs, each rung is one foot apart. The bottom rung is one foot from the water. The tide rises at 12 inches every 15 minutes. High tide peaks in one hour. When the tide is at it's highest, how many rungs are under water?

11. How much dirt would be in a hole 6 feet deep and 6 feet wide that has been dug with a square edged shovel?

12. If a farmer has 5 haystacks in one field and 4 haystacks in the other field, how many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in the center field?  

I love this picture. See   "What Am I Supposed to do?"

More of the same see  Cute Fanatic.

Odd goings on here today - posted the above and it disappeared!  The read back to see the Ark Royal pictures etc. and come on to find this was posted after all!!

Laughed a lot at your questions, Tiger!!

Thanks to margo for link to cute film of little boy & patient labrador!  gorgeous!  How good are that breed with children.  Also thanks to Joan for great pics of the Ark Royal.  No time to read the rest, as off out now - have a good day!

Good morning, folks.  We are intending a visit to Caerlaverock today to see (?photograph) Barnacles, Whoopers and anything else which is around.

I promised a bit about Gretna weddings.  We are only 7 miles from Gretna, and the “Wedding Industry” is one of the biggest income generators around here!  Even Gretna Register Office has more marriages than a normal town of its size, because people just love to have Gretna on their Marriage Certificate!  There are at least three “original” anvils in Gretna Green  - I am assuming you all know the history of when blacksmith-priests could conduct marriages over an anvil, and when the marriage laws of Scotland and England were different so that couples not allowed to marry in England (usually because of lack or parental consent) crossed the border.  After the laws changed, it was seen as a particularly romantic thing to do, and so the practice continued.  Since the introduction of marriage licences for hotels and other venues in the UK, the practice has increased, so that at some times of the year it is impossible to book venues or meals for anything other than weddings.  When the Roman Catholic Church in Gretna was closed in 2004, it was snapped up by one entrepreneur and soon re-opened as “The Anvil Hall” wedding venue!   “The Old Blacksmith Shop” complex at Gretna Green has a museum, cafés and shops and is a tourist attraction and sells everything tartan to unsuspecting visitors, who come by coachloads.  Weddings there are carried out on a production line, and if they are genuine secret weddings, one may be called upon as a legal witness to complete strangers – when visiting the museum OH and I once signed as witnesses of the marriage of a lovely young couple from the south of England.  The industry supports an unusual number of photographers in Gretna and Annan, jewellers, kilt hire, wedding planners, caterers and shops selling anything related to weddings

Good morning SheilaFE I did watch Autumn Watch and so enjoyed the starlings.  What amazing birds they are.  I love them they are so comical and especially liked the night time viewing when they were all at roost under the pier.  Learned a whole lot more about starlings I have to say.  I get quite a few in my garden, they are messy little devils but provide me with a lot of amusement.  It is a marvel of nature the way they all flock together and give us such wonderful sights.

jsb a couple of years ago I looked in my garden and on by bird bath I saw a parakeet having a drink.  I know there are a small number of these down in Poole somewhere but that is the only time I have seen one.

DjoanS lovely pics of the Ark Royal so pleased you managed to get a good view of her.

I was surprised when looking out of my kitchen window at about 9.15 much to my amazement I had afox in the garden eating the worms I put out for the birds.  Didn't look particularly healthy I have jto say and of course as soon as it saw me it tried to jump over a rather high fence but made a bit of a mess doing it and then decided it would exit via my back gate.  Never expected to see one at this time of the day I must admit.  A few months ago early one Sunday we had a very handsome dog fox in the garden.  We know they are around as they leave their calling cards which I have to clear up every now and then. 

Lindybird hope Sweet Pea makes an appearance for you soon, you must be on tenterhooks.  Will be thinking of you this weekend.

Hope all have a good weekend with some fairly decent weather.  At the moment it is dry but cloudy and not very warm here but we had heavy rain again overnight so all the water that had drained away from my back garden lawn is now back again and my bird patio is under a couple of inches of water.