Weekly Chat, Sunday, December 5, 2010

Hi everyone: Have a nice Sunday. Don't forget to catch up on last few entries of previous week - AQ is havng a hard time sleeping coz of the heat!!

Daughter here for the night; catch up tomorrow.  :-)

  • Evening All.   Got home from work to OH telling me he had seen a snipe in the garden, don’t think it was actually hanging on the peanuts though LOL.  He’s just trying to go one better all the time!

     

    Went out for choir rehearsal tonight but it started snowing so those living further away decided they had to go and the rehearsal was abandoned.  Hope that doesn’t happen with orchestra tomorrow, the concert’s on Saturday...  Since the news about the servers, I have been receiving only one notification email of posts instead of the usual two, so maybe it knows it doesn’t have long and is trying to ingratiate itself.  Or maybe only one server is working.

     

    Loved the Mozzie story Chloe, well done and thanks for cheering us up.

     

    Lindy, I have your poems in my computer! (Maybe not all of them.)

     

    dibnlib, love your polar bear pic and Brenda’s caption.

     

    Did you enjoy your lunch OG? (I see later that you did.) Was your shopping at Houghton Hall? Haven’t heard too many good reports about it as a garden centre, was the lunch there too? Don’t know how you managed to stop that bluetit hopping long enough to take its pic.  I saw some geese this morning on my way to work, but they were flying south to north and they usually go north to south in the morning.  It would be amazing to see 42,000, must get round there!  I am using your lupins for my wallpaper at the moment.  View of Scotland hidden by what looked like snowclouds this morning.

     

    Poor AQ, unwilling, demented, wheezing, I too hope you don’t have to do teen duty again for a long time.

     

    Finally found Margo’s news about LG volunteering, hurray, and I have just taken a call from a local RSPB lady to say I can help out at Bassenthwaite next year, double hurray!  She is emailing me a form and seems quite pleased that I want to do a full week (plus odd days/evenings) as that means one of them can take a week off.  They do 10-2 and/or 1-5 during the day, and 5-11.30 or 11.30-10 overnight.  I wouldn’t mind doing a night shift, but hopefully nothing would happen, can’t see me running after people through the woods!

     

    Alan, oh dear, more bad news for Hamish, hope he copes with op on Friday.

     

    Terry in Cumbria

  • Is this the last day of slow servers? A new world starts tomorrow. Mind you in my experience new software rarely works smoothly first time. Still we can but hope.

     

  • Evening all:  Another day of whizzing to and fro, but settled in now (pretty cool outside by our standards) with a glass of cheap plonk.  Landscape folks are starting work tomorrow - finally - hurray!  Now have to talk OH into a new path to the front door, which is currently red tiled and cracked and will look seriously odd with new landscape. I know we'll regret it if we don't do it now; stay tuned.  Our hawk came and sat on fence near OH's office window today.  OH called "Hawk" which, with an American accent, sounded like a bit like "Hot" to me, who was down the hall.  "Hot?" I says (very unusual for OH to be hot).  "On the fence," he says. "Hot on the fence?" I say, then realize what he's talking about.  We both agreed it looked to be a young one; it sat there for a few minutes near the feeder, but all the little birds had skidaddled, and after a couple of minutes it flew off.

    TerryM: Congrats on your Bassenthwaite (sp?) gig with the RSPB.

    AQ: Hope you've recovered from the teens and that it's not too hot down under.

    Alan: Hamish is a brave little fellow; sounds entirely lovable.

    Hallo to everyone else. Here's hoping the transition to the new server is seamless (ha!) .

     

     

     

  • Hi, all. I'm very tired so just a brief note.

    My Dad passed away this afternoon. I took him by ambulance to the hospital last Wednesday. I stayed in his room with him the entire time and helped with his care. I've only just returned home this evening. He had advanced COPD/emphysema, and a CT-scan in the hospital revealed that -- in the last couple of months --he had developed fast-growing metastatic cancer in his lungs. The last few days have been horrific.

    I will be busy making arrangements and taking care of a daunting number of tasks, so I don't know when I will post again.

    My Dad always enjoyed your photos and the stories of your lives. This forum gave us something to share and enjoy together, and it brightened our days. So I want to thank all of you!

  • Diane Sorry to hear of the death of your dad. The death of a parent is always a particularly significant moment in one's life. It sounds as if the last few months have been particularly trying.

    It is good think that our community helped him in some small way. When I try to explain the the value of forums who have never experienced them they can never appreciate just how they can help in so many ways.

    We will be thinking of you at this difficult time.

  • Oh Diane so very sorry to hear that your Dad has passed away.  I know his health was a problem recently and if he had the early stages of cancer things would only have got worse for him.  But that's little consolation for you at this time.  You're in my thoughts and prayers.

  • Diane, dear friend, I am so sorry to read of your father's death.  He has been so much part of your life in recent times, I am sure your grief and pain will be a huge burden right now, together with the tiredness from staying with him and sharing in his care.  You have given him so much;  I am sure he was proud of you.  I know there is a lot to be done, but you must also take care of yourself now.  We shall be thinking of you.  Hugs from OG and Eagle-Eye.

    Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!

  • Dear Diane ... so sorry to hear of your dad's death ... you have devoted so much time to caring for him, and you will miss him enormously. This will be a very hard time for you, and my thoughts are with you. Big hug from me.

    Joan - avid bird and nature watcher in Northumberland!

    Index Thread

     

  • Just come on, and shocked to hear of Diane's Dads passing - seemingly sudden to us, who did not know how ill he was.  Dear Diane, I am so very sorry:  as others have said, our thoughts are with you and you must know that he would have been so very proud of you and how you had cared for him in his last years.  You will be so very tired now, so may not read this, but we are all sending hugs and caring to you, across the miles.

    ----

    Very cold indeed here, we are told it will not be above freezing all day today and will be minus 6 degrees tonight.  At least our snow has been minimal and we can still get out, with care.

    Sorry to hear you have been poorly, margobird  - do take care and don't fall down going out to feed the birds if your OH is away!  Glad to hear that Billy Whizz is still whizzing about.  Agreed with your remarks about 'Strictly'.  Hope you feel better soon.   My OH has had a head cold so we are reluctant to go and visit our new grandson again yet, but will hope to later in the week.  (he is doing very well, initially lost weight as they often do, but is now growing daily.)

    Keep warm  & safe, all in UK!

  • DIANE  so very sorry to hear the news of your Dads death. You have obviously devoted so much time to him and he will be sorely missed.

    It is nice to know how much he enjoyed reading this forum and our pics and from what you have said he did like to be involved. Thinking of you.  xxx