Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 20 December 2020

Heather - So pleased you heard it as well. I thought of you with your far better medical knowledge and wished I had that as well as my reasonable musical knowledge. But who knew he drank too much wine containing lead?!?!?

Diane - Thank you for the information on the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn. Hopefully we will be able to see that clearly here.

Right - just finished the really lovely online service, and as the sun is actually shining (haven't seen that for a while!) I'm off for a session of lake-lapping. Enjoy the rest of your day, everyone.

LINDY - well, after all that I forgot to disable the alarm before I went downstairs for my shower! I normally do it very early in the morning. So lots of beeps and a sprint to the nearest panel. Got there just in time otherwise there would have been a phone call from whoever it is, wherever they are, asking me for the password. Which I think (!) I know.

PAT - I sincerely hope that red wine isn't preserved with lead nowadays ..A worrying thought :-)

Seasons greetings

Nice to see you, Alan! Hope you and your family are well. Happy holidays!

I got out of bed this morning, and promptly had to grab the furniture, before I fell over. My knee had stiffened up in the night. I limped around for an hour, getting breakfast and showering, then found that it was gradually easing. It's a little swollen.

Good job we had already got the Christmas tree in from the garden yesterday.. It was waiting for me to decorate, so my OH helped me to string the lights around it, and I have now put most of the ornaments on. As it's a smaller tree in recent years, I can actually reach the top!

Thanks for the info, Diane.

Sad news here yesterday, that so many people will not have the Christmas they wanted. We are fine, as we have each other, but I do feel for those who are alone.

Diane:  Thank you for the Grand Conjunction reminder. I heard about it yesterday on NPR.  Will send a text to the AZ contingent to remind them as they have wonderfully clear views of the sky there.

Alan: Great to see you and hope all is well with you and Lady P - and your dog (forgot its name).   Stay well.  I thought the badger cull had been officially found to be a waste of time, money - and badgers.

Heather: We have motion activated lights but no alarm system.  It doesn't take anything to set off the lights (a breeze, passing moth, a tweet from the White House.)

Lindybird: Congrats on getting the tree up and decorated. Hope it lightens up the house. My UK family will be celebrating in their own houses; meanwhile my neighbor is going to be alone (with her dog). Her son has has Covid, but mildly, and her DiL's test was inconclusive.  

PatO:  I bet you feel restored after the service; hope the lap around the lake was lovely too.

Planned to rest yesterday but....  plan to rest today; let's see how that goes.  My other neighbor loaned me Melania and Me (a sort of tabloid tell all about a former friend of Ms. T) that I hadn't really been interested in reading but now feel I must skim through so I can at least comment on it when I return it.   Oh, and last night I watched "The Professor and the Madman" - Simon WInchester's (originally) wonderful story about how the Oxford English Dictionary came to be.  Unfortunately, the movie all but ditched the dictionary in favor of a back story about internecine intrigue among some of the Professor's colleagues and the most ridiculous almost-love story between the Madman and the widow of the woman he killed.  Lots of opportunities for Sean Penn to emote.  What's wrong with these idiot filmmakers?  I hope someone makes a decent documentary about it one day.   I was also really looking forward to seeing the movie version of A Remarkable Woman (about Mary Anning, the Jurassic Coast palaeontologist whose fossil finds and work were coopted by the male scientists of the day).  Anyway, apparently the movie has turned it into a love story between Mary and someone's wife, which has no basis in fact.   I was listening to an interview with Kate WInslett where she commented that she didn't want to make assumptions about some of the science, but I thought, well, that didn't stop you (and whoever produced it) from making other. I mean, what was wrong with just the story of the woman and the science!  Grrrr.     Rant over.

Just spoke to sister in Lincolnshire. They got a call this morning to go get their first Covid vaccine shot today (both over 80 and sister has multiple pre-existing conditions that put her at the top of the vulnerable list). They tootled over to a sports arena in Grantham that has been taken over, got the shot, stayed for 15 minutes to monitor any reactions, now home and feeling pleased with things. They said it seemed very well organized. :-)

Not sure I went back far enough into last week, so apologies if I have missed anything important from before yesterday!

ANNETTE – sorry about Niece’s work – happening a lot over here and expecting even more with latest tiering regime. Over Christmas, we in D&G go from Level 1 to Level 4! Border “closed” but no enforcement in place – just extra police “patrols” to watch people breaking the rules! I like neighbours who bring baking and other edibles – an elderly couple (in their eighties) sent their daughter to us today to deliver their annual gift of legendary chocolate cake and homegrown veggies! Glad your sister and her OH got their first shots – it does seem to be happening quite quickly in some areas.

DIANE – thanks for the cheery Cardinal to start the week! I hope you have good things happening through Solstice, Christmas and New Year!

AQ – I read about Covid numbers around Sidney – hope it does not get brought into SA and Adelaide! Great quotes re reading and books.

HEATHER – sorry about the security surprise today.

PAT – our latest scheduled Zoom service happened this morning and no decision yet for upcoming weeks! So I can’t put any services – real or virtual - in the magazine for January. Despite that, it has just grown from very thin to a well filled issue with last minute items!

ALAN P – thanks for the greeting – good to “see “ you. I hope you and yours are all well – and wee Bowie, of course!

LINDA – it does sound as if that knee needs some attention – if only physio advice to stop it getting worse. Our “tree” went up yesterday as planned but nobody found time to hang ornaments! Actually, with integral lights on its white branches it looks quite nice!

We let time overtake us again today, and will need to get up early for the hospital tomorrow. BTW, whoever asked why I was called for a mammogram, it is part of my annual check-up after the cancer about five years ago; I will hopefully get oncology visit in early spring to be squeezed and prodded and that should be the "All Clear"