WEEKLY CHAT (NON-OSPREY) SUNDAY DECEMBER 27, 2020

Morning all  Another sunny but coolish day here.  Was sitting by patio door last evening after dark and kept hearing something at the glass. Went out to find a little bird huddled in a corner and seemingly unable to stay airborne for long.  OH and I assisted it into the air-conditioned shoe box we keep for such crises, but when I went to lift the lid and add a tiny container of water, it flew off, but then we saw it hopping about the patio again, only to fly off when we tried to rescue it.  Fast forward to 11 p.m., I shone a flashlight out the window and there it was again - huddled up against the patio door.  This time it let me pick it up without a problem, so I put it in the shoebox along with some water and brought it inside, intending to chauffeur it up to the Wildlife Rescue place this morning, but when I got up, the little thing had died. :-(  I keep wondering if I hastened - or even caused - its demise.  Such tiny pretty little creatures...

AQ:  Hope you get to escort your camera on a trip before your date with the doc.

OG:  I often have something different for dinner than OH (it's always much simpler). Good luck with the family pow wow re menus. What does J lean to?

Lindybird:  We got several little gifts of cookies from neighbors and I hate to say OH and I rarely try more than a bite because we just don't eat that much sugar.  However, I loaned a gardening tool to a neighbor and he returned it yesterday with some chocolate chip cookies with what seemed like dry orange pieces baked into them. They were good. Have no such restrictions when it comes to good quality chocolate.  Have fun shopping for blinds.  Did your U.S. cousin say anything about coming to visit when it's safe (Covid-wise)?

Sorry UK folks are housebound and with more restrictions looming.  I'll grab mask and sanitizer and head for Trader Joe's and Costco in a bit, then home to remove a couple of 'wrong plant, wrong place' mistakes while the soil is still damp and easy to work with.

ANNETTE Sorry about your wee bird. I know how you feel, but sounds like it was on its last legs anyway.

Temp nudging 30 C. Not the best weather for casseroles but I have prep-ed one for tonight and 3 for freezer. NYE fireworks have been cancelled in Adelaide & suburbs. Some councils are using the money to assist small businesses affected by covid.

Just a thought

Find the seed at the bottom of your heart and bring forth a flower. (Shigenori Kameoka)

ANNETTE - sad about the bird, what was it? Assume not a humming bird?
LYNETTE - your new blind sounds good. It's amazing what something like that can do, to lighten a room.
AQ- You've certainly had a good kitchen session! When you mentioned pasties, I remembered that I put meat in the freezer to make Cornish pasties...
OG - I'm sure that you and J will reach a compromise about the food that he likes. Maybe he could have a cooking session once a week to make and freeze sauces to go with his rice or pasta. You don't have to eat the same food as each other. My old boy was a very traditional eater ( yes, tatties with everything) . I always catered to his tastes but also made and enjoyed the things I liked so we often had, like ANNETTE, different meals at the same time..
It will be a strange Hogmanay here, all alone with memories !!

Good Morning. We've had another light covering of snow here overnight.

Heather, you won't be totally alone, as we will all be thinking of you {{HUGS}}.

Annette, sorry about losing the tiny bird. They are so delicate, it's hard to save them when they come to grief. At least you know that you tried.

Interesting list for the New Years Honours, here: pleased to see that a lot of them go to our unsung heroes during this pandemic.

HEATHER – I think I overdid the cooking. I am rather tired tonight. This eve we are looking forward to a broadcast of the 2020 NY Vienna concert on Classic Radio. Yes, 2020. Alas, it has been years since it was shown on TV.

Good morning all from a very frosty but trying-to-be-sunny south. I haven't poked my nose outside yet but it looks cold! Glad we have managed to limp to the end of 2020 - let's hope 2021 will be kinder, more peaceful, more joyous and more free for all of us. Lots of superlatives about the vaccines at the moment - I'm waiting for my call! I think I'm probably in about level 4, so may have to wait a while. One calculator I looked at (which for some reason didn't want me to put in my age!) calculated between June and September 2021!!

I don't think my New Year's Eve will be very different from other years. I'll go to bed as early as I can in the hope that by midnight I will be asleep and miss everything. I am often woken by local fireworks - wonder if they will happen this year? Hopefully the very noisy barbecue in a nearby garden (actually, not so near, but amazing how sound travels!) last year will not be happening tonight.

I hope everyone here - posters and lurkers and droppers-in - has a happy, peaceful, joyous and blessed 2021 - things, as the song says, can only get better.

A thin sprinkling of white stuff on the ground this morning - so little that pavers show through. Accumulation of frost on shady areas of grass has built up some more, Sunshine earlier but fading now - expecting sleet at this level later. All snug indoors.

AQ - hope the casserole was tasty despite the hotter weather. Loved the quote; it will be used! I think all firework celebrations should have ben cancelled - especially in Sidney where they have been troubled by crowds on the beaches - blaming Brit backpackers, I heard!

HEATHER - OH finds it hard enough to prodice one main meal, I don't think he could do two, but he certainly can't cook at the same time as J - and just think of all the washing up! Anyway, we'll sort something. What you suggest does make sense re sauces - J recently used up a batch of bolognese he had made to eat when we had liver - ours was also frozen so not much actual cooking on the day of eating. I did eat pasta with them yesterday - lovely mascarpone bake, which we all enjoyed as we hadn't had it for a long time.

PAT - I wondered about going to bed early, but I am not good at going back to sleep if I do get woken by fireworks and revelry!

Looking forward to my haggis, neeps and tatties for lunch.