Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 24 January 2021

Very hot night, not good to sleep. Cooler 30 C this morn and light rain; need more. Late yesterday afternoon a terse email from Friend as she was leaving. Bushfire very close to their property in Adelaide Hills. We are 20 km away & could see the huge smoke plume, a pyrocumulus cloud spreading across the city. Fire deliberately lit, many ignition points, police arrested a 60-year-old idiot. Friend phoned later from safety of son’s place.

Glad that things are improving for you, OG. Sorry that your church friend is very ill.
The wood mice must be entertaining,

LINDY, I thought your blinds looked familiar. We have some of the same pattern. Ours are cream. Good choice.

It snowed here for about an hour and a half. It is still on the ground (or what is left of it after the children have been running about) It was not very deep.

I still go to the supermarket around 8am. Everyone seems to be law abiding and considerate then. I do tend to see the same people. I will not go at any other time at the moment.

I have just seen your post AQ. What an idiot, starting a fire. Glad he got arrested.

AQ - Words fail. Sadly, whatever the punishment, it will not be enough. :-( Hope your friends property is OK.

Rosy, I ordered the blinds with the colour choice under the heading "Cream" in the choices list. As I risked it without asking for a sample to be posted to me first, we opened the parcel with some trepidation. It could be described as a sort of pale beige or taupe background, with a cream leaves pattern, but actually it all seems to have a very pale green tinge..... However, I'm happy as I just wanted something neutral and restful - the walls are painted in a colour described as "Natural Hessian".

Home from today’s zap. No time to knit as they called me 10 mins early! It was weird driving through smoke (like fog), most had cleared on return. I am waiting to hear from Friend but roads closed, fire dangerous & people not yet allowed back to their homes.

Aussieland authorities have provisionally approved Pfizer vaccine. First jabs expected in 2 weeks.

I do my food shop early and I find most people are considerate, keeping a trolley between and patiently waiting for a particular shelf. It could be different in “rush” hour. There are some people who don’t bother to sign in (for contact tracing).

Sorry, I feel somewhat discombobulated and unable to reply as I would wish.

Food is an important part of a balanced diet. (Fran Lebowitz)

When people ask me what is more important, food or love. I don’t answer because I am eating.

My fridge just groaned, rolled its eyes, and hissed at me: “Not you again!”

AQ:  Can't blame you for being discombobulated, what with bushfires and associated idiots, hot temps and hospital visits.  Those pyrocumulus clouds can be seriously alarming..  I'll order some extra rain for you when our storm arrives.   Went for a short walk this afternoon and passed a nearby supermarket that had a line outside with everyone 6ft apart, which has been the norm here for a while.

OG:  Good to see you; take care!

Have a good Monday everyone.

I'm going to try to upload a photo my BiL sent me this morning after an icy night in Lincolnshire.  

 Well, I uploaded it from my desktop, where it's super sharp, so Lord knows what happened.

Regardless, it's an ice spike - something that is quite rare that can form in small bodies of water (eg. a bird bath).  You can read all about it on Wikipedia.  Sorry, but I'm too tired to paraphrase the explanation!

Yeay! Rain. It's pouring.

Pleased to see that Annette's rain arrived for you, AQ.

There have been various pics online of strange ice formations in bird baths, but that's the first spike I've seen. It's almost as if the water was saying "Yikes!"

A HAPPY BURNS NIGHT to all our Scottish friends.