Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 31 January 2021

HAPPY NEW WEEK and HAPPY NEW MONTH!

February 1 is Imbolc (or Imbolg), the old Gaelic festival marking the coming of spring and traditionally celebrated throughout Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. It falls about halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. We're almost to the time of warmer weather (cooler weather for you, AQ)! Yay! I'm so hoping for an early spring, so we'll only have about 4 or 5 more weeks of the cold. 

I hope everyone has an easy week!

Marsh Marigold wildflowers, Shenandoah National Park
U.S. National Park Service: NPS
Photo labeled Public Domain (Copyright Free)

  • Diane:  Such pretty flowers and so cheery.   Thank you.   Also for the info on Imbolc(g).  I shall pour a glass of wine to celebrate.   Aren't you in for some really cold weather? I mean colder than usual?

    Heather:  Must say what a treat those sausages must've been - yum!  Nice that you had lunch and a natter with daughter.

    Rosie: I agree.  One of those lovely sheepskin rugs would suit OG.  

    Just came in from lovely walk along Shoreline Park with calm and very blue ocean, islands very sharp on the horizon and sailboats, sail borders out on the water.  I also stopped by one of our local garden centers where they've restricted access by 'planting' every other parking space.  So cars were lined up on the street to get in.  I got some good advice from a very knowledgeable employee I've spoken to before, but not sure what I'm going to do with it.  :-)     I watched The Dig on Netflix last night.   I don't know if it's me, our TV, the accents or what - but I really had to listen hard.   Does anyone know if those sound bars for TVs make a difference?  Anyway, I enjoyed the movie.  Makes me want to stay in a B&B near the British Museum for a week and see everything.

    Salmon tonight for dinner, but I see some ironing lurking in the wings....

  • I am especially anxious for spring, because I am right now sitting in the middle of major Winter Storm Orlena. It's snowing so hard that visibility was almost down to zero at sunset. Great globs of snow falling with high winds. We could get 5 inches of snow, along with ice and freezing rain. Spring can't come soon enough for me!

    Mountain Laurel wildflowers, Shenandoah National Park
    U. S. National Park Service, NPS
    Photo labeled Public Domain (Copyright Free)

  • ANNETTE: Our posts crossed. The temperature's hovering around freezing, not cold by our standards, but the wind makes it feel much lower. I'm also having trouble with accents and with hearing people in general. I especially have trouble when TV, radio, and movies play loud music while people are talking. Why oh why do they do that?! I think my problem is too much wax in my ears. I need to remove that. LOL I use a smart TV with a sound bar as the monitor for my desktop computer. The sound bar is pretty good. I was using a pair of Bose speakers (not the real expensive ones), and they provided the best sound for me. After several years, they developed an electrical short and I had to throw them out. Sigh.

  • Thanks for the new thread, Diane. Sorry to hear about the snow.  Please stay safe.  Your lovely flower pics prompted me to head to google and here is a link for a Wildflower Calendar for Shenandoah National Park (Marsh Marigolds begin flowering there in early April according to the chart):
    www.nps.gov/.../WildflowerCalendar_Web.pdf .

  • Gardenbirder: THANK YOU! That list was very interesting. I thought the Marsh Marigolds would be earlier. I'll be safe, because I'm not going out. Right now, I have extremely heavy snow, hard rain, and severe thunderstorms, all in my area. I'm still in the snow band. LOL LOL

  • Gardenbirder:   Thanks for that link - I probably won't spend a lot of time on it but I'm always amazed to find out at what's available on the internet.

    Diane:  I was wondering about that weather forecast.....      Also, do those sound bars allow you to adjust treble/bass sounds?  People always seem to be talking into a barrel these days!

  • Annette: I agree about that "talking into a barrel."  It's been a very long time since I set up my TV, so I don't remember much. The sound bar seems to be integrated with the TV audio. My device is old, so I'm sure it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that newer ones do. But I just checked my menu, and it has:

    Surround Sound
    Volume Leveling: "Levels the TV speaker volume"
    Balance: "Balance the audio loudness between the left and right speaker
    Equalizer: "Boosts or attenuates loudness at different frequencies"

    That's about all I know. I carefully adjusted everything for my hearing and never dared touch them again. LOL

    You might want to check out this very recent review article. I usually trust the Wired website on tech issues. Scroll down in that article and check out the ZVOX AccuVoice AV157. I think that may be what you're looking for? Also, read HERE.

    Edit: On that second link, scroll down past the customer reviews to see more information. It says that you can adjust the treble and bass, etc. The page is laid out weird.

  • Thanks DIANE for the cheerful Spring flowers.
  • A day without wine is like. . . Just kidding, I have no idea.

    I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food. (W C Fields)

    Join the alcohol challenge! No alcohol on Feb 30 and 31. Can you do it?