Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 28 February 2021

Thank you DIANE -
And LINDY, thank you for the pics. My camellia is still in tight bud.
AQ - lovely that you had good family time - even though you were tired afterwards. I'm sure it was worth it !
ANNETTE- I can't say much about Callum as things are still not settled, unfortunately. You asked about my sleep. Well, it was a one off, no rhyme or reason to it and the last few nights have been abominable ..
I had something called Russian Vine once upon a time. If I hadn't got rid of it I would have ended up with it everywhere. I liked it at first, over the shed etc but then it wanted to take over.
LYNETTE - I'm so glad that you three are recovered from Covid. Oh, to get back to something approaching normality.
ROSY- well yes, I can quite see that officialdom was way behind you, just as well that you were on the ball !
OG - have missed you from here but glad that you are managing to wake up earlier! Poor J, another six months of not driving. At least it will be better weather. I'm assuming that he won't be seeking employment during that time?
DIANE - it's always good to read about you and the wild life,! Sorry about your shoes....

Nothing much happening here. I spent a happy few hours with daughter #1 and Katie, yesterday. We did shopping then came back here and made home made smoked salmon pate and melba toast for lunch.

Thank you DIANE for starting the week. I am glad that spring is on its way to you. You obviously helped those bunnies to survive the winter.

Thanks for the explanation of your 'naughty' plants. ANNETTE. I really like solanum. I inherited a plant in one of my gardens. I think it grows with more restraint here, though!

Lovely camellia, LINDY. We have a bright red one in our garden. Not my favourite colour, but striking. Strangely, one bloom has come and gone, but there are many more fat buds.

HEATHER, it is good that you can spend some happy times with your daughter, and that she and Katie can come to visit you.
We have a Russian Vine growing over a wall and fence here. I think it is sometimes called 'a mile a minute'. It is a weekly chore for our gardener in the growing season, to chop it back from the gate.

LYNETTE, glad that you have all recovered from Covid, and hopefully have no after-effects.

DIBNLIB, Happy birthday to Benson. I hope you all enjoyed the walk .

Here, as promised. Good thing I didn’t promise Saturday, as OH couldn’t get me awake until noon, but today I managed 10:30!

DIANE – thank you for the new week. I am sorry you are already missing the Bunnies, but so glad they could return to their normal home – and that the weather is better for humans too! I am sure the Bunnies were very grateful for your help – and good news about the Hawks too. Glad you could now walk into town to bank and store – dirty shoes can always be cleaned!

AQ – pleased to see it is a more tolerable temperature with you – but a nuisance about the over-enthusiastic air-con switcher at church. I hope the small butternuts will continue to maturity. We tried growing them once, but the greenery was definitely over-exuberant. A great plant to use for the biology lesson! Enjoyed the driving quotes.

LINDA – pleased to see the Camellia flowers looking so good – they so often get frosted in the bud.

DIBNLIB – I hope Benson will enjoy his birthday walk! A lovely day all round, it seems.

HEATHER – sorry to see Callum’s situation is still dragging on – this waiting is surely punishment enough even if they did all deserve it, which didn’t sound the case. J will hang on to medical notes as long as possible, but he is actually watching out for any community work coming onstream as the world changes. We are watching closely for any sign of problems with the medicine changeover. Glad you enjoyed your Saturday Bubble.

ROSY – I have also heard Russian Vine called “Mile a Minute” – it really does thrive. We once claimed a few Solanum cuttings from a B&B in Aberfeldy, but they weren’t happy here – I think we put them on the wrong side of the fence!

I am pootling about indoors while OH is busy outside – he has given the Willow its annual “haircut” looks good through the window. J has been tidying his room – a euphemism for surrounding his bed and himself with accumulated junk – and I did see him cleaning his boots in the bathroom!

Annette, I hope you enjoy your Amazon Prime streaming. Wonderful that you found a good UK show to watch. I know you miss British culture so much.

Annette and Everyone: I need to make some decisions about my finances soon, but then I hope to subscribe to an inexpensive streaming service. I thought it would be Netflix, but I think I've changed my mind. I think I want the new Paramount Plus (from ViacomCBS) that will launch on March 4. It will be international. 

The article didn't give a specific date for the UK, but I think their business plan is to go worldwide immediately. The article I read said that it will launch soon in Australia, the Nordic countries, and 18 Latin American countries.

The best part--for me-- is that it's only $5 per month if you don't mind watching the adverts. They're offering greatly expanded content: TV series (including original series), new movies from the Paramount studios, and live TV news and sports.  I think I want that service, because I desperately want to watch Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Discovery. General INFORMATION and General INFO  and  Website

Thanks Diane for starting us off. Please to see that life has improved somewhat for you.

Hello all, been a glorious day down here in Northamptonshire with a chill in the air.

Annette - I have had the Amazon Prim on a 30 day trial, which is offered now and again, and was very happy with it so bought one or two things but cancelled it before it expired. Cheeky I know but it served its purpose.

Diane - glad your cottontail bunnies have now departed to their own home, it must be nice to know that you have kept them going through the harsh weather.

Happy Birthday Benson, treat your mum and dad well and hope you had a nice day.

HeatherB, yes it was a mild case. Dau has tested neg the last two times, they have to do lateral testing for school as they are taking part in the trial.

OG - glad to see you are up and about, is it the medication making you tired?

We are back in our old routine of doing not much but pottering about the house doing jobs when nescessary.

Good to see you OG, and I hope you are feeling better. Last week I photo-ed the “City of Adelaide” being restored by volunteers at Port Adelaide.

Built at Sunderland 1864 to bring passengers & cargo to South Australia returning with wool & copper, converted 1887 to carry coal from River Tyne to Dover, sold to timber merchants 1888 for North Atlantic trade, converted 1893 to a floating hospital in Southampton, purchased 1923 by Royal Navy as training ship in Scotland & renamed HMS Carrick, decommissioned 1948, allowed to deteriorate at her berth on River Clyde, officially renamed “City of Adelaide” 2013, brought to Port Adelaide 2014 on cargo ship. It is special to us as ¼ million Aussies trace their ancestry to her passengers. Only 2 clipper ships survive, the other is the “Cutty Sark”.

Just a thought

A flower blossoms for its own joy. (Oscar Wilde)

AQ: That's a fascinating history of the big ship. It looks a little worse for wear. I hope they can fully restore it.