HAPPY NEW WEEK!
I hope everyone has a wonderful summer week!
Morning all:
dibnlib: That's brilliant news about your friend! And so nice you can meet up with her for coffee, which must boost her spirits. .
Clare: Diane reminded me about those marvelous photos. They really are professional quality and make me wonder why I can't even take a decent snapshot with my iPhone. :-(( That feral pigeon is just beautiful - such a wonderful color gradient and I liked the guillemot, with its black head and eyes (like the razorbill - so elegant). I had to Google jackdaws because I remember them from home but haven't heard word one about them here. Apparently, a few of them made it to the East Coast of the U.S. and Canada, but they're native to Europe and Asia...interesting. I do remember puffins though - a comical bird, at least in appearance (but what must they think of us!) :-)
Diane: Yes well, tell me about it. California has dropped the state-required mandate for masks and the CDC (I think) says vaccinated folks don't have to wear them anywhere indoors, but interviews with business owners/restaurant types around say that they've no idea who is or isn't vaccinated and are going to keep the mask requirement for the time being... Not surprised your numbers are rising and I'm thinking we'll see more nationwide over the next few weeks. I'm assuming your superstore is Walmart - there's a huge one in Prescott and it's a real hike to get around there; thank heaven there's an In-n-Out Burger across their parking lot. Again the coastal fog is hovering over the beaches but there's some thin high cloud up there too and it makes things a bit sticky, though nothing compared to what you get. EDIT: Forgot to say, I'd love to see patches of heirloom peonies.
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DIBNLIB - What good news about your friend ! So happy to read that ..
Great news about your friend, Dibnlib: I wish her well. She certainly deserves some good luck now. We're back home after another delayed journey - we did stop near the beginning of our trip to fill up with cheap petrol, but that was only a ten minute delay. After that, we got caught in a roadworks yet again which is taking place to "make your journey easier " 《sigh》-- I suppose we shouldn't whinge as they are trying to do something about the gridlocks caused in summer by the many visitors to the area. Anyway, it took 3 hours again for our usual 2hr and a bit journey. When we got in, we were dismayed to find that we would have to run up the stairs to the loo as we had both forgotten that there now wasn't one in the bathroom! LOL!!
I was greeted by a positive plethora of peonies......
They have almost all come out at once, in the heat!!
The red poppies, however, are just a few forlorn petals on the ground. Two big buds left so will have to wait for those to open.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.
The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes. (Winston Churchill)