I hope everyone has a serene and joyful week! The June Solstice is Sunday evening or Monday depending on your location. Insert your nearest city or town in the search box on Time and Date to see the exact time for your area.
Morning all:
Heather: Here's a link to a nursery that shows a pix of a tree about the same size as ours and as the writer claims, it provides wonderful shade. blog.moonvalleynurseries.com/chinese-elm-trees
Lindybird: Very cute photo of Dad and Dog. Your pink peony is testing the waters so yes, be sure to tell it how welcome it is.
Diane: Four in the morning. not a good time to evacuate because of potential flooding (maybe shimmy up one of your trees? maybe with one of those rope ladders?). I've often wondered what would happen if we had a big earthquake at night. We're told to have comfortable shoes and a flashlight close by the bed and a wrench close to the main gas valve; plus the same in the trunk of our cars (along with water and a first aid kit in the event we're stuck out on a highway somewhere). Our winter solstice is about 8:20 tonight.
Guy from TV service people showed up yesterday but the person I spoke to on the phone got the problem wrong, so wrong guy was sent. However, this guy (and he's not the first to share 'trade' secrets) told me that we could avoid paying for the particular service we need by using a Firestick (made by Amazon) that would hook up to our wifi and access All Kinds of Programs (he recommended a free app called Pluto). Went tootling off to Best Buy looking for a small cheapo TV, and the sales guy there said I could buy a Smart TV and not need a Firestick, just a wifi connection. Since Stupid TV plus Firestick almost equaled the cost of a Smart TV, I bought home the latter. Of course, if wifi in the back bedroom isn't good, all bets are off. although guy from TV company who came to the house said we could fix that problem with a new router (ours is prehistoric by tech standards) or, better yet he said, a mesh-net set that includes a router and two boosters to be placed at opposite ends of house. Then we could apparently do all kinds of streaming, games with Lord knows how many people. Picture my eyes glazing over since, having grown up with no TV until the mid-1950s, I'm very happy with something that's merely adequate. Meanwhile, we'll see how the Smart TV performs; have 15 days to return..
Heather - snap! Just done the same with my grey bin - that is everything that can't be recycled. At least none of it goes to landfill. Ours get burnt by a process that converts it to electricity.The only pain with our recycling bin is that I can't put glass in - that all has to go to the bottle bank or the local recycling centre - not such a hardship though.
Lindy - loved the mug!
I had a nice time with my Sister at Snape Maltings and Aldeburgh despite the drizzle.
We did have laughs and tears, as yesterday was the 4th anniversary of my Daughters death and my Sister has lost 2 of her 3 boys - one in a car crash and the other to cancer, so we can understand the pain that that causes BUT we are both positive people and we appreciate the time we had with our loved ones and go forward. We both have Grandchildren and that is a blessing.
Now for Ospreys - Suffolk Wildlife Trust are raising money to bring Ospreys back to Suffolk are applying for a licence from Natural England to move some juvenile Ospreys to the Blyth Estuary.
This will happen over a 5 year period moving the birds from Rutland Water where they a healthy population. Wouldn't that be wonderful!!
Suffolk is due a mixed week of weather - with intermittent rain.
I hope you all have a good week.
No matter how long is a rainy day, it cannot beat the sun forever. (Alok Jagawat)
Rain is good for vegetables, and for the animals who eat those vegetables, and for the animals who eat those animals. (Samuel Johnson)
Perhaps the person who invented the umbrella was going to call it the brella, but they hesitated.
Wonderful news about the Suffolk effort to bring back ospreys to the area. As there have been successes in other places, its great to hear its given the spur to other new areas to try and get them back across the UK.
My hair is now shoulder length and beginning to really annoy me. I was going to go a nearby town to get it cut (expensive salons here in our town) but now the area is very bad for positive tests for the virus, so it's put me off. Maybe get my OH to get the garden shears out?!
AQ, you came on while I was rabbiting - love the last quote!!
Unknown said: Strange weather going on in Indiana - and that is causing all the shortages there? Are there transport strikes happening?
OG: The increasing shortage of goods and services is nationwide in the U.S., not only Indiana. The nation has an intensifying "supply chain" crisis, which means that companies:(1) Can't get necessary goods from other companies--such as parts (for cars, appliances, etc.), or lumber to build houses, or construction materials to repair roads, or household goods, etc.(2) Can't hire enough workers/staff to sustain their businesses.There are lots of reasons for the crisis, and folks pick an explanation that aligns with their own politics. LOL I'll just say that the federal and state politicians failed to manage the economy or serve our people well over the last year. We put profit over people here. Now the corruption and poor decision-making are threatening the economy.
It's storming hard again here, and R. T. Hawk is screeching. I think the ol' boy has had enough. LOLHeather: I don't know what the baby cicadas will do. While I was outdoors this afternoon, I used a metal rod to open some of the holes that the earthquake collapsed. I feel bad for the little critters trying to get home. Lindy: That photo with your OH and the puppy dog is adorable. So lovely! I just cut my own hair, for the same reason. I'm glad your sewing was tranquil. It's nerve-wracking for me, because I am so bad at it. LOL!
OG: I so hope your new Swedish seat appears and is very acceptable. Let me know if you need me to tell off that painter. (LOL)
AQ: I love your first quote. Harelady: I am very glad you had a nice visit with your sister, although I'm sorry for the pain of your losses. Enjoy your grandchildren. Wishing you well.
Annette: Good of the TV guy to give you the secret info. If you use the PLUTO TV app, check out the TV series "BrainDead." It's a comedy/drama about an alien culture from space that takes the shape of bugs who embed themselves into the ears of Washington D.C. elites. It sounds silly, but it's actually full of very sly humor and political commentary from the time Trump was running his presidential campaign. I laughed until my stomach hurt over the episodes. It's actually a well-written mystery, too, so the drama is good.Take care, everyone.
Diane: Thanks and I'll check out that Pluto series - haven't had time to hook up the Smart TV yet and today is turning out to be busy.
AQ: My favorite is "um.....brella?"
Harelady: Gosh, you and your sister have had serious heartbreaks. So good that you can be together for support and smiles....
OG; Fingers crossed your new seat does the trick (and yes, where the heck is painter! Diane and I would make a great motivational duo.) :-)
Lindybird: Maybe just bite the bullet and get your haircut at pricey local places this time round.
Off to check my to-do list.