Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 20 June 2021

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. 

  • I prefer my main meal to be the size of a starter, so I could then fit in a dessert. I simply can’t leave half a meal on the plate – my mother’s training!
    Strong winds & high tides were forecast for today, specifically mentioning Adelaide & Adelaide Hills. High tides in the Hills? Bad wording? Anyway a lot of gusty winds and no rain here, a few drops in city.
  • Just a thought

    True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes. (Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax)

  • It's high tide in the hills -
    We'd better be ready to fit the bill
    And get our lifeboat dinghies out
    Before we hear some wag who'll shout
    "Women and children first!"
    "Get your life vests on before
    The water comes up to the door!"
  • Good Morning. We might need a boat here as its actually raining at last- great for our thirsty garden, even if it will make the last petals fall from the poppies.

  • My dear friend has just sent me a pic of her wearing her new prosthetic leg when she went to pick her grandson up from school. Brought tears to my eyes.
  • Aw, Dibnlib: I would be bawling. She is so brave, an example to us all.
  • dibnlib - What a brave lady your friend is. Brought tears to my eyes as well, and I don't even know her. I do hope everything goes as well as possible for her - sounds as though she is determined to live as full a life as she can in spite of the horrific accident.

    Sunshine here for the second day running. Not sure how much longer it will last, but the lawns, which were getting a bit long, are being done this morning. Where did 'Flaming June' go? I think it's been more like 'Flaming Awful June'!!

    OG - so sorry to hear of your local fire. So much scientific research destroyed. Do we assume an electrical fault rather than arson?

    Diane - that bird disease sounds awful. I do hope they manage to find what is causing it very quickly, and hopefully be able to do something to stop it spreading further.

    Hope everyone is keeping fit and well and occupied.
  • Thanks LINDY and PAT O My friend is indeed an inspiration.
  • Our rain stopped and everything became just grey. Now it's finally perking up so I may get out into the garden for a bit.

    We're trying to find someone who can put in new kitchen worktops for us, as we wanted to do this a full year ago but covid intervened. We have black ones at the moment and they have worn very badly, with whole sections where the surface is going dull and scratched. I'm sure if we can get things in motion we will feel a lot better about it. Have put out some feelers, and we hope to go and choose something new soon.
  • Morning all:  Was listening to a fascinating podcast (Diane: It was a Fresh Air segment, originally broadcast on NPR on March 29) of an interview with author Scott Weidensaul about his book A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds.  Among other things, he was talking about technological advances in tracking, including The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's eBird program which apparently receives info on100 milliion bird sightings a year from all over the world. He also talks about how scientists in California can pair that info with satellite data from NASA.to spot large migratory flocks passing over the Central Valley (a major flyway) and coordinate with rice farmers to flood their fields at those times to provide habitat for those birds.  Anyway, here's a link to the interview; anyone interested can either listen or read the transcript. https://www.npr.org/2021/03/29/982232107/naturalist-traces-the-astounding-flyways-of-migratory-birds.

    dibnlib: Your friend is a true inspiration; makes me wonder how I'd react facing the same circumstances.

    Meanwhile, daughter is creeping through LA traffic en route to our house....