Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 24 October 2021

OG Heard about Annan and thought of you. Glad you are all safe and sound. So sorry to hear you have been in such pain.

LINDY So sorry that you too are suffering. I do hope the medics can come up with answers.

Lindy, it can take a long time (and a lot of iron tablets) to recover from anaemia. My OH still needs to take them as he is now on the lowest level of normal. He has been taking iron for several months. I am not trying to be pessimistic here, but just to say that you don't get instant results. I am glad that you now have some appointments to see actual people.

Lynette, Milo is a lovely cat.

I also disliked Halloween, and the way it was 'celebrated' here, but when my son and family lived in Cincinnati, I changed my mind. They lived in a street with large front gardens, where all the residents went to a lot of effort to celebrate the occasion. Not tasteful at all, but fun, My OH and I went to look around at all the tombstones, skeletons, fake mist etc, and it was all very friendly and welcoming.
The small children met together in the evening and walked around with their parents to get the treats. Much nicer than anything I have seen in this country.

I did buy a new laptop. Contrary to the dire warning, my Granddaughter was less of a menace than her father would have been! She realised that Granny could only cope with something uncomplicated. Anything new is complicated to me, though.

Thanks to all for news. Sorry that you are having a bad time OG. Good about the physio.

Interesting comments about Halloween, but I share Rosy's feelings.  Not sure if we'll have many front-door trick-or-treaters this year because more community events are being organized, but if they aren't, and homeowners don't want kids knocking at the door, they typicaly leave their front door lights off while folks who are happy to participate leave their lights on and have some sort of halloween decoration outside the front door (some pretty elaborate!).  We also have parents who come with the younger kids; they tend to hang back but Ithey do remind offspring to say thank you (and I remind the kids too).  It's typically the older kids who far too hyped up to remember   I'll probably get a small amount of candy on hand and see how it goes.  On my yoga teacher's block, neighbors are organizing a costume parade for the kiddies and put candy on tables outside so the kids can pick up some as they go up and down the street.  She said last year it was over and done with by 6:30.

Lynette: Can't remember if I responded to Milo pix, but he clearly knows what he's about!

Lindybird:  Let us know how those doc appts go.  Good that - as Rosy says - you're going to see actual people!!

OG;  Awful that you're being woken up by the pain.  Do you have a good mattress?  I gather that some of the newer ones (memory foam, etc.) are really helpful.... What do you think has caused the recent flare up?

CC:  Have fun at your friend's house.  Any particular movie on th agenda?

Take care all.

Hi, all. 

I've caught up with all of your posts, but I'm too tired to reply tonight. Sorry. I finished the 1st pass of my editing project, and it wiped me out. 

I thought I'd stop in here and post that the Sun released a massive X1-class flare and the coronal mass ejection is headed directly for Earth this weekend! It's coming right at us!

That means that Earth is under a strong G3 geomagnetic storm watch, and folks who normally can't see the aurora borealis (northern lights) may have an opportunity on Saturday, Sunday, and even Monday. Scotland is sure to see it. Possibly England. CC and bjane and maybe me (!) might even be able to see it. Sorry, AQ. I think much of Australia is seeing the southern lights, but you are too far south, although I didn't do a lot of research so don't take my word for it.

I'll reply tomorrow. 

CNN article about global conditions

Spaceweather.com

Kittens are born with their eyes shut. They open them in about six days, take a look around, then close them again for the better part of their lives. (Stephen Baker)

Dogs have owners, cats have staff.

If cats could text you back, they wouldn’t.

Good Morning. Its been a wild night here of wind and heavy rain, and should continue this morning. Ugh. I said to Sue that she had brought it with her from Wales!

Thank you to everyone for their concern. I've had a difficult few months this year and am trying to find out if my various ailments are all connected in some way or if I just became anaemic and it's caused other things to surface. My Eldest pointed out to me that his wife took about 12 months to recover from our granddaughters traumatic birth, which left her anaemic and weak.

CC - I hope you enjoy your weekend away. Roast sounds good!

Diane - Congrats on getting to this stage in your epic project. Breathe out a bit, now! I'll look out for the borealis!

Gosh, that's exciting about possible aurora borealis sightings.  Hope the skies are clear. And yes, I agree that Diane needs to take a break; hope your client doesn't get back tooooo quickly with more changes....

Cloudy here today, but that's fine....

Thanks Diane. We have seen the northern lights a few times and maybe lucky to see them again over the next couple of days. Cross fingers.