Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 3 April 2022

Thank you for the welcome OG. I seem to do a lot of things group members do - follow the lives of the ospreys with interest, listen to the BBC World Service in the night, look in the garden at what might have decided to come up, play golf (in nice weather!!!!) and, AQ, I have just finished successful treatment for the dreaded breast cancer. Like you, I still get bouts of tiredness after the radiotherapy but am doing well. I have lived alone for quite a while now. Lindy I think you must pass very near to me when you are en route to the caravan. I am in North Wales and seem to be in the same age group as most of you (retired for 10 years) I hope it will be OK if I join in the chat from time to time. I seem to know you all well having lurked for so long!!!!

RUSTY - good to hear from you ! Especially from another World Service listener :-) I have a friend who thinks that hardly anyone else is an insomniac. I tell her that there are many of us.

Hello to all new and old from Cloudy Suffolk. I have been busy as usual and putting more miles on my little car.

On Saturday morning I drove to my Sisters in Essex for her 60th Wedding anniversary lunch. Her son and his grown up family were there together with another Grandson.

It was a bitter sweet celebration as my Sister & husband have lost  2 of their 3 boys - 1 in a road crash aged 21 and their eldest aged 51 to cancer. Life is very cruel and her husband got very emotional. But we got through it. and as I personally know, we must be grateful for the short time we had them.

Got home about 2pm and am very tired. I am usually in bed before 10pm but my sister is a night owl and loves to sit up chatting.

Will be at work all week then off on Saturday to my Daughter's in Silverstone for my Grandduaghter Luna's 5th Birthday. Then it will be Easter and I have other family visiting.

As my Mum used to say Never a dull moment!

Well as usual I have been reading all the posts and thank you and do keep them coming. I wish good health and rest to all that need it.

Keep safe all and keep posting!

Morning all:

AQ;  A priceless first quote!   I think time messes up sometimes because an awful lot seems to have happened at once lately. I was going to say 'over the last 6 months' but that would disprove my hypothesis.......  Hmmm.

Lindybird  My 'like' for Matt was for him, not the prawn-flavored crisps.  Yuk indeed.  Those felt flowers do look appealing.  :-)     Well, what can I say about Tomasz; Ms. D just turned 11.....

OG:  So good to see you Hope the coming week is good with lots of interesting garden action.

Heather:  So, my question is When are you going to visit the Danes?

Rusty: The Welcome  Mat is always out here, so pop in any old time.  Glad you're done with chemo and hope you'll be back to your old self before too long.  Re BBC World Service, that reminds me.....

Diane: ....I listen to the BBC World Service on my iPhone via the Simple Radio app. and where WUKY 91.3 broadcasts the World Service 24/7 from the University of Kentucky.in Lexington.  There's ALL KINDS of radio stations available; haven't had time to check 'em out.

Harelady: Good you got to see family although as you yourself know all too well, wouldn't it be nice if there were less of the 'bitter' and more of the 'sweet.'   Take care.

Went for nice long walk this morning so feel more motivated for the rest of the day.  I'm still having to wear seriously large dark glasses when I go outside after cataract was removed from left eye, but that'll end Tuesday thank heaven.  

Hello all and thank you to Diane for starting us off again.

AQ - you say your clocks have changed as did ours last week. We are now waking up to daylight but also have the evening light a bit longer each week from now.

Thank you all for your news. Pleased to hear Lindy and OH are getting back to normal and that caravan is ok.
Also OG managing to get out into the garden and enjoy it.

Well, I have some men coming tomorrow to do the conservatory roof - insulating it so it becomes more of a garden room. Hope it will look OK when finished. They will just have to take the chairs out for me as I can't manage them. They can stay out then and I will get the Council to take them away. Must order new furniture after that. Slowly coming together, just the garden to get finished off.

Annette - see you have had a cataract removed - hope you are back to normal soon. I had my right one done a year or two back now and the difference it made was great. Went for eye test recently and they advised me to have the other one done now, said I would leave it a year and then request a referral. Prescription stayed the same but still had new glasses as the old ones were scratched. It doesn't seem to matter how hard you try not to get them scratched mine do.

Lynette:  I'm the same with scratches and glasses, even with all the coatings.  They routinely do both eyes one week apart here; sister in UK recently had one eye done but second not yet scheduled.   Sounds like you're busy with  house projects; it's nice to finally get them done and the conservatory will be nice for summer.  Hope you can persuade  your daughter to do a 'memory lane' trip a la Harelady's soon.  :-)

Annette: The woodpeckers wake up at dawn. Their noise doesn't bother me, though. I'm crazy about crows. That must be really fun to have them on your patch. Clare would love that. She likes Corvids. I didn't realize you had American Robins in your area. 2 years ago, I had a pair of American Robins build a nest in a small tree growing right by my front step. Every time I opened the door to leave the house, the male would bullet toward me aggressively in an attempt to chase me off. LOL So, now, in the spring, I always watch carefully and don't allow them to nest right there. 

Speaking of aggressive birds, I had a strange experience tonight. 

Remember when I posted about those Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) that are moving into Indiana from the southern states and Central America? They are the birds that will tear away the rubber on a car's windshield wipers and door seals, and even strip pieces off the roof of a house. 

Tonight I was out of food, and I walked over to the convenience store on the highway to get a burrito. As I was walking down the driveway lane, I saw about a dozen of those vultures soaring over the field across the road. As I continued walking past the local pub, which was very busy tonight, I saw a huge shadow above me. And then another one. Several of the vultures had flown across the highway and were flying very, very close to me. They are big, stocky birds with wide wingspans, and they're intimidating as heck. They don't live only on carrion like other vultures; they will prey on livestock, especially calves. They weren't being aggressive with me, though. They simply were gliding over and around me, barely flapping their wings, and looking me in the eyes. I didn't feel threatened, but I felt like I was in a Stephen King movie. LOL This is the second time that species has flown right up to me and made eye contact. It happened before in the superstore parking lot in town. I can't figure out why they would come to me like that. I've read that they're intelligent and strategic. Maybe they realize I'm going to the store for food, and they think if they make contact I'll share with them? They're fascinating.

Good Morning. Damp here: it's rained in the night. The plants need it, as its been unseasonably dry for a long time.

I awoke with a drumming in my head, and realised that my head is, as my OH says "full of rubbish" and I was probably listening to my own heart - at least its working LOL!

Going off to to get some food down me before I'm fit to write any more.

Yay!! I got a dentist appointment for tomorrow! Like gold dust.... Managed to sound sufficiently distressed and in need, on the phone. Hoping for some action following that, as I'm actually struggling to eat anything chewy.