Weekly Chat, Sunday December 12, 2010

Hello:  I'm back after a most successful trip - bought a new winter coat as present from Husband to me: just as I was giving up, saw just the thing & tried it on - sold!   Also bought just the most gorgeous wee outfit for Baby, dungarees & tee shirt with matching little woolly jacket, so added matching socks to complete his present.  Of course have already got various soft toys etc. for him, so he is going to enjoy his 1st Christmas!

Then Friend & I patted ourselves on the back & had a cup of tea with a slice of orange cake, just the one slice between the two of us.  Yummy.

Then braved the busy aisles of M & S Food Hall for Christmas biscuits & cakes -  a bit mad in there, so glad to come home & put feet up with another cuppa.  Am feeling about 98 % better now, so will be ready to visit Sweetpea later in the week. Picture to follow of him in his new babyseat, with toy Dog bought for him by his big Uncle (our Eldest) on visit the other day.

Glad to hear that Billy Whizz is being a bit braver, margo - I'm sure if you keep feeding him, you might even get him to stay still & not run off by Springtime!  Agree with all your remarks about Strictly - I cried !  Sorry to hear of your OH's bad experience with the cheese - I hate mouldy cheese, but my OH is the same as yours, he'll eat anything.

Sorry to hear about your budgie, Joan - what a wrench if he is really that poorly.

georgeg:   A nuisance that you had trouble with the tyre - so easily done in the icy conditions we've had.

auntie-   what a wonderful experience with the double rainbow - I do so love to see one, and two is so rare. What a treat.  Hope you've enjoyed your few days off work.

 Sweetpea relaxing and looking forward to his Christmas presents!

Joan: I'm so very, very sorry about your budgie. I hope the little fella can make a full recovery. I'll be thinking of you and sending good energy to the little birdy!

Hi, all. Very cold in Indiana today. We got only 3-4 inches of snow, but the wind did howl fiercely last night!  Temp was 0F/-17C last night, and wind chill temps dropped to -10F/-23C here. BRRRR! I left the garage open for the birds and other Wild Things to use if they needed shelter. I keep the car in our other out building, so I let the wildlife use the garage. I did see the pair of bright red cardinals this morning. They looked so beautiful against the white snow. Wish I still had my camera. I am just staying in.

OG: Yup, I was able to make preparations before the storm. I stocked up on a bunch of groceries and supplies, so I don't need anything. I recently bought a lot of emergency supplies, including a terrific radio. It can be powered by electricity, AA batteries, a car battery, or a crank on the side of the unit. During a power outage, you can just turn the crank and it will charge an internal battery pack. If you turn the crank for 90 seconds, you can run the radio for half an hour. It picks up AM/FM/Weather channels with very good reception. It can also charge a cell phone. It has a bright LED light on the side that illuminates a room. I'm very pleased with it. I also have emergency food, water, sub-zero sleeping bags, crank flashlight, etc. I'm thinking of putting a wood stove on my enclosed front porch later on.

I really liked your photo of the blue and green bird. So lovely!!! I hope the installation of your solar panels goes smoothly. Let me know if it is a difficult installation. I'd love to install them some day. I'd really like to be able to go "off the grid" here, but I'm legally bound to be connected to the local water and sewer system, because I'm within the outer boundaries of my nearest little town -- even though I'm out in the woods.

I'm doing some much needed housecleaning today. Going to treat myself to a vanilla latte in a minute!  Please send carrot cake. :-)

Lindy: Sweetpea may be the cutest baby ever! Hope you get to see him very soon. By the way, I love those tiles in your house. I want them!!! Please carefully remove them and send them to me right away. LOL LOL LOL

Auntie: Double rainbows!!! What a spectacular sight. That must be a good sign for you. I hope so. Wonderful. I hope you're enjoying your time off and doing fun activities.

Alan: I hope the swelling goes down for Hamish the Brave. Good dog!

dibnlib: I meant to tell you that I loved that picture of the seal with icy whiskers! Love your avatar! Also, a good dog!

Terry: Yup, I did see my brother. He has been helpful. Thank goodness. I was worried that he would be upset because my Dad put the house/car in my name so I could stay here if I wanted to.

Margo: Such a lovely card. You're special to everyone here! Glad Billy Whizz is feeling slightly more sociable.

Annette: Congrats on the new laptop!!! Let me know how you like that one. I was going to buy a Dell 17" a while back, but decided that I shouldn't spend the $. Glad that I didn't now that I'm working on the house. I do hope that Costco or Panasonic makes good on the TV. Outrageous! I had a tense conversation with my satellite dish company today because they'd been overcharging us and my bill made no sense at all. After a very tedious discussion, I loudly demanded and got what I wanted. These big companies don't invest in or care about customer service at all!

Hi to Brenda, Paul, George, Chloe, Tiger, and everyone I haven't mentioned! Stay warm and happy, all.

Oh, my stars, my post was long! Sorry!

I have just been watching a flock of over 30 waxwings on the tree across the road from us today.  It is usually January if any come to visit.  We live in Bangor, Co Down.  So lovely to see!

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/forums/p/28061/202712.aspx#202712

As we all seem to be still waiting to see a waxwing this year, I thought you may like to see these latest photographs from Buzzard.

Edit.    Well done Val, you seem to be the first o see them on here.

Valc : Congrats on seeing the waxwings. Just had a report of 40 in the village next to ours but still not seen any.

Thanks for the link to the photos Brenda I will have a look in a minute.

Latest map of sightings:

http://twitpic.com/3fjabq

It has remained cold and foggy here all day.

Dibnlib, lovely new Christmas avatar.

OG, I hope the solar panels are fitted without any hassle and all goes according to plan. Very exciting for you both.

Auntie, Love to have seen the two vertical rainbows. I feel so cold just thinking of -17c as a daytime temperature.

Margo, I dislike smelly cheeses. I don't even like them being in the fridge. So glad your OH recovered so quickly. Waiting to hear from you that Billy has walked through your front door. The cold weather may move him to trust you sooner than you expect.

Joan, Sorry to hear your budgie is so poorly.

Linda, lovely photograph of your grandson. I hope you are able to see him soon.

Diane, We have the 'cranking' radio, torches etc. but last time we had a power cut, I couldn't remember where I had put them !!

If all goes according to plan tomorrow, I will 'see' you ALL tomorrow afternoon.

Had a lovely lunch at Powfoot Golf Hotel – so waved across the water to Silloth for Terry!  Tide was out so birds were all way out on the sandbanks.  Will be high tide at a sensible time Boxing Day, so I envisage a camera walk with Shortbread and Hot Chocolate then!  We both enjoyed roast pork with apple mash, Calvados jus, roasties and three veg – all nicely cooked.  OH had plum bakewell with cinnamon ice-cream and I ordered cheese and savoury shortbread which mostly came home in a doggy-bag.  He drank both our coffees, but I did eat a mini-mince-pie.  There were also sweeties with the coffee, and then mints with the bill, so they came home too.  We are still pleasantly full but thought we ought to eat something before it got too late, so postponed our planned tea to tomorrow lunchtime, and just had bread and honey!  We called at a new flower shop in Annan this afternoon and ordered two small arrangements for Christmas.  The owner lives virtually next door to us – next number down but over the junction – so she will bring them home with her after work on 23^rd.  Have decided we need something to do while men are on the roof tomorrow, so are going to put the Christmas tree up early!  I am hoping to put some other stuff away to make space, rather than cram everything in.

Lindy – I have cut the refrigerator cake into really tiny portions!  When family come, I serve a plate of wee bites of cake, so they can have a bit of several, rather than be overwhelmed by big pieces.  Very much enjoyed today’s smile!  Glad to see you feeling better today, and having a good shopping trip.  I had a new coat last winter and was frightened to wear it as I didn’t want it to get sticky and need cleaning, but I have suddenly started wearing it this winter, and it’s so comfortable.  Another lovely pic of Sweetpea – growing up already, he looks more than two weeks old!

Auntie – what a lovely description of your ice rainbows – almost worth being cold for a sight like that!!

Alan – sorry Hamish has to keep taking the tablets and have a second check-up on Friday.  Do I remember this happening before, or was that someone else’s dog who had to have a facial growth removed?

Margo – the Wagtails seem to be the only birds (apart from Gulls) which clear up the maize flakes from the food.  So pleased Billy Whizz is becoming less shy.  We don’t have Christmas cake as OH doesn’t like Almond Paste.  Sometimes we have an un-iced fruit cake, and this is the first year in our memory that I haven’t made a chocolate log – still might make one of them if Son does come for New Year.

Joan – so sorry about the poor wee budgie – I hope the vet can suggest or do something to help him.

Diane – that wind sounds really nasty.  You are so good to allow the Wild Things to use the garage – just make sure they leave before the aggressive ones (can’t remember their name from last year) get challenging at nesting time!  I can imagine the contrast of Cardinals against the snow – lovely.  You sound well prepared for winter – especially having the option of wind-up radio – our government issued a leaflet a few years back saying we should all have one in case of national emergency!  The blue and green bird (back view) was a Blue Tit – very small bird, with a large personality!  Will report on solar generation – supposed to give a return on saving bought units plus feed-in tariff (quite generous and government-guaranteed) for units supplied into grid, and also quite green, even after allowing for factory emissions in manufacture.  You know I would send carrot cake if I could!! 

Val – enjoy the early Waxwings!  They are supposed to come early in greater numbers when food runs out where they were, but I don’t know what happened when food runs out here too!

I guess this is my last post until the new server is up and running – hope to “see” you all soon!

Hi folks, felt lousy yesterday even though I managed to get to church morning and evening.  I think it was a 24/48 hour flue kind of bug. Now feeling a lot better and it seems to be more of a cold now.

Will catch up on all the news. 

Went to the dentist this morning, kind of got told off for not cleaning teeth properly - my knuckles were wrapped - will have to try harder in future. Dentist said I need a filling, was prepared to do it there and then. I said go ahead which he did and then found out it was really beyond a full blown filling so has put in a temporary one and I have to go and have it extracted next month. Trouble is it was the only gold crowned tooth I had but sadly I have to loose it.  Ah well, thats life!!!