Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 27 November 2022

Very clever Pat, you really made us laugh.

AQ Thank you for the Cockie story. Apparently they are very intelligent birds. I watched a video of a Cockatoo called Snowball dancing and keeping well in time to music....such fun. It is probably still available to google if anyone is interested.

Been searching for some chocolate advent sets, coincidentally, Can't find any locally so the children may have to do without! No time to travel to look for them. But I do have plenty of chocolate treats in my bag......

We have yet to find anyone in either my OHs golfing group, our neighbours, or our relatives, who do not think that this race row is a storm in a teacup! The elderly lady was only trying to make small talk in a roomful of people. Not easy at the best of times. I'm thoroughly fed up with people waiting to be offended by things. If I had thought that the line of questioning was inappropriate, I would simply have laughed in her face and moved away. Instead, she said she lurked on the fringes of the gathering until she could go home! Not a very strong person to lead a charity which sounds as if it needs strong women!

dibnlib said:

AQ Thank you for the Cockie story. Apparently they are very intelligent birds. I watched a video of a Cockatoo called Snowball dancing and keeping well in time to music....such fun. It is probably still available to google if anyone is interested.

I saw that one!   Hilarious!  He really did keep in time!

Pat O said:

What a preposterous suggestion that I'm bombastic! I'm far more a pernickety flippertigibbet

You are not bombastic ......... I'm definitely pernickety.

Pat O said:

I always refer to myself as a pedant

I'm certainly that when it comes to the correct spelling and grammar ....... it drives people mad!

Clare - So now we have two things in common - Mull and pedantry!!

Goodness me. Where have the last 2 days gone? I have read all the posts about so many subjects. I love unusual words so I have enjoyed all that.
Lynnette - you have indeed had a lot to cope with but you sound a bit more able to deal with everything now which is good.
Our little trip to Ness Gardens was very nice yesterday. We started off in the cafe with a coffee and mince pie. Then we had about 90 minutes wandering around the gardens. We were surprised by how much was still in flower or budding up ready for spring. My friend could name most of the plants. We got cold then so went in for lunch, I had a very nice home made parsnip soup.
In the evening I went to see a ballet based on “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” by Dylan Thomas at my local theatre. It was narrated by Cerys Matthews. The company was from South Wales. It was really really well done. I don’t like ballet much but I was mesmerised.
I thought today was going to be quieter but I got a panic phone call from a friend who needed help buying a new iPad. She currently has my old one (so it is very old!!) and it has finally given up. We got that sorted and then she used my iPad to do some ordering that she urgently needed to do. She lives in an assisted living complex and uses an electric wheelchair to get around.

Rusty: Sounds like more lovely outings for you. :-)

Re the latest Royal kerfuffle, I had to smile because yesterday when I was at Verizon getting a new phone, was helped by a young black guy who immediately asked me, "So where are you from?" I told him Watford and he said "I'm from Sheffield, but I was born in Nigeria and my parents left for England when I was 7. Now my mother and grandmother live in Maryland." Thoroughly normal and pleasant encounter. While waiting, I'd had exactly the same chat with a lively older German lady who was, she told me, from Manheim, then a few minutes later I overheard a customer representative ask her 'Where are you from? I'm always really fascinated by people's stories about their origins and the decisions that led them to their present present place in the world, so it's really hard for me to understand how anyone would find a genuine interest offensive.

Meanwhile, I see Harry and Meghan have a 6-part documentary on Netflix that takes us 'behind the scenes' of their relationship. Seems a bit self-indulgent for a couple who claimed they wanted to stay out of the limelight, but then nobody asked me.

We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes.
Then one fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of mouse should never be meese,
You may find a lone mouse or a whole nest of mice,
But the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?

      to be continued

Good Morning. Misty here, but we are promised that the foggy conditions will go over the weekend, to be replaced by high winds!! Winter is here.....

We gratefully put our heating on yesterday, but every time I adjust it, I can't help thinking of those who will have to be cold as they dread the bills to come. Very sad, & I expect there will be some very upsetting tales as the time goes on. :-(

Annette - Your story illustrates exactly the problem of how things can be interpreted. I'm spitting tacks over the latest news, that Harry & Meghan are putting out this vile stuff on top of the Royal visit to USA. Its very shabby.

Nice to read of everyone's trips out and about. Sue is off this weekend to visit Christmas markets in Edinburgh, which is a long way from here!

AQ - - Love the wordy poem! You must get to the bit about the pronunciation of "cough, bough and enough!"