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Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 12 February 2023

Diane in Indiana
12/02/2023 00:00

HAPPY NEW WEEK!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. 

I was sitting on my porch last night, and I saw an ant crawl lethargically across the floor. It was the first one I'd seen since last autumn. I was glad to welcome the little fella. A few minutes later, I smelled a ghastly awful odor. It was the skunk, and it must have been close to the house! The hibernating creatures are beginning to stir here!

The skunk must have woke up in a bad mood, because it had sprayed some unfortunate critter with the full force of its stench accumulated over the winter. My eyes were watering, but my heart was joyful.

Some years, February can be the most savage of our winter, but the forecasts are saying that it will be milder than usual this year. The days have been warmer this past week, and we had sunshine! We don't have any beautiful flowers yet, like Lindy posted, but I was so happy to see (and smell) the first hints of spring!

Love to all!

  • 18/02/2023 08:53
    Lindy - that’s a good carpet of snowdrops. Mine are just in small clumps.
    OG - So glad you felt like catching up on your correspondence.
    AQ - I loved the budgerigar photos. We had one as a pet when we were little.
    I have a whole weekend at home to look forward to. I am going to potter. What a nice thought.
  • 18/02/2023 09:23
    I posted more snowdrops but for some reason it didn't post.

    Rusty, enjoy your 'weekend off'.

    I must go out for food supplies. Who eats all this stuff?
  • 18/02/2023 13:43
    Interesting morning here. My neighbour rang the doorbell to say that she was having a tall tree cut down . It was costing £1000 and they were offering to cut down my two ( less tall) trees for £1300 !! I told her that I didn't make decisions like that without discussing with my stepson ( true). Then, when arriving home with eldest daughter after shopping, as we were getting out of the car, the guy approached her, asked if I was her mother and offered the same price. Lucy smiled and said that she worked for a tree surgeon ( true) her boss is just that, as part of other surveying jobs. The guy vanished . Lucy pointed out to me that there was no name on his lorry and the wing mirror nearest to us was held together with gaffer tape.
  • 18/02/2023 14:58
    I think you have escaped there Heather. I never give a job to someone who is just passing by or even working for a neighbour until I have researched them. Also, for a job like that, I think I would get a couple of quotes.
    Lindy - I hope you got your shopping done.
    My plans changed this morning after receiving a text from a friend asking if I would like to go for a walk round a local nature reserve with her and her husband. They know it is a place I wouldn’t go on my own as it is very quiet. It was lovely. Just 2 miles and the birds were singing lustily. I have done a bit of pottering since lunch.
  • 18/02/2023 15:36
    I think that I have lost touch with current prices, RUSTY - but I agree with you, wouldn't give a job to a guy that just turned up. And yes, my son's shop is in Shrewsbury, on Wyle Cop. A long street with many independent retailers. I love Shrewsbury !
  • 18/02/2023 16:00
    You definitely did the right thing there HEATHER We used to live just a few miles from Shrewsbury. The RAF school of air traffic control was at Shawbury just about 9 miles from there. It was and it sounds like it still is a lovely town, quite quaint I think.
  • 18/02/2023 16:04
    LINDY Sorry to hear you have had another death in the family and another funeral to go to.
  • 18/02/2023 16:46

    Rusty:  As I read your 'no plans for the weekend' post I thought, That's unlikely!  And there you are, out with a neighbor.  :-))  Still, a small walk around a local preserve sounds nice.  I bet you'll be off somewhere tomorrow too.   :-)   The birds here have been extremely chatty this last week.  

    Heather:  Sounds like you - and your trees - were saved from god-knows-what-kind-of-a-job.  How did the neighbor's turn out?  I hate to think what some trees suffer at the hands of these fly-by-night tree 'surgeons.'

    AQ:  Budgies galore.  Such pretty birds you have Down Under.  

    OG:  EE's little helpers?  Hope things are settling down a bit.

    Thanks all for snowdrop pix - I remember the flowers but forget if they have a fragrance...

    Family all due here about 11, so OH is girding his loins while I must organize the kitchen a bit.

    Take care everyone.

  • 18/02/2023 19:52 in reply to Annette in SoCal
    Have a wonderful time with your family, Annette.
  • 18/02/2023 21:16
    Interesting about the trees. There have been a whole lot of them cut down completely around here, in recent years. My OH says it's very expensive now as of course there is a lot of clearing up & carting away afterwards: often nowadays, they bring a huge shredder to make it easier (which is very noisy). We think it would possibly be nearing £1000 to remove a really big tree. However, I would want more than one quote myself, and we never get anything done by people who just knock on the door.

    Loved the budgies AQ! What a racket they make! We had a small blue budgie which was my brothers, he lived for a very long time and was much loved.