Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 7 May 2023

Hi to all hope all is well with everyone

Lovely to hear from you, Limpy. Looked at your Flickr pictures, which are stunning. Of course, I especially enjoy the birds of prey! You've been busy seeing all those beautiful birds. I hope you're keeping well these days.

JillR - Thank you so much for the ID.

AQ: I'm so sorry your OH has been falling. Do you think he would be more inclined to accept a stick/cane if it had a manly, powerful symbol on the handle, so he felt empowered rather than weak when he used it?

Here are a couple that I liked. These two are a little expensive, but you can buy them in any price range on Amazon. Also, you live in a huge city, so somebody local probably sells these. You can order them with all kinds of animals, birds, and symbols on the handles, such as eagle heads, ravens, wolves, dragons, fish, lions, horses...

My phone refused to let me look at Amazon Australia and insisted on taking me back to the US site. Sigh...

www.amazon.com/.../ref=sspa_mw_detail_0

So good to see you, Limpy! I hope you and Clare are okay. I will sit down and look at your wonderful photos. Best wishes to you both.

Diane: Such a coincident!  I saw the second walking stick you linked to in a pharmacy today.   I was telling my daughter today that my BiL has a wonderful collection of walking sticks - beautifully handcrafted, one-of-a-kind, sturdy, no-nonsense walking sticks that anyone might use just because they look so good.  (Not that my wobbly BiL actually uses any of them. Sigh.)

Limpy!  Great to see you.  How are you  - and how is Clare?  And your daughter?  Enquiring minds and all that...

OG: Very relieved to see you and to hear that J has job offers.  Do  hope that works out for you all.

I've been really busy, but all is well.

Take care everyone.

Thanks to all for news and pics !
Quiet here as per norm but getting my covid booster later this morning. Eldest daughter is picking me up and will then come back here for lunch and some grass cutting.
My brother is in the doldrums. The local council (mairie) cut his telephone cable while working on the road. So no telephone or internet until ? when. His mobile phone contract doesn't allow for many calls. Poor old thing.

Sunny here!! Busy filling the laundry line! Thankfully, most of it doesn't need ironing, phew!

Lots of fuss here over the Eurovision Song Contest, tomorrow. Expect it will be the usual big hoo ha, and the result will be much argued about. We usually tune in towards the end, to see who won. My OH won't sit through all the warbling.

AQ -- I gave in (well, I had to, or I'd have fallen over in public) and began to use a stick I bought years ago in a sports shop, to help me down steep slopes when walking. It looks workmanlike. Now, I have two other sticks, one is collapsible and useful for holidays & days out, and the other is a big black ergonomic monster, but very stable for uneven ground etc.

BP monitor turned out to have flat batteries – not the first time this has happened to me! Got to wait for a replacement to be available! No worries – my 3 BP meds keep me steady at current reading!

LINDA - I thought it was about time for another trip to Wales – sorry about rain – but you seem to have enjoyed it. Nice flowers – lots of bluebells everywhere this year.

LIMPY – good to see you here! How are you – and CLARE?

DIANE and others – we have a lot of extremely skilled makers of walking sticks around here – they take part in competitions and sell at craft markets.

ANNETTE – J worked two days at school last week and consequently a really bad cough and sore throat this week – luckily no work days this week, but there again next week. He’d walked into town this morning so must be feeling somewhat better than spending four days periodically disappearing to bed! Had more really good weather so plenty of gardening going on – cucumbers into grow-bags in greenhouse right now.

HEATHER – sorry about your brother’s communication problems – and how is he now?

Dau#1 suddenly phoned yesterday – very difficult to follow what she was saying, but she seemed to follow what we said. OH had picked up phone and told her I was busy bathing my feet – she asked what is wrong with them so we told her just the same as for the past twelve years! She didn’t seem to have a reason to call, and when I said she could come and check up on us, she hastily said exams are coming up – just as they were last time she rang! (she does a lot of invigilating).

I’m contemplating going to Tesco this afternoon, just to see what has changed! OH is shopping anyway, so he can put me in the back for a short local journey without too much effort.

OG: SO GOOD TO SEE YOU! I hope you were able to go to Tesco. I know it's good for you to get out of the house.

I'm glad J has work and was able to walk to town. I know he's been struggling.

Lovely that the gardening is going well. I love fresh cucumbers. I wish I could do some gardening, but it's a challenge here because my soil is very rocky. Also, I suspect the wildlife would steal any vegetables and fruit before I could harvest anything.

Best wishes to you and EE. Sending you good energy.