WEEKLY CHAT (non-osprey) Sunday, May 14 2023

Thanks Diane. I remember him too....

Yes, he often helped those of us who were having techy problems. RIP, Mike.

Sorry to hear about Mike. He was well known on the threads - thanks for letting us know, Diane.

I had to give up on here yesterday as couldn't post pics or edit anything.

A damp start here after a mostly dry week - my OH has gone off to play an all day golf competition, so I am going to potter about doing small things.

Ah! It worked!

Some of our small poppies,  they're dotted around the garden & I think they're cheerful weeds!!

Lindy - you have Welsh poppies too. They are so cheerful aren’t they?
OG - I think mine came in a load of compost I collected from the local tip. Our council makes compost from what they collect in our garden waste bins and then delivers it to the local tip where we can collect it for free. I think my naughty Spanish bluebells arrived like that too!!! I haven’t dug them up.
Well, I am nervous about today. The lady Vice Captain rang me last week in desperation asking me to represent the club in a match. She pleaded with me. I am not a good golfer (very inconsistent) and I hate match play and I get all worked up. I have known her for ages and didn’t want to let her down so I am going!!! I will do my best of course and we stay for tea afterwards. Tee off is at 1pm. Please cross your fingers for me everyone. I will report back later. To cap it all, it is raining here and I do not like playing in the rain!!!

Good luck, RUSTY !
And the same for your OH, LINDY...

Rusty: Aaack. Just remember your halo is shinier today.   Naughty Spanish Bluebells?  Sounds like something from Soho's Raymond Revuebar.   Or a Monty Python skit.  :-) 

Lindybird: I'm jealous your OH has gone off for the day. I do so love having the house to myself but it's a rarity; OH tends to keep his outings short and local - though he did go off to a Peace Corps reunion a few days ago and was gone from 5 p.m. to almost 9 p.m. I was ready to start calling the hospitals! :-))

The California Poppy is our state flower. I was going to post a photo but can't quickly locate one without a copyright. Stay tuned...

Lindy - I hope your OH did well in his competition. I lost but not until then16th hole so it was quite respectable. I got drawn with their Lady Captain. She was very nice and we had a pleasant round in beautiful weather. Our team lost by 3 matches to 2. We had sandwiches and chips in their clubhouse and their members were very hospitable. I am glad it is over though.
Annette - Spanish bluebells are big and thuggish and tend to out compete our nice native bluebells. That’s why they are naughty and I should really pull them up. However, as the nearest bluebell wood I know is about 8 miles from here, I don’t think they are in any danger from my Spanish ones. As they are nice and colourful, they are staying!!!
I have seen photos of carpets of your orange poppies. They look stunning.
Heather - thank you for your good wishes.

Rusty: Congrats and glad you managed to put on a decent showing.

Earlier this morning, I heard my OH open the front door. He'd apparently heard knocking on the screen door and opened the main door to find a crow there. Now I've had them come right up to the sliding patio door and peer in but this is a new approach! :-) Seriously, I was in the garden the other week and watched a crow strut very purposefully up the path and onto the porch, the whole time scoping out the eaves of the house and the porch overhang. I suspect it - and this morning's visitor - were looking for bugs.

Meanwhile, has anyone used Merlin - the Cornell Ornithology Lab's app? You download it onto your smart phone, click it open and point the phone in the direction of a bird call and it ID's the bird for you. Amazing. (An awful lot of House Finches in our garden.)