Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 15 October 2023

Diane: Thank you for starting us off and for the info about the birds. I'll take a look at that later. We saw the eclipse this morning with our handy eclipse "glasses." It was brilliant. We rushed out when it started at 8 a.m., then at regular intervals until it reached it peak of 80% (in this part of the country) What was really weird was how it affected shadows. When we held out our hands, the shadows were blurred and rather spooky - almost like an x-ray image. No clouds in the sky, but it was definitely chillier as the eclipse progressed. Very thrilling!

I'm going to church with the girls in the morning (not my usual Sunday routine but it's a big part of their lives), then we'll come home, have breakfast and I'll pack the car and head back to Santa Barbara around lunchtime. I'll stay the night in Indio and head through LA after rush hour (ha!!) on Monday. It's a pain to start a long drive in such a lovely part of the country and then, when you're tired and just want to get home, have to deal with Los Angeles traffic.

Anyway, am up to date with everyone's news but have had no time to respond. Take care everyone.

Unknown said:

I haven't seen any reporting on the fate of the tropical flamingos that ended up in the Midwest, including Indiana. I'm hoping they saw the birds migrating and joined a flock of other large birds, such as the white pelicans that migrate through my state.

I'm keeping everything crossed that this is the case, Diane.

What a fantastic number of migrating birds.  I wonder if any scientists do that here?  My part of the country gets some wonderful sightings in each migration season and you'd have thought someone would be keeping count.

Unknown said:

We saw the eclipse this morning with our handy eclipse "glasses." It was brilliant. We rushed out when it started at 8 a.m., then at regular intervals until it reached it peak of 80% (in this part of the country) What was really weird was how it affected shadows. When we held out our hands, the shadows were blurred and rather spooky - almost like an x-ray image. No clouds in the sky, but it was definitely chillier as the eclipse progressed. Very thrilling!

Sounds great!  Believe it or not I've never seen a total eclipse, which is a shame as that's something I'd like to experience.

Have a safe journey home.  I couldn't agree more about the LA traffic!

Of course, when I say “Geraniums” I mean “Zonal Pelargoniums” which are commonly known as Geraniums here in the UK. Strictly speaking, Geraniums are the spreading pink, blue and purple cultivated “Cranesbills” used at the front of borders.

DIANE – thanks for starting us off again. Interesting to read about the tracking of bird migrations using the weather radar! I do hope those Flamingos made it southward.

ANNETTE – sounds as if you have had a good stay in AZ – my slow brain had hardly registered the fact that you had arrived, and now you are loading up for he journey home. Wishing you a safe and comfortable drive – good that you are splitting the journey.

We had our first sub-zero temperature this morning – outside max/min registered minus zero point nine! Another sunny day, so good for moving the plants this afternoon.

Hugs to you too Diane. I was really interested in the information from the links you posted, Wonderful stuff, thank you so much. Amazing info about the 600 million birds in migration over Indiana and the 233,600 crossing the length on the State .
I'm glad you have nothing to report on the Flamingos as I , like you , would rather conclude that seeing large flocks of large birds wending their way south the Flamingos would take the cue and join them.

Thank for starting the week Diane. The item about migration was very interesting. Fingers crossed for the flamingos.
Annette - good idea to break your journey. I hope it all goes smoothly,
OG - we didn’t have frost here but it felt distinctly chilly.
Well, you’ll never guess what I have been up to today!!!!!!!!! Weirdly, I have had a great time. All the gang who were at my birthday party (7 adults and 3 children) got together to celebrate the 5th birthday of my great niece. What did we do? Well, we went 10 pin bowling. I used to be quite good at it- not any more!!! Then, we went to MacDonalds!!!!!!!! (I think it must be 30 years since I last ate at the Golden Arches) I had chicken McNuggets and fries with barbecue sauce!!! My niece had brought a birthday cake so we had pieces of that too. All great fun!!!

Thank you, DIANE !
I hope that ANNETTE will have a good journey home.
Thanks to everyone for your news, it's often what keeps me going x
I don't want to dwell too much on health issues, just to say that I have an appointment for ECG and bloods on Thursday. Meantime, have to take blood pressure twice daily and text the results to the surgery. Suffice to say that it is very low and I have had several fainting episodes. Onwards and upwards ....
Regards to ALL

Thank you to Diane for starting us off again.

Sorry, I had a busy weekend so haven't posted but all is fine-- I will reply to many, later. Meanwhile {{HUGS}} to Heather who is sensibly getting help with her health concerns.

Heather B said:

Meantime, have to take blood pressure twice daily and text the results to the surgery. Suffice to say that it is very low and I have had several fainting episodes

Limpy had a period of that a few years ago.  He was prescribed midodrine, which worked spectacularly well.  You might suggest this to the doctors when they've worked out what's going on.

Heather - I do hope all the investigations go smoothly. Sending hugs and prayers for you.