Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 29 October 2023

LINDY: I hope you have a perfect holiday, and it's everything you've dreamed of! Safe journey.

AQ: Thank you. I enjoyed that article very much. What a beautiful owl!!! Hope you're well.

Good Morning. AQ - I fell asleep on the sofa after such a busy day, plus the hour change, which discombobulates me. Then of course, I couldn't sleep when I got to bed - goodness knows what time my body clock thinks it is!!

Awoke tired this morning. Oh, joy!

Today's quote in case I don't get time later:

We are, all of us, moulded and remoulded by those who have loved us, and though that love may pass, we remain nonetheless their work - a work that very likely they do not recognise, and which is never exactly what they intended.

From The Desert of Love, by Francois Mauriac (French writer, 1885 - 1970)

aquilareen said:

An Aussie owl story for you.

Another lovely story ....... I'm really enjoying them.  Please don't hesitate to share more of your lovely wildlife with us!

Annette - you sound very busy.
Lindy - I can’t believe your OH began DIY just before your holidays!!!! You sound a bit stressed. It will be ok once you get underway. You will be able to relax.
I am sitting down for a cuppa because my electric hoover just ran out of power!! Very frustrating as I was “on a roll” Also, one of the attachments for going round the edges got stuck and I couldn’t get it out. I had just been out to the garage to put WD 40 on it when a dog walker I got friendly with in Covid walked past with his dogs! I held the leads and he got the attachment out. Usually I manage most things by myself but, on this occasion, someone stronger than me was required!! I will resume the cleaning after my cuppa and continue the hoovering when the battery is recharged. What with sparkly windows, a clean house and a tidy garden my little home won’t know what’s hit it!!!!
Just aswell that’s done because I put my name down to do a French session in the New Year and I need to find material for that and prepare it!!!! I also have a talk to prepare about my Hebrides holiday ready for presenting in April. I am giving another talk in 3 weeks too!! (That is ready fortunately!) I am going birdwatching tomorrow and helping to make tea and coffee at a coffee morning on Friday!!! I am just grateful I can do all these things.

RUSTY - J has heard nothing from either the casual list or any of his recent applications - he is rather low. Nice to see your sister lives nearby, I hadn't noticed that before.

LINDA - a good quote! Hope final packing goes well, without OH getting in the way! Bon voyage - have a good trip!

AQ - lovely Owl story.

Dry grass today - having to mow in short sessions because grass has grown so thick, so battery needs to refressh - good that it has a fast charging time, E_E will need three more sessions to get all done in the one day!. I am going to sort my office drawers at last!

Lindy - Hope you have a wonderful holiday. I'll be interested to know what you think of The Azores. Having spent just one day there ... I'm no expert, but would like another opinion!

It's like a fresh spring day here today. Blue sky, fluffy clouds, bright sunshine. We seem to have had several days of wall to wall rain, most of it very heavy. I'm off to Nymans this afternoon - hope it's not too muddy. Saw some lovely photographs of the autumn colours from last week - need to go and see for myself before the forecast gales and heavy rain tomorrow and Thursday ... very strange weather.

Rusty - All your talks sound fascinating. I'd like to be a fly on the wall!

OG - yes. I am lucky. My sister lives about a 40 minute drive away. We try to meet up more often now and the garden centre is a useful half way between place.
Pat - I enjoy making the talks. I do them in the winter months when I don’t go out as much and can think of my lovely holidays.
I hope your outing to Nymans is a success and that the colours are lovely.

Annette - when he began banging around in the bathroom at the weekend, I thought "Well, at least it keeps him busy and out of my way!" But as things went wrong, he began going to various DIY outlets looking for the right size of wood. Old story " Oh, everythings in metric now and you can't get that size any more! " Grr! So he planned to change it slightly, to fit. Then today the golf was cancelled again (course closed due to flooding) so he resumed. He decided to hoover the stairs where he had trailed mess, so got out the mini Dyson. It made strange noises. I asked if he'd emptied it lately, as he often forgets that bit! Yes, he had. Had he checked the filters? He looked. One of them made it sound about better if it was removed. Cue our needing the instruction book - this could be in one of three places, so I dropped the five things I was doing to look for them. No joy after a quick look, so I gave up - more pressing things to do!

Thank you, everyone, for your good wishes. We've been looking forward to this since last January but it seems to have come around quickly. Pat, we go to two of the islands in the Azores on successive days. I'll let you know what we thought of it -- we've booked organised outings to both places, one of them being to visit the famous twin lakes (one blue, one next to it, green!).

By the way, you won't hear from me for ages, as they charge extra for use of the Wi-Fi, so we can only text our families Lots from me when we return....

OH is worried now as we leave Liverpool at after lunchtime on Wednesday, and the weather forecast is for a really wild storm to hit the UK on Thursday/Friday, just as we go through it sailing south. Urgh - memories of both of us being truly seasick on our last cruise. Fingers crossed!!