Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 12 November 2023

HAPPY NEW WEEK!

I hope everyone has a good week.

The new moon (the dark moon) is Monday, the 13th.

I don't have any interesting news. We had a record-breaking very warm day early in the week. I stood outdoors, breathed deeply, looked over my patch, and said a final good-bye to summer. Now it's getting colder and all I want to do is eat and sleep!

Take care of yourselves!

  • Heather B said:
    Well, my fall has had an unexpected consequence - I had a load of investigations when in hospital and have now been informed that I have a tumour in my right kidney. Have been referred to Urology to determine whether it is malignant or not. I had no symptoms and would never have known but for the fall. Every cloud has a silver lining :-)

    It is frequently said that things happen for a reason.  Let's hope this is dealt with quickly - and fingers crossed it's not malignant!

    Our herring gulls are red listed birds.  Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.

  • OG - that sounds more promising regarding the carers. I hope you are not on the waiting list for too long.
    Pat - glad you got to Hever. I hope the next visits have good weather for you.
    Lindy - I imagine you are busy unpacking and doing the washing!!! Good luck. I think it’s the worst thing about getting home after a holiday.
    Yesterday I took myself off to Burton Mere Wetlands with the intention of sampling their new cafe. I wasn’t disappointed. I had a lovely warm buttered scone and coffee whilst watching a marsh harrier hunting over the marshes!!! Then I went to Parkgate on the high tide (not one of the highest) but I managed to see a ringtail hen harrier hunting in the distance. It was quite breezy but I went for a little walk too. I was home for lunch.
    Today I have been invited out to lunch by a lovely couple who were both 80 during the course of the year. They have invited a group of friends to join them at a restaurant to mark the occasion. Isn’t that nice?
    This evening I am going with a different group of friends to the local flower club’s annual Christmas flower arranging demonstration. We go every year. It’s where I traditionally eat my first mince pie of the season!!! It is usually very enjoyable and I am always amazed at the creativity of the demonstrator. I just dump a bunch of flowers in a vase I am afraid!!!!!
  • Rusty: Sounds like a lovely few days. Have a mince pie for me.
  • Rusty - Sounds like an ideal day ... buttered scone and coffee, a marsh harrier, a hen harrier and a mince pie!

    Today's visit to Hever was rained off. It's been miserable and wet all day today. The forecast for tomorrow looks much brighter, so I'm hoping the planned third visit will take place. I guess two out of three when things are weather-dependent isn't too bad!
  • Sorry you missed Hever, Pat. Fingers crossed for your last visit!

    Rusty, you do get about. Well done on your bird spotting! Glad you got a mince pie. I don't eat them but my OH has already begun eating them in anticipation of Christmas.

    OG -- I hope your arrangements for having some help can work out. It does sound ideal for your OH to have a treat of a cinema visit now and then.

    We've been busy of course. My OH has been finishing off his bathroom project ( a skirting board had gone rotten) and indeed I've been seeing to laundry and unpacking all the little bits & bobs you take away. We had some copies made of photographs taken by the ships photographer when we were at the formal dinners and in our finery, and they're nice to look back on.
  • I'll begin my holiday log. I've not said much about it so far, as I thought I'd describe our trip as it unfolded.

    Cruise Log for a Mystery Tour!

    We left home mid morning for our short drive to Liverpool, where we'd arranged to leave our car in a city centre car park. In spite of having printed out a map from Mr Google, and having written instructions from the car park itself, and having our sat nav on, we got lost! The car park was underground and we were looking for a tall building, LOL!! After dashing around the awful city one way streets, we finally got back to where we'd missed the entrance. We thought that was the drama for the day.
  • Had a good day out today - fine weather helped! We all enjoyed our lunch at the garden centre. In M&S we completed our essentials quickly, so I suggested some browsing for Chrisstmas goodies so J could spend longer in HobbyCraft - then it turned out they didn't have what he was looking for, so came out early! Anyway, we now have a crate of nice things for next month!
  • We were relieved of our luggage and given a short ride to the Terminal. As we entered the queue to book in, we could see that something unusual was happening. People in the queue were talking animatedly. We were given a printed letter from the cruise line to read, which I read out loud to my OH. It began with an apology but said that they hoped we would understand -- in view of the impending storm there would be major changes to the Itinerary. As we read, it became apparent that our main destination to The Azores was to be scrapped, and we would begin our journey by visiting nearby Ireland whilst the storm passed us by. If anyone wanted to cancel boarding, they could leave now and could go to a desk to discuss the arrangements. We learned from a fellow passenger that two couples from our group had already left.

    We both looked at one another. We were agreed that we were very disappointed, but didn't need to discuss it much as we were there in the queue to board, and had our suitcases, and Bonnie already ensconced with my OH's sister. We stayed in the queue and checked in. As we got aboard, we found that we could have our cabin available after cleaning, so we dumped our stuff and went for a cuppa. Everyone we met was talking about the storm and the changes made.

  • It was a grey day but dry as we sailed away - here is the iconic Liver Building on the Pier Head at Liverpool. 

    We unpacked and rested, then we were booked for late sitting for dinner. We were looking forward to meeting our fellow travellers, as we had requested a table for six as our preference. We were shown to a very nice table, but it was for four. Um. We waited, then ordered from the menu. No one appeared, so we ate alone. The waiter cleared the other half of the table. I joked that my OH would have to listen to my wittering for a fortnight! In the event, no one ever turned up, and after a week the waiter stopped bothering to lay the table for four. It was disappointing as we hoped to find friends but it was not to be. My OH decided that the other couple may have come on the trip as a last minute bargain, and they didn't want to eat late, so were eating in the buffet instead. 

  • Lindybird: Oh. Well I guess it was nice that the cruise line alerted folks to the change of itinerary before they boarded, but what a shame about the Azores. We saw you holed up in Belfast and Cork and assumed the storm had thrown a wrench in the works. Re dinner seating, geez - you could've stayed home and had dinner every night with your OH for much less! :-) Awaiting the next installment......