Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 11 February 2024

Well, Pat - our Latin Teacher told us we should all pray to St Anthony! I think he is more normally referred to as patron saint of Lost Causes! I guess we girls were her lost causes, trying to teach us Latin! (actually I was quite good at it - such a logical language)

OG: I think it's St Jude who is the patron saint of lost causes and St. Anthony who's the patron saint of missing things (plus travelers).... Maybe some of them have to multi-task now that Ss. Nicholas, George and Christopher have lost saint status - oh and St. Ursula too. No job security in heaven either apparently..... I didn't like Latin until I studied German - was a great grounding but really - so many genders (though that might work well these days!).

Awful about loud TVs in hospitals. My OH and I are going out for a belated birthday dinner to a new place reputed to be quiet. We'll see.....

I've always thought St Jude was the patron saint of lost causes - and, when I was playing golf, lost golf balls! Rusty - you might like to see if a quick plea to him helps if you lose a golf ball - which I'm sure you don't!!

I enjoyed Latin as well. And it's left me with a life-long interest in the derivation of words. I always promised myself I would learn Ancient Greek, for much the same reason, when I had time. I'm still waiting for the time ... One place I visit regularly has a book on one of their shelves on 'Teach Yourself Ancient Greek'. To my knowledge it hasn't moved for about eight years. I'm trying to pluck up courage to ask if they want it any more ...

I've always thought St Jude was the patron saint of lost causes - and, when I was playing golf, lost golf balls! Rusty - you might like to see if a quick plea to him helps if you lose a golf ball - which I'm sure you don't!!

I enjoyed Latin as well. And it's left me with a life-long interest in the derivation of words. I always promised myself I would learn Ancient Greek, for much the same reason, when I had time. I'm still waiting for the time ... One place I visit regularly has a book on one of their shelves on 'Teach Yourself Ancient Greek'. To my knowledge it hasn't moved for about eight years. I'm trying to pluck up courage to ask if they want it any more ...

Oh Pat - I do lose golf balls!!! Mainly into the pond or the river - never to be seen again!!!
I did Latin O level. Goodness knows how I managed to pass. I suppose it helped with the linguistic side of studying French.
It’s a lovely morning here. I am going on a little outing. I will let you know later how it goes. It involves birdwatching of course! LOL.

Apologies for pointing people to the wrong saint - as people who know me will guess it is not part of my belief or practice! And whichever it was it didn't do our Latin teacher much good - after she gave up teaching she took her own life!

Nice to see you posting, OG. And regards to EE!!

I seem to be a Lost Cause - or at least, my children tell me that I am! LOL!

Sunny here today and we are getting on with all those things which have been put off over the weekend. It took two of us to rewrap a very awkward parcel which has to go back as the contents were broken. I still can't find out where to send it! More phone calls needed...

Our doggy guest went home as my sis in law returned last evening by train from London, where she had seen the Cirque de Solei at the Albert Hall which she said was stunning. I think she meant both the show and the Albert Hall!

The Strange Tale of The Missing Picture:

Two weeks before Christmas, I took down a picture from our hallway - it's a fair sized printed & framed copy of a panoramic photo of one of our favourite holiday spots in the Canaries, with a curved beach, old buildings, and a backdrop of wonderfully rugged mountains behind. I took it down to place a pretty gold sparkly wreath up as part of our decorations for the season. As it's precious to me, I looked for somewhere safe to store it. I must have found somewhere really safe, as we then couldn't find it after 5th January, when everything was taken down!

I looked in all the wardrobes. I looked under the beds. I looked for it daily! Not behind the desk, not in the kitchen, not on a shelf underneath something else... Not with our coats, not slid behind the dresser.... Eventually, I had to admit defeat and say "Well, it'll turn up!" But seeing the gap on the wall was really annoying, every time I passed the front door.

Yesterday I was getting dressed when I noticed a white box in the bedroom, behind the door. It was a gift box from my Eldest, last birthday, and contained hand creams and body lotion. I decided the time had come to use the items and rid the room of the box on the floor. As I moved it, I saw something wooden out of the corner of my eye. What could it be? It wasn't until I lifted it out it was revealed -- the missing picture!! It has been propped against the wall by the box, and I had been passing it daily to get to our bathroom! Augh!!!!

PS The hand cream is really nice, but Oh! I do hate that I forget things now!

Lindy - I did smile at the story of the lost picture. It's so annoying when those 'safe places' refuse to reveal themselves!!

I found my pencil sharpener! (without the aid of St Jude ... I just needed to move some reference books which shouldn't have been there in the first place, and there it was behind them!!) Still haven't found the book, though. It will probably be in an equally obvious place when I do.