HAPPY NEW WEEK!
I hope everyone has a good week.
I forgot to say that the wildlife behaved normally here during the eclipse. The songbirds sang and the woodpeckers pecked. Only the black vultures reacted strangely. They formed a flock, flew and dived erratically, and seemed distressed. They're back to normal now.
Sorry I'm late starting the thread. I went to the convenience store on the highway and then sat on my front step in the brilliant late afternoon sunshine and ate my burrito.
My heart goes out to all of you who are providing care for loved ones or coping with your own physical conditions. Love, hugs, and strength to all!
Hey Diane: Interesting about the vultures. My friend saw the eclipse in Austin and said some cattle in a field started mooing a lot and seemed restless during totallity. Sounds like a nice place for a burrito!
DIANE – Thank you for a new week. I read an article that said during a total eclipse animals (& birds) could be confused that it was night already and they had not finished eating for the day.
This morn I captured some lovely stained glass at St George’s Anglican (original section opened 1848, 9 years after colony started) and nearby Uniting church (opened 1875 as Wesleyan Methodist). I am never sure of my reception when asking permission to photo; once I was queried if I was going to sell my photos. Definitely no. Today at the first, the priest asked if he could bless me. Yes please. Back home I was a little late getting lunch (salad & ham roll + (Sunday treat) fruit scone each). Then a short read and a long nap. This was a suburb across other side of city and, for me, a long drive.
Diane - thank you for the new week. Interesting observations re your critters during the eclipse.
AQ - you sound more relaxed after your trip to see the stained glass. That’s good.
Re air fryers - ladies at the golf club talk about theirs a lot and extol their virtues. I am currently in the Pat and Annette camps - don’t want my worktop cluttered and I have my tried and tested cooking methods. Don’t think I will change now. Lindy - it will be interesting to hear about your future experiments.
I am going for another drive this morning to help the battery. I am going inland to a craft centre where they always have very interesting art exhibitions. They also have a very nice cafe and shop!!!!!!!!
I bought an air fryer some months ago. It was mainly because OH likes a bacon sandwich and I don't eat meat. The lady in Lakeland tried to persuade me to buy a large one so that I could cook a complete roast meal, but I knew that this was not what I wanted. I went to Robert Dyas (one of my favourite shops) and bought a small inexpensive one, which is perfect for my requirements. It will cook bacon, small pieces of chicken etc very well. I don't use it a lot, but it takes up very little space. I swapped it for the coffee machine on the work top which I don't need now as there is a state- of-the-art one in the communal area downstairs. We only drink coffee once a day anyway, being mainly tea drinkers, but I know this is not an option for many people!
It is certainly more economical for my purposes.
Well. I enjoyed my morning drive very much indeed. The sun was shining and the scenery with grazing sheep and lambs everywhere was beautiful. However, I can’t say the same thing about the temporary exhibition at the craft centre. I have seen some super ones previously. One involving textiles springs to mind. However, this exhibition entitled “Biting Back” was really not my cup of tea at all. I tried to appreciate the forms and textures but I couldn’t. There were many sculptures of ugly pigs which I didn’t photograph but I am sending a couple of cats and an owl so that you can make up your own mind. The sculptor - a lady - has got works in prestigious galleries I gather. Well, there is no accounting for taste!!!!
On Saturday, I read through the posts and was just about to start a reply, then I had to be moved for some reason, and never got back here. This morning, we went to church in warm and bright sunshine. It was a good service, with a borrowed speaker preaching and we actually had a child present, which is unusual for our oldies – the mother even said they will come again!
LINDA – was surprised to see you have gone to Wales! I hope you get some sunshine there, and not too much wind. Our Tulips, several different types, seem to have mostly failed this year – I think E-E (his first time of planting them) did not set them deep enough. I have been contemplating air-fryers and was thinking I would wait until you got one so I could ask questions. Do let us know how it goes!
AQ – what a week you had! So sad to read of your struggles with your OH’s condition. Those crocus bulbs could well survive and produce some flowers eventually – it’s amazing how resilient some plants can be.
ONWARD to the new thread …
DIANE – thank you for our new week. I thought it strange that you hadn’t mentioned the critters’ reactions during the eclipse – but worked out that you were just too preoccupied with your own. Strange that the vultures were apparently the only ones affected. Great that you could enjoy your burrito sitting out on the step!
AQ – good to see you got a nap after your photography trip across the city.
RUSTY – all the driving for keeping the battery charged must be costing you in fuel! Hope you enjoyed the craft centre today – just found what you thought of it – rather strange animals – hope the coffee shop made up for the disappointment!
ROSY – glad you like your air fryer – I think we would choose a small one for emergency meals rather than a big one to cook everything – I should have watched all the recent TV programmes about them.
E-E is having an hour in the garden - or greenhouse - this afternoon. Repotting a house plant and sowing some seeds - hopefully also removing dandelions by the front lawns. I shall be reading - or maybe having a nap.
Rusty, I have to agree with you re sculptures. Definitely not my cup of tea either! I won't mention what that second one looks like to me! The drive sounds wonderful though.
OG, Good that you had a good outing to church this morning.
OG Glad you managed to get to church this morning and that the weather was kind to you,
Our beach yesterday. A bit stony but always interesting. Bonnie finds dried bits of fish to chew!
Thank you, Diane. Interesting about the animals & birds reactions to the phenomenon.
Rusty, I'm not too impressed with the art stuff, either! I do like to see art, even when I don't always understand it.
AQ, glad you managed to do your photography. Not sure what difference it makes whether or not you were going to profit from the pictures... .....
Its our anniversary today: we went to our favourite coffee place & I had a yummy hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows on top as we looked out to sea. Saw plenty of pretty newborn lambs on our way through the hills plus lots of wildflowers and gorse. The mountains are losing their snow on top and the lower slopes are greening up now.
Spoke to our Youngest on the phone. He had his birthday this week, and I bought him a small air fryer. He's not tried it yet but asked advice. I said I would not be a lot of help as we've not used ours enough yet. Their children often all ask for something different at mealtimes so I thought it might help.
Lindybird: Sound like a nice outing with hot chocolate and newborn lambs. Can you imagine our parents cooking different foods for each kid? We were given what there was and told to be thankful for it. :-)
Rusty: Must agree re the aesthetic value of the sculptures. A bit too bizarre for me.
AQ; So glad you were able to get out and about with your camera and recharge your own batteries. Are you reluctant to leave your OH on his own? I remember you used to go on day trips with your buddy who wasn't up to the driving anymore. And it doesn't sound like you've been on any day trips this summer either.
OG: Had to smile at "I had to be moved" - like a piece of furniture! :-) I seem to remember you hadn't been going to services in person, or am I completely out of touch. Like the idea of a new young person in attendance; wonder if they just moved into the neighborhood...
Have spent a lot of time today sitting at the shredder, which finally overheated and had to catch its breath. I'm wondering about those shredding services where you drop the whole lot off and they do it for you, but don't like the idea of dumping all our personal details/information/tax returns in a communal bin, even though they're securely locked.
I had an interesting experience last week: Was refilling the bird feeder and heard a noise behind me. Thought it was OH coming out the back door but when I looked over my shoulder saw a hawk crouching on the pathway about 15 feet away and a few feet in front of it, flat out on the ground, an almost equally large bird - maybe a collared dove, but it all happened so quickly I couldn't ID it for sure. The hawk was clearly assessing the situation and as I turned round, it grabbed its prey and zoomed right past me at ear level, not even 2 feet away. That back walkway is narrow and it's the second time I've had a close encounter with a hawk there.
Ms. D is here for two nights; her Mom made record time driving to Arizona today (she left very early) and expects to be back next Saturday. Meanwhlie, Ms. D will shuttle between here and my daughter's home.
Anyway, am cooking salmon for dinner, so much go an investigate veggies, etc..
Take care everyone.