HAPPY NEW WEEK!
I hope everyone has a good week.
The harvest is nearly complete here in my area. The leaves have almost all fallen off the trees, and they're dry and crunchy. Indiana has had the 3rd driest October in recorded history and the driest since 1964. My county is officially in drought, and there's a burn ban and red flag warnings because of the elevated fire risk and high winds. Lots of field, brush, and forest fires in my region. Just a few miles north of me is "severe drought". All very, very unusual for my state. We usually have the autumn rains.
The birds that migrate have left. The pileated woodpecker is staying the winter in the woods across from my front door. I'm continuing to leave apples for the groundhog. He hasn't begun hibernation yet.
Love and hugs to all.
Thanks for starting the week Diane. Pleased to know the groundhog will not starve.
Thank you for starting the week Diane. I always like to read your reports on your local surroundings and news of the critters!
I don't know if I am speaking too soon, but I have not seen the usual influx of spiders 'coming in from the cold' here. I am not sorry!
Also, only once have I walked into a sticky web when going out through the gate in the morning. I am sure the spiders are all lurking somewhere!
Good morning from a dry Suffolk. In fact, we have 9 consecutive days of dry weather coming with temps between 13 and 15 degrees, which will help with keeping the heating off or low for a bit longer.
One again Thanks to Diane and your news of your area - would it be possible for a few photos of your wood and the the Groundhog etc?
Ive been reading all of your posts and for once I have been at home more for a change so not a lot to report, apart from a visit to my Sister in Essex to meet up with them and my Brother and Sister in Law who were down south from North Yorkshire for a few days, All of them in their 80s and doing well apart from my Brother in Law who has dementia.
I hope Lindy and OH have a good holiday and Heather enjoys her visit from her Danish friends.
To everyone else, I hope you can get your various problems and issues sorted and can have a good and healthy week.
DIANE - Thank you for starting us off at what must have been late at night for you. I heard on the World Service that the Mayor of New York has advised folk to take shorter showers and fix dripping taps, because of the drought. I followed the link you gave us last Sunday and learned a lot about groundhogs. Been listening to reports from the US about the Election. Wild promises being made :-( It may be the US Election but it will undoubtedly have a global impact.
Good to hear from ROSY and HARELADY - and OG - Is Js friend the one who gives him a lift home from church?
Thank you Diane, I too enjoy reading about your surroundings with the critters and scenery,
Heather - I also heard that article on the World Service about the shower restriction in New York! Good to hear from you Harelady. I am glad you enjoyed the visit from your family. Rosy - we were commenting about the dew on the spiders webs on our woodland walk on Thursday. Maybe it is too mild yet for them to want to come indoors (sorry!!)
I am going out shortly for my usual Sunday walk down a pretty lane with my friend. We always have a good chat. Here too it is dry and mild. Dull though. No sun. I did a lot of leaf scraping yesterday. I make leaf mould in black plastic bags. It takes 2 years to break down but it is good stuff. I have it hidden behind a bush at the bottom of the garden!!!
DIANE – Thank you for starting us again. I often latch on to your comments and contrast your area with here in South Aussieland. Today “crunchy” & “fire”. My lawns are turning crunchy with the sudden heat and also that I am not watering the section near the street. We have an early start to our fire season, 1) some idiot using an angle grinder on a hot windy day, 2) teenagers out for a lark set fire to scrub (one was only 13). No serious damage but. . .
ROSY – Your spiders are lurking in every nook and cranny on my car. And they love spinning webs on the rear vision mirrors.
On my travels I always wore my walking shoes on flights (to leave more room in bag) and packed a light pair of shoes for emergencies. I remember a very wet day in Yorkshire’s Richmond where it rained so much that the town centre was inches deep in water. Later I was desperately trying to dry my sneakers with the B&B hair dryer!
Saturday I went to a talk at a suburban library. To my delight so did my Travel Friend. I shall have to rename her as it is years since we travelled together.
AQ: I'm so glad you were able to attend the library talk and your good friend was there. YAY!!! I hope your fire season won't threaten you this year. I know it can be really bad in your region. Fingers crossed for you.
HEATHER: I forgot to wish you a happy time with your visiting Danish friends. Hope you enjoy the company. I also hope your daughter is healing.
OG: I was thinking of you tonight. I hope your throat is better. I was sorry to read that J's friend is leaving. Try to get some good rest.
ROSY: If your spiders show up, you can send them to me. In return, I'll send you the super-mosquitos that are still lingering in my house. LOL I hope your OH is doing as well as possible
HARELADY: Nice to see you!!! l will see if I can get some photos. The camera on my phone isn't fancy. Glad you were able to enjoy time with family.
RUSTY: Hope you enjoyed your walk. I always enjoy reading about all your adventures--and lunches!!!
SCYLLA: It was nice to hear from you. I hope you will feel better soon. Sending you good energy and thinking of you during this rough time.
CIRRUS: I pitched the groundhog an apple and a carrot and told them they were from you. : -)
SUNNYKATE: Hope you are well.
Dau gave me advance warning of the Trio’s χmas list. I have 2 done and one a wee bit more difficult. MissJ has a long list of soft toys – all dogs, various prices, surely easy to choose one. Alas when I visited the store - “only available online”. Next I try a set of doggie books - perfect. Alas our normally great bookstore will order them but they will take 4 months to arrive. What?! By then she will at another reading level, not to mention χmas long gone. Back to gift list.
OH has had another fall, this one “unwitnessed”. OK, he either doesn’t want to use his walker or forgets it. Not my problem.
AQ - so glad you saw your friend at the library. Can’t imagine how pleased you must have been. How annoying about the present list just when you were given some good ideas. I hope you can solve things. Very sorry to hear that your OH has had yet another fall. My friend and I had a good walk yesterday - 3.7 miles according to my phone! The autumn colours were lovely. We did a lot of talking. i had a “spare” day today because the appointment for my car to have its bits of rust sorted got pushed back to tomorrow. So, I decided to go to my favourite garden centre to see if I was inspired with ideas for Christmas presents. I wasn’t!!! I bought 3 cards and one present. “Just in case” I had taken my binoculars as Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB isn’t far from there, so I went and had a pleasant 90 minutes birding. This dull, still weather seemed to be having an effect on the birds. They were very quiet and mostly still, just floating on the water or wading in it!
Morning all:
Been busy here with lots of unscheduled activities. Was expecting quiet start to the day on Friday, only to get call from daughter who (right after the crack of dawn) was off to see horses and had managed to lock herself out of the house, leaving her Drivers License and othe ID inside along with the house key! No problem, five minutes later I'm back home. Shortly thereafter, got panicked call from Ms. D who'd missed her school bus, having depended on the kitchen clock (running slow) rather than her iPhone time to head out the door. Thirty minutes later, I'm back home again, having completely forgotten what the heck I was planning on doing. The next two days were pretty much the same. Yesterday, (granddaghter works Thursday through Monday) I was scheduled to pick up Ms. D at 10:30-11 to help plant some Salvia, trim bushes, etc.. At 8:30, wonderful but overbooked handyman says can he come by at 9:30-10 to see about various odd jobs that need doing. (He's not supposed to do work stuff on weekends, but he sneaks out when his wife is at pickle ball - it's our secret!). I say I'm picking up Ms. D, so he says he can come right now. Um - ok. Then get call from Real Estate agent saying we have an offer on the PV house (market is slow there right now) and can we talk? Um - okay, maybe at 10:00? Lots of phone chat with her and OH and we decide to reject the offer (it's a low-ball offer and is also on a contingency basis which means our house is essentially off the market while the would-be buyers try to sell their house in Phoenix). But wait, can't just say No, must sign multiple docs online confirming we've seen and rejected the offer. Lots of delays there and finally! out the door to pick up Ms D. But wait, turns out her school choir is performing at care home down the road at 3; she has to be there at 2:30 and can I take her? Granddaughter (at work) profusely apologizes for late notice (Ms. D not good at passing on school notices) but - hey - not a problem. We work like idiots (well, Ms. D does) in the garden and end just in time for me to leap in the shower and hose down before we zoom off to care home. A nice concert but in a reception area full of to-ing and fro-ing residents' visitors, cleaning staff, and Lord know how many old folks on walkers. Granddaughter meets us there at the end and takes off for daughter's house with Ms D. (Daughter not known for impromptu changes in schedule so has missed concert). I get home, having realized the nice pants I wore to the concert have never been this tight!! Wails of dismay and new resolve to Get Back into Healthy Exercise Routine.
Meanwhile, have been reading posts but no time to respond, although I note that Lindybird is off and away with too many pairs of shoes and that AQ's OH has had another fall. Maybe a need to report that up the ladder at the home? Sounds like he may not being monitored what with disappearing shoes etc. Also wonder if it was on the weekend. When my Mom went into care, our doc stressed the need to visit on Saturdays when staff is known for calling in sick, etc.
AQ: Have just finished reading Cooper's Creek, which I had to order through an obscure dealer via Amazon. Just a fascinating story! Also started reading The Fatal Shore (UK's final solution to the convict problem) but it turns out the entire 500 pages is one horror story after another. I had somehow expected it to evolve to show how the population went from mostly convicts to other immigrants and ultimately statehood (a neighbor family left England for Tasmania in the 50s when they were almost paying people to move Down Under). But no, convict tales from front to back and, what's more, the book actually fell out of the binding in sections when I was one-third through it. Bound it up with rubber bands and clips the best I could and returned to the librarian).
Have to zoom off again - this time to Tai Chi. Thanks ALL for your news and of course Diane, who keeps us on the straight and narrow and paints lovely word pictures of the doings in her neighborhood. Didn't realize her neck of the woods and points East are in such a drought. Of course, Ukraine, the MIddle East and practically everything else has fallen off the front pages what with all the hysteria of the election. Please everyone pray that Donald Trump loses by a landslide and/or that the Good Lord takes him home to his just rewards. Argh....