Weekly Chat, Sunday, December 26 2010

evening everyone.

Thanks for the comments of the puppy pictures. We are "puppy sitting" for 2 days later this week so that will be a hardship... lol. Went to see the Harry Potter film today. Excellent. Just want to see the last one now.

Terry, I think they are due new collars soon:)

Alan, glad it's getting a little "warmer"

Linda, sounds a lovely few days:) it's amazing how i can fit something else in, just to be "polite" lol

Joan, glad it's thawing a bit for you.

Shelia, glad you got your car back. We didn't get the snow as badly as many, thank goodness but I did have fun. I was disappointed , I planned to do some more plowing when I came back this afternoon but my neighbour had been very kind and did it for me! How lovely to see the fox:)

Lynette, hope you're doing OK

Lynette, the nice man did clear the driveway thank you. They are good here, have to pay him though! lol

Evening all: Everyone in our family back in their own homes tonight. Had nice evening with daughter, g-daughter and OH last night, then puttered around this morning at home until it was time to take g-daughter to airport for flight to Arizona. She arrived in Phoenix in time to catch an earlier shuttle to Prescott, and is now safely home and eating pizza from what I gather. Daughter and I went out for lunch after sending g-daughter off on plane, then went to feed her remaining horse (Miss Molly), then I took Oro for nice walk and watched a hawk circling above us before heading home to wash yet more bed linen, vacuum house - though more like what my mother would've called "a cat's lick and a promise."  Nothing too extreme!  Now done with dinner, but what's that I hear? The call of ice-cream from the freezer!  I'm not going to resist it tonight; it's been a crazy couple of weeks so a night of peaceful indulgence sounds good.

Alan: Not sure we'll get the Lasgaard version of Wallender - have seen the Branagh version and like that and, of course, just about read all the books.

Alicat: Hope you're well and truly over that bug by now.

Diane: Lightning snoozing peacefully as I type; didn't seemed upset by any doggy smells left by Oro. Have not seen those bobcats yet.

Gary:  Are you going to adopt one of those pups?

Lindybird:  I see you're another Mimosa (Bucks Fizz) fan.  We typically have it with OJ, but champagne is also good with Cranberry/Raspberry Juice and  with Pomegranate juice   Glad your new stove behaved itself.  I see that one of our more upscale markets was carrying Cross & Blackwell Christmas puds (also "hard" (brandy?) sauce. Didn't buy one -but do you know if they're any good? (No M&S here.)

SheilaFE: Oh boo. 1.5 hour walk to pub to find - no food service?  Hope you had something to keep you warm on the trip home - hmmm - tread underfoot was much softer? Maybe you were floating?   Bet it was nice to get your car tucked up in the garage.  How wonderful to see that fox - what a nice end to the day.  Coyotes can sound a bit spine chilling a night - a very haunting howl.   We had a visit from our local hawk yesterday - came and sat on the fence near the birdfeeder.

Lynette: My turkey turned out okay, but forgot to "tent" ham after putting on the glaze; still, nobody seemed to mind.  We serve cranberry sauce with turkey; though these days it's no longer plain cranberry - ours was cranberry-orange - wonderfully refreshing!

Hallo to everyone else. Hope you're all happy and not too cold/warm.  We have another storm during tomorrow, but it's a fast mover and they say it'll zoom through overnight.  Take care!  Special thoughts to Margobird.

Diane, Gary & Linda - You commented on our family pic. It is traditional for the "young" ones to play board game/s after the Xmas present opening. Years ago there were 4 cousins and they disappeared into another room. Now the next generation has joined in, they stay under our feet. It is amusing to see our youngest niece winning. In days of old, she was the youngest and never could keep up with the others.

Diane - One of my pics on flickr was added to a gallery of Pacific Black ducks. See the others at http://www.flickr.com/photos/studygroupwaterfowl/galleries/72157623095417053. Under galleries there are lots of other waterbirds which I haven’t had time to view yet.

Lynette - I always cook my turkey in an oven bag as it keeps most of the moisture in. BTW the choc cream pie treated with emergency gelatine was declared as good as usual. They did eat it all. Then I confessed to the doctoring.

Oh Gary. You poor people, What a chore! Having to puppy-sit those gorgeous babies!!!!!!!!!!!!

Margo - Good to hear some positive news of your sister. More healing thoughts coming your way.

Yesterday was SA’s 174th birthday. In their wisdom the powers-that-be made the public holiday for it on Monday. So while desperate shoppers were chasing bargains, pioneer descendants were listening to politicians speechifying beneath The Old Gum Tree (which is now dead and more concrete than wood!). My friend invited me to join her at the Pioneers Assoc lunch. (A Pioneer is one who arrived in colony in first 10 years, very exclusive. I am eligible to join but I’m steering clear of clubs for a while as they lead to committees. LOL) It was very pleasant to be served with potato & leek soup with crispy bacon. Main of salmon in saffron sauce with salad. Followed by a brandysnap basket with berry sauce & cream. I waddled home after 4 pm to a sorrowful-looking OH hoping for a evening meal. The remains of the turkey were converted into turkey croquettes which are extremely popular. Now the only leftovers are chocs. I never know whether to binge or to ration them. Either way the tummy roll increases <sigh>

Well, I did say in the previous Test, why don’t we give the English the wee urn, put everyone out of their misery and let them go home for Christmas.

Summer is a-coming in. ‘Twas 31C. Expecting 39C tomorrow and 43C on New Years Eve. Then expect a cool change with temp to drop to a mere 30C. Anyone want some of our excess heat?

Morning ALL. Lots of interesting posts and great pics as always.

Snow all gone here too, thankfully unscathed unlike the poor people of N Ireland with their disrupted water supply. Hope all is back to normal for them soon.

Wonderful APOD today:  http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/

Phew AQ that's hot! Yes please send us some of your heat....but only a little!

Morning, Everyone.  Only 86 days to EJ's return!!!!!

We woke today to a very misty, ethereal sight over the fields this morning - wispy bits of fog snaking across, looking like the scene for a movie - not sure what kind.

Could do with some of that heat, AQ!   We are now fed up with being so cold - and its actually a bit milder now, and in 'plus' temps rather than minus ones. I do count my blessings, though, and am glad of our warm house and the central heating, every day.

Thanks to Chloe for the link, above, to the APOD site - what a great picture that is, Chloe.

Annette:   don't know about that brand of puds, sorry; maybe someone else on here does....  I used to make a pud years ago but have got lazy about it now as there's so much else to do, and I find the bought ones perfectly acceptable, as long as you are careful choosing. The 'hard brandy sauce' sounds more like Brandy Butter, to me, and that is a product which is butter laced with either brandy or rum to put with your Mince Pies. Can be served with either hot or cold mince pies. (it usually comes in a glass jar or a tub). We have also given up on making a huge Christmas cake as our 'lads' are not too fussy, and it never all got eaten until the end of January, by which time we were on the Annual Diet.  Now I buy a very small one, or some of  the 'slices' which are very nice actually, as you get quite a large portion of marzipan on top (which is for me, the best bit!).  ps.  (Our Bucks Fizz was also the bought kind - if anyone wants to try it, I recommend the Sainsburys version which is actually for us, superior to the Marks & Sparks!)

OG:  Not surprised your solar panels are not doing much at present - we have several solar lights in the garden, and they are only very feeble now, as there is so little actual sunlight during the day. Hope your Son gets some joy with his job applications.

Some folks back to work today, including our Eldest and the New Girlfriend, but others are off work until next week as the Christmas holidays now stretch right between the Christmas and New Year breaks.  Hope you are all keeping snug and dry in this damp weather, and enjoy your hols!

Morning all,

SheilaFE : I have a card with an osprey on it that makes a call when opened. I got it from my daughter on Fathers Day and the battery is still working so yours shoul be ok for a while yet. Magic seeing the fox.

Linda : We bring our solar lights in for the winter as they are so faint at this time of year.

Everyone else thanks for the chat etc.

Weather is misty,foggy and murky. Temp +3.2c.

Last night we went to Son in Law s house where there were 14 of us in total. Ordered a take away chinese and had a few drinks. I only had one as I was driving. Younger children were on the X box and teenagers were playing a game where you get an electric shock if you dont press a button quickly enough. The ladies were chatting loudly and the men watching the footie. There was a bit of something for everyone especially the electrocution for the teenagers. Thats the sort of thing they enjoy. LOL. It was very foggy when I drove home and quite tricky. There have been reports of waxwings less than a mile from here so I may take a walk there when it gets a bit brighter,

Dealing with a another problem with my fishpond, after the big freeze which involved some modifications, to make it function while I was away, now the main pump of 9000 litres per hour, has failed last night.....pump is now obsolete...but got two replacements on the internet after an hour or two of searching.

Just really popped in to say hello to all and one in particular who will be interested in this. See second image on this page.

From "Daily Telegraph" of today.

"The year will start with Genius of Gerry Anderson stamps, marking the 50th anniversary of his work, which includes Thunderbirds, Stingray and Joe 90."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-mail/8228085/King-Arthur-and-Thunderbirds-new-Royal-Mail-stamps-of-2011.html

JSB : Sorry about the problem with the pump for your fishpond but awesome news of Thunderbirds. Who needs Queenie when you have the likes of ALAN TRACY.

FAB