HAPPY NEW WEEK and HAPPY FULL MOON!
The first full moon of 2025, the Wolf Moon, will occur at:
10:26 pm on Monday, January 13, in UK
2:26 pm on Monday, January 13, in California
8:56 am on Tuesday, January 14, in Adelaide, Australia
I hope everyone has a good week.
During last week's snowstorm, the roads and businesses in my area were all closed. No traffic on the highway near my house. No booming loud music and yelling at the pub/bar. Just the wind in the trees and the falling snow and ice in the forest around me. One evening, I heard the long, mournful howl of a coyote. I realized how much I've missed the quiet of the woods and the sounds of the wildlife. It was so peaceful here a few years ago.
Hugs and love to all of you.
Lindy - spring cleaning!!! Oh dear! Strangely, I had thought that I should do something this coming weekend now that the snow has gone and it is much warmer.
Yesterday I went with some friends to Chester Zoo. It was lovely and quiet. The snow leopards were very active as were the penguins!!!! We had a nice walk and a good lunch. Today the Flora and Fauna group are just going to have a short walk by the estuary on the Welsh side. It will be more of a social get together than anything but we may see some nice birds as the tide will be coming in, We will finish by lunchtime.
Enjoy your catch up with the group. My OH spent 2 years in Norfolk at RAF Coltishall in the 70s It was his first posting in the RAF and he loved it. We had a wee break in Cromer shortly after we were married. Coltishall closed many years ago.
Lindybird: You'd have to get up early in the morning to get anything by that foursome. :-)
My computer is back from the docs and this is the first trial run to see if the take-it-apart deep-cleaning improved the sticky key syndrome. The technician reassured me that I hadn't, as feared, bunged up the works with toast crumbs, errant pizza toppings and congealed yoghurt drippings. but noted that three of the keys still stick somewhat, that it isn't a software issue and that perhaps the keyboard is failing. However, the only errors so far in this post have been the result of my bad typing. And I do have to say everything is shiny and finger-print free. So hurray for now.
Was nice to get back online, but really - spring cleaning?? Come on guys, it's only January.
Meanwhile, decided to start the day at Hendry's Beach which was very quiet and relaxing with just the sound of the waves. Snacked on a banana and put the peel on the ground beside me to put in the trash on my way back to the car when suddenly, a young boy swooped in from nowhere to pick it up. Hang on a sec, I said, I was going to take care of that, but it seems I'd timed my visit with a local grade-school's "Clean the Beach" field trip which involved 20+ young people scouring under the benches and between the rocks for any offending piece of trash. I don't think they found much given that it was high tide and the beach itself wasn't accessible. They did seem pleased with themselves though.
ANNETTE – I should expect that a school outing loitering along the beach would be pleasing regardless of the task.
HEATHER – Aussie house prices and rents are rising. Not enough houses available, too long or costly to build new ones. I found this quote - “In the third quarter of 2024, the house price-to-income ratio in Australia was 122.1. This means that the average house price was 122.1 times the average disposable income per person.” However I do think that young people today expect too much when they start – we had to downsize our ideas and only later built on a family room. I managed without the en suite and walk-in pantry that had been on my list. No dryer (line in garage for wet weather), no dishwasher, no extra gadgets. We “borrowed” table, wardrobes, chest of drawers from parents & aunt until we saved to replace them.
RUSTY – I had heard of five of your French ladies but I doubt I would be able to say much about them.
Lawn Man came yesterday after 5 weeks to mow what was not crisp and yellow. We have agreed on 4 weeks next time (usually 3 weeks). Less often, less I pay over the year! Weather slightly cooler, though I am using air con late pm to early evening to combat the humidity.
It is so many years since I regularly watched the tennis that I do not know who is who. They all have long names I can’t pronounce, even the Aussies. Commentators are so familiar with them they don’t bother to say ranking, etc. To make matches more interesting I choose one player to urge on. My choice depends on what they are wearing (neat, scruffy, colour), which country (if I recognize the flag), whether they look non-grumpy, and so on. Of course if any start grunting at every shot, I switch off.