Morning all: Long day at the rose garden - poor Robert who supervises the volunteers has been fighting off a bug and a couple of us stayed on longer than usual to help him clean up stuff. I'm sure I'll be stiff tomorrow. Not as many folks showed up as last year and some of the beds were pruned by city employees which means we'll have to go over those beds again since they did a fairly perfunctory job.
Watching Mad Men (Netflix rental video of first season). Great viewing when you're too tired to think. Take care all and have a nice Sunday.
OG yes our friends are racing their Huskies this season and will be at the Aviemore Rally this coming weekend. It is mainly Jo training and racing this year as her OH has not been given the all clear since his op in June. He is back to Raigmore on26th and is desparate for the go ahead to return to full fire fighting duties. At the momoent he is on restricted duties and is working Mon to Fri 9 - 5 and he is not a happy chappy.
Morning Monday, Everyone!
Dry here, so I'm excited (!) as I may be able to put out some laundry on the line at last!!
Before that excitement, here are my Monday Smiles for this week: Husband & Wife jokes...
Wife: "What are you doing?"
Husband: "Looking at our Marriage Certificate"
Wife: "Why? - You've been staring at it for over an hour!"
Husband: "I'm looking for the expiration date!"
------
Girl: "When we get married, I want us to share all our troubles & worries and burdens"
Boy: "That's kind of you darling, but I hav'nt got any"
Girl: "That's because we're not married yet!"
-----
Man: "Would you still have married me, darling, if my father hadn't left me that huge fortune?"
Woman: "Darling, of course, I would have married you whoever had left you a huge fortune!!"
----
Wife: "Do you want dinner?"
Husband: "Sure, what are my choices?"
Wife "Yes or No"
Hello all - dibnlib what a fantastic pic of the kestrel.
patriciat - so sorry to hear about the BC.
Can't remember whose post it was now but thanks for the link to the Lily and Hope den cam. I had no idea there was one. Something else to watch....... Will they be out of hibernation before EJ returns??!!
Morning all,
Kellogs: Thanks for letting us know about the second egg at FOB.
OG : Sorry you had a wasted trip. Flood warnings are a bit worrying but I think this week is forecast to be drier in your area.
Linda : Thanks for the monday smiles. Brilliant as always.
Weather is dreich and I just managed to get Hamish out before it started to rain. Cooler than of late with current temp at 5.9c. For those who have not read the Rutland Water thread here is the first report from the team in West Africa:
http://www.rutlandospreys.blogspot.com/
Good morning all from a very wet and soggy Poole after heavy rain which started yesterday afternoon and last until about 9.00 this morning. My lawn had started to day out a bit but once again is just right for ducks.
Rhys had a lovely party with lots of his friends. He was a little under the weather with yet another cold. He goes to nursery now so will probably pick up all the germs that are around. He got a bit crotchety towards the end because he had been awake a lot the previous night coughing and so bunged up poor little man. His Mum who is a very talented cook made him a lovely Thomas the Tank Engine cake and we came home with a piece each to enjoy with our Sunday tea. Had a nice day with a friend yesterday and a good roast dinner at our local Conservative Club. Very reasonably priced, I doubt I could do it for much less than they charge. Had to have apple crumble and cream for afters and then felt rather full up for the rest of the day but managed to eat it with a cup of tea. Dashed into town quickly this morning as the bird food is disappearing fast again and what OH got on Saturday would definitely not last to the end of the week. Billy Whizz comes for food and milk when the rain eases off a bit but manages to find somewhere dry to live as I have never seen him wet at all. We still think he has made himself a little home in our pine tree, which is very thick and he probably managed to stay quite dry. Don't know how he gets on when it is very windy as it was on Friday and Saturday.
Welcome Valmc.
patriciat so sorry to hear about the loss fo your friends border collie. It is very hard to lose any pet especially when you have had it for such a long time.
Lynette thanks for Phoebe pic and the eagles oln the nest.
Auntie sorry to read you are a bit under the weather. Hope that sore throat is getting better now and I did love your "crawling nose" description, much nicer than saying a runny nose. Your English is excellent always. Thanks for thinking about me and my sister, it is very much appreciated.
Annette my OH is a big fan of Mad Men, thinks it is a great programme.
AQ sorry to read that more parts of Australia are now suffering with floods. Hope your journey is not disruped by them. As you say what on earth is going on with the weather.
dibnlib thanks for posting the pic of the kestrel. Imagine waking up and seeing that looking through your bedroom window.
Alan thanks for eagle pic from the Estonian cam.
Lindybird pleased you are feeling better and got to see Tomasz. Loved your description of the clouds being like long johns. My OH is with you on Buster Keaten, he loves those black and white films. You are so right laughter is a good medicine.
BrendaH so pleased you made it back safely after the funeral. Hope you have many happy memories to make up for the sad loss.
Kellogs thanks for all the penguin pics and also for the news of 2 eggs at Blackwater.
Have a good day all and take care. Off to do some of that dreaded ironing now, can't put it off any longer as I will be running out of things to wear. Fortunately OH does his own ironing so I don't have to worry about him running out of clothes. His ironing night is always on a Sunday.
Margobird
Having a break, as everything I start today seems to make yet another job to do! Watered a plant in the bathroom, when I got it down it it swung around & knocked a seashell off the shelf & this broke into a thousand pieces on the floor. Found out that the reason I have lot of little 'white bits' in my laundry is that I changed washing powders and this one has to go into the 'drawer' they give you for detergent, not in with the laundry in the drum.... have had unmelted bits hanging around & wondering why.... aargh!
Husband has just gone to buy me some more printer ink as I've had endless problems with my fancy new printer, as it won't accept any ink except the very expensive kind they sell themselves. Also spent half an hour this morning, trying to load more photos into computer but it just won't have any more, as it says there's 'no room at the inn'........
Had a wonderful day yesterday visiting Sweetpea - met our counterpart Grandparents there, and we all shared some of my mince pies & chocolate tarts. Tomasz didn't seem to mind being passed around and had a cuddle from everyone. He has gained a lot of weight and is doing just fine. He was being admired also by his Uncle, who has just come back from America having gained his pilots licence there last month. We had a miserable journey down south to visit: a lot of rain and bad visibility on the motorway, but thank goodness a dry journey back home, in the dark of the evening.
EDIT: ps. on the brighter side, saw our Woodpecker on the feeders again this morning!
Sorry to hear that you have had such awful rain, margo - I feared as much when I saw the forecast. Glad to know though, that dear little Billy Whizz is keeping dry. Our garden is sodden through & through now, so I'm pleased to hear that we shall not have much more rain this week, it will give it a chance to dry out a little.
Thanks to Kellogs for the lovely pics. Those Eagles are magnificent, arn't they?
Alan - great link to the Rutland Ospreys - did enjoy the pics of the other b.'s of prey in Africa on there. We did not get time to visit Rutland this year as we had promised ourselves, but are hoping to manage a trip this spring/early summer.
OG: You put us all to shame with your spring cleaning - can you come here & sort out mine? My 'study' is just a mess. The door has to be shut regularly on it, as its just by the front door, and I can't risk visitors seeing what a tip I have in here! -- Hope your OH gets the teeth fixed.
Sunshine and bright blue sky – cooler, but feels warmer without that weekend wind-chill. OH got teeth – now out shopping. More clearing out accomplished this morning – mostly old hol brochures etc.
Sunday’s Goldfinch tale: had up to 25 Goldfinches swarming around for a while yesterday morning, so some of them dropped down to feed, until the flock went round again and they rejoined them, then another few came to feed – went on for a while. Here are just two of them on the wee bottle feeder:
They wouldn't let Male Siskin, who was among them, onto the bottle feeder, but here he is on another:
Thanks for all posts pics and links
Annette – This morning OH went through one part of road which had been flooded yesterday – and there were workmen at the town bridge – they always seem to check it after very high water. He said the river is still high, but mostly within its banks, and several fields have lying water.
Dibnlib – just had a look at last weeks Scotland pics on the BBC – there were some spectacular landscape shots last week, as well as that Kestrel in the window. I specially liked the one at the mouth of the Don and the moody sky at Loch Lomond. By the way, the Kestrel was near our part of Scotland – northwest of Dumfries. Sorry your friend is still on “light duties” and having to work nine to five – hope his wife has a good weekend with the dogs – I guess they are running rigs rather than sleds after the recent rain.
Lindy – great smiles today! Sorry everything is giving you a rough day – why not go back to bed and start again?! Pleased you had a good visit to Tomasz for your cuddle, despite the poor weather on the way. This spring clean is going deeper than anticipated, but I am taking advantage of OH’s sudden enthusiasm for chucking out – it doesn’t happen very often! Of course he is doing most of the physical lifting etc, but we are taking decisions jointly.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Og : Thanks for the great pics of the goldfinches and the siskin. Our goldfinches have disappeared for now.
Really zoomed in at Phoebes nest ready for the hatching later this week:
Alan - these close-ups of Phoebe are so much better than we had before - really sharp focus, and they show off the plumage colouration so well. I think he must have a new camera this year!!