Evening all: Don't miss the last couple of pages of last week's chat. Gary's been at it again, posting incredibly cute puppy pix!
OG: Yes, Los Carneros means "the rams" in Spanish; while La Patera (the original ranch that Los Carneros was on) is "the place where the ducks gather." In the 1700s, after the Spanish settled here, it was cattle country; then in the 1860s,about a decade after California became a state, folks from back East started bringing in sheep, which survived periods of drought better than cattle and whose wool was in demand by eastern and southern states during the Civil War when the cotton industry was decimated. Anyway, in the 1870s, the American family that owned Rancho La Patera planted the first commercial lemon orchard in the state (or the Goleta Valley depending on which source you read). I drive to Costco along Cathedral Oaks Blvd - which runs north of Lake Los Carneros - past huge citrus orchards and the remaining acreage of Rancho La Patera. As for the vineyards, they're over the hills behind Santa Barbara in the higher, dryer Santa Ynez Valley. All very complicated.
Gary: Never been to Yellowstone - was heading that way one October but an early snowfall blocked the Western entry so had to "make do" with Grand Teton National park. Sigh. If you're looking for somewhere to stay, you can always visit TripAdvisor and read everyone's reviews of the options.
OK guys, off to do a crossword and watch some rubbish on telly. Take care ALL.
DjoanS it will be nice for you to spend some time away with your OH. Hope the weather will treat you well when you go.
Margobird
What a hero your oH is collecting you from shopping trip in the rain. I had to laugh when I looked up Bagpuss on Google. No Billy is not pink but he definitely has Bagpuss' face.
OG glad you got your blood taken, and like the geography lesson for Margo!
DIANE I am sure you will keep us updated on the Hawk, do hope there is a good result soon.
Thanks for all the picsLynette I just love little Phoebe and those eagles are just magnificent. I managed to see a peregrine at Derby Cathedral this afternoon.
Alan wonderful close ups of the eagles at Hampton, especially the love branch one.
Thanks Diane for the update on the hawk. Hope they manage to catch her soon and she is not damaged in any way.
Got some paperwork from solar panel office by email (package supposed to be in the mail) – hopefully enough to claim the feed in payments, so OH is now completing the form for our supplier. Also managed at last to contact the project manager as OH has decided that we do want to have the layout we originally ordered, because as it is we get an afternoon shadow on one of the panels.
Margo – have been known to do the count more than once and send in the best result – must be allowed, since they don’t specify a time of day, so long as it is one hour.
Diane - thanks for update on Cooper’s Hawk story – I hope there will soon be a good outcome for her. I hope the HW is going well, but that you are not working too hard – and watch out for your back.
Now time to make some coffee - may be back later.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
On weather maps. Years ago the BBC weather map showed a large map of the UK and in an inset very small box showing Shetland. As you can imagine the Shetlanders were not too happy with this so they had T-shirts printed up with a large pic of Shetland and an inset box showing the rest of the UK!!!!!
My friends raced in The Aviemore Sled Dog Rally at the weekend.They came in 12th which was a little disappointing for them. Friend has said for a while that they would never get a team like they used to have -only Russia is still living and hasn't been racing for a while. Think it hurt a bit that they had fostered one of the dogs in the winning team and lavished a lot of love, care and training in her before owner took her back. She said the trail was perilous on Sat and decided not to run on the Sunday.
Dibnlib – know how Shetland Islanders felt – this corner of Scotland in the south west is often forgotten by England and rest of Scotland. They just don’t notice that there is anything west of the M74, even though there is about 95 miles of the scenic Euroroute to Ireland via Stranraer, and remarkable hills and coast on either side! Weather forecast talks about Glasgow as southwest, but our weather is very different from theirs due to both the gulf stream warming the Solway Firth and the southern uplands in between.
Sorry your friends had a disappointing day Saturday at the Sled-dog Rally – must have been particularly galling to have been involved in training one of the winning team. I do hope they can build up their team for next season – and without any health problems for them or the dogs.