Weekly Chat, Sunday, January 23, 2011

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.

  • can anyone else get lilys cam up or it down again all i can get is black screen it was ok a few hours ago when i looked in but now just black

  • Hi everyone.

    The site is quite slow tonight but as people have said its probably due to a lot of new members joining because of the Big Garden Birdwatch.  Can't wait for this weekend.  I do the BTO's Garden Birdwatch every week so I've got plenty of practice.  Still can't persuade the Starlings and House Sparrows to stand still for a few seconds so I can get an accurate count. LOL

    Gary:  Sorry you've got more snow.  Keep warm and I hope you get better weather soon.  Brilliant puppy pic.

    Alan:  Like the pic of Muttley.  Glad Hamish was a bit brighter this morning.

    OG:  Glad you enjoyed you meal out last night.  Hope the ground food arrives soon.

    Lynette:  Brilliant pictures!  Keep 'em coming. :-)

    Diane:  I'm so happy the Cooper's Hawk was recued.  Poor bird must've been in a lot of distress.

    AQ:  Hope you had a Brilliant Australia Day.

    Annette:  The news channels on this side of the pond always over analyse things.  It gets to the stage they just keep on going over the same things over and over again.

    Linda:  Hope you had good weather today.

    margobird:  Thanks for the otter video link.

    ALICAT:  Thanks for the link to the video of Lily and her family.

    Brenda:  Hope the new sofas are comfy.  I always find it amazing how you can wake someone up if the fall asleep on the sofa, just by changing channels on the T.V.  Sorry you have to miss the tennis because of a hairdresser appointment.

    Joan:  Hope you and OH have a lovely time in Ireland.

    Appologies if I've missed anyone but consider yourselves recipiants of a virtual "Hello!"

     

     

    Paul.

    Warning!  This post contains atrocious spelling, and terrible grammar.  Approach with extreme edginess.

  • Site came up much quicker this time!

    Lynette – it’s not just the player “salaries” etc that I object to, it’s all the other stuff involved in sport these days.  I wouldn’t want to return to the days when sport was only for public school types, but the whole thing seems to have run away with itself.  Good clear Penguin shot – and don’t Phoebe’s two look great now?!

    Lindy – poor wee chap, that seems awfully early for a jab.  By the way, they refer to them as “jags” up here – even the doctors!

    Alicat – Lily cam is up and running now, I hope you are seeing it.

    Paul – ground food came today – parcel 1 of 2 after parcel 2 of 2 – wonder where it had been?

     

    Goodnight, all, especially anyone I haven’t “spoken to” today!

    Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!

  • I have been trying to get on here all evening and only just managed it:

    Some links to post. Not on the right thread but its the best I can do:

    Blue HV spotted in Senegal:

    http://aberfoyleospreys.blogspot.com/

    Rutland team latest:

    The blog has been updated with some pictures from the first two weeks in West Africa West Africa week 2 video diaries are being uploaded to youtube  More to follow...
  • Horray !  I have Lily webcam up!   After trying various things without success I remembered an Adblocker program I put on a month or so ago, as the 'banner' ads are so annoying, so tried uninstalling it - and that was the answer !
     No-one else could have guessed that one, so thanks for trying, -I was fairly convinced it was to do with the Flash program, and also tried using Firefox, but seems ok now.. .on at the moment, -  though as Alicat said earlier the cam went down so I thought the problem was back.

    Thanks for chat, pix ,etc  must get off to bed, will try to watch some of the Murrey match tomorrow - could he do it ...??

  • Aack! Site has been horrible today - thought it was my new computer so relieved to find it's them, not me (or us).  Just in after dinner with friend, off to bed; will catch up tomorrow evening (so don't chat too much or I'll never keep up!)   :-)   Take care all.

  • Greetings all. I shall be watching The Tennis Match tonight.
    I may be missing next few days unless I pop in very early in the day. Predicted max temps for next 3 days are 39, 42, 41C. Far too hot to slave over a protesting computer! I shouldn’t be surprised – on Monday the children go back to school after their long summer break and there’s always a heatwave that week.

     

    There were 11 people hanging onto a rope that came down from a helicopter.
    Ten were men and one woman.
    They all decided that one person should get off because if they didn't, the rope would break and everyone would die. No one could decide who should go, so finally the Woman gave a really touching speech saying she would give up her life to save the others, because women were used to giving up things for their husbands and children and giving in to men.
    When she finished speaking, all the men started clapping.
    Never underestimate the Power of a Woman.

  • Hi all! Poor AQ, terribly hot down there. Just love that “power of women”-story. Here the temps have varied a lot between zero and minus 15Cs. Don’t have time to chat more but wanted to tell they have seen a White Tailed Eagle in Sweden that has been ringed here in Finland 30years and 7 months ago!!!!!! So not a youngster anymore, eh. Here is a link to the original info but it is in Finnish, but maybe Google can translate it to those who are interested? http://www.luomus.fi/info/tiedotteet/?p=832 Must dash of now. Have a nice Friday each and everyone!

  • Morning Everyone:   The sun is trying ever so hard to shine above the greyness of the clouds here, and its still a very cold wind.  Nice story AQ -  Women are always resourceful!

    auntie:   What a wonderul tale about the W. tailed Eagle - I just love that.  Hope you are recovered now from your feeling so rough.

    I'm off to shower, & keep one eye on Murray at the same time, then I have to go out on shopping mission & to collect my second best watch , which I left at the Jewellers last week when they couldnt get the back off to put in a new battery. Am paying fifteen pounds to have it fixed so hope they have managed it & the battery is now going to last more than the next 12 months!