What ho everyone! Lazy day for the most part - girding myself for the busy week ahead - oh for a week with no appointments, no projects, no visitors - but as they, say 'be careful what you wish for.' Several folks added pix of Lily, Phoebe, and anonymous eagles on the last page or two of the previous thread, plus some quickie posts to wind up the week (AQ may have melted by the time you read this). In the meantime, here's wishing Andy Murray the best at the Australian Open - it'll be over by the time I wake up.
Have a good Sunday all.
As each day passes , eye will get a little better so will try to keep up with you all.
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/wildlife-webcams/loch-of-lowes/
RSPB Giving Nature a Home
Thanks OG and happy new year to you as well:) Sounds sad about those cattle. Sorry about all those potholes!
AQ, that cyclone sounds awful. Your weather sounds hot as well. Difficult to remember back to our summer temps at the moment
Brenda, you did a very nice thing there and sounds like a very interesting lady. I got chatting to a man in the store a couple of days ago, and he was telling me about the "winter of 42". He had a great memory (or he told a good story! lol) Glad the furniture is going next week.
Lynette, thanks for all the screen captures. Lovely to see. Glad your eye is improving, even if it's only slowly.
Cyclone Yasi continues to move inland, weakening as it goes, now downgraded to category 2 but winds still dangerous. No reports of deaths. First reports say the town of Tully, just inland from where Yasi crossed the coast, has 90% of buildings extensively damaged. Townsville water treatment plant out of action, only one'day's water available. Residents being warned of wave surges if they return home. Bananas & sugar cane crops flattened, also dairy farms damaged. (Cyclone Larry in 2006 destroyed 90% of banana & 40% of sugar crops.) Yet one laid-back owner of a sheep & cattle station further inland said that it should get "interesting" when Yasi reaches them!
jsb said:Mission Beach home becomes Noah's Arkhttp://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/03/3128486.htm?site=farnorth
jsb - I heard a later interview with this man. He, his wife, a friend, her horse, their chickens, cockatoo & house all survived. He was concerned at loss of many trees on his property. An 8-foot gate blew off its hinges and heavy sodden bales of hay blew away. At that stage (early morn) he had not ventured outside. His house was built cyclone-proof.
PS Thanks for your concern. I am surviving the heat. I drink plenty of water - probably can hear me going Slosh Slosh as I walk. LOL
Hi, all. Thank you so much to everyone who expressed concern for me. You are all very kind folks.
I feel truly blessed tonight because some people near here aren't expected to have their power lines fixed until Saturday. Montgomery County, where I live, is under a Level 1 Emergency. That means that only emergency vehicles are allowed on the county's roads. So I won't be going anywhere anytime soon. The storm was much worse here in western Indiana than in Indianapolis, where temps were warmer.
I'm so glad that Gary is okay. I hope that Caerann is safe tonight. Chicago got the 3rd worst blizzard in their recorded history, with almost 2 feet of snow. The massive expressway/freeway through Chicago looks like a parking lot with abandoned cars everywhere. Police officers and fire fighters had to rescue people on snowmobiles. It looks like Armegeddon. Also hope Barbara Jean is okay in Wisconsin.
It will be 2 degrees F / -16.6 C here tonight. AQ: I'm sending all this cold to you!!! My thoughts are with all the victims of Cyclone Yasi. Terrible.
I will catch up with everyone in the morning. I didn't sleep at all last night. We had 50-mile-per-hour winds, and the ice was slamming the windows and roof as well as rocking the trees. We got 1 1/4 inches of solid ice on the trees, power lines, and surfaces. And then we received another several inches of very hard icy snow. It's so hard you can walk/slide on top of it. I'm going to bed early (for me). Feel exhausted. Thanks again to all of you.
Evening all:
Diane: Awful that folks near you won't have power until Saturday; do hope there are some shelters or alternative methods for heating, etc. Good to know your trees survived (at least I'm assuming they did); maybe you haven't had a chance to check on them. Heard a report on NPR tonight that said the ice layer was 2 inches thick in places - not sure exactly which places. And yes, wonder how Caerann is doing; heard about all those folks stranded on Lakeshore Drive. Hope she was home safe and warm. I suspect Gary is busy blowing snow about and tending to puppies and horses. Sounds like the three of you will be really cold tonight! Hope you sleep well though.
Gary: Speak of the devil! But oh dear; collapsed roofs? That's no good, especially with horses inside. When my daughter lived in the Sierras they had a really heavy snowfall one winter and the roof of the supermarket caved in (no casualties; just exceptionally bad shopping options for a few months). Very smart to get yours cleaned off!
jsb: Thanks for Noah's Ark link. On our news tonight, they were saying Yasi's winds reached 185 mph!
Lindybird: Didn't sound as though Yasi was over-hyped. :-( But they said it would take a few days to assess the damage once it passed through. Maybe you have a sinus problem? Or allergies? A few weeks ago the muscles around my eyes kept aching - read it could be associated with sinus problems. Regardless, am overdue for an eye exam and have one scheduled for next Monday.
Alan: Love the groundhog image - but wasn't that a shadow I saw? Groundhog Day is on telly tonight.
OG: Good thing you avoided the video. I have, on occasion, had ocular migraines when a sudden flash of light has set things off, but fortunately no headaches. I gather they can also trigger epileptic attacks. I was looking at the map of Yasi's progress and noticed the disturbances seemed to drop down north of AQ. I'm sure she's fine, if she hasn't melted with the high temps.
And there's AQ! Sounds like a good day to BBQ or - OG took the words out of my mouth - fill up with plenty of salads. I've never done much BBQing, but think I will this coming summer. Good grief. Ninety-percent of buildings with severe damage in one town. Awful about the crops; there goes people's livelihood. Our evening news had a Skype interview (via ITN) with a couple who'd decided to stay put and were awaiting the worst of the storm. Heard some people talking about plans to get in the bathtub and pull a mattress over them. Thanks for the update on the Noah's Ark family.
Brenda: What a lovely treat for your elderly neighbor; she must really have appreciated the tea, dinner, and especially the conversation.
Lynette: Gosh, we do take our eyesight - and probably everything else - for granted until we have a close encounter with a yew tree or, in my case, a pointed birthday hat that my daughter was wearing for her 9th birthday party. I was tying her shoe laces prior to a three-legged race when she suddenly stood up and - ouch!. I ended up in the emergency room; no lasting damage, but it sure felt weird.
OK, well, off to bed with The Life of Elizabeth 1 by Alison Weir. Stay safe everyone.
TRISH/PATRICIAT i am a bit worried as my niece has just got a puppy B/C. They also have an elderly Rough Collie who to my knowledge has never had a daily walk/s. Bro who is now separated from her Mum and lives a few miles away assures me that pup will be ok as they have a large field opposite- but that hasn't made them more willing to walk the Rough. Neice by the way is in her20s and living with her Mum, but I really don't think either of them has given it a lot of thought. The dog will be loved and fed but doubt it will be given the mental stimulation these amazing dogs need. I can't stick my nose in as I would be given short shrift.
Hi just got the latest of lily hope and cubs off the daily update heres the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh2QTx32w6A
index thread
lg stats
Morning All: Snow this morning a bit of a surprise, sunny and a stunning clear blue sky.
Home today and being domestic (groan) and the oven needs attention but might get a walk in early to take in that sky.
I did give Gary a bit of a hint on the F.B. site that his fan club were missing him. He seems to have so much on his plate at the moment. The stress of the snow and ice on his roof is something I can relate to. Last winter our little distillery lost warehouse and the biggest company with 50 odd enourmous warehouses lost just over 30 of them. Quite a few barns went as well. Our very large new garage survived but took good advice and put in double the amount of trusses. Being in a cottage we adapted the normal sized snow shuffle to one twice as long and managed to remove a lot of snow. Puppies are demanding his attention as their lady owner has been in hospital.
Dibnlib: That is quite sad about BC puppy and as you say you have to stand back. I was worried when youngest got Daisy. She works nights and her sleeping etc now revolves around the dog and not the dog around her....and so it should be.
Hope everyone has a good day.
Morning Everyone: I have only just come downstairs for a bit of breakfast, as I felt sooo awful when I woke up. Not a bad night, thank goodness, but now I have several symptoms the same as my OH except that he had a streaming head cold before he started coughing: I seem to have missed that bit out and am just aching & 'grotty', as we used to say. A good description of that feeling when all your teeth feel like someone elses and my left knee aches where I had the shingles not all that long ago. Sorry, moaning a bit, but am now wondering if I shall have to call Youngest Son tonight and call off their visit this weekend, as we are both still coughing for England, and I'm not even up to making a shopping trip for the grub needed. Yuk!
So glad to hear that all of you in USA are safe after the storms, it sounds horrendous. Also it must have been awful in Australia to listen to those awful winds pounding, and its such a miracle that no-ones been badly hurt. Sad to hear about the crops though - it will take some time I'm sure for people to get over such a disaster following on after the floods, as it did. Our thoughts are with them all.
Such a nice thing you did for the elderly lady, Brenda - the old do get very lonely these days and do not seem to be included in society in the same way as in the old days.
Must go hose myself down. Have a good day, all.
Good morning ALICAT I just logged in and as always went to the den cam first and then watched the video. Plenty of action and I love the way Hope is being such a good sister to them. I think these are the best views of the cubs and the inter-action with Hope, Lily and those adorable cubs.
Margobird