Morning all: Here's to a good week for everyone. Check out latest pages of last week's thread to see great pix by OG of a kestrel on a road sign and a signpost for migrating birds and Gary's photos of the lovable Toffee plus his Toffee-proof technology. Just had dinner and managed to turn perfectly lovely piece of halibut into shoe leather! Hate it when that happens, but was busy watching weather forecast. Desk is looking cleaner - can actually see the surface now. Take care all!
Good morning WendyB. Just typical isn't it, clean the car and down comes the rain again. After a fairly dry 2 days we had heavy rain overnight and lots of showers this morning. I had my windows cleaned yesterday and they look dirty again already. Must be very mucky rain we get.
Margobird
Good mroning dibnlib shame there we no dolphins, bet they turned up after you left. Glad you enjoyed your meal though.
Good morning george g Diesel must be very nervous. It makes you wonder what had made him nervous of cameras and the hoover. If only they could talk.
Glad you won the wrestling match with the duvet cover, I am changing mine today so it will either be done quickly, or done with lots of shouting at it.
Enjoy your lunch with SiL an family and hope they like Diesel and he is happy with them.
Just to say hallo to everyone else don't get on much on the weekend but OH is working this morning so have a bit more time than usual.
Billy Whizz is much in evidence this morning. He had a very wet night but was dry when I saw him.
My neigbour died just before Christmas, his wife a year before that. Both a good age. Their 2 daughters put the bungalow up for sale, just hoping we will get good neighbours again. You never know nowadays.
My poor sister has lost all her hair over the course of this week but remains cheerful and positive. She had a trip down to Epsom last Sunday to see her daughter and grandchildren which she enjoyed although came back very tired. She has got some pretty hats to wear as she is not going down the wig route. Says she doesn't mind losing her hair because at least she is still here with a fighting chance. Hope to get up and see her again soon, probably some sometime in March.
Hope you all have a good weekend and weather will improve.
Bright and sunny with less wind so far – even yesterday improved as the day went on, as forecast rain never came. Decided to make a start here now while Son showers, then OH – I can’t rush into mine so decided I’ll wait and have a leisurely one later! Time together with Son has been good. We made some decisions about how we can help financially, but also made suggestions for things he needs to do – like chasing small amounts of money he is owed. He asked for advice on food, and I made a few suggestions but also told him he was doing the biggest thing already by planning his meals before shopping and avoiding waste. He seemed very pleased when we told him we have included him in a holiday booked around Grandson’s wedding - something to look forward to, and he hasn’t had a holiday for as long as any of us can remember. After Friday lunch, we went to the coffee shop (latte and carrot cake for me) then after a short while at home we went for dinner. We all opted for the small plates menu, so "managed" our three courses for £10 each! I had prawns, followed by bacon chop (much juicier than gammon) with a lovely grilled wedge of pineapple, chips (left some) and veg, and then a small individual bread and butter pudding – gave half to OH. We watched some television when we came home.
Made Son a turkey sandwich for the journey and they’ve set off to Carlisle station now, so need to go back to Thursday night for brief replies –apologies for anyone I miss.
Alan – thanks for reminder of Hope last year – I need to purge my downloaded pictures folder so I can see what I really have!
Margo – pleased to say I can’t report ants, but many signs of spring now, even spring irises are now in bloom, and all the perennials are sprouting lovely green shoots.
George – dog going into a room away from vacuum cleaner isn’t so bad – ours used to stay in the room and howl at it! Pleased you chose a good day for your duvet wrestling, to get it dried outdoors, I always think it improves the texture, as well as smelling of fresh air. I hope Diesel passes the family inspection!
Dibnlib – sorry no Dolphins. Sounds like lunch made up for it!
Alan and Wendy – OH retired very early (52) because he’d worked himself out of a job in the electricity industry through reorganisation, privatisation, more reorganisation, buyout and two more reorganisations! Reached the stage where he was being offered a lower grade post which would have reduced his final salary pension, so it was a case of “take the money and run”!
Annette – so sad about baby Bottlenose Dolphins in the Gulf – effects of that spill will sadly last a long, long time. Storm from the north sounds bad – pleased Miss Molly is tucked up warm. I hope AZ warms up before Baby arrives.
AQ – sorry about temps – autumn can’t be too far away!
Lindy – I hope you have no ill-effects from the pizza event!
Off to get hosed down then start washing Son’s sheets etc. OH will be back for lunch, then to Tesco just for fresh food for next few days.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Good morning original goldfinch so pleased to hear that son's visit went well. I am sure all your help is good for him and he has a holiday to look forward to now as well. Sounds as though you had a very pleasant meal to round off the short time with your son.
Got to go now as OH is back and hungry so will prepare a bit of a light lunch as we have our main meal tonight.
Annette what awful news about the baby dolphins. All that oil must have done so much harm to all the marine life. Let's hope it's not done lasting damage to the adults.
Just about to have a bath. I've been outside a lot of this morning pressure washing the drive as it was so green I couldn't stand it any longer. Then washed a car so think it's my turn now as I always get filthy doing that. I think the pressure wash is on it's last legs though so will have to see about getting another one before the big Spring clean up.
Dog training went well last night by the way. OH sat as still as a stone when Mia was naughty and ran to see him!!
Fox v Eagle on Estonian webcam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl_AY6n-qCY&feature=player_embedded
That's an amazing bit of film, with the fox and birds all outlined in dramatic relief against the snow, Alan.
Glad to hear that Diesel and you are settling in together OK georgeg - most dogs seem to hate the hoover! Ours just tolerates it, and really begrudges having to move when I approach and he is laid out flat on the carpet!
Nice that you have had plenty of time with Son, OG, and that you were able to pass on some tips re the catering side of things. Hope he continues to have improvement in his situation.
Managed to get some laundry out on the line today, between showers. The daffs are coming out, at last! A welcome sight.
After lunch we drove down to a part of Annan shore we had not been to before – we knew we wouldn’t see much because tide was out, but wanted to assess access for future possibilities. Saw a few Curlew and possibly a flock of distant Dunlin, but not much else – nice to get some fresh air. After calling at Tesco, we went for coffee and a shared piece of cake. Started making dinner, but OH was doing one of those “only a few minutes anytime” jobs which didn’t work, and after 45 minutes it got too dark to wield a vegetable knife, so I came for a rest. Son got home safely on the planned trains and a friend fetched him from Aviemore.
Not much written on here today – I guess everyone is enjoying good gardening weather.
OH now given up, with the decision that we need a new fan in “his” bathroom, so I ought to really do dinner now.
LINDY Think the law of averages says that things will always fall face down, I wouldn't have wasted it either. Ever so mad freind had to learn Russian and one of the first phrases he mastered was "my fried egg has landed upside down on the floor" I didn't ask him if he ever had the need to use it?
OG re son and money owed. Why are so many of us reluctant to ask for things back. I leant out a favourite CD sometime back and the book to go with it (Neil Diamond , Jonathan Llivingston Seagull and Richard Bach the author) I finally got round to asking for it back today and felt bad doing so, and I know in the past I have just lost things, including money because I didn't like to ask!!! Friends don't let you down, it is the people you don't know so well who do. Glad that he is looking forward to going on holiday with you.
My tip for duvet covers is get the top corners in then hold them with pegs while you work the rest of cover. Dillon also removes himself whenever vacuum approaches. My brothers slightly timid Rough Collie and Mums Colllie X attack the vacuum.