Weekly Chat, Sunday March 6, 2011

afternoon all.

Caught up with all the chat/news. lots happening as always. Thanks for all the captures.

Wendy, have a great trip and drive safe.

Not much to report this way.

Diane and others, thanks for the thoughts about the flooding. We did have some flooding in the State but luckily we don't live that close to any water. Some people had houses and cars washed away. We do get some water in the basement that i catch in a bucket but I don't think that counts

Just witnessed the changeover at Hampton but that nest cup is so deep I could not even see the eggs. Its going to be difficult to spot a hatch despite the super zooming.

Hilton Head just now:

Cleaner cleaned.  I checked the greenhouse and – spring really is sprung – some of my seeds are up!!!  Son is on antibiotics – definitely has an infection, including his ears.  I’m taking my anti-histamines now that the Alder Tree is full of pollen.  Trying to finalise arrangements for Bird Conference in North Berwick Saturday of next week.  Booked two nights accommodation some time back, now booked evening meals.  Now need to fix a route for Friday – and decide on lunch or not.

George – pleased you and Diesel are getting on so well – sorry about wet walks.   I read about that soldier and his dog – they were so successful that their tour of duty was extended by a month!  Politics (forests, employment law etc) in US seem very similar to UK at present!

Margo – I hope your Carnival experience is truly wonderful – and the whole holiday, of course!  I now see you are going to a show in London too – enjoy!

Annette – enjoy Rose Society this evening.

Dibnlib – sorry I can’t comment on shoe fashion – mine have to be NHS – but at least they are free!!  I hope that you are both enjoying the play tonight – and others lined up too! – and that you will enjoy the extra days out and meals out during your OH’s leave from work.

Wendy – been to Cribbs Causeway when Son was in Bristol for a while deciding he was on the wrong uni course!  Good shopping there.  I hope Old Willy heeded your warning – don’t like to think of him being blown down the river!

Alan – no wonder your Blackbird has plenty to sing about – very handsome!

Patricia – I hope your OH is sitting still while you are at choir practice!

Gary – pleased you and OH and Miss Toffee were safe from floods.

Going out tomorrow, shopping for the garden.  Will get some lunch out too – either at a very new Farm Shop Café which may have opened but we aren’t sure, or at garden centre..

 We had a power cut this evening and after lighting candles and placing 'wind up' lights around the rooms, I returned to my laptop, which can obviously run on its own battery until the power comes back on. I then told OH that my computer had disconnected from the internet. He looked at me with disbelief and then burst out laughing. Of course the modem needs electricity.......!  I am now worried about me.

Diane, Did you join the demonstration ?

Paul, Never change. I love your sense of humour. Glad to see you had your freezer covered.

Eagle-eye, I hope you managed to get out in the garden today. We remained dry today but no sunshine and the wind remained strong. I saw on the forecast that you were forecast gales.It can be so frustrating when you are eager to complete some jobs and find that you can't.

Wendy, Sorry I led everyone astray, by thinking you were leaving tomorrow. Somehow I thought you were leaving on the same day as Margo.

George, Hailstones can hurt when they are blowiing into your face. We trained our dog to wait in the porch whilst we dried him. He never minded getting wet but hated being hit by anything flying off the trees in the strong wind. Your relationship with him sounds wonderful.

OG, Enjoy tomorrow, not only with the garden shopping but mainly having lunch out.

Not sure when I will be on here tomorrow as I have a hairdressing appointment at 9am, followed by shopping and then lunch out. I hope you all enjoy Friday.

Annette: Sorry, I didn't wear a red Santa hat to the protest. :-) I wore a chocolate brown parka. I also wore a small photo of my Dad that I pinned on with his union pin. Brenda: Yup, I was at the capitol demonstration today. It was raining and spitting snow all day, so the crowd size was smaller than predicted. Numbers are disputed, but best estimate is 10,000 or more. No arrests here, but there was trouble at the Wisconsin statehouse today. Protesters topped 100,000 at one recent rally there. OG: I rode in a large van with some teacher friends, all older than I am. It's nearly impossible to park in Indianapolis right now. The city is hosting an enormous regional basketball championship. I don't like to drive in the city, anyway. :-)

Brenda: That story about your power outage is hilarious. Isn't it amazing what we all take for granted these days? LOL

By the way, you reminded me, Brenda, are you folks aware of the 2 recent very big X-class solar flares? One occurred yesterday. After 4 years without any massive flares, the sun has produced two within the last month. We are moving into a very active solar cycle that could affect the satellites that control about everything in our lives (including my TV!). :-) Also, a fairly big asteroid will pass close to Earth tomorrow. http://www.spaceweather.com/

Edit: AQ: I can't believe I forgot to mention this. I'm soooooo glad that you're going to Germany. That's wonderful. It's good that you just knew in your heart that you should go and you made the arrangements, without a lot of agonizing decision making. That means that you are meant to go. Something truly profound will probably happen!

I'm very late today, so I shall just say Congratulations Brenda on gaining the Good Egg Award.

and add the Friday Smiles
My mother taught me LOGIC - "Because I said so, that's why."
My mother taught me FORESIGHT - "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."
My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS -"Shut your mouth and eat your supper!"
My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM -"Will you look at the dirt on the back of your neck!"
My mother taught me about STAMINA -"You'll sit there 'til all that spinach is finished."
My mother taught me about WEATHER - "It looks as if a tornado swept through your room."
My mother taught me how to solve PHYSICS PROBLEMS - "If I yelled because I saw a meteor coming toward you, would you listen then?"
My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE - "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning!"
My mother taught me RELIGION - "You better pray that will come out of the carpet."
My mother taught me IRONY - "Keep crying and I'll give you something to cry about."
My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL - "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"
My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION - "Stop acting like your father!"
My mother taught me about ENVY - "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do!"
My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY - "If I've told you once, I've told you a million times - Don't exaggerate!!!"

Evening all; Just in from Rose Society caper, where I ate a slice of pumpkin bread, a chocolate brownie, and a yummy piece of organic apple cake (all small slices I should point out).  Also won an undentified (miniature or "old"?) rose in the raffle. No idea what it is except that it needs repotting pretty quick. It's always an adventure to wait and see what kind of flower these "orphan" roses put out.  We had a lovely pink rose in the front of our house when we bought it. It had been neglected but I couldn't bear to toss it out, so I put it in a pot where it hung on for a couple of years and now it has pride of place in the front garden again and is putting out some lovely new growth. Can't wait to see how it does with some TLC.

Diane: Maybe the solar flares are the reason why my wireless connection has been so puny today, even though I'm right across the hall from the router. Ya think?  Or maybe it's the general weather conditions.  Good for you going to the demonstration - that number sounds like a good attendance. Glad you wore your Dad's union button!!  We watched the Wisconsin capitol sit-in and I'm assuming there'll be an even bigger demo this weekend. Also heard that the appropriations-vs.-fiscal angle of the reworked bill will form the basis for the Dems planned court challenge.

AQ; If you stop in later, hope it's cooled down a bit for you.

Have a good Friday all!  And whoever is going on a trip, be safe - and Welcome Back to anyone returning from a trip! (Can't keep track of all the comings and goings!)  :-)