Weekly Chat, Sunday March 27, 2011

Morning All.   Drizzly here this morning, as promised by the Weathergirl.   Sorry to hear that your OH is having a rotten time, Lynette - my Dad had kidney stones & he said it was 'the worst pain'.  His were operated on, but that was about 35 years ago, I expect things have changed as regards treatment.

Had a v. busy day yesterday - went to Friends and talked to her whilst doing her ironing for her as she cannot lift anything, not even the kettle.  Her daughter is staying for a week (she lives in Bristol at present) but is trying to keep up with Work on the PC in the absence of being in the office. Did my own ironing before I went! We had visitors at home, and phone calls, as OH had almost forgotten his birthday but everyone wanted to wish him well.  His sister came with one of her grandchildren, a sweet 3 year old, who was fascinated by the wind chimes in the conservatory.  In the evening, we had the steak & onions I promised, with oven chips and stir fry vegetables. With it we drank a nice glass of Red wine given to him by the elderly lady next door, who was so grateful for all his snow clearing during the bad weather a while back. Back on the diet today!

Oh, Lindy, belated Happy Birthday to your husband! I meant to mention it yesterday.

Just been reading back - Sorry to hear about your OH patriciat, you are having a busy time.  Alan, loved the pic of the blossoms, how beautiful  You are definitely ahead of us up here, although we have some camelleias and some magnolias out here.  Alicat - Thinking of you, hope you are OK.   Annette:  hope your grnd. sons wounds heal up soon - the young at least have their age on their side, and do seem to get over things quickly.   How is the delightful Delilah doing now?  OG:  You are a busy bee!  Now we know why your garden is always a picture, its all this hard work you put in.  You are so right about always having a camera ready:  I have missed many opportunities when out and about.

Thanks Diane -  he was so impressed to have mentions on these pages, when I told him!  But I wasn't going to mention the Birthday as he is not a contributor!

EDIT - as the doorbell rang whilst writing the above, I missed putting that I hope Cirrus is recovering from her nasty gash on the hand. Do take care, Cirrus.

Hi everyone.

Thanks for all your pics and posts.  The weather's a bit dreich looking here at the moment.  I'm hoping it clears up.

Linda:  A belated Happy Birthday to your OH.

I see we're up to 430 members now.  A warm welcome to you all :-)


Paul.

Morning!  Just checked out LG and it looks pretty miserable after last night's rain, and windy to boot.  Cloud is higher here, but looks as though it could rain.

It is digital switch-over time in this area.  We have three TVs in the house.  Our main one in the living room is digital already, with a separate disc recorder.  The other two are analogue and now have a small gizzmo plugged in to make them digital, or should that be to receive the digital signal.  So this morning I have been trying to work out how to re-tune them all in the absence of the OH!!  I think I can declare mission successful, but will have to go back and check.  What a palaver.  Just hope the recorder and the TV are sychronised and the recorder picks up the correct programme to record!!

Hi Diane how are you?  Any sign of the red tailed hawk?  When I was away I read a wonderful book by David Gessner, Return of the Osprey.  He decided to take a year out, and moved to the empty family home on Cape Cod and studied a number of osprey nests.  I thought of you when he mentioned the coyote he saw.  Osprey in this part of the world were almost wiped out by the use of DDT, whereas I believe our osprey were nearly wiped out by gamekeepers and egg collectors.  David Gessner mentions a number of folk we have all heard of:  George Waterston, Dennis Puleston, Audubon,and Alan Poole.  It is really a fascinating read, and given that he teaches 'creative non-fiction' at the Harvard Extension School it is extremely well written.

Not sure what is on the agenda today, but I have no doubt I'll be back in the garden.

Hi Sheila - The David Gessner book was the one I mentioned last autumn, after being totally captivated by reading it on holiday.  Can recommend it as a wonderful read for anyone who likes wildlife and /or ospreys in particular - I was totally bound up in it while reading and 'unable to put it down' as the old cliche goes!

SheilaFE and Margobird OH has a collar and cuff sling, which he doesn't wear very much - it's not really a very good one.  I don't think there's much treatment for a fractured scapula.  It's generally associated with other, more serious, trauma, often the result of a road traffic accident - or a motorcyclist doing jumps!  As he doesn't feel pain, I'm not worrying unduly but try to use the other arm when hauling him about (and yes, that's what it amounts to as he weighs about twice what I do!)  We're coping anyway.

I, too, am worried about Alicat.  Losing a beloved pet is hard enough but she'd had the unfeeling remarks of a neighbour to contend with.  If you're reading, Alicat, hugs and good thoughts.

There is a nice wild peregrine webcam on the SWT site at Falls of Clyde or Cora Linn as it should be called.

http://www.swt.org.uk/wildlife/webcams/falls-of-clyde/