Weekly Chat, Sunday, April 17, 2011

Lovely posts to read from TerryM:  Thanks for your descriptions of volunteering, it sounds so interesting.  Sorry you have not been too good, and hope that you will now recover.  Laughed at the Texting for Seniors bit!

margo:  Did laugh at the idea of you miaowing at each other!  I do that , too with cats. Not surprised that you found it hard to do the de-fleaing - they just hate that sort of thing - you may have to wait a while longer for that.

AQ  Great pics of Lizardas offspring (?)  Wonder how many there are in your vicinity.

Gary:  She is just so, well, strokeable!!   More pics in future, please. Well Done on passing her exams !!  Local kennels breeds labs, and they have a board outside at the moment saying "Labradors and Doodles for Sale!"

Wendy:  Nice to hear about your meeting with OG.    We put collars on our cats, but always make sure that they have a little bit of elastic on them to give them room to struggle out if caught on anything.

Lynette:  How awful for your daughter, she must be shaken up after a crash in the car.  At least she is unhurt, which is something to be grateful for. These things take ages to sort out afterward, hope you can help her with the insurance & police investigations etc.

Annette:  How is that ear infrection?  Are you going to the doc's for something for it?

Buzz is more his usual self so hopefully the medication has helped.  He seems to be drinking more than usual, though, although it may be this hot weather to blame for that.  We are having fun getting the syrup down him;  he went off the idea of toast, so now I make a bowl of porridge and lace it with the syrup, and then put some sugar on it!  He thinks he is in heaven.

Went shopping this morning, was asked by Friend to pick up some Easter Eggs for her as she can't drive and surprise her family with any, so went to large Garden Centre - fatal, as I spent all sorts of money on things and also came out with a big enamel Bin marked "Bird Feed" to keep my supplies neat and tidy when in the conservatory.  Told OH he would have to buy it for me as my Easter Egg as at least its not fattening!

Glorious day here, I'm off out now to wipe down all the outside window sills which is something I've been promising to do for ages. Life is so glamorous!

Gary : Thanks for the pics of Toffee. Getting big already.

Alicat : Nice pics of Bobbie. Really cute.

TerryM : Thanks for telling us all about the latest news at Bassenthwaite.

AQ : Great lizard pics. Not something we see around here.

Conservatory is like the Amazonian jungle at the moment with Clivia and Brugmansia flowering at the same time. Pic of Brugmansia:

Annette, great you are doing the whale count. Must get a thrill each time:) How is GD getting on? Sorry if I've missed some news.

Lindy, those are some lovely pictures. I agree about the colours.

AQ, those pictures make Mr Lizzard seem bigger than that! wow.

Margobird, so glad you are getting to play with Billie (I take it she's a girl?) She has really adopted you. I can sympathise with your OH. I've lost my prime sopt on the sofa for some reason... lol She did well at classes and graduated! Her and Alison are going to do the next class as well, to do some other stuff.

Alan, amazing link, thanks.

Tiger, 2 years, that's a nice age, apparently! lol

Terry, lovely to hear about your volunteering and well done you. Hope you feel well enough to go on Friday. That thing in the background we are protecting is a piano. Only recently put something around it. She had ignored it but it has a climate control thingy in it and an electrical wire comes out the front. She recently though that was great fun!.  Love the senior's guide. Made me chuckle:)

Linda, hope the window sills look great! Sorry about Buzz. We've been recommended peanut butter as a good thing to hide medicine in.

Alan, lovely pictures and plants. Thanks. I don't have the inclination to grow things, inside or out!

Gary  I have just been talking to Opal's owner. He says that she has calmed down a lot and is no longer the handful she used to be.

Hi, folks. Hope everyone is having a good Tuesday. I just had a new lawn mower delivered. It's a self-propelled, walk-behind cordless electric one. But it's big; it has a 48V battery. I already have a big garden tractor, but the darned thing is just too much for me to maintain. I can't get to the blades to sharpen them, and I don't know how to change the oil, charge the battery, or do other maintenance. There's only one local dealer who services them, and he's impossible to deal with. If you call him for service in March, you may get your tractor back by August.

So I decided that I'd get a no-maintenance electric push mower. I only have an acre and a half that I mow. I figure that I can do 1/2 acre at a time. The new mower weighs 100 pounds, and the UPS delivery guy glared at me when he had to unload it from his truck. I felt bad for him. :-((( Those people work so hard.  I offered him a tip but I don't think they're allowed to take money. I managed to get it up two steps and into my enclosed porch. Now I have to assemble it and get it running. :-)

Have they done anything in particular to improve things with Opal Tiger? Like more exercise or obedience classes?

A very sweet, tiny wren sang to me when I went to the mailbox this morning. I so love them. Wish I could have taken a pic of her for you all.

Gary!!! What did you do with that little Toffee puppy?!? That was a big, beautiful fluffy dog that you posted!

Lindy: Oh, poor you, having to give Buzz medicine. My dog always figured out how to eat the treat and leave the meds. I can empathize. I hope he's fully recovered soon. Congrats on the new bird feed tin! You have to splurge once in a while.

Alan: That brugmansia is gorgeous. Your garden must be fabulous. I noticed that my bluebells are blooming this morning. By the way, I'm glad you no longer have the Devil's tax code. LOLOL

Terry: I loved reading about Bassenthwaite. Good on you! Hope you feel better!

Margo: Had to laugh at you meowing at Billie. Sounds like she already loves you. You're in a bit of a dilemma with the flea med. She will be so much more comfortable and healthier without fleas, but I know you don't want to scare her off. Good luck!

Lynette: I'm so very sorry about your daughter's accident. I hope she's okay and can get all of the insurance, paperwork, etc. sorted very soon.  

AQ: I so enjoyed those photos of the baby Lizarda. I was delighted to see the psychedelic blue tongue. Yay! Those male skinks must be really busy if they each have several females over an area of 15 blocks! LOL That's a lot of travelling for a short-legged skink. LOL Loved the video!!! Thanks for posting the pictures. I always love to hear about those lizards. :-)

Sheila: A 2000 pound tax bill. Yikes!!! That's awful. I hope you can find some way to get it lowered.

Brenda: I hope you're feeling better now and your cough is gone.

Alicat: Bobbie is just adorable. Loved the photos!

Lindy: Your holiday pictures were just beautiful. So peaceful.

Joan: Such a shame about the barn owls this year. I miss them, and I'll bet you do, too. I haven't heard my great horned owls for a long time. I wonder if they have moved or something happened to them. I hope they've just gone further into the woods.

Tiger: I loved the quizzes. I got 100% correct on the osprey and peregrine quizzes. I missed a couple on the bald eagle quiz (how many feathers).

Annette: I hope the infection is gone from your ear. Also, hope your grandson is healing well. It sounds like your whale watching was successful. How are the numbers looking now? I looked at your whale watching website. Very interesting. Congrats on seeing all those dolphins a few days ago. Such intelligence creatures.

Okay, all. You might not hear from me for a bit. We're supposed to get some big ol' storms this evening. The forecasters are already predicting super-cell thunderstorms, tornadoes, and flash flooding in this part of the midwest. So I'm getting ready to rock and roll tonight. Mother Nature is going to show her power. :-)

Everyone have a good Wednesday!