Afternoon all: Geez. May already? This happens every year!
Sitting in garden with laptop! Under umbrella in shorts and trying to ID a pale pink hybrid rose I didn't think I'd bought but which is now blooming like mad. I went out to buy orange/apricot/peach and yellow roses and have no idea how this pale pink one got into the mix. Also, it doesn't have a little metal label, which the others do, and I'm wondering if it didn't get into the wrong bin at La Sumida, where I bought six bare roots. In the meantime, Amber Flower Carpet and Julia Child roses are doing brilliantly... Met friends for breakfast this morning: Had a egg-white and seasonal veggie mix - won't make that mistake again! Very boring and challenging since nothing stayed on my fork. Was forced to rectify the situation with a cafe au lait and a boysenberry and lemon scone!
Diane: I have a visor and a sweathshirt with a hood that I wear on windy days at the whale count. That's it! Daughter has several cowboy hats, including one with a woven decorative band she made from hair taken from Cimarron's tail (the horse she had to put down Feb 10). I'll check out Trucker Steve next.
Alicat: Bet you had fun with Bobbie. Have you sorted your naughty OH yet? :-)
Wendy: Dolphin visit sounds like fun.
Sheila: Argh! Take care of that knee. Geez. A 1.5 hour wait for food? Did everyone complain loudly? Apparently, several of our channels repeated the wedding video throughout the day yesterday; I'm watching the recording a bit at a time; can't stand to be inside on a lovely day.
OG: More fab azaleas! Good news that son is trying the part-time option; hope it works out for him. Really understand "more money than sense," which also applies to grandson who, sad to say, doesn't have much money, so .....! Still, he's young yet and as always, we live in hopes. Little vole looks awfully sweet.
Hallo also to Lynette. It's past 4; can now officially start new Weekly Chat!
EJ just now.
"I'm getting some shuteye before they hatch."
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/wildlife-webcams/loch-of-lowes/
RSPB Giving Nature a Home
I have been lurking and not communicating for a few days. Patricia Sorry to hear about Nell. Dreadful fires, is there peat? That would make them hard to extinguish. OG, I’m soooo jealous of your azaleas. We have alkaline soil and too close to beach. I hope Lynette’s OH & Cirrus are feeling better. Hope Diane is relaxing and listening to the birds. Great day with the whales, Annette. A very aloof Hamish, such a tiny Bobbie, how quickly TT has grown, Billie has taken over a good home, great pics from OG & Chloe, beautiful word-picture by Quietwoman. More please. Thanks Alan for links & pics. Have a great holiday Terry. What, Brenda, your OH wants his computer back!!! Apologies to everyone else for forgetting but thank you for chat.
Last Sunday another WEA bus trip. Coffee stop at Riverton. Alas the bakery not open - changed its hours. The cafe is notoriously slow but the deli was very fast. I enjoyed a sausage roll. Light rain most of day. Some views through bus window. North of Saddleworth.
North of Manoora.
Brief stop to snap derelict Gum Creek school (closed 1957).
At an isolated spot on a back road we viewed a Primitive Methodist chapel (1871) and the later church built as a memorial to 2 local boys who died in WWI, now a private home. We, 40 of us, were all standing around taking photos of the buildings when the lady came out and invited us in. (I couldn’t do that, horrors, my house is a mess.) The chapel is her studio, the church with lovely stained glass windows is her living room. Then out the back was a great hole - once an iron mine! The view from church.
To be continued
Just went out to collect mail and down the street I saw 25 kph signs, big digging things, trucks, etc. Oh no, our newly laid road . . .
Trip continued. I know some of you like to see our countryside. Two views on a back road.
Towards Booborowie.
We stopped to view a large shearing shed (of olden days) and I managed to snap this galah as it landed.(Eolophus roseicapillus)
Just north of Booborowie. The blackened paddocks in distance are where a farmer has burnt the stubble to try to counter the current mouse plague. Farmers are delaying sowing crops - one has lost 1/3 of his seed to the mice. To be continued
Cirrus: I am so sorry that you've been having cardiovascular problems. I imagine that your job doesn't help the condition. Please take care of yourself. Sending good energy to you!!!
AQ: Hope they don't demolish your new road! I've really enjoyed your latest trip pics and commentary. A mouse plague!?! Have to confess that made me shudder! It must be really bad to lose that much seed for crops. Awful! Maybe they will eat the locusts! (Our field mice eat insects.) I love that gorgeous galah. I watch them once in a while on that Aussie bird cam (for new people: http://www.backyardgalahcam.com.au/).
OG: Glad you've been assigned a new cleaner! I've really enjoyed your osprey photos. Wonderful! And, please, post more pics from your trip. I never get tired of your photography. Didn't mean to sound "mysterious" about being busy today. LOL! I was just cutting some grass that has finally dried out. Actually, it was more like bushwhacking than mowing. You all have such lovely, well-manicured British gardens; you'd be horrified to see my land right now. It's full of fallen limbs, brush, holes, hills, weeds, thick Tarzan vines, decaying stumps, and all manner of critters (including at least a dozen wasp species, all of whom hate me on sight)! Cutting my grass felt like an expedition through the Amazon jungle! Hey, maybe I am mysterious. LOLOL
Alicat: Bobbie looks very sweet!
Lynette: So sorry that your husband is having such severe and ongoing medical problems. I hope that the doctors can help him.
Quietwoman: Oh, what a truly lovely narrative about your afternoon trip. You should write travelogues. Just wonderful! I look forward to reading more!!!
Lindy: Very nice of you to do your friend's ironing. You will make Annette jealous with those descriptions of Paris. If I recall correctly, that is her favorite vacation city. Hope you and Buzz are both feeling well now or at least on the mend. Oh, my stars, I just watched that cliff video. I could not do that job. The views are spectacular, but I couldn't even walk on those cliff paths once they're completed. I've been trying -- unsuccessfully -- to summon up the courage to climb up a ladder high enough to put some screws in my attic vent that keeps falling out! I hate climbing ladders.
Chloe: Beautiful photos from you!!!
Wendy: I loved that great photo of Daisy!!! Hope she does well at the kennels.
Sheila: I just now read your account of your close-up view of the fox. I must have missed it before. How intense! I'll bet it was drawn by the blackberries. Foxes like fruit, at least mine does. He eats apples from my apple tree. I have finally concluded that mine is a gray fox, although he does have some red fur. (In the U.S., we have two species of fox, red and gray.) Here's what mine looks like. http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3372.htm Hope your pheasants stay safe!
Annette: I'm so glad that the whale numbers appear to be picking up. Hope you're okay. Did you see my post about Trucker Steve in Arizona and New Mexico?
Hi to Joan, Brenda, and everyone I missed. Hope George G is over his cold. He hasn't been on here in a while.
Everyone have a good Thursday! Edit: Sheesh, sorry for the long post!
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Well, Gary – it’s reasonably long standing in that for a few years (5 ? 7 ? ) in very hot summers I’d occasionally get a problem . Sadly, as I’ve got older , it just takes ordinary heat (a few days of) to start me feeling rough. But I’m not so used to it that I instantly recognise what the matter is !! Like Margo (I think it is ) and I’m sure others, I feel the cold very badly because my blood obviously does not circulate properly or fast enough or something !! I first cottoned on to compression hose a few years ago when I suddenly had a case of phlebitis . Awful and painful but not earth shattering . Anyway, I’m sure this is too much information, sorry :) - my summer hiking seem dependent on them (compression hose) now since my friend and I are ALWAYS trekking up flippin hills. The heart has to work harder so I need that venous return of the blood back to the heart. I’m hoping it’s not going to end up being my winter hiking garb along with mountain hard wear jacket – monsoon proof over trousers etc .
Such is life LoL
OG – how upsetting about the fish ! Glad you do at least have a credit note to spend.
Thank you for your current travel talk AQ – will we get to see the church? The Galah looks wonderful, are they common birds? Definitely oo er about the mice !!
Thank you Diane – I’m sopping up the energy you are sending
There Sheila – Diane mentioned another we haven’t seen in a while … George G . Hope he’s OK. Woodpecker has been over on other forums I noticed yesterday so hopefully she’s all right and just busy like Auntie.
Off to have a look at Diane’s links now.
Evening all: Hectic but good day here; now trying to catch up before I go to bed. Off to have breakfast with daughter tomorrow then it's Mother's Day here Sunday.
Lindybird: Oh good, rain for you guys. Do hope that helps the farmers and gardeners. How nice you did ironing for your friend. Never heard of violin elbow, though it would make sense. :-) And yes - wasn't going to mention PARIS, but since Diane brought it up, I'm jealous! :-)
Margobird: No problem with your OH being absent-minded or not too good at multi-tasking; my OH is the same (however, I'm the one who's always saying "I can only do one thing at a time".)
Cirrus: Geez. I must've misread your post - it's you who has the claudication? I could've sworn it was your OH. I'm confused! Take care of yourself. And yes, I did enjoy the concert. Oh dear, wouldn't expect an article in Birds magazine to upsest you. I didn't know that about milk being so bad for cats - our old cat Sammy died at 18 after eating all kinds of naughty things.
Quietwoman: Sounds like a perfect day for you. Wonderful. Do it again soon!
OG: Hope son gets back on schedule next week. That fish is bigger than the osprey; must've been amazing to see. Good luck with the next batch of guppies. Good shots in that latest batch of pix!
Djoan: I have Windows 7 and like it for the most part...is this your first laptop?
Alan: Well, no wonder Hamish is more lively after losing a few pounds, I would be too. :-)
Brenda: Hope the computer gets fixed soon; still that leaves you free to do housework and ironing right? :-)
Lynette: Geez. Seems like everyone in the UK has been doing housework today. What a busy lot you are! What did you practice at choir?
Gary: Nice to see Toffee making the world safe for roofing felt! :-)
Diane: I've posted quite a bit too and can't believe I've filled so much space with so much blather. Aha! Off to check Big Rig Steve. Hope it warms up for you soon.
AQ: Love pix of your neighborhood! More please!
Off to bed; take care all.
Update on the goslings. Some of them have fledged. See various videos here.
Tiger Signature
Morning Everyone: Cloudy today, and still rather cold: we're promised warmer weather tomorrow and following days.
Just combed my hair quickly as its the day the Milkman comes to collect his money - I always seem to be in a state of half dressed when he arrives on the step.
Hope that the cleaner arrives OK today, OG, and that she is nice. Also hope that most of your fish survived the night! oh, dear. They do not like being transferred from their tank, do they?
Thanks to AQ for more pics of the countryside, and also great descriptions of the trip - I could not invite 40 people inside at a moment s notice, either!
I have been doing my Friends ironing as she is not going to be allowed to lift anything ever again which is heavy, or take down things from high shelves. This also includes the heavier housework, so her OH has become a househusband: good job he is now retired. They are looking into having a cleaner. Their neighbours in the village have been stars, several have brought round a pie or something, and the house has been full of the most amazing flowers, from expensive bouquets down to tiny little gatherings from the hedgerows. (very pretty)
Lots to do today: off to vote later, then going to buy my white geraniums from the G. Centre as today is the day they are delivered, apparently! None left last weekend, as its a popular colour. Must write some letters too. Have a Good Day, All!
Thanks to Diane for the link to see her Gray Fox - not at all like ours, really.
I've just read some of your blogs and looked at interesting pictures. Most days don't seem to be able to find time. Being away from home for almost three months means a lot of catching up around house and garden. It's not a good day for gardening. Sewing seeds is a no-no as the wind is too strong and 'fickle'. Carrots and broccoli will have to wait a few days. Greenhouse is watered and aired so I've got some time in house. Good day for putting out some washing!
I missed the change over on the nest.....again!
Those pics of Osprey at Spey Bay were very good (Oh Geez! I've forgotten who put them up now)!!! Did that gull think he stood much chance?
I love seeing all the pics that are posted so keep it up everyone. During my trips to Oz I remember the Galahs and the Kookaburras...very noisy, very common but very attractive! Fun to watch. Another was the 'Sulphur Crested Cockatoo'. Have I remembered that name correctly? There aren't many animals or birds I don't like but one in OZ was the Cane Toad. Terrifyingly large and hideous.
The mind is like a parachute, it doesn't work if it's not open.