Weekly Chat, Sunday 22 May 2011

Good afternoon all and another frustrating morning  with our cabon monoxide detector.  Still under guarantee but needs refurbishing.  Have to post it off but couldn't becuase I didn't know how to stop it beeping.  Phoned the firm again and they told me how to do it but said that I should have been told told that when I first phoned.  Patience got rather frayed I must say.  Dull today and now too warm either so I don't think we are going to get a Bank Holiday weekend like we had at Easter.  Still not had any more rain of note and can't see when we are likely to get any.  We have a show to go this weekend, a real blast from the past.  We are going to see Tony Christie who we have seen before and he puts on a very good show so something to look forward to.

 

Lynette  you have had such a busy week, hope you manage to recharge your batteries a bit now.   Sad reading about the young lady with cerebral palsy.  How disappointed she must be after all the training she has done.  Thanks for the capture from Caeraverock, nice clear picture.

 

dibnlib sorry you did neot get to see your Mum or 'Sheila and Wendy at LG  but pleased to see you enjoyed your show.

 

original goldfinch more exceptional photographs, such a pleasure to see them all.  Hope you will get a new cleaner soon.

 

bettyboo pleased you managed to find us.  What an upsetting incident with the calf.  It does really sicken me as well, how can people be so cruel.

 

DjoanS wonderful to read that you have musical talent.  Always wanted to play the piano when I was a child bu it was an expense my parent could not afford at that time.  You are definitely not a failure.  I am because even after all the help people have given me regarding screen captures, i still haven't mastered it.  One of these days the light will come on I hope.

 

Alan thanks for the 2 links re pesticide and the dead red kite.  Make awful reading and I wish the fines were bigger.

 

trish 2 sorry about your wet walk with Mia but hope the agility class went well. 

 

HeatherB nice to see a post from you, must admit I find it hard work keeping up with everything at the moment.  Always feel a little guilty for not replying to every post.  I do make notes but then have trouble reading them when I come to replies.  LOL about your funny moment.  What a picture that conjured up.

 

Lindybird  glad you had a good chat with your friend whilst doing her ironing.  She must so look forward to seeing you.  Well done to your OH in disposing of the old washing machine and hope you are enjoying the new one.  We had blue tits nesting in our box last year but it didn't happen this year unfortunately.  I loved watching them last year and what busy little birds they were.

 

Tiger very good quote from you.  Simple but true.  Thanks for the link to the peregrine ringing.

 

Annette Happy Birthday to your OH for yesterday but what shame the meal out was so noisy.  Hope you enjoyed the chocolate you mentioned.

 

Diane   was relieved to see that you had not suffered any damage.  I hope you will not get any more storms like that.  Poor little rabbit,  I always think of the animals when there are extremes of weather.  Billie purrs most of the time for us and shows us how happy she is in her new home.  So glad I persevered with her.

 

WendyB seems as though you are in for a busy weekend, hope it all goes well for you.  See you had a bright start to the day but it is not going to last for you, a typical Bank Holiday weekend really.

 

Djoans laughter out aloud about you saying good morning to your blackbird and then finding the window cleaner out there.  I talk to the birds all the time so my neighbours probably think they are living next door to a mad woman.  Even been known to talk to the spiders and bumble bees.

 

Alan  thanks for the link to the black stork chicks, so tiny but very cute.

 

Hope you all have a good weekend and hopefully the weather will be better than they say.

Afternoon all,

Thanks for all the earlier chat.

Djoans : Had to laugh at the blackbird/window cleaner moment.

Diane : Glad you came through all the storms unscathed.still

Linda : Good luck with the new washing machine. They can be temperamental.

Margo : Sorry you have a problem with your carbon monoxide detector. Ours just sits there saying nothing.

Annette : Belated birthday greetings to your OH.

This morning we went to Barnwell CP for a walk and a picnic. The swans have at least 5 cygnets but are still on the nest so I could not get a good picture because of all the reeds. I did get one of the Great Crested Grebe with rather a large chick hitching a ride:

 

Afternoon Alan  you have had a nice morning with your picnic and walk, how is your weather today.  Lovely pic of the Greaat
Crested Grebe and large chick.  I was quite pleased that I actualy understool the insructions I was given over the phone for the Carbon monoxide detector,  Bit Heath Robinson though as I had to remove the case over the batteries with a knife as per their instructions.  Not often I manage to do something without leaving it for OH to do.

I think I started the morning facing the wrong way!  Every job I wanted to do relied on another having been done – but I arrived at lunchtime with it all finished – because I refuse to plug in the iron for just one shirt which is waiting for a few more to be ironed with it!  Meanwhile, OH has mowed all the grass and strimmed around the fence posts at the front , so only has border edges to finish front and back – but I have just dispatched him to Tesco first!  Weather fine, dry and warm so far ….

Annette – I see you had a good day in the garden, and OH finally got his birthday meal – despite discomfort of crowds there.

Diane – poor wee Bunny – and the other critters affected by weather!  Glad to read that you suffered no serious damage on your property.  I do miss my previous cleaner – only had her about 15 months, but it was like having a friend visit very week.  It is possible to trace the warming temperatures through the UK – the south is growing crops which were only possible in Southern Europe when I was growing up, and similarly crops which could only grow in the south have moved into Scotland – in fact they have moved north at about the same pace as I have!

Wendy – pleased you had a sunny start – hope it hasn’t worsened as much as it might.  I hope the decorating weekend goes according to plan.

Alan – those Black Stork babies are so cute – and white!  The Hoechstadt Stork babies are quite large now, and the ones on a pylon in Portugal are huge!  Love the way Grebes ride on the mother’s back!

Lindy – I spent half an hour this morning being entertained by the Starlings and their babies – who all seem to arrive with ADHD!  They don’t know who is mum and who is Uncle, can’t stay put while being fed, quarrel continuously …. and I love them!  Greenfinch reappeared too – probably has never been far away, but hasn’t been there when I was watching!  Enjoy the new washing machine.

Joan and Heather – laughed at your embarrassing moments!

Margo – enjoy the show!

Had a nice surprise yesterday –my Father’s Cousin, who I only knew about when Uncle mentioned him a few months back, has written me a lovely letter about our shared family tree.  He is not just going back in time, but writing up the recent stuff too, so wants details of our Kids and Grandkids!

Margo : Weather is bright but not exactly sunny with a cool breeze. Temp 14c.

Oo the show sounds great Margo -  have a good time. Billie definitely landed on all four paws when she found you Margo.

I'm with you and Joan, Margo - another talker to nature, even insects like you.


So sorry if I've forgotten anyone, I'm finding the pages slow today

Alan  simply wonderful picture of Gt Crested with youngster

OG hope you are facing the right way now.  Pleased you have some warm,dry weather for a change.  Your OH has been busy and now off to Tesco as well.  I find starlings so entertaining too.  Love the way they rush around following the adults even if they are not their parents.  They must be some be of the most argumentive of all the garden birds.  Nice for you to have a letter from your Father's cousin and how interesting that will be.

Morning all:

Diane: Oh dear, poor rabbit. I'm sure he/she apprpeciated the carrots. Good that you're safe. No, please don't shelter in any showers with glass doors! I hear the MidWest has a couple of days off from tornadoes - what a ghastly year. Believe or not, they had some tiny tornados up in Chico (just north of Sacramento) a couple of days ago. Re all the recent philosophical ramblings, bought Delilah a little battery operated thingy that plays a variety of soothing sounds, including one of surf breaking against the shore accompanied by seagull cries. It had an immediate soothing effect on her; g-daughter says it even puts her to sleep at night. Another "cellular" memory? I told g'daughter baby is going to grow up demanding to see the ocean. And, yes! Saw the Suchet special on the Orient Express; it was a repeat - I've wanted to take that train since I first heard about it, except back then it went all the way across Russia I do believe; now it stops in Venice..

Wendy: Paying someone to do the strimming (what's that anyway?) sounds like a great idea.

Jay-Me: It's awful when the holiday weekends get spoiled by bad weather (which I remember happened quite a bit when I was growing up in the UK), especially for folks still working. Enjoy your craft workshop; I'm a non-starter in the craft department!

Tiger: San Francisco Airport peregrines must like living on the edge.

Alan: Mother Grebe is going to get a sway back with little fatty onboard. Storke babies very sweet.

OG: Funny how those one-item ironing jobs have a way of turning into 10 and 20 items. How nice your long-lost relative is doing all the leg work on the family tree; my sister is doing it but we have big holes on Mum's side of family in Ireland...

Djoan: What gorgeous pix of gorgeous little creatures!! That not-posh linkworks just fine. Very funny about your "flirtation" with the window cleaner. :-)  I even talk to the big black crows in the neighborhood - and I apologize to lizards when I inadvertently spray them with the hose when they're sunning on the wall or a rock.

Lindybird: New appliances are exciting- my Samsung washer plays the first bars of a Mozart (I think) piece when it's finished a cycle, which always adds a little sparkle to the day.

Margobird: Sorry about the frustration with the detector thingy. Why does everything have to get so complicated! Do enjoy the show this weekend.

OH reported that a pretty brown/gray bird (a wren?) has taken a fancy to our outside doormat and has been snatching little pieces for a nest. We spied the nest a couple of days ago in a branch of the orange tree that also supports a stagshorn fern; all very cozy and secluded. Now tiptoing around that area so as not to scare her.

Off to start what I hope is a pretty slow day; take care all.

Was just checking out a little brown bird on the feeders which turned out to be a sparrow, when I saw a magnificent red kite over the nearby fields. First time I have seen one from the utility room window and only the second time from the garden. Unfortunately it did not hang around for a pic.