Weekly Chat, Sunday June 12, 2011

Good morning to everyone and get better soon to those who are suffering.OG  PATRICIAT AND LYNETTE and AQ

Great pics and really like those that OG took of Damsel Fly etc, You obviously have a great camera and a good eye for a shot and a steady hand

Had a call from the garage 20 mins ago to say window is fixed and roof bars attached so car is ready for collection any time. OH now bussing it into town and regretting he didn't just hang around and wait after dropping the car off at 0800. Trouble was that the garage did not know how long window would take till they had stripped the door down and also didn't know when the roof bars would be delivered. OH worked overnight and had eaten no breakfast so home seemed the best option.

Darn it! dibnlib - on the other hand s**s law says that if he'd stayed he would have had a long wait.

Rain here, now, so no chance of airing out the laundry.  Will attack all my little dust bunnies instead, and wash some of the seven icecream tubfuls of strawberries  which my OH just brought home from the allotment - wish I could distribute some of them to you all!  Don't worry, though they will not be wasted as he makes jam with them when we can eat no more. And of course we keep in with the neighbours here by knocking on the doors with a few.

Scottish Power have actually increased some tariff charges by up to 60%. Part of my charges are to go up by 56%. The advertised figures for the increase were 10% for electricity and 19% for gas.

Switching supplier is an option, but I would rather stay with my contract that runs until March 2012.

I have emailed my Member of Parliament, requesting that some action be taken, to prevent this abuse of power (no pun intended).

The Daily Telegraph has the story today.

Thanks, all, for kind thoughts.  Injection at GP is next Tuesday, so only got to get through the weekend.  We were saying last night we are both glad we are at home and not away this week; I really feel like I’ve been hit by a heavy rubber hammer!  Not been this bad before – will have to see how I am through September and discuss increasing frequency of injection when I go to Rheumatology then.

Three more pics from Kirkconnel Flow.

What I had hoped to see was a waving “sea” of Cotton Grass, but apparently it mostly bloomed in May this year, so just saw odd bits like this at the margins:

Spagnum is fast re-colonising the restored areas, to be peat in another few thousand years:

I think this is Pink Jelly Fungus, but will get it checked out by SNH – there was just one patch, and I don’t know whether they know they have it!

All these are indicators that the new management regime is working, but it is a very slow change – can’t be hurried.  In answer to Annette’s question about displacing wildlife, I find it difficult to decide between Conservation, Preservation and Restoration, but species protection is always considered by SNH, and there are other local habitats similar to the way this has been, so I guess the slow process helps natural relocation.  With so much Lowland Raised Bog depleted by peat extraction and other human activity, I would consider that restoring this habitat in the few places where it is possible is the best action for biodiversity.

More interesting pics from you, OG - like the Pink Fungus - how unusual!

Thanks for the latest pics OG.

The lovely dark wagtail has been back again today. Here is another pic. Such a great character:

A couple of funny quotes I found:

"I hate housework.  You make the beds, you wash the dishes and then 6 months later you have to start all over again."  - Joan Rivers.

"Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carry" - Bill Cosby.

He is a handsome bird, Alan.

Morning All.  A bit of a damp day, with a few spots of rain on the windows at present.  The birds have found my 'window box' again, including the red legged partridge!  Amazing memories - or can birds smell food?  I really don't know.

Pity the webcam is down again, along with the sound, bur the still are still operating.  I assume the problem is with Carnyx rather than LG.

Wendy that was a truly memorable day you had with Margo.  Feeding the ducks isn't silly at all!  I bet they were mallards, and they always make me laugh when they call!  I bet she was overawed by the trip up Cairngorm.  I used to think it the best way to get to the summit, and was sad to learn that you cannot leave the cafe area - is that still true?  Buy hey, the views would have been magnificent and the peace and tranquility wonderful.  Not many folk get the opportunity to be at over 3,500 ft and take in the surroundings!  I am sorry to hear she had a sore throat.  Let's hope it isn't going to develop.  Probably caused by the flight.

patriciat I loved your clematis.  I have three at present - and I don't now what they are!  One has yellow flowers and is going to come into flower soon.  It scrambles up through the elderberry tree and leaves lovely seed heads in the autumn/winter.  Another, also in the ground, has small blue flowers and flowered while I was away.  The third is in a pot, a large pot in the shade, so that the heads reach up to the sun.  However when we were away we appear to have had extremely high temps and it looked very sorry for itself when I got back.  I have given it copies amounts of water and hope as a last resort it may shoot from the bottom once more.  I am so sorry that your trip to Nethy didn't happen.  What?  Shingles?  Oh dear.  I do hope it is only a mild form, and that you recover quickly.  Do look after yourself.

OG sorry to hear you are not feeling A1 at present.  Beautiful photos, thank you.

Lynette you have been busy recently.  I bet you will be pleased when it is all complete and you can put that foot up and admire it!

Tiger interesting pie chart for Monty's fish.  I guess that being close to the sea he has more variety to choose from than Odin.

I've taken so long to finish this I will have to go back and see what has happened!

LINDY   S**s law says that window not sorted after all in fact it is worse, so booked in again for Mon/Tues and courtesy car will be available. Would love some of your strawbs. We get oours from local farm and they are delicious, but expensive.

OG   love the pink jelly pic, don't think I have seen those before.  Saw lots of cotton grass at LG and couldn't remember the name so thanks for that.