Weekly Chat, Sunday 3 Jul 2011

Hello.  Been busy reading back - lots to catch up on.

Dry here at present - hope it lasts a while as I intend to walk to the shops.

Just found time to look at Chloes link to the Swallows story - how fascinating, although I agree with OG that its not very hygienic in a kitchen.

margo:   I never worry about dry lawns since we had those terrible hot summers in the '70s and the lawns all went brown and crispy - but they still recovered, anyway.  Hope your OH has had a good time in The Big Smoke. (and hope that you feel more yourself now, these days, after your bad experience after/during your LG trip)

Alan:  Nice that you enjoyed your day at the Dog Show - thought you might say, that they had pulled Hamish out of the crowd when choosing "The Most Handsome Dog"  !     ;-)

Annette:  Question Time in the House of Commons is not the same thing - I meant a programme called 'Question Time' on the BBC which is a political debate - different politicians/celebs/personalities every week, talking about the latest issues.  Sometimes very entertaining, but sometimes you want to throw something at the screen....   Friend is going to Montreal to start their cruise, then off to the coastal scenery.  They did Alaska a couple of years ago and the pics afterwards were just fantastic, of the glaciers.

Joan:  Sorry to hear youve been feeling awful - do hope that today, you are much better and can feel yourself again, soon.

....Broke off, there, as a fish was delivered on the nest...

OG:  What a lovely, cheerful pic.  Hope your son enjoys doing his latest job.  Very good effort on the part of the cyclists, what a long way to go - must be sore at the end of each day!

Mary:  Thanks for pics of your trip - how I would love to hold a Goldie, myself!  When they show that on TV, they always seem to be quite calm - so they must not be too terrified, just puzzled perhaps.

AQ:  See you've not been on much - expect you are busy - do hope all is OK there.

Gary:  Oooohh! What a cutie!

Must go wave off my OH who is off to have a golfing day.  They are hoping for a drier time this time, after being completely soaked on their last daily outing.

What a lovely pic of Toffee, Gary. I wonder if |Lucy will ever look as kind and gentle as that. At the mo I could do with body armour!

Beautiful Calendula. One of my favourite flowers.

Hve an amazing time Mary GK. Hope the weather is kind to you.

Happy w/e everyone.

By the way, someone mentioned having to sign in every time, now - I do still have to sign in, and thought that that was because of the changes made to the Site.

Morning All,

Gary : Thanks for the pic of Toffee. Looks all grown up now.

Joan : I hope you are feeling better today.

Annette : Dont know about Hamish being the most handsome dog more like the scruffiest dog at the moment. He needs a haircut. I did not see the waggiest tail contest but there was a flat coated retriever that must have been a strong contender.

OG : Nice bright colours in that pic. I hope you enjoy your holiday.

 Thanks to everyone else for their chat etc.

Weather looks like it is going to be showery again today so not sure what we are doing but I expect there will be shops involved.

Morning all ... I am feeling a lot better this morning, but still a little 'fragile'. Thanks for all your good wishes ... and the lovely flower photo OG ... I don't mind sharing such a beautiful pic! We are having a huge rainstorm at the moment ... I don't think I've ever heard, or seen, such heavy rain before. There's blue sky around, so I don't think it will last too long.

Diane - thanks for the reminder of the barn owls ... I look in from time to time and it is lovely to see the male preening and mooching about!

Mary GK - glad you enjoyed your holiday in the Borders. We have been to the Kailzie Gardens Osprey Centre a couple of times on day trips from here ... although you can't see the nest 'for real' the big screen is good and as you say, the staff are lovely. The feeders outside have plenty of birds on them ... we were lucky enough to see young nuthatches the last time. I saw my very first live osprey along the river Tweed at Jedburgh on one trip! How lovely to see the ringing as well.

Lynette - glad you got your shelves fitted and your linen all sorted.

OG - your grandsons are doing really well on their bike ride and with their sponsorship. Some great tales for the wedding speech no doubt! I hope the weather is kind for your dragonfly watching.

Gary - Toffee is so gorgeous ... a real sweetie!

Rain has stopped now, so I must put the rubbish in the bin ... its been sitting in the conservatory for the last hour!

Thanks to everyone else for chat etc.

Take care.

 

Hello ALL,

We had very heavy rain overnight but happily we have had sunny intervals up to now. We have just been seeing the damage done to the golf course at Castle Stuart. Land slips and major flooding. Over 3ins of rain in a three hour thunder storm.

Joan, good to hear you are not feeling as bad today. I hope your rainstorm didn't last too long. Summer needs to return.

Gary, I see you managed to post your pic at last. Toffee is no longer a pup, although she still looks such a beauty. Lovely to hear you will be meeting up with OG and Eagle Eye when the FB group invade LG.

OG, Hope the dragonfly watch goes well and the weather remains dry. Well done to your grandsons. They must be fit. I hope they are well recovered before the actual wedding.

Alan, It doesn't seem that long since Hamish's last haircut.

QW, I loved you remark about needing 'body armour' to protect yourself from Lucy. I presume she is being a normal boistrous puppy and trying to wreck your home :-)

OH will be happy on Monday when my laptop is being returned, as I have been using his laptop. I went to the optician and I need new specs. I only need them for driving, but I also like to have prescription sunglasses made as the ordinary specs don't darken enough when driving. They are all so expensive though.

 

Glad to hear that Joan is feeling much better now.  Be kind to yourself for the weekend, and you will be your Old Self by Monday.  ;-)

Brenda:  Saw shocking pictures of the Gold Course (edit:  think I meant Golf Course!!!!)  at Inverness on the TV - it must have been some storm.  Those poor Ospreys must have been clinging to the nest, if they had it, too.  Hope you get your laptop back OK on Monday.

I see that the past President's wife, Betty Ford, has died.  She was a brave lady, discussing her mastectomy long before anyone else did, and being honest about her drink dependency.  She must have heped a lot of people, with both.

Well I had a first, today - we received in the post, our First Christmas Catalogue for this year!  From the Arthritis Association.  (& I have had a look through it, too!)  Letter with it says "As Christmas is fast approaching once again............!"      - perhaps I'd beter get my thermals out ready.

Sunny here, now so I can sit in the conservatory and sort out some old bits of paper and etc. (& look at my Christmas Lists! - only joking!)  Have a Nice Weekend, Everybody.

DjoanS said:

Mary GK - glad you enjoyed your holiday in the Borders. We have been to the Kailzie Gardens Osprey Centre a couple of times on day trips from here ... although you can't see the nest 'for real' the big screen is good and as you say, the staff are lovely. The feeders outside have plenty of birds on them ... we were lucky enough to see young nuthatches the last time. I saw my very first live osprey along the river Tweed at Jedburgh on one trip! How lovely to see the ringing as well.

Hi Joan

They have installed an HD Screen now so it is very clear which is nice, they also had a screen on a Herons nest, and one on the blue tit's nest just outside the Centre but the chicks had fledged so it wasnt operating.    I have only ever seen a nuthatch once and that was in Bowness on Windermere last April.  I didnt see the ringing of the Ospreys, but was thrilled to see them ring a greenfinch, goldfinch and two great tits.   How lucky you were to see an Osprey along the river Tweed, we were driving along the roads that run beside it nearly every day and I was so desparate to see an Osprey, but no luck I am afraid. 

Unknown said:

MARY: Welcome back - can't get over the photos of the bird in the hand; definitely worth two in the bush!  They don't look bothered at all.

Annette I was amazed at how still the birds were when they were being handled to be ringed, but once they were in the hand for me to try and get a photo they just wanted to be free.   I had to be quick with the camera.

Unknown said:

Start your packing early Mary - and please give my best to 'The Family' wlhen you arrive at LG. I did enjoy your birdie pics

Thanks Cirrus, will give the family a big wave from all of us LOL...