Evening/Morning all: This week should bring more interesting news about Mallachie. Check the last few entries of the previous Weekly Chat for another photo of Queenie and other input from bloggers!
Hope you all got your clocks, microwaves, coffee pots, TVs, etc., organized for the next six months. And when did BST replace GMT, at least in the summer. In the US, standard and daylight savings time have had a long and fascinating (and apparently often confusing) history, given that we have three times zones for the contiguous states. DST is another matter, with most states changing but some not, but at least we don't have 30 minute increments like they do in Australia!
TerryM: The GE Help window is pretty clear re tours. I do recall that it took several "clicks" to get the thing started. Other folks commented on that and I had the same experience in the beginning but then it was okay. I tried to copy and paste some of the info onto your page, but it included boxes with images and they didn't copy. I'm sure other folks will have more helpful info. Good luck. Too bad lovely Queenie isn't around any more. When my daughter and I were away the other week, we stayed at a place which is a favorite "drop off" spot for folks wanting to "lose" cats. They had three cats when we were there, which hung around the garden entrance to the dining room waiting to be fed (by the staff). One night, the cats were served prime rib, all nicely chopped up for easy digestion!!!!
Alan: So. Are you treating us all to a trip to Loch Garten next year with your lottery winnings or will we be depending on the webcam again? :-)
Gary: Dying to hear about your English food outing (what was it really like?)
OG: We grow tomatoes outside here but my friends who do often fence them and other veggies in to keep various critters, including deer, from snacking on them; not to mention snails. My sister has expressed some frustration with EU rules - specifically not being able to buy French cheese off a market stall (I think that was it). Is following EU rules a bore or do you think it's generally for the good?
It is a beautiful day here on TI. Why on earth the clocks have changed I have no idea. It will be dark at 5. Whats the point in that? I have just cut the lawn with the aid of my trusty companion Thunderdog Hamish.
Unfortunately I did not win the lottery last night so I wont be able to treat everyone to a trip to LG next year.
There are lots of goldfinches around here too but I have been unable to tempt them into my garden despite my Nyger seed feeder. Lots of starlings at the mealworms this morning though.
Weather conditions Dry and Sunny.
Temp 16.4c . Dew point 7.3c . Wet Bulb 11.8c . Humidity 55%. Pressure 1008mb.
Morning Alan. So sorry that the lottery winning task was unsuccessful.
I'm sorry to have to disagree with you about changing the clocks. We are now back into Greenwich Mean Time (those of us who remembered are anyway!) which is the "real time" for those who live near the Greenwich Meridian. This means that 12 o'clock is truly midday with daylight hours being equally shared either side of it. Sunrise this morning was at 6:50 am and sunset will be just after 5 o'clock.
For those of us that have to start work very early in the morning it is a relief once the clocks go back not to have to drive in pitch darkness.
Moving the clocks forward in Spring is simply a way of utilising the extra daylight which is otherwise "lost" early in the morning during the summer. I for one would be against extending this all year round.
Sandy : I take your point about people that start work early in the morning but surely the reverse is true going home in the rush hour in the dark and by the time it gets to Christmas even the school kids are going home in the dark. It is also notable that there are more road accidents in October than any other month.
I did not mind so much when I was working as I often went to work in the dark and came home in the dark and did not see any daylight at all but now that I am retired it is just an inconvenience to change the clocks in October.
I think there is even a case for double summer time and then back to one hour ahead in winter. It is estimated this would save 100 lives a year.
Hello, All.
TerryM: Thanks for another lovely pic of Queenie- I do rather lean towards the idea of her being a Maine Coon now, having had a good look at the tail! She was certainly a lovely animal.
AQ & Wattle: Was given a smile this morning, by the sight on our BBC News website, of all those people having a picnic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge! What fun - hope as they say it may become an annual event. (everyone else, go have a look...) Loved the 'goat-antelopes', AQ, what elegant creatures.
OG: Don't you just love the term "charm of goldfinches" - it suits them so well. ( I know we had a bit of talk here about collective nouns a while ago) Also, agree with you totally about the European thing, voted for membership of European Union myself years ago, but now am aghast at how they are telling us what laws we can have, and all this talk of 'Yuman rights', etc.etc., & interference even in our sausages, our biscuits, & straight bananas...... it's got me going, now, ranting!!!!! and no, I'm not a political animal either.
Could have another rant about the hour change- don't think it will ever please everybody, as the farmers way up at the top of Scotland are not going to want the same as those in Cornwall. Myself, wish they would just decide on a time of day & stick to it all year round.
Still very mild here & only slightly damp. Colours of the trees are wonderful, such a display to savour
Have a good day, everyone.
Pavlov's Dog....
Here is a little tale which may make you smile.
When we got our dog, over 8 years ago, I decided that it might just be useful if I trained him by giving a little whistle whenever I put down a food bowl or dog treat. That way, he might associate the whistle with pleasure, and actually take notice of me when we are out & about , and he is off the lead. So, I have continued with this routine and it has actually worked, to some degree, when he is not off chasing some poor rabbit or other (don't worry, he doesn't know what to do with them if he actually manages to catch up with them). The other day, I put down his food bowl in the kitchen, as usual, and when Husband and Dog returned from their walk, they found me leaning weakly against the sink, in hysterical giggles: I explained, when I could speak, that I had found myself whistling to no-one, as I have now apparently, trained myself!!! and associate his food bowl with whistling, so can't stop, even when there isn't a dog there.....
That was most amusing, Lindybird. Sort of thing that sometimes happens to me.
Good Day/Night All and we're heading towards a 3rd page of chat on Sunday already. FAB, as Alan says. It's a gorgeous day in Chicago with temps at 14c and SUN! We've had so much overcast and rainy weather here that I'm going out to play in my garden now and will be back later on. =O)
Evening all - just a quick look, see what's been happening.
Annette/Lindybird: thanks for the cat comments, for those interested in cats I will put some onto my page (now I have found out how easy it is to do! I assume it's much like doing it here).
OG: what lovely goldfinches on your feeders, we usually have no more than four at once, yours must have been amazing.
My part of Cumbria has been blowing a hoolie today and there can't be many leaves left on the trees. Dark at 5pm? It's been pretty dark all day... roll on spring. No, I don't really mean that, if it would stop being so windy I love autumn, all those beautiful colours.
Terry in Cumbria
Afternoon/evenng all:
OK, It's 12:45 p.m. (just after noon) in California. I think we're 7 hours behind the UK until next weekend. Spoke to my sister in Lincolnshire this morning and she says it'll probably take them about 6 months to reset all their clocks/devices - a bit like painting the Golden Gate Bridge: no sooner you complete it you have to start again - really. We have the same problem with an increase in accidents in the States (used to work for Auto Club and we used to warn readers about the hazards of kids on the roads and on bikes, etc., after dark) Not so much in California as northern tier states.
Wattle: That must've been interesting - talking via CB. Did you have friends or fellow-CBers here?
AQ: More lovely photos - what a wonderful Wildlife Park
OG: Goldfinches are pretty: Next year, I'll try to get shots of our Orioles. Silly question, but are greenfinches green? I got it re invasions. I tried to find "1066 and all that" and "And now all this" some time back, but the local library didn't have it. Wonder why?? :-)
Lindybird: Sounds like you did a great job of training yourself with dog whistle. :-) Re EU What!? Interfering with sausages? Pretty nervy if you ask me. On the other hand, my hard-working niece just got a tenured teaching job at a private university she'd been teaching at for eons on a contract basis (grossly overworked and underpaid) after telling them they were in violation of EU laws. So like all things, good and bad, but please, not the sausages! :-)
Caerann: Enjoy the warm Chicago weather while it lasts. Nice too here in SoCal (but what else is new? Sorry!) Got a lot of dishes back in cupboards but now missing a whole bunch of stuff, which I suspect is stashed under the beds rather than in the garage. Off to dig around. Take care all.
Annette - greenfinches are green, but it's not a silly question really because you never know! Grey wagtails are grey and yellow, and yellow wagtails are less grey and more yellow, so how are you supposed to know which is which when you don't see them together? Obviously experienced people know, but it's not easy when you first see a new bird.
Did anyone go to a Feed the Birds event yesterday? We went to Geltsdale, I think we were the only ones all day, we were certainly the only ones between 11 and 2. It's rather remote, but there wasn't much else happening in Cumbria so you would have thought someone else would go. It was raining and windy, maybe shopping was more exciting!