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?
Sorry, me again. Lots of penguins on the antartica cam.
Terry in Cumbria
TerryM: Thanks for penguin pix, but there isn't a livecam anywhere in those options, is there? I see still shots, but keep wondering if I'm missing anything else?
No, I haven't found a live one. Probably the best shots happen in the 9 minutes 59 seconds in between.
Lindybird said: 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.
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.
I would vote for that one UK time, all year round. If it has to be BST to conform with EST, for trade with Europe, then so be it; but GMT seems most logical (how it was decided in the first place) and it's always going to be dark for kids either going or coming or both anyway up north - just have to train drivers to be more careful and pedestrians to wear high visibility jackets!!!
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Lindybird: loved your Pavlovs's syndrome story!
TerryM: similar weather to yours over the water, but with some sunshine - and the leaves which are still hanging on still look good! Had planned to go to RSPB Mersehead for Feed The Birds yesterday, but it was the weather which put us off - I am so slow moving that I get wetter through not hurrying, or get the battery scooter wet (not supposed to!) - and OH wet getting it out of the car for me!
Annette: greenfinches are green - but can look yellowish, especially next to male siskins (which are smaller). Haven't got any close-ups of either - but plenty on main RSPB site!!
Went to two concerts in Lockerbie Jazz Festival today - complete contrast: firstly four young (not just young policeman syndrome due to my advancing years, they really are very young), very gifted performers playing Modern Jazz (two of them compose), then a local Jazz pianist and a New Orleans trumpeter playing traditional music. Equally good, but very different!
Good morning/evening all! I'm retyping this as the lot just disappeared on me!!!! It's cold and blowing a gale here this morning, after temps getting up to 36 -38 degrees for a few days last week. we did actually get a little bit of rain yesterday, while Sydney got a real drenching.
Lindybird: At least the kykuyu turf got a good watering before they rolled it up again! The bridge breakfast looked really good fun, even if some idiot in a car broke thrugh the barrier and drove right across the bridge on the slippery turf, scattering people everywhere, with a police car in pursuit to make an arrest! I suppose it was just too tempting to pursue, rather than radio ahead to have him stopped at the other end! The breakfast was so successful it looks like becoming an annual event.
AQ: I love the photo of the Markhor! Do you know which it is, goat or antelope? It certainly has goat eyes, but the stature and horns of the antelope. His coat is in about the same state of shagginess as my goat Kenny's at the moment, as he tries to shed his winter coat.
Annette: Yes, we had many CB friends in the States, and played host to some of them when they visited Australia. We talked mainly along the west coast, from British Columbia in the north to LA in the south, as well as Colorado and Kansas. We got there by talking 'skip', which means that the radio signal bounced off the ionoshpere and back down to earth on the other side of the pond, while we couldn't talk to people a hundred miles away. We were 'pirates' because we used amateur radio frequencies without having HAM licences, so were illegal. We were known to the authorities, but left alone because we conducted ourselves properly, to the extent that they came on air and told us we' were OK where we were, but please don't move from that frequency, as they were setting up emergency frequencies above and below the frequency we were using!' To be taken into account to that extent just about knocked our socks off, I can tell you! One lady in Oakland, Cal, and myself in Australia were so reliable that we were used by others to check to see if 'skip was running' that day. If we couldn't be raised by those on the other side of the pond, it wasn't worth trying for anyone else. Sunspot activity meant the end of talking skip for many years, by which time the internet had taken over.
Smiles, Jan.
9.40 Monday morning. Hello all you people still in yesterday and also Wattle who is the only one I know ahead of me! Washing done. Lovely breezy day. Blue sky. Still cool 18 C
OG Thank you for the description of goldfinches. I don't know much about your birds (I'm learning) but they do have such sweet voices.
Annette If your lending library is anything like ours, they have culled 'old' books. Those over 2 years are on the endangered list. There are several I borrow regularly so they register on the computer and thus remain where I can find them. The wildlife park is a must when (note when not if) you visit Scotland. Near Loch Garten too. www.highlandwildlifepark.org
Wattle Goat-antelopes are "any of various wild ruminant mammals of the family Bovidae, such as the mountain goat or the chamois, having characteristics of both goats and antelopes". Try Googling goat-antelope (with the hyphen). Lots of pics. There is a flickr website on them somewhere - I'll look for it if you are interested.
Good Night/Morning All!
AQ: Thanks for the Markhor photos, I've never seen anything like them.
OG: Do you like New Orleans style Jazz at all? It's such happy music, I think.
Wattle: I was big in to CB when it was popular but only really used it when I was visiting my brother on his farm about 140 miles/225 km away. Now I always tease my life partner because his birthday is October 4th or 10-4. Ha ha ha =O) Not having been a CB aficionado, he's doesn't appreciate the joke as much I would like him too.
TerryM: Thanks so much for finding the Penguins! I've been looking the past 2 days and they weren't on camera, but obviously they are there still so I'm glad. To answer your question about your Queenie; she certainly looked to be Maine Coon. I was looking online and there are all types of Maine Coons, not just the ring-tailed with bulls eyes on their sides kind. I had no idea because that's the only type I had ever seen what with my cat (and the litter he sired before the "big operation") and my friend has one like that looks that way as well.
Here is an online photo of a long haired Maine Coon. The second has Maine Coon kittens where you can see some of the targets or bulls eyes on the little darlings. The third is listed as a Manx, but the face and coloring are definitely Maine Coon so perhaps it's a mixed breed.
Hi all: Been a long day and out early again in the morning. Thanks for info re greenfinches everyone.
Wattle: Wasn't it an Australian amateur radio operator who helped with one of the Apollo space missions ??
Off to bed and will look forward to reading blogs and news of Mallachie. G'night/morning.....
Hey Caerann: Hope you had a nice day in the sunshine!