Weekly Chat, Sunday October 25, 2009

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?

 

  • Speaking of Turkey Vultures, meet Al V;  a partially albanistic T.V. who hangs out at Illinois Beach State Park. He looks like a Black Vulture but it's been confirmed he's a Turkey Vulture.     

     

     

  • morning Caerann (by the way, can you change your name please, I can never spell it!!!! LOL)

    Pud is quite good looking I have to say. We have never petted him as he lets you get to within about 5 ft and then moves! He is happy to be fed and live in our hay loft though LOL

    Thanks for the links about the trees. They are so impressive.

    How is the weather there? Cold ish here and rain forcast for later today and tomorrow.

    That is quite a picture. Spectaular!

  • Lindybird said:

    Dog says "Don't eat so many dog biscuits at lunchtime, and cut out the bread thrown down for the ducks, at the lakeside..." 

    OK - will tell the medics I promise to cut out the dog-biscuits - can't bend down to the duck bread!!!

    Like the real cat, Pud, Gary - nothing fancy, just a "puddy-tat".

    Plasterer, and mate, got finished before lunch.  Don't know when we get the next workman - I think plaster takes two days to "go off" and we shall not be here Friday - so this might be the end for this week!.

    Another driech day - not much bird activity - only seen Mrs Blackbird and a few goldfinches so far - oh, and gulls flying over.

    Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!

  • Afternoon all,

    Caerann : Thanks for the info on the kingfishers in the Nat. Geog. mag. I will have a look if I can find a copy.

    Been on various missions today. Shopping, car cleaning, garden tidying and dog walking in that order.

    All were completed successfully.

    Weather is cloudy but dry at the moment. We  had some rain last night but not enough to relieve the drought.

    Temp 16.8c , Wind S 10mph , Humidity 80% , Visibility 20kms , Pressure 1017 kPa falling.

  • Morning all.

    Hey Wattle: Assume that spellcheck option wasn't on this site blog, but another program?  "Tango Lima" sounds exotic.  I remember listening to a radio program called "Bush Doctor" or something like that, when I was growing up; couldn't imagine a country so huge doctors had to make house calls in planes. Re the Apollo missions, Honeysuckle tracking station played a major role, but a comedy movie called The Dish apparently  twisted the facts and gave Parkes tracking all the credit. The internet has several "let's get the facts straight" sites. 

    Caerann: Seen the smaller redwoods but not the huge ones. And yes, been to Sequoia National Park and those are pretty impressive too!  Regarding Gary's comment about spelling of names: My nephew is called Ciaran and we had to have the correct spelling (according to his parents) relayed to us several times! Is Cairan the male version of Caerann??

    Lindybird: Re trees, there's a Bristlecone Pine in California's White Mountains that's almost 5,000 years old and is nicknamed Methuselah. Its exact location is a secret. You can see pix of similar trees in that area at  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/methuselah/. (Not nearly as awesome as the old redwoods.)  Apparently, Swedish scientists have ID'd a conifer that's almost 10,000 years old in Dalama, Sweden.  There's gotta be some way that your camera can upload to your computer and the site, but it's so frustrating when it doesn't just 'happen.'

    Gary: Pud and Lightning would probably get on very well since they seem to spend so much time asleep.

    Just in case some folks haven't seen the main blog. Balbuzzard posted an interesting link www.ospreys.org.uk/observer09oct.html which relates atrip across Europe in search of migrating ospreys.

    Back later; in the meantime, hope you get rain/sun in appropriate amounts.

  • Ensuite update: I was wrong!  Heated Floor man is coming tomorrow (and maybe Thursday too)!  He has to lay the wired mat thingy and then screed over it ready for tiled floor.  I thought it seemed odd to only have half a day's work in a whole five-day week!

    OH says there is fat pigeon on the fence.  He started the report with "If one of the fence posts falls over ... ..." - it must be really huge!!!!

    Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!

  • OG, great news. Like the idea of a heated floor. some of my family have it in various guises and swear they wouldn't be without it. Very exciting.

    Don't work too hard today Annette and thanks for the info about the trees. I can't remember the name of where I went but it wasn't far from San Jose, in the maountains somewhere!! Fabulous time.

    Busy and productive day for you on TI Alan.

  • OG. Heated floor sounds wonderful. Just stay clear of that fence post...

  • Annette, I meant to agree with you about manuals for appliancies. It is like programming nucular launch codes! It took us 18 months to work out we had a seperate button for a warming tray in our cooker!!