Hallo folks. Not much action yesterday afternoon on last week's chat, though SueC quoted a poem by the Wolof fishermen of Senegal about ospreys, which I found reassuring.
Still hot 39 C. Sorry to see the bad weather in southern England. Anywhere else? That's all that made our news. We spent the afternoon at a concert. Dau #2 plays clarinet in concert band that is celebrating its 30th. She’s been a member for 18 years having joined when still at school. They played a series of old favourites which we had to guess – no titles until after the selection. Rogers & Hammerstein, Leroy Anderson, Frank Sinatra, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Schubert, Bach, . . . Lots of toe-tapping tunes & 2 Xmas carols (sing-a-long). Dau had an 8-second solo. LOL. 38 in the band, ages ranging from 13 to 82. Wonderful. I was thinking as I listened, here we have a group with commitment, dedication, etc. Yet these days so many young ones are bored.
Hi AQ. We also had 39 degrees again today and expect the same tomorrow, with a total fire ban. the washing dried this morning in the time it took me to hand water my shade house and orchid house, so I retreated to the air conditioning feeling very satisfied! No, I didn't do any ironing!
It sounds as though you really enjoyed your concert. I can't play, but I love the clarinet and i bet your daughter plays it beautifully.
Smiles, Jan.
Missed a couple of days chatting, but have been reading. Don't think I'll try to catch up with individuals, just say:
sorry to hear about too hot weather - too cold weather - storms - bruises - continuing flu etc etc.
pleased to hear about stories with a happy ending, new carpets, pets, wildlife and families ....
Will add my "news" (or lack of it) later.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
sorry about it being so hot AQ and Wattle. AQ, sounds a wonderful concert:)
Hope all OK there OG
Had a busy day yesterday with the "forman" looking over my shoulder so I couldn't slack for too long!! LOL
Happy sunday everyone
Afternoon everyone,
It is a much better day today on TI and there is no tornadic activity forecast.
Just got back from Huntingdon Garden & Leisure which sells anything you can imagine for the garden or Christmas. Strangely though I did not see any leaf blowers. Perhaps they had sold out.
On the way I saw a buzzard just at the side of the A14 munching on what looked like some road kill. On the way back driving along the A1 we saw at least 3 kestrels hovering over the verges. It is amazing that on the 2 busiest roads in the region that there is so much wildlife about.
Weather is mild sunny. Temp 13.5c , Wind SSW 13mph , Visibility 35kms , Pressure 1002 hPa rising.
Off to take the Thunderdog for a walk.
FAB
glad about no tornadic activilty Alan! How can a place that calls itself a garden center not have such an essential tool!
Hope you enjoyed the walk. Off for some exercise myself.
Just been put off my tea! Nature is sometimes difficult to watch, isn't it? I was happily watching some chaffinches on my tree feeder, and a robin on the window feeder, whan a shadow loomed and a sparrow got grabbed from my wheelbarrow by what looked like a sparrowhawk. It was too quick for me to identify. I know thay have to eat, but it was rotten to watch!
Lovely sunny day her in Skye, we've not got the storms that the South have, but it is cold.
Hi Sue, Thanks for the poem.... Simon's report on Autumnwatch taught us a lot about ospreys and humans living in harmony. Maybe, if more material was filmed, it could be used in a forthcoming wildlife series?
ChloeB & Tiger's Osprey Data Site
Sat track schedule Spring 2014
LG 7 days; RW & SWT nil; LDOP varies
Morning all: Glad the weather in the UK has settled down but ugh, sorry AQ and Wattle are suffering through that heat! Do you slave over a hot stove on Christmas Day? I hang the laundry from the gutters (not on the street side of the house) and it too dries very quickly when the temp is up and the humidity is low.
Alan: All our nurseries (all our stores in fact) are clearing out their normal stock to make room for Christmas merchandise. The leafblowers are probably lurking in stockrooms around the world. Saw an ad in the local Costco throwaway for a snow thrower, not a blower. These machines are getting more aggressive! :-)
We had a turkey vulture circling over our neighborhood yesterday - that bright red bald head is a dead giveaway. Also, went on shopping mission to Trader Joe's and right there, in a tree at the rear of the parking lot right besidea six-lane freeway, was an Acorn Woodpecker, almost outdoing the traffic with it's raucous call.
Hi Jeannette: Hope you got your appetite back.
Take care all.
Good Day Everyone!
I'm so sorry to hear about all the scary weather in southern Britain. I hope all our friends in the area will be safe and well taken care of.
Nice morning here in Chicago, partly sunny with temps to 50f/10c. Yesterday was better as I was outside on the porch with a book (more birdwatching than reading go on of course) and wearing a flannel with long pants. Probably was the last or one of the very last days of the season to be doing that.
I'd mentioned seeing Red-tailed Hawks here in the city and turns out there are some resident birds in the area, not certain yet if they're year-round or return seasonally. We're about 8 miles/12km north and west of our downtown area so am not sure if the R.T. Hawks nest among the skyscrapers or in the parks although I do know we get Peregrines down there.
Speaking of birds, jsb, many thanks for the link to the Balbuzard Pecheur video. It was a nice consolation for having to miss out on Autumnwatch even if I didn't understand a word that was said. =O)
If we have any other military history buffs among us, my sister passed along a good article about a museum for the Navajo Code Talkers which you can view here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2010243900_webnavajotalkers10.html