Weekly Chat, Sunday November 29,2009

Evening/morning!. Hope it's a good week for all.  Check the previous blog for the latest adventures of  Emma Peel and Steed plus recent posts from the usual suspects.   :-)

Emma - what a whirl!  Hope daughter's new boyfriend isn't headed back to Afghanistan any time soon.

EDIT: Oh this is interesting, in the following sentence, I typed the name of Germany's controlling political party during the late 30s/early 40s and it was replaced by asterisks!  Just watched a great Netflix DVD - The Rape of Europa - about the pillaging of art by the *** and the subsequent repatriation of (most of) it after the war. Really interesting with footage I'd never seen before. After that, even more leftover Txgiving pie and rerun of Bridget Joans's Diary on telly while perusing latest Xmas catalogs. Have a good Sunday!

 

  • Annette - I have a book "The Rape of Europa" by Lynn H Nicholas (1994). I guess the same story. Back to an earlier post - we do have gift registry for weddings. Great idea if wedding is distant and one can't go. They wrap & deliver 3 weeks after wedding. No hassles!!! Last wedding we went to had gift reg at major store plus hardware store. Also the couple now have a "wishing well". They mention they want something wildly expensive, guests can leave cash/cheque in said wishing well (alias box) at the reception and the couple can get something worthwhile with the loot. A good idea since so many couples are living together before marriage and they have all the regular household goods. Our offspring gathered cast-offs from all the relatives when they left home - grandmother's table, auntie X's cupboard, uncle Y's chair, etc, etc. It is quite amusing to visit and to ponder the provenance of their house contents. Waste not, want not. I snaffled a set of saucepans when an elderly died. They were stored in our garage until No 1 needed them. When she saved up & bought her own, back they came. Off again to No 2, back again minus a saucepan or 2 that went into the camping kit. The residue went off to the Salvation Army. PS. I doubt my chicks would be interested in leaf blowers. One doesn't garden much, the other is very environmental.

    Auntie - I went looking for Cantus Arcticus. First shop - "Hm, I'll look on the computer. Hm, we did have Rautavaara about 5 years ago." (He sounded like one would say 'Oh bell-bottomed pants went out of fashion 5 years ago'.) Second shop - He gave me detailed instructions to 2 shops in Melbourne. (Too bad Melbourne is some 500 miles away and I don't plan a visit.) Never mind, there is another store when I get time.

  • good morning to all of you

    Annette   I live 160 miles north of Mum, but my bro lives only 4 miles away. I feel guilty as I have been thinking he didn't do enough to help but now know he had a lot going on at home.

    on horses I believe that horse rescue homes here are overloaded and because of the recession people cannot afford to keep their beloved animals. It doesn't bare thinking about.

    Going for a swim, will continue you later  

  • Happy sunday everyone.

    Emma, you have been busy. I needed a sit down just thinking about all that:) Hope all the events went well.

    Dibnlib, enjoy the swim.

    AQ, when we got married we did just that, gathered up people's unwanted stuff to give us a start! My inlaws old sofa and chairs, my parents picnic table for the dining room!! (yes, a picnic table for a dining room set-that started a few conversations I can tell you LOL)When I think back. I'm sure most youngsters today would have a fit if they didn't have new stuff to start with

    Wind died down here overnight so calm but cool

  • Afternoon all,

    Lots of heavy rain this morning then we had some sunshine and now it looks like it is going to rain again.

    Thunderdog was reluctant to go out this morning but managed a walk with him this afternoon.

     

    More shopping this morning. Lady P keeps remembering all these relatives she needs to buy presents for.

    Watching Kettering v Leeds utd in FA cup. The good thing about watching English football is that I can be completely unbiased but slightly favouring the underdog.  

  • Hallo all:

    AQ: The Nicholas book is one and the same; very interesting.  It's funny, my daughter had some of my old furniture, then my granddaughter took some of it, now it's back in our garage waiting for her to come pick it up and take it to Arizona. Some of it I never wanted to see again!!  And a huge old ottoman (those things that go in front of chairs to put your feet up on?) that belonged to my husband eons ago has now shown up in the back of my daughter's truck and that's where her dog rides!  Can you buy Cantus Arcticus online?

    dibnlib: Difficult situation all round with your Mum; here they also have a deal with the post office whereby mailmen keep an eye out for mail that isn't picked up. Of course, that works only - as in our case - when the mailbox is set on a post out by the road and the mail person delivers it straight from the truck. And they have those Lifeline (they call them here) deals, which of course you have to pay for, that dials say, your Mum's phone, every day and if they don't get a response, immediately start dialing backup and/or emergency numbers.

    Alan: I typically support the underdog. Hope the match was good.

     

  • Evening All.   Just come on to catch up on all the news:  glad to hear that you all had a pleasant Thanksgiving in the USA. 

    AQ:   Look forward to pictures of the new pandas eventually!  What a huge expense it's been, they will take a long while to recoup that in entrance ticket money.

    Gary:   Pleased to hear you've been helping with the Christmas preparations; Husband only looks in drink cabinet to see what's needed, then hopes to go out on Christmas Eve to buy it- I nag until he gets it in earlier, on special offer prices. He will have to help with the Christmas Tree this year, though, as after many many years of married life with the 'real thing' I went mad last year and spent out on a large artificial tree, which takes some putting up I can tell you. However, once its up I'm in charge of the decorating of it as I'm a fusspot & no-one else would do it right!   Such is life, at these times of year. Know of others who just jam a tree in a pot & spend what seems like 10 mins on decorating it:  it must be, whatever pleases us most is the Right Thing to do.

    OG:    Your trip sounded as if it was a great success- glad you enjoyed it all.

    Annette:  So sorry to hear the sad tale of your daughters horse- its always difficult to know what to do for the best where animals are concerned. 

    Your day sounds good to me- brie followed by chocolate is just about my idea of heaven.

    Weather very wet here around Lindybird Cottage- big puddles in the garden, especially where we have laid gravel on plastic sheeting to do away with (very small)  lawn at the front.  Will never complain, though, after seeing what the poor people of Cumbria have had to deal with. We both took Dog for a walk in the rain this morning, he was soaked & I carried umbrella in the wind, so all three of us glad to get home to bowl of home made soup/bowl of dogfood.

  • Afternoon Annette:)

    Lindybird, glad the walk is over!! Our tree is in 3 pieces so it isn't too bad to put up. Well done you on splashing out last year. When we brought ours, it came with a video of how to decorate the tree and the guy in it was called "Tree Man Dave"!!! What are the odds LOL Still, I now know you should put all your simular ornaments in a dimond pattern to get the best effect............................

     

  • Great name! Shall call myself Tree Man Dave when I start the decorating!

    Rain now stopped here, on Lindybird Mansions. Hope we have a quiet night as last night it poured down.

  • Lindybird: Towers? Cottage? Mansions? Can Palace be far behind!?  :-)  Just spoke to my sister in Lincolnshire who said they'd gone for a walk in the pouring rain to give carrots to the local horses, but horses were off in their barns - only silly humans out in the p.m. rain waving carrots.  

    Our micro-optic tree is one piece table-top, all you do is shake it out and plug it in.  Hummingbird Mom just showed up to deliver late breakfast; one of the chicks (I heard it,didn't see it) did some tiny  trial flaps with its wings a little while ago; they're both looking very alert and more and more cramped.  Husband just found the unmistakable imprint of a bird hit on our patio window - it measures 2 feet wing tip to wing tip and you can see all the different layers of feathers, plus the body. No sign of owner anywhere. The last few days, when it's been otherwise quiet, I've heard sudden flapping and squawking around the feeder and all the birds have rushed off, so maybe a hawk chasing mourning doves.

    Off to gym to work off overindulgence in pies, not to mention brie and chocolate!

  • Impressed with your sessions at the gym- not a word in my vocabulary!  Off to prepare salad, as feel guilty after eating toffees this afternoon bought at new Sweetshop in the town, oh the goodies! all the old fashioned ones we had when we were little!

    Lindybird Hovel full of Christmas stamps/cards/letters/address lists now, as finalise Christmas cards.