Weekly Chat, 6th December 2009

See that Annette has been too busy perhaps, to start a new week, so I'm doing the honours. Rather wet in this part of the world this morning, so doing lots of tidying & Christmas preparing stuff.

  • Hazel b said:

    Tutulemma was the word coined by the photographers based on the Turkish word for eclipse. The great eclipse took place on 29th March 2006 and did go through Turkey.

    Sorry Tiger, I can't be serious all the time.  I did read the material you linked to and did find it interesting.

    Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!

  • Friday everyone. Daylight-time is definitely short now, Sun raised here today 9.23am and set 3.07pm, and the days are getting still darker for awhile.

    aquilareen: glad that you got Cantus Arcticus!

    TerryM: will absolutely lookout those Ted pics.

    Alan.

    Unknown said:

     I also have a reindeer called Dancer that turns its head from side to side,another smaller reindeer that just stands there and a Merry Christmas sign that flickers off and on.

    Did you know that there are reindeers who can also lay down ;)

    http://default.asp?V_DOC_ID=3978

     

  • Auntie : Thanks for that but unfortunately I cant get the link to work. I have just taken a photo without the flash. Unfortunately it does not show up very brightly and you cant see the head moving but I can assure you it does.

  • LIZ LFW  Wonderful photo of baby hegehog. Hope ths story had a happy ending. Our first Golden Retriever used to pick up hedgehogs and carry them around (so very gently) until he was encouraged to let go. Poor hedgehog, nutty dog. On one occasion at Plockton he found a baby and we could only guess where to take it back to. Do hope his Mum found him. 

  • Morning all. Propped up in bed with laptop as planning a lazy morning after all that zipping around! 

    Tiger: Really interesting graph - does indeed explain the to-ings and fro-ings of migratory creatures. Good point re PI numbers - I think I noticed that on a subconscious level at some point.   Watlle - tracking down ancestors fascinating - a few years back I got an e-mail from someone in the UK who turned out to be a very distant relative and she was so thrilled when I confirmed the connection. I then put her in touch with my sister, who's older and remembers much more about family stuff than I do.  The Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) headquarters in Salt Lake City , Utah, has an international and apparently very broad and thorough record of births, marriages, deaths, etc., from all over the world. I've heard the UK section takes up the entire ground floor. It's a major destination for U.S. folks tracking down ancestors. Alan: Hope Thunderdog isn't helping by carrying string of lights in mouth. Our neighbor has a reindeer but not as graceful as yours.  Margobird: Are all those e-mail alerts from the RSPB site? I don't get any. Gary:  Target has been trying to get a store in the Santa Barbara area for years, but the stick-in-the-mud city fathers look down their nose at it.  Blech!  We just got a Best Buy and I've heard rumors TJMaxx is coming. In the meantime, we have the oldest, tackiest K-Mart in the world. :-((   A lot of people drive to Ventura to spend their money so SB loses those sales tax dollars. Auntie: No luck with that link either.

    Hallo to everyone else - must get moving; will check back later.

  • Hello, All:  

    What a dear deer, Alan!   Husband had a bit of a fight with one set of lights (as usual, they were alright last year when put away ) but found when replacing one bulb, that several others then sprang into life. Suppose its according to what kind of circuit they are on. Anyway, we are now resplendant with various bits of twinkle so now only have the indoor decorations to do.

    Caerann:  Hope all works out OK for you.

    Margobird  Glad you are OK with that. 

    Liz:    Everyone has said it, but what a great pic of the baby hodgeyheg!! Cheered us all up on another wintry day.

    Have been to cinema this afternoon, at one of those large multiscreen places:  we saw the new one, "Me & Orson Welles" which was excellent, great acting etc., but went with a friend & the two of us had to laugh as there were seats for about 75 people but we were the only ones there! Suppose everyone is out doing their Christmas shopping. 

  • ps:  Hi Annette, have a lazy day for a change!

    also, Hello to Chloe  who's joined us here. Welcome!

  • Annette, You have a K Mart but not a Target!!! What is the world (or the US coming to) Target is so much classier than K Mart!!

  • aquilareen said:

     

    Annette & OG ask 'why deserters'. A long story. I guess the short answer is "because they are there". My hobby is family history but long ago, having reached as far back as possible without making assumptions, I then drifted into helping others. I especially want to help those who live in the country or interstate or for health reasons cannot easily get to the libraries/archives holding resources. So I extract names & basic info from Police Gazettes, Govt Gazettes and other files that catch my fancy, and post these on a website. If I can help a few people get started and at the same time do something interesting, well . . . Most researchers in Australia desperately need to know which ship their emigrant ancestor arrived on. Then they want to know where they went & what they did. With new farming land opened up, gold rushes & other disrupting influences, many people moved about. The Police Gaz are a good source for missing persons. Men travelled, perhaps looking for work, failing to support wife, family &/or parents. (No social services in 1800s.) Children ran away from home, so did wives. Sailors arriving on ships deserted, some of these were caught, others re-signed on again later. I do come across some fascinating vignettes. Harry R left wife & 4 children destitute in Durban, South Africa. Worked here at Wallaroo (mines), then said he may go to Sydney, and to San Francisco. (I wonder if he had a wife in every port?) Then there were the two lads aged 14 & 12 years who left home in Adelaide. One dressed in a blue serge suit & boots, the other in a knickerbocker suit, both with white straw hats, they caught the train to Quorn (180 miles north), from there they intended to walk to a station in Queensland where one of their fathers was working. They were found 110 miles further on. (From Quorn the QLD border is about 450 miles!) Oh dear, I could go on & on. I enjoy the stories I find.

    AQ: Fascinating stuff and good work on compiling these snippets of info. I've been researching my family history for a number of years and know only too well how sketchy the info is from Aus in the 1800's. My heart sinks a little when I find more rellies who emigrated there at that time as, unless they have surviving descendents alive who have also researched their trees and can be contacted, most disappear without trace. Keep up the good work!