Hi everyone. Happy Sunday! As usual, check out the last few entries of the previous week's chat to find out who left a plant at the supermarket checkout counter and ate a bag of chocolate donuts for lunch.
Brought Oro for home visit today; was lovely and sunny and daughter sat in the garden feeding him treats. He had a little snooze and then while my daughter took a nap Oro and I went to the beach and walked along the grassy area behind the sand for about a mile or so. (No trash cans to crash into!) Marvellous afternoon with brisk breeze and big surf, but now they're forecasting more rain for Monday through Wednesday!
Various missions accomplished and nominated loads of stuff for recycling/throwing/archiving - hooray! Very tired - details tomorrow. 'Nighty-'Night.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Our strangely warm weather is well and truly gone. We had 3 inches (7.6 cm) of snow today, zero visibility at times, and 40 mile-per-hour wind gusts. So sorry to hear about the hummingbird chick's passing. I'm off to bed. Have to start waking up early to get my nest rearranged and in order for spring. Will catch up with everyone later.
By the way: I didn't realize that wolves, brown bears, and a sizeable lynx population can be found in Estonia. Now when I'm watching the wildlife cams, I find myself peering into the forest, hoping to see one of those animals. Here's the link to the article I was reading: http://estonia.ecotourism.ee/estonian-nature Good info about their birds, animals, and history. Forgive me if all of you already knew this, and I'm a dumb American. :-) (For new people, Estonia is the site of the wild boar, eagle, and seal cams that many of us watch. Here's the webcam link: http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/2926 ) Night, all.
Oh, Annette: I'm glad that your daughter is recovering. I know that you must be concerned about her returning home, but I'm sure she'll thrive in her own space. You have been so good to her. Take some time and pamper yourself a bit. A nice ant-free dinner out, maybe. :-)
Hi everyone:
Alicat: It was very cold here in SoCal this morning; if Phoebe was away for an extended period, that could've made the difference to the new chick! :-(
AQ: That's an unusual setup for a fridge, but does make sense. I have a "start" button on our new oven, and I keep forgetting to push it.. Was that deliberate - that SA wasn't settled by convicts - or was it just too far away from the ports where they arrived?
OG: I'm jealous! How would you and OH like to come sort out our stuff now that you're done with yours? :-)
Diane: Are you having any trouble with jerky images on the Estonia cam? For me it keeps rebuffering. Daughter's friend is taking her to the docs tomorrow while I descend upon her apartment with my super-duper vacuum and an arsenal of sponges, scrubbers, and cleaners. And yes, an ant-free dinner out is definitely on the agenda! :-). I'll take Oro back in a couple of days when she's had a chance to settle in. Stay warm.
I See You!
Unknown said: AQ: . . . . . . Was that deliberate - that SA wasn't settled by convicts - or was it just too far away from the ports where they arrived?
AQ: . . . . . . Was that deliberate - that SA wasn't settled by convicts - or was it just too far away from the ports where they arrived?
Yes, definitely. Edward Gibbon Wakefield came up with the colonization scheme (while in gaol in England for abducting a 15-year-old heiress!). Distribution of land was the key. Land was sold at a fixed price and the money thus raised was used to provide free passages for further emigrants. The land price had to be high enough that these labourers would work while saving to buy their own land, thus avoiding a labour shortage. The original purchasers received 1 town acre + 80 country acres for £1 an acre. In 1836 Colonel William Light was sent to conduct the survey of the virgin land, but several emigrant ships arrived before he did. Typical !!! Wakefield never came to SA. BTW there were settlers on the coast & islands many years earlier – sealers & whalers - some made brief stays and a few were living on Kangaroo Island for 20 years before official settlement.
I cannot resist linking to this one. See http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100126.html
and
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100122.html
Tiger Signature
Good Morning Tuesday. Woke early and couldn’t get back to sleep.
My Monday – Dyno sent a local sub-contractor so garage water is all back on. Odd-job-man came when he said he would to estimate for finishing outside jobs which OH has started and not finished! We took the study shelves apart to add a level in the dining room, which we are both agreed is finished and looks good. Having taken files off shelves, and with one less shelf to use, we decided to clean the study (don’t let cleaner loose in here!) and tidy it! Well, I decided, he did most of it!! Persuaded him that his closed client files (from business ceased two years ago but kept for tax-purposes) could be archived in the loft, along with spare computer parts and other things he “can’t do without” (!!). Loads of paper into recycling box (luckily it was emptied yesterday morning!) and cardboard stacked to go to the tip. Broken/useless/surplus junk into bin. Result: plenty of space for everything off the moved shelf – and all much cleaner, tidier and more logically arranged!
AQ – sorry you have had to abandon the tomatoes – was this an experiment, or do you usually grow them successfully? Congratulations on ironing – “thanks” for reminder that I have some to do! “Beachcomber Cottage” was good viewing, but we were all rather cynical about him living there only during the summer months, and with so much support. Sorry I missed Australia Day – I made a mental note somewhere in my silly brain, but lost it! Hope it was a good one, despite having to do all the usual cooking etc.
Heron – you are beginning to “sound” better – you have returned to your usual writing style!
Annette – sorry about the ants and the cornbread. Those ants sound really nasty! Son’s fridge-freezer which we use is fridge above, freezer below – good arrangement. But we hope to get a larger one with two doors side by side. Don’t need large freezer section as main storage is in chest freezer in the garage, but like to have some bread and ice cream handy indoors! I hope you will soon learn your way around the buttons on your new oven – I tend to learn the first few functions and not use half the fancy operations available in some of these modern appliances. Hope your sneezes haven’t become a full-blown cold! Pleased your daughter feels ready to return home – I am sure she will be sensible, and she must have been so grateful for all your help – wipe a little tear and take a deep breath – then think of yourself and OH for a while!
Caerann – thanks for link to behind-the-scenes eagle footage – hope to watch later today.
Dianne – thanks for the info about the settlers and your grand-daddies from Scotland and Ireland. We hear about emigration from here, but aren’t told much about people’s lives once they arrived – good to hear it as a personal story.
Lindybird – thanks for link to Swan-divorce story – interesting.
Alan – enjoyed our haggis, neeps and tatties last evening. Usually mashed tatties, but did “oaten tatties” last night – delicious! No whisky – medication forbids. Re-read “To a Mouse” – hadn’t really taken in all the social comment before – thanks. Sad about hummer chick – but it improves chances for the other one in bad weather conditions.
Dianne – take care in that weather, and enjoy your nest-arranging – I find it very therapeutic.
Tiger – thanks for spectacular Astronomy links.
OH has woken up – now for breakfast!
Caerann No wonder an osprey would be scared!
Tiger : Thanks for the astronomy links. Interesting as always.
Caerann : What a scary owl capture. Thanks for that.
Morning to everyone,
Weather is dull as usual today. Thunderbird 3 has gone in for a service and an MOT so we will have to use Lady P s RR (Rusting Runabout) today.
Andy Murray has won the first set against Nadal in the Australian Open but I think he is behind in the second set. Off to watch that in a minute. It is live on BBC2.
Cloudy ,dry , Temp 1.6c , Sunrise 07:51 , Sunset 16:35.