Good luck with that one then LOL the sort of thing I do when I have ( Forced to make app' ( never turn up for) LOL
Keith - A lot of us on Weekly Chat also look at Gabfest. IMHO you did nothing wrong :-))))
Thank You - HeatherB - Your post means so much - I had restrained from posting on Gabfest for days (A site I love) as was so upset at the flack I had - Now I will go back happy and all MY FRIENDS will welcome me back (They also gave me their 100% support). Thank You - Your support on here does mean so much.
Keith - you guys have a lot of fun on the Gabfest and I enjoy it vicariously !! You certainly have good friends on there :-)
So I believe, dibnlib!!
I'm off to bed with my library book, no exciting evening here! OH is fishing again tomorrow so he will be upstairs shortly, its a long day again tomorrow for him. No fish today. Live in hope for tomorrow. Night all -
Evening all: APOLOGIES for hogging so much space for this major catch up on all the news.
Went off to the beach today with my book; was busy reading and missed a seagull that snuck up beside me and made off with a little plastic baggie containing some nutty crackers that I'd stashed on top of my shoe. I chased him around a bit - he didn't even bother to fly off, just ran hither and yon with me chasing behind like a loony - not so much worried about the crackers as having the plastic bag end up over his head or something. Other folks joined in (a bit of a hoot) and our thief finally took wing but then dropped his booty in the surf. A young guy beat him to the bag, at which point I gave the pesky bird what was by that time just a soggy pile of crumbs. I figured he'd earned them.
patriciat: Absolutely horrified to read about the thugs and the collie (and the cat). I really think the so-called "entertainment" so many of these kids see (video games, etc.) somehow inures them to suffering. Did they get the kids? Can I come and pour lighter fluid on them? What happened to the collie? Ugh! I'm sure you remember the recent shooting at the movie theater in Colorado? Well, the youngest victim was 5 years old. My question (among many others) was: What on earth was the mother thinking taking her 5-year-old to a midnight showing of a violent movie!!!
jsb/Tiger: Thanks for the feral cat link; will check it out later.
AQ: Nice to get away for a day or so; I'll look forward to the pix (more churches, no doubt!) :-)
Clare: Only 8 months old when Armstrong landed on the moon! You must be one of the youngest folks on the thread. Ha! We didn't have any kind of phone until I was about 12 or 13! (I must be one of the oldest folks on the thread!). :-)
Margo: I think a whiff of anything stronger than wine would knock me out at this stage. Glad you're feeling better.
Diane: I kept expecting cranberry farmers to pop up out of that red grass! (To UK folks, the cranberry industry here has an advert with two farmers standing thigh-deep in what looks like a lake filled with cranberries.)
Cirrus: I watched the TV clip of the couple who saw the latest "lion" in the field - they seemed very stable and solid folks. That's fascinating that you've seen one of the big cats. I think I had about two Knickerbocker Gloriesin my life - we used to go up to C&As in Oxford Street now and then and they were a real treat. Can't remember where we got them - Lyon's Corner House?
Alicat: Lovely shots, especially of the waterfall and the Highland cow (steer? bull? calf?), but my favorite is Bobbie on the rock. Sounds like the bugs really like you - maybe use something before you go off into the wilds next time?
dibnlib: Are they posting that "not a lion" sign in supermarkets I wonder.... :-) Oh that's hysterical about the anti-bug catherine wheels. Also had to smile at the photo of the clueless prince; I wonder what was said to him behind closed doors!
George: Always good to see you - sounds like Fall is on its way there.
OG: Saw that awful news on the drownings - ghastly for the families and community. No, not doing too much, just a lot of small things and STILL haven't done the ironing! :-(( I also envy you those meals out.
Alan: Lady P must be heartily sick of the doctor's office by now. The cygnets are growing up nicely; I see Mom is still keeping an eye on them. Hope the sending of e-mails and letters releases some of your frustration; I have the same reaction to people like the thugs who set the collie on fire. We should be able to "cull" people like that! :-)
Heather: [Edited by moderators] Hope you survive all the appointments tomorrow and that OH doesn't fall in the water again.
Keith: Sorry you got static for posting the naughty photo. :-) Had no idea what the Yellow Triangle was until just now.
Hi also to Brenda and fish.
Sorry for the long catch up folks. Must go and toss dinner on the table and really, really must do the ironing or I won't be able to leave the house tomorrow!
Mildura & Wentworth weekend. We set off 7.30 am, crossing the Murray River at Blanchetown
Then again near Kingston-on-Murray
and again at Paringa
Low rainfall (Renmark 10 ins per year, Mildura 11½ ins) so scenery is thus
and
unless the land is irrigated. Then they grow stone fruits, etc. Here be oranges
vines
and almonds
Obviously all pics through bus window . . . to be continued
Annette in SoCal Clare: Only 8 months old when Armstrong landed on the moon! You must be one of the youngest folks on the thread. Ha! We didn't have any kind of phone until I was about 12 or 13! (I must be one of the oldest folks on the thread!). :-)
Accountants of the world unite!
aquilareen Mildura & Wentworth weekend. We set off 7.30 am, crossing the Murray River at Blanchetown
Thanks Clare. It was about 9.30 am and overcast. Just sheer good luck I managed to snap pic as we drove over the bridge. Ahem, I've cropped out the window frame, bus seats, heads, etc!!!
That's a trick I need to learn. Very neatly done - I imagine most people are happy to be spared a close-up of a bus seat!
Mildura Wentworth weekend continued . . . Arrived in Mildura (across the border in Victoria) at 1 pm for lunch stop at Info Centre/cafe. I wandered off to "collect" 2 churches and spotted these sculptures in the main street median strip, Deakin Avenue which is 12.1 km long.
The Presbyterian, now Uniting, church was very ornate.
Mildura was founded by the Chaffeys, Canadian brothers, who had created an irrigation scheme in California. [Attention Annette!] Invited to Victoria by govt, they set up a similar scheme. William remained in Mildura while Charles came to Renmark in SA. SA's irrigation scheme was signed 3 months before VIC's. (Notice the state rivalry!) Alas severe drought & depression struck in 1890s, the Chaffeys went bankrupt. Charles had built a house in the style of a Canadian log cabin in Renmark (we saw it on a previous trip), while William built a magnificent house "Rio Vista" in Mildura. It is now an Arts Centre.
Just one of dozens of stained glass windows, many featuring birds, all different.
Nearby were 3 old vines from earliest commercial plantings in 1901, known as Lady de Coverley in England and sultania in Persia
To be continued. There will be birds eventually!
AQ you obviously had a good time out and about. Thanks for the pics.
Like many of you I am beyond words for anyone who abuses any animal. There is no punishment i wouldn't hand out to these unmentionables. I do think some of the things we view are to blame. Remember my GP telling me he had gone to the pictures for a rare night out with his wife. There was a huge queue and he wondered what was on. Says a lot when he found out the really popular film was "Chainsaw Massacre in Texas" or some similar title. As for the little girl who was at a late night viewing of a violent film,well it just beggars belief. End of rant.
Another polite reminder: Please treat fellow community members with the respect and courtesy you would expect to receive yourself. You may not post defamatory material to RSPB forums. In particular, you must be clear that any view you express/post is your own and relevant to the forum topic. Abusive, disruptive, irrelevant postings, comments and advertising may be removed and may result in your registration being deleted.
In order to bring this thread back on topic and more relevant, please note we have had to delete and edit some of the posts on this thread.
Successful badger vaccination here
If some farmers are agreeable to vaccinating the badgers what is wrong with the ones that want to cull them?