Have a Chat - September

As it's a new month I thought perhaps to start off a new thread for our September Chat  

So having braved the shops this morning, along with so many parents and children getting their last minute 'Back to School' items ... my afternoon cuppa is going down so well.

I guess many teachers were back in today ... I know Mrs Vimes was (she said so on another thread). Is it countdown to half term already  No surely not although I know of one grandson who is already looking forward to pumpkin choosing, which is around half term week.



Hope your Tuesday is going well so far ... do please stop and say hello

All the best Jan

Awwww I want one ! ( a grandson, not a pumpkin )

zand wrote:Awwww   I want one !  ( a grandson, not a pumpkin    )

Thanks Zand ... he is a joy.

I met another Gran with her young grandson this morning ... he was helping her shop and doing very well, he was so happy and engrossed ... sure the shopping may have taken a little longer but he was so happy, and learning about food ... I noticed she had a lot of fresh foods, and not a box of cereal in sight

All the best Jan

Yes that is a lovely sight. My own first born was a real handful (born 10 weeks early and borderline hyperactive). It took me a while to work out that when I was feeling well, he behaved in the supermarket. When I was feeling ill (constant throat and chest infections) he played up. So I made an effort to engage him in everything from then on no matter how ill I felt (difficult because he was often deaf with glue ear). He became really helpful at recognising 'our cheese' or 'Gran's cheese' and packing the bags so that her stuff was separate and mine was all packed in cupboard order.

Happy Days!

Of course when he became a teenager all that changed.

Ah bless!

Dammit I forgot to say White Rabbits, now I'll be haunted by disaster all month. I saw the New Moon through glass too. I'm doomed, I tell you!

Enjoyed a wonderful low carb lunch today and a chat ... it's always good to chat

The sun actually stayed out long enough for us to enjoy some outdoor time ... magic.

However, as I type this the rain has come back ... Oh Well

... also had phone calls from two of the grandchildren - return to school went well today  

All the best Jan

I walked from the Co-Op to town and it started raining halfway there, dammit as I'd just had a shower and needn't have bothered drying myself so thoroughly.

Drove out to the farm for more beans, then the pretty way to the smokehouse for fish, arriving five minutes before they closed.

Went on to a nature reserve I'd already discovered one end of, but a road was closed for maintenance and I wasn't sure where the path was, so I went on down the coast where the roads were coated in mud from a recent rainstorm, and tried to find a way to the other end.

There was a magnificent rainbow over the wind turbines way out at sea, but I would have needed a 2000 mm lens and a tripod made of girders to do it justice.

A whole bunch of rare-but-not-uncommon birds including a magnificent short eared owl which resembled a flying cat.

What a relief that most of the holidaymakers have gone home and left the place to people who know how to drive on narrow country lanes with passing places.

I passed a pub which used to do magnificent fish meals but has now closed down after changing hands a couple of times. I debated which other pub to eat at but I had so much good scran in the car I decided to come home and cook for myself. Colour me boring but low carb/paleo.

Your grandson is so cute! And it's 38 get ups to half term. Ahem, not that I'm counting, just informing.

Jan wrote:... also had phone calls from two of the grandchildren - return to school went well today

Thank god the school holidays are over after spending a lot time looking after my grandkids over the past six weeks though I love them to bits I'm ready for a break now

That's the benefit of being a grandparent (or an uncle, or even an honorary uncle)

Love your avatar Chris ...

Hope you've had a good Friday !

... I'm just hoping the weather gets warmer over the weekend   So much nicer to enjoy a walk when it's a bit warmer.

All the best Jan

I like your new avatar Chris it's uncanny, you are dead ringer for Graham, are you related?

Outed!

Off to Lodestar Festival tomorrow night where Razorlight are headlining so hope weather stays good. We have VIP passes as my son and Lodestar Festivals owner have been boyfriend/girlfriend for years ! Gonna meet the band ! On the downside, I may have to stay sober :-(

Have a great time at the festival Mo - hope the weather stays good.

Talking of weather, it's certainly changing ... but I love the colours of Autumn don't you?


All the best Jan

This morning I woke up to find we had a power cut, so I went downstairs and just lay on the sofa watching the birds in the apple tree. There was a fully grown bluetit watching at a distance as 6 baby ones played 'tag' with each other and a baby squirrel. I watched for about 15 minutes. It was wonderful. I have seen this before with a young squirrel and 4 young magpies. It was lovely to see them having fun and not looking at all threatened by one another.

Anyhow the scene this morning changed when an adult and a baby robin turned up. The others including the squirrel fled. So my conclusion is that it's true - robins are very territorial.

The electricity was back on after an hour and I thoroughly enjoyed my enforced look at nature. Now back to the TV though.

I think it is so lovely to take a few minutes each day to just look at what we are so fortunate to be able to enjoy, and so often there are so many good things to see ...


The UK's favourite bird - with its bright red breast it is familar throughout the year and especially at Christmas! Males and females look identical, and young birds have no red breast and are spotted with golden brown. Robins sing nearly all year round and despite their cute appearance, they are aggressively territorial and are quick to drive away intruders. They will sing at night next to street lights.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/r/robin/

All the best Jan

Jan1 wrote:Have a great time at the festival Mo - hope the weather stays good.

Talking of weather, it's certainly changing ... but I love the colours of Autumn don't you?

All the best Jan

I do too-In fact Autumn is my favourite season and my mood always lifts around now,I have the the opposite of seasonal affective disorder as my mood is at it's lowest between May and September.

@Paul1976 so you're getting happier while I'm getting sadder.

zand wrote:@Paul1976 so you're getting happier while I'm getting sadder.  

Sad but true...Long days and higher temperatures really screw with my mental health although I've spoke to others with Asperger's who feel the same in the summer.

Paul1976 wrote:

zand wrote:@Paul1976 so you're getting happier while I'm getting sadder.  

Sad but true...Long days and higher temperatures really screw with my mental health although I've spoke to others with Asperger's who feel the same in the summer.

When you put it like that it makes sense. That must be really tough for you. It's bad enough having SAD but yours must be more difficult to cope with. So we're not likely to be happy at the same time then eh?

My favourite month is April because the Summer is yet to come.

I spotted this story today

" Dad Collects Leftover Crayons At Restaurants And Launches 'The Crayon Initiative' For Sick Children

When a dad asked a waiter what they did with the leftover restaurant crayons, he probably didn't anticipate the consequence it was going to have.

But after being told they were simply thrown in the bin, Bryan Ware from San Fransisco decided to take a stand.

In 2011, he began collecting the restaurant crayons after each meal, with a mission to get them into as many children’s hands as possible.

Two years on, the dad-of-two founded The Crayon Initiative, an organisation that repurposes crayon wax into new crayons and distributes them to children’s hospitals across California.

In September 2015, Ware will be heading to New York City to make the first delivery of crayons out of his state."

Read more here

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/03/the-crayon-initiative-bryan-ware-_n_8082694.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cuk%7Cdl3%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D379690


The simple things can and do so often help others .....  

All the best Jan

mo1905 wrote:Off to Lodestar Festival tomorrow night where Razorlight are headlining so hope weather stays good. We have VIP passes as my son and Lodestar Festivals owner have been boyfriend/girlfriend for years ! Gonna meet the band ! On the downside, I may have to stay sober :-(

Hope it was good Mo ...

All the best Jan

We seem to have a lot of magpie's around at present and they can be quite noisy.



" With its noisy chattering, black-and-white plumage and long tail, there is nothing else quite like the magpie in the UK. When seen close-up its black plumage takes on an altogether more colourful hue with a purplish-blue iridescent sheen to the wing feathers, and a green gloss to the tail. Magpies seem to be jacks of all trades - scavengers, predators and pest-destroyers, their challenging, almost arrogant attitude has won them few friends. Non-breeding birds will gather together in flocks."

Have any visited you lately ?

All the best Jan