Afternoon everyone.    Sorry I've not been about sooner but the broadband connection is very bad today.  Thinking about it weekends seem to be the worst at the moment.  SO hope that changes next week.

Just managed to wizz my way through last night's shows and I must admit there was a tear in my eye by the end.

Had a successful shopping day yesterday.  Hubby spent loads of money on clothes so I don't feel anywhere near as bad as I did about the stuff I've been collecting together over the last 18 months 

Will try and get back later, broadband permitting. 

Blimey squiggle....was out shopping today and the Christmas stock is arriving..oh what a thought!

Good morning

I think it spoils Christmas by putting up Chriastmas trees this early. And shops are already having Christmas puddings, chocolate Santas etc on sale. If you get them this early, by the time Christmas day comes, people who have bought things this early will be used to seing the trees, or eating the puddings etc, so raducing the pleasure of Christmas itself IMO.

In Cheltenham, although the council will be having the normal street Christmas decorations, they have announced that there will be no formal turning on the lights celebration in order to save money, and I won't be surprised if other councils follow suit.

Morning everyone, couldn't agree more, personally I would like to see Christmas decorations appear mid December and not before and the same with special Christmas items in shops.  Hope its a good day for all, and EL thanks for bumping.

Good morning El Loro and Squiggle.
I love Christmas but I wish all the hype didn't start until December. Some of the shops up here have had Selection Boxes since the middle of August and the garden centre already has it's Christmas department fully stocked.
I am having the family over for Sunday dinner, so may not be around until later tonight. Hope you all have a lovely, relaxed Sunday. (MY hug and kiss smilies have gone AWOL, xxx)

Yogi, here some I posted earlier for you in case they are still missing. You're welcome to use them:

   

Afternoon everyone.    Not been able to get on before as No.1 son and the grandchildren were here.

I think that the first weekend in December is the right time for people to start getting ready for Christmas.  I hate seeing all the goodies in the shops months beforehand, and the thought of seeing a Christmas tree this early would really turn me off.

From what I've read it appears the inevitable is happening:  Preston and Chantelle and giving their relationship another go and Josie and JJ1 have split.  I wish I'd put money of those two results (if the reporting is accurate) as I would be well off now.

Will try and get back later, if not will catch up with you all tomorrow.  Hope the family lunch went okay Yogi. 

Just popped in before I have to take my brother to catch his train. I've just posted this little story over in the Parrot Sanctuary, and though I'd post it here as well, particularly as it's the sort of thing my mother's Squggle would get up to

Squirrel 'stowaway' on wildlife holiday cruise

Efforts are to be made to capture a red squirrel found on a wildlife holiday cruise boat.

The "stowaway" was thought to have fled to The Majestic Line's Glen Massan vessel following a territorial dispute with another squirrel, or being frightened by a bird of prey.

It has been on the Heritage and Wildlife of South Argyll Cruise since Monday morning.

The squirrel was spotted after the boat anchored in Loch Riddon.

It was first sighted by Canadian professional photographer Steve Boyton.

Initial efforts to catch the animal were unsuccessful.

Fresh attempts will be made to capture it on Friday morning when the cruise ends at the Holy Loch Marina.

Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park ranger Jim Downie will board the Glen Massan and lay traps.

He said he was optimistic that the squirrel would be caught unharmed and in good health.

Should his attempts prove successful, it will then be returned as close to the spot where the Glen Massan was anchored.

That's great EL obviously knowing as I do (being so related squiggle wise) I can see that this clever member of our family is checking out possible habitats from the comfort of the boat before deciding on a new home, modern squirrel virtual home browsing as is so popular on the web nowadays

Although not in the same league as the above squirrel's adventure, I was on the Tube in London once when this lazy pigeon walked on to the train at on stop, waited on the train until it got to the next stop, and then walked off (and I'm not making this up)

Another one of that silly forecast website's predictions for next Sunday - but don't panic over the windspeeds because they're impossible (and the effect on the feels like temperature, particularly the 4.00 to 6.59 one is a bit unlikely as well)

Day	From	Until	Temp	Feels	UV	Rain	Cloud	Dir	Speed	Gust	Weather
Sun 19 Sep	1:00	3:59	4 °c	3 °c	0	0.0 mm	7 %		3 mph	4 mph
	4:00	6:59	3 °c	-11 °c	0	0.0 mm	20 %		243 mph	291 mph
	7:00	9:59	12 °c	3 °c	1	0.0 mm	15 %		232 mph	278 mph
	10:00	12:59	16 °c	11 °c	3	0.0 mm	13 %		158 mph	189 mph
	13:00	15:59	17 °c	12 °c	5	0.0 mm	25 %		161 mph	193 mph

Let's all head for El Loro's place next Sunday, it will be exciting!!!

Good morning on a somewhat cloudy day

The forecast for next Sunday has gone back to the normal sort of figures, I sometimes wonder why this particular forecasr site bothers with figures after 5 days (it does 14 days), and after 5, it's just guesswork. It's not the first time it's xome up with silly figures, and I don't think their software can have any checks built in to highlight such obnious errors.

Yogi, I have no idea why your font size shrunk - could be because of all the rain? I have seen other posts here like that, and it just seems to happen on a random basis, and there's no icon available to control the font size. I think that for some reason, the trigger which switches from the small font used for the header of the post (the bit Yog19 to the the number of posts) to the normal font size didn't work.

Good morning everyone.
El Loro, you could be right about the rain shrinking the font size - it's pouring down, in Scotland..

Good morning everyone.  Yogi do you remember those adverts from way back when they told you to buy some item of clothing guaranteed not to shrink because it had been Sanforized or something similar, I see you have managed to reverse the shrinkage now Its not actually raining here but very very grey, does everyone think that's it for Summer.  And EL I love your silly weather forecasts, can you imagine if it were to happen   My husband was a postman delivering letters during the hurricane, a plate glass shop window blew right out as he was passing and several of his colleagues were nearly decapitated by metal street signs launching themselves into the air.

Good morning Squiggle.
I don't remember the adverts for Sanforized clothing. I did google it and apparently the brand is till going strong.
It was madness for Royal Mail to expect postmen to deliver letters, during a hurricane. 
It's a wonder that nobody was seriously hurt.

Good morning everyone.    Hope you are all well.  Weather is rather overcast here but we are not due any rain.  I really hope this is not the end of summer!!  I'm hoping for an Indian Summer well into October - wishful thinking perhaps.

Yogi, my tomatoes have nearly come to an end now.  I've had some many I had to give some away.  I hope yours continue to ripen with the aid of the bananas!! 

I remember the Great Storm of 1987, as I'm sure many of you do. I was working in Cheltenham at the time and saw this lamp post outside bending over. Never seen anything like that before or since. One of the fatalities took place in the centre of Cheltenham where a woman was killed by one of the many falling trees. And of course Michael Fish became the most notorious forecaster in living memory for his "Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way; well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't, but having said that, actually, the weather will become very windy, but most of the strong winds, incidentally, will be down over Spain and across into France".

The following day I had to go on a course in London, and I was one of the few people who made it. One of the episodes of "Our Friends in the North" (the 1987 episode) was based in part in London and I think that one of the characters met their end in a restaging of this storm.

The maximum speed measured that day was a gust of 122 mph, so that is an indication as to how silly my posted forecast is.

Good morning Joyron.
The bananas have worked a treat. I think I'll be making tomato sauce instead of green tomato chutney now.

I'll be having a tomato and a banana at lunchtime today (and other things), so I'm keeping Yogi and Joyron company.

Squiggle, I suspect that summer is over and we are heading straight into autumn, and the notoriously rubbish weather forecast site shows next week as being very windy with speeds of between 30 and 40 mph for much of the time, and temperatures down to the low teens due to the winds coming from the North (C, not F)

Guess what, at long last Orange have been on the phone asking about my broadband connections problems and talking about sending an engineer free of charge. (that's taken them 11 days to come back). But that is a bit too late now considering that Virgin come tomorrow to do their installation.

It's gone

The neighbour's old car which has been stuck on our shared drive for a very long time, the best part of a year totally unused and rusting away, has at long last been towed away to the breakers yard. That is great news as it has been causing irritation for me, particularly when I had the work being done on the house, and it must have been a nuisance for the neighbours. The cost of getting the car into saleable condition would have exceeded anything they could have got for it, so scrapping was the only sensible option. I knew that, the workmen knew that. In the end 3 weeks ago a client of mine who was in the new car business told me when he was visiting that the scrap value was relatively high at present as I asked him for his opinion. So I told the neighbours and they finally took the hint.

 Great result and smart thinking on your part.

I read your post ^^^^ about Orange contacting you - what a cheek!

Maybe not such wishful thinking on your part though Joyron as you are going to cruise away very soon to somewhere hot (can you give us all a rough idea of your itinerary?)

Squiggle, we will be calling at Barcelona, Cannes, Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Rome, Palma, Valencia and finally Gibralter before returning home.  As I've told you before my main wish on this trip is to return to Rome (before I'm too old) and I've always wanted to visit Gibralter, so this voyage suits my wishes

 My reason for wanting the Indian Summer to stretch into the end of October is that only one week after we get back we have to change the clocks and I'm certainly not looking forward to going into those dark evening!!

I'm trying desperately hard not to bore you all to death with this trip, which is why I'm trying not to mention it too much.

 Joyron, I'm happy to hear the details of your cruise. Don't think of it as boring us to death, think of it as sharing your excitement.

Yes I agree with Yogi Joyron, I love to hear all the details, what lovely clothes you are taking etc., its a lovely itinerary and I am sure will be a memorable holiday.  Will you throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain? And you must remember ALL the details on your return so you can make us sigh with envy

Squiggle, I've got lots of ripe tomatoes now.

How great, cheers for Radio Devon

Thank you for saying that Yogi.  I'm slowly getting more and more excited as the days tick away but I didn't want anyone to think "why is she going on and on and on about this flipping trip!!".  I cannot believe in a little over three weeks we will be onboard.  No more cooking or cleaning for a whole two weeks  - that's a bonus on top of all the great places we get to visit!! 

Now that's something worth shouting about.

Thank you for that too Squiggle.  As I said above I don't want to bore you all with this trip but I am certainly happy to share my excitement with you!.  I'm not sure about the coin in the Trevi Fountain.  I threw one in when I was around 12/13 years old, which is what takes me back this year.  If I throw another one in when I visit does that mean I have to go back again!!  Perhaps I'll just let hubby throw one in (as he has not been to Rome before).

Just as an aside, my No.2 son has been trying to get hold of a downloaded copy of Roman Holiday for me but the one he found is not a good copy at all.  He said I can buy a compilation Audrey Hepburn DVD which includes this film but I'm not sure if I should be spending my money on this or not.  Any thoughts?? 

It certainly is. 

Joyron in 3 weeks time

Well it does depend on the cost about the film, all I can say is that you will really enjoy it and its always great to see the lovely Audrey.

I did a recce on eBay and this one comes to £1.99 (so far 1 bid) including postage, so worth checking out maybe and it says its in perfect condition with extras on the DVD

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Roman-Ho...;hash=item20b372c172

Hope my ship is a little more sea worthy than that Squiggle!!  It's lovely talking together at the same time.  Doesn't happen very often but it's nice when we do. 

With regard to the DVD I'll get No.2 son to find out how much it costs and where to get it from before making any decision.  (Sorry Squiggle I've just seen the end of your post.  I will check it out) 

Joyron, Roman Holiday is a must to see at least once in your life - they don't come much better.

You can buy it for £4-93  from Amazon at this link.

This is a new copy whereas the Ebay will be second hand

Thank you for joining us El Loro.  Now I REALLY feel as though our little family has come home!!!  I will most certainly buy Roman Holiday from one source or another. 

Roman Holiday is definitely worth watching, and it has the added bonus of the lovely Gregory Peck.

I love Gregory Peck too Yogi.

I've really enjoyed our conversation tonight but I have to sign out now as hubby will be home soon and I've got to cook his tea!!

Hope to catch up with you all tomorrow. 

Bye for now Joyron, speak to you tomorrow.