The Rose & Crown

[Arbutus @arbutus]

I’ve just been sitting with a tea and the news this Sunday morning, reading about the terrible flooding going on in southern England. My thoughts go out to all our UK friends, I hope you and yours are safe and as dry as can be expected in the circumstances!

[Arbutus @arbutus]

Ha. We have a long weekend here, and Monday is the new Sunday for me today. Mind, how easily art thou confused!  🙂

[janetteB @janetteb]

I’ll echo those words @arbutus. I hope none of our friends here are affected by the flooding. I was looking at images this morning and just wishing that we could stretch a giant hose around the planet and take some of that water. You have to much, we have too little. It is 42 degrees here, the garden is frying, and I just wonder, when, when, those who can, will sit up and taken notice of what is happening to this fragile little planet of ours and do something to fix it.

Cheers

Janette

[Anonymous @]

@arbutus @janetteb

It’s not just floods we’ve got to contend with! I don’t know about the rest of the UK but in Birmingham it’s now snowing. Heavily. Huge flakes the size of a 20p piece (approx. 2cm).

I don’t know how long it will last but the big kid within me is squeeing with delight 😀

[Anonymous @]

Weather update. It’s stopped snowing 🙁

[janetteB @janetteb]

Arrrgh. Snow. That isn’t fair. It’s about 35c out there now, at 10.00 pm and tomorrow will be hitting 43c. I long for snow.

Cheers

Janette

[Arbutus @arbutus]

Ah, detailed conversation about the weather. So very Canadian.  🙂   I’m fortunate to live in very temperate conditions. So we here in Vancouver all struggled through last week when the temperatures dropped to around –8 (plus windchill) and the air became very dry. Similarly, we start panting when the summer temperatures reach into the high twenties. I’m well aware that my correspondents in other parts of the world will laugh at this! Our biggest extreme usually involves lots and lots of rain between November and March (although not so much this year, I must say!). As our cold spell wound down, there were dire forecasts for a whole lot of snow over the weekend, and all kinds of safety warnings in the medium. In the end, not a flake. Just some rain and fog, and a lot of ice this morning after it dropped below zero again overnight. Where’s the fun in that?

So I wish for everyone more rain or less rain as required, cooler temperatures in the south, warmer temperatures in the north, and enough snow to have fun with, but not to cause traffic crashes and trap senior citizens in their homes for days.  🙂

 

[Anonymous @]

 

Ah but @arbutus  the ice! That would worry me. Even though our cars (if left in the sun can be over  60 degrees Celsius) and our days in mid Summer are 35 degrees, we don’t have to worry about thawing out our cars, adding something to the fuel so it doesn’t freeze (that’s right: anti-freeze) and then the tyres! You need snow tyres and how awful is driving on ice: walking on it looks bad enough and I’ve done that on holiday and fallen oven dozens of times. There must be a way to get from A to B on ice: I guess, not going is the option you’d suggest? 🙂    Yep, it was so hot in the un A/C classrooms that I was literally dripping with perspiration. When I went back to the staffroom, my mascara had melted down my face. Embarrasing!  I’m gonna give up makeup for the rest of Summer: pointless. What are the stats about how many kilos of lipstick women eat over a lifetime? Big incentive 🙂 Kindest, puro.

[Anonymous @]

yes @janetteb  I agree:  “taking a garden hose and stretching it around the planet”. It’s true: most of QLD is under dreadful drought conditions and there are poor farmers shooting their cattle and sheep. Unfortunately, it’s even worse than that for some families.

The govt here in Australia doesn’t particularly acknowledge the global warming phenomenon. “What warming?” they ask.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@purofilion     I will admit that, living in the middle of a city where we get very little snow, we don’t put snow tires on in the winter. When it snows, we just don’t drive. There is good transit in our area, because we are very central, and lots of stuff is within walking distance. The Family Members put away their bikes in slippery conditions and take the subway. Ice can be difficult of course, but we only get it a couple of times a year.

I’m astonished that the Australian government doesn’t acknowledge global warming when you suffer its effects so much there. We have a very frustrating government here in that regard. As a nation, we contribute so much to the situation and yet suffer some of the lightest effects (although we have our share of flooding, tornados, and so on, it is much less widespread and frequent than many places). Because we don’t suffer, the government seems to feel that they can ignore the problem. Drought is a terrible, frightening thing. I remember some years ago in Alberta, the ranchers there were in the same position as yours are now. Dry, dry conditions, insufficient grazing, brush fires. And last summer they had flooding, and whole towns were under water. And meanwhile, our government’s main concern is figuring out how they can pump as much bitumen as possible out of the tar sands, to put more money in the pockets of oil company executives.

I guess we can only do as my husband suggested the other night when we got onto depressing subjects, “Can I pour you some more wine?”    🙂

[janetteB @janetteb]

@purofilion  “The govt here in Australia doesn’t particularly acknowledge the global warming phenomenon. “What warming?” they ask.”  of their pals in the fossil fuel industry because they wouldn’t ask a scientist.

I used to love summer. Now it depresses me as I watch my garden wilt and pets pant for breath while knowing that it is only going to get worse and nobody who can will do anything to fix it.

I should resist the temptation to talk politics/global warming, otherwise I just won’t stop. Oh where is the Doctor. The planet needs him.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @janetteb]

I drove on snowy roads in Stockholm. We were advised to change to snow tyres one fine weekend in late October so being “newbies” we did so and sure enough, mid week it snowed and snowed and snowed. The busses stopped running because they hadn’t changed to snow tyres and I had to go and collect my partner from the rail terminus. After spending an hour digging out the car I managed to get onto the road and it was uncanny. There were no other vechicles moving but abondoned cars and busses all the way and here was I, the Aussie expat who had never driven on snow before, the sole car on the highway. I made it there and back safely. It turned out the the locals had all ignored their own advise.

Cheers

Janette

[Anonymous @]

Disaster narrowly avoided!

My kitchen ceiling sprung a leak this afternoon cause by all the rain (I live on the top floor of a block of flats). The Council said it would take 48 hours to get some out to repair it so I popped to the shops to by some filler and did it myself.

Off to do some mopping up now 👿

[janetteB @janetteb]

Just as long as you are better at repairing ceilings than I am at fixing taps @fatmaninabox. I recently replaced a washer and wrecked the tap.

Cheers

Janette

[Anonymous @]

@janetteb

I was praying for it to stop raining long enough for me to fix it, now I’m praying for more rain so I can see if it worked 🙂

As for fixing taps, yep, I wreck’em too. Twice 😳 Still, the indoor fountain looked pretty 😆

[ScaryB @scaryb]

Oh don’t start me on DIY disasters – indoor fountains a speciality!

😳

(I blame the furry claws!)

@fatmaninabox – hope you stay dry, @janetteb – sympathies on the heat – makes me almost appreciate the grey slush outside (too far south for decent snow).

@juniperfish and other friends on the south coast – hope you’re not getting your fins too wet

@arbutus – you’re right – Cheers all! (well we are in the pub) <clink>

[Arbutus @arbutus]

Sympathies to everyone who has suffered from unnecessary water in the home! We live on the ground floor of a duplex, and we have had water coming through the walls (from a leaking water tank upstairs), through the bathroom ceiling (leaking pipe), and through the light fixture in the middle of the kitchen ceiling (when the upstairs tenants let the laundry sink overflow)!

Cheers! It currently feels more pub-like than usual, as my teenager is home with a tweaked back and he’s got the stereo on in the living room. It’s a little early here for the beverage alcohol, but I seem to remember that the pub has coffee and tea for the before-lunchtime crowd? I raise my mug to you all.   🙂

[Anonymous @]

@arbutus  oh Noooo! not good. Not good at all!  I was moaning when I went downstairs to find a few tiny flies (the kind which like rockmelon) hovering about the kitchen ….and then I read about water leaking!! I would be cussing and crying. Hopefully all can be fixed and with insurance? Kindest, puro

[Anonymous @]

@arbutus and others with leaking miseries  @scaryb and @janetteb I have placed a song: skubas- on the music thread. We need some humour in all of this. But light and sun wouldn’t help as it would remind us of droughts. So, a toss up. Kindest to you, purofilion

[Anonymous @]

Hello again @fatmaninabox @pufferfish @whisht @bluesqueakpip @pedant @magnetite @arkleseizure @purofilion @scaryb @xad4 @wolfweed @blenkinsopthebrave @janetteb

Sorry, a bit of transmission problem before.  Hopefully, won’t happen again.  A lot of you met my brother (or saw his picture on this site) and your words and kindnesses were well appreciated.

My brother’s liver – what little he has left – is doing remarkably well according to the doctors, so I have to suffer him for a few months more, rather than a few weeks.  But!  But!  His twice-daily tablets are rolled into cheese balls, and we both LOVE cheese.  ummm.  Cheeeeeese.  I hope he lasts a lot longer, those cheese balls are gorgeous.

Mum says I don’t have a concept of the future – hmmm? what does that mean? – so I sorrowfully let him sleep in my bed (glaring malevolently all the time at the space he takes up) and I get very jealous when she lets his skinny, bony body up on her lap on the bus (Mum is very careful that the driver doesn’t see Triton up on the seats – me, I’m the Good Girl, I never get onto furniture [preens] even if it means I go sliding on the floor all the way front to the driver when he brakes on a downward slope).

Topical song, It Won’t Rain All The Time (we haven’t been to the woods for ages, because Mum says it’s just waaay too muddy there)

Mum keeps leaving us for several hours in the evening lately.  She says it’s the ‘panto at The Theatre’ (we get to go with her to The Theatre every Tuesday morning, but she – HMMPH! – tied us up to the seats this week because she was ‘painting the stage floor’).  I actually liked Triton’s pawprints traversing the stage floor last time she did that.

And the Tardis that Mum built – we saw it at the dress rehearsal – it’s really quite spectaular.  Even if it’s only on-stage for about 10 seconds.

Mum wishes you all well, and is looking at HTPBDET’s notes re more of his books.  He made Mum very happy even if I can’t pronounce his name very well.  (I’m much better with ‘CAT!! CAT!! DIE!! DIE!!’  which frankly works better as a duo with my brother, so I hope he sticks around long enough for us to do that refrain many more times.)

 

[wolfweed @wolfweed]

@ScoutTheAiredale

Thanks for keeping in touch.

I was wondering what became of that TARDIS!

Your typing skills put many humans to shame…

Love to you and your crew.

[Anonymous @]

@ScoutTheAiredale

I’m much better with ‘CAT!! CAT!! DIE!! DIE!!’

That was a favourite of my ‘boys’ Buster (black) and Keaton (Ginger). Most often though, Buster would chant ‘Mud, mud, glorious mud’ while Keaton’s chant of choice was ‘You throw the ball like a girl, yes you do, yes you do’ 😀

 

 

I agree with you about the cheese. The smellier and mouldier, the better 🙂

Big hugs to you, Triton and Mum.

[Anonymous @]

@wolfweed – I’m an Airedale of many talents.  (although I’m not painted pink like My Little Pony … he he he … ).  Mum always said, learn to type and you can get a job anywhere.  I’m still trying to overcome the fuzz-phobia of job interviewers, though.  How furr-racist some people can be, hmmmph.  My kind don’t shed  🙂  .

@fatmaninabox – Keaton dissed you for your ball-throwing skills?  Had you not presented enough tasty meals to counter-act your wibbley-armedness?  Mum can’t throw for sh*t … but damn she puts together a nice bowl of ox liver and carrots.

[Anonymous @]

@ScoutTheAiredale – The ‘boys’ got plenty of treats – Doggy Chocs, Bonios, Dog Chews, my record/CD collection !!!

Keaton was just making an observation, I do throw like a girl 🙂

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@ScoutTheAiredale    I hope that you and your brother will accept a few words of support from a vile feline creature! My elderly cat Cima is happy to hear that Mum makes sure the pills taste good. Cima’s breakfast and dinner currently include the contents of a capsule that has been lovingly cut in half and emptied into the food (as Cima doesn’t like the bit of plastic, even when hidden inside a treat). You should see me before seven in the morning when I can barely get my eyes open, trying to snip a little capsule in half without losing half of it! There is also a pill that comes in squashy treat form, a little scoop of powder that is mixed into the food, and a tiny quarter of a tablet that seems to go unnoticed amidst all of these delights. I think Cima understands the deep love that is behind all this dispensing of meds, but Cima is of course a cat. You are a dog; I know that you understand!

@fatmaninabox   It’s fortunate that I don’t have to throw balls for the cat. My son used to try to convince me to help him practise his baseball skills; after I proved to him that not only do I throw like a girl, but catch, hit, and run like one as well, he stopped asking. (Of course, in fairness, I am a girl; but fortunately, he was well aware that there were girls on his team who could do all of those things far better than I could!)

[Anonymous @]

@arbutus – I’m sure you’re aware of this, then:

How to give a cat a pill

Of course, it ends with the usual ‘How to give a dog a pill’:

1.  Wrap it in bacon.
2.  Toss it in the air.

We are such simple creatures, we dogs.  🙂   Stomachs on legs, Mum calls us.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

Yes, exactly! I just won’t go there, I actually want to keep my blood in my veins (not to mention I want the cat to like me). Fortunately, the vets have finally figured this out as well, as I am no longer given the “open his mouth, pop it in, close his jaw, stroke his throat” instructions that I received in years gone by. Now there are squashy treats with holes in the middle, called “pill pockets”. Those worked well until he started noticing the plastic while chewing, and out the whole thing came. Hence the cutting-open procedure, as he doesn’t seem to mind powder mixed in with his food. And the most recent medication actually comes in chewy treat form. We are all happy with that development. (Although the cheese ball idea would probably be well received!)

[Miapatrick @miapatrick]

@ScoutTheAiredale- and mum- so sorry to hear your news (and to be so long in responding to it). I’m sure you’ve been strong for you mum- I know the only thing that can make this kind of thing remotely bearable is a warm head and a wet nose.

[Miapatrick @miapatrick]

@ScoutTheAiredale- hehe, my other half one ended up in hospital and lost part of his finger because he tried to give a Yorkie her medicine without the food bribe!

[Anonymous @]

@miapatrick – my brother’s head is still warm (Mum obsessively checks it every morning) and his nose is still wet.  And he’s still using MY bed (hmmpphh).

my other half one ended up in hospital and lost part of his finger

Ha ha!  Your partner is Ant and I collect my 5 pounds.  🙂

Thanks for your good wishes, very much appreciated.

[Anonymous @]

@bluesqueakpip – regarding your previous comment on the Doctor Who News thread, this might not (!) have been your intention with the Reservoir Dogs ‘Mister Pink’ reference.

But it made me laugh.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@ScoutTheAiredale. Hi. (responding to you post in the news thread) Tell your Mum I am mostly lurking at the moment but I check on the news and discussions every day. RL has been annoyingly demanding lately. I have been spending my nights designing posters and flyers, (very badly) rather than watching Dr Who.

I have just finished dosing my cat who is like a rag doll when it comes to medicine. As long as he is getting hugs and pats he doesn’t mind the icky stuff we are shoving down his throat. I do love that “How to give a cat a pill” article even though ours doesn’t fit the sterotype.

 

[Arbutus @arbutus]

Well, we’ve come pretty far along in madness when I can’t get the screwcap open on a $10 bottle of cheap Italian. Does anyone have a half cup of red they can spare?  🙄

[Anonymous @]

Apropos of nothing

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

Only tenuously connected to Doctor Who, which is why it’s in the pub.

The European Space Agency invites citizens and residents of the ESA’s member states to name Tim Peake’s space mission to the ISS. As is normal for the ESA, the mission name should connect with the astronaut’s nationality.

Nothing copyright is allowed – so however much we might want ‘TARDIS’, it ain’t gonna happen. 😀

My personal bet is on ‘Newton’, but anyone got any other ideas?

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

@bluesqueakpip

I think you’re on safe ground with Newton, although I’d prefer something left-field.

How about Operation Cavor? HG Wells First Men in the Moon is out of copyright, 2014 is the 50th anniversary of the film (with Lionel Jeffries as Cavor) and it’s good to remember that the spirit and endeavour of space exploration is best fed by the imagination of what we might find.

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@whisht says “Sin chau” from Vietnam!

He sent me an email saying

Here’s a pic of me at the beach near Hoi An Vietnam. Having a great time but haven’t been following forum as WiFi intermittent and… other distractions! Hope you and crew are all good and chat soon.

[Craig @craig Emperor]

It’s my birthday today. 44. OMG as the kids say. Just spoke to my Mum and she said “Next year you’ll be half way to 90.”

Thanks Mum.

I was pleased to find out it’s also Orla Brady’s birthday. Many Happy Returns.

It’s my birthday and I’ll be Superious if I want to…

[Anonymous @]

Happy Birthday @craig

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

@craig

Happy Birthday. Another member of the 44 club! We should have T-shirts made 😀

Also the Birthday of Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones) if you want to claim that one. However, if you’re dwelling on your increasing sense of mortality, Patrick Troughton died on your Birthday in ’87. Feel the happy.

Hope you got plenty of beer tokens in your presents. I spent most of my Birthday out of my mind, shouting at non-existent Badgers in the Garden. Everyone needs a hobby.

[Anonymous @]

Happy Birthday to our kind and benevolent Overlord. Make sure you have a good one….

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@craig

Happy Birthday, O Wise and All-Knowing Emperor.

May your birthday celebrations be suited to your station.

[wolfweed @wolfweed]

@craig

Many Happy Returns

[wolfweed @wolfweed]

@craig  – Sorry – I meant to post this one…

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

@craig – coming to you live from London Bridge, 1814 (You must never tell him!)

[janetteB @janetteb]

Happy Birthday @craig.

cheers

Janette

[Anonymous @]

@craig  happy birthday from down under!  Kindest,  purofilion

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@fatmaninabox @phaseshift @jimthefish @blenkinsopthebrave @wolfweed @bluesqueakpip @janetteb @Purofilion

Many thanks to you all. Loved the tunes and the pics. Today I’m now 44 + 1 day. Normal service is resumed 😕

[wolfweed @wolfweed]

http://www.kasterborous.com/2014/03/can-hear-sutekh-whispers/

Another John Guilor skit…

[Arbutus @arbutus]

I’ve been away for two weeks and see that there is a lot of catchup to do on here! I will start with a belated happy birthday to @craig. Since time has moved on, I’m posting your happy birthday message on the music forum. Cheers!

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