The Winchester

[nerys @nerys]

Hooray, I see the 60th Anniversary Specials listed as “on order” at our library! I just put a hold on the DVDs.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@nerys. I hope that you don’t have to wait too long. Some cheerful viewing is much in need right now.

Talking of which we recently watched the new Wallace and Gromit movie and that was a pure delight. It ranks with the original trilogy. When it finished everyone in the room wanted to immediately rewatch it.

Cheers

Janette

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@nerys @janetteb

yesss… anyone else running a news blackout? This week is worse than rewatching World Enough & Time/The Doctor Falls… though I LIKE WE&T/TDF…

W&G was wonderful. Apart from the ‘fact’ that no one checked the… oops, spoilers. Maybe no more ridiculous than any of those Scandinoir plots involving meatheads, who are released from jail, not just with a fistful of City and Guilds, but as Dr Evil.

Back to Aardman, I particularly enjoyed Norbert’s voice artist. He never really got a crack of the DW whip. And Julian Nott’s classy music.

[nerys @nerys]

@janetteb @ps1l0v3y0u Entrance of the Gladiators seems like rather appropriate background music these days. Yes, I am avoiding the news … not completely, but as much as I can. I’m doing a lot of novel reading and watching, if not cheery material, then at least that which I find more believable than what real life is dishing out. So those Doctor Who DVDs can’t arrive soon enough.

[janetteB @janetteb]

We had some help with news avoidance this week. Someone sabotaged an optic fibre cable leaving a entire region without internet for over 24 hours.

@nerys I have been reading a lot too, I now keep a book beside my laptop so in idle moments I read rather than scroll through the news repeatedly. Not having internet for a day didn’t really bother me too much.

cheers

Janette

[nerys @nerys]

@janetteb I’m trying not to doomscroll too much these days. Difficult. I too am reading a fair bit. I’m currently on Kate Atkinson’s latest Jackson Brodie installment, Death at the Sign of the Rook. It’s a good diversion.

We also seek solace in movies, and watched a lovely one last night. Minari (2021 film about a Korean family who moves to Arkansas in 1983): A poignant story about what it means to be family. The husband has started a farm that’s beset with problems. His wife wants to move the family back to California, where they can pay off their debt. But he resists, stubbornly wanting to finish what he started. There are also two children (the son has a serious heart condition), plus the wife’s aging mother, to consider.

Just when you think you know where this movie is going, it takes a different turn … then turns once more. Minari symbolizes resilience, a theme that resonates throughout the entire film.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@nerys. Have not been watching much lately. The eldest and his fiance are currently camping in the old living room in front of the air con because their room is too hot to sleep in and she starts work early so we have to be quite at night. We watched Dune Prophecy which was ok and Star Wars Skeleton Crew which was also Ok and then the S/O put on Detectorists which we have watched before. (at least three times in my case) because  I was feeling a bit down. It is akin to a massage for the soul. It shows ordinary people just being nice to each other with a back ground of stunning nature shots.It is perfect comfort viewing.

cheers

Janette

[nerys @nerys]

@janetteb Something we do for comfort viewing is the WildEarth SafariLIVE safaris from South Africa (also available on YouTube). WildEarth is among the free channels on our LG TV. I’ve been watching since 2014. Once hubby found it on our TV, he started watching, too. Their live segments are comprised simply of the naturalists and their camera crew driving around, seeing what they can see. It’s not scripted, and there’s no soundtrack (other than the ambient sounds of nature and wildlife). I find it very calming.

[winston @winston]

@janetteb    We adore the Detectorists  and have watched them all a few times. The show is a love letter to people and the hobbies they like. The whole cast are great at creating amusing characters who go about the business of real life in between times spent with their metal detectors. I like the meetings of the detectorists club where they show off the treasures they have found like pull tabs and spoons. I tell all my friends to watch it and my daughter likes it too.Also there is beautiful scenery and a magnificent tree that is almost a costar.

@nerys  We use our bird feeders and creek in the same way. Recently we have had a river otter pop out of the ice through a hole that he keeps open somehow and play on the ice. The other day he was eating a huge frog that he must have dug out of the mud where it was hibernating. That just seems so unfair.

We have so much snow that there is no where to put it when we shovel and the banks are 5 or 6 feet high on the sides of the road. It is impossible for me to go off the trail because it is up to my waist and I got stuck like a little kid today when I tried to reach a shrub that needed saving.After pulling me out the mister even had to shovel off the roof because he was worried about the weight. This is so hard on the birds and critters that we try to help them out with food and even trails for the bunnies to get to the feeders. They give us colour and beauty and life during these cold snowy days.

Seriously though, we are so done with shoveling (not really,it is snowing right now!) The only people really happy with so much snow are my snowmen and they have stupid grins on their faces all day long. So many snowflakes here, so many. A friggin’ winter wonderland.

stay cozy

[nerys @nerys]

@winston How lovely! We have bird feeders, but no creek nearby to produce such amazing sightings.

Here, we do not have the amount of snow that you do, though this is the first winter since 2015 that the harbour has frozen over, and we have snow cover. Typically, if we get any snow at all, we go through rapid freeze/thaw cycles and it melts quickly. Too quickly, which becomes problematic for our groundwater supply, especially in droughts. But this has been a very different winter.

Anyway, I normally like to take scenic drives to birding spots, but this winter I haven’t done that much because of the weather. And the wind! We’ve had several sustained windy periods, some of which have caused (thankfully brief) power outages. The good thing is that days are getting longer. It’s wonderful to see sunrise at a little after 7 a.m. and sunset at almost 6 p.m.!

[janetteB @janetteb]

hoping Puro (@syzygy) and Thane are safe from the battering being unleashed on Brisbane.

@winston and @nerys As I look out at our heat-blasted garden I am so envious of you both. Snow is the stuff of fairy tales. I love snow. Took so many photos of snow when we were in Sweden. the neighbours must have thought I was insane.

cheers

Janette

[nerys @nerys]

@janetteb Thank you for reminding me that our weather is what others dream of. It’s easy to take it for granted.

@thane16 I second Janette’s concern for you and your family. I hope that you are safe from Cyclone Alfred.

[winston @winston]

@thane16   I also hope you and yours are safe and sound. My thoughts go out to all those suffering through this cyclone.

@janetteb We have had a lot of snow  this year and it is beautiful , like a glittering white fairy landscape.  Winter is wonderful if you have a nice warm house and if you don’t have to travel too far. Being retired I have the luxury of staying home when it is snowing and blowing and curling up by the fire. In our working days we had a few scary drives home in blizzards or freezing rain that give me shivers just thinking about them.Getting old has some advantages ,I think.

I feel sorry for your poor garden. It must be hard to get enough energy in the heat to do anything outside. I will admit that I don’t care for the heat and I follow the shade to get stuff done until I run out and then it’s inside for me. Thanks to the inventor of air conditioners, whoever you are or were.

@nerys  It is funny how we sometimes need reminding about how nice snow is and winter and soon ….SPRING! My favourite season, new life and new growth and birds returning and a new series of Doctor Who. Canada is great.

stay strong

[syzygy @thane16]

Hallloooo from Brisbane!
yes, we are A-OK. Thank you so much for your concern.

25 years ago we decided to find a house a little higher in Coorparoo – but not so our tin roof would be blown off in Brisbane gales.

Naturally, 3 weeks later. the cul de sac behind us hadn’t yet made its drains flood proof so a massive storm caused a 3 metre deep whirlpool at 1 am.

Local volunteer workers were dragging people out of it who thought it was a fab idea to swim in this terrifying in-land sea in the middle of the night. 😳

Since then, the backyard has flooded twice but this last cyclone, for us, at least, had little effect. Much of the rest of Brisbane & the South East is suffering terribly & I also noticed the homes we rented many years ago are on streets experiencing flash flooding.

Aaaand we were a little late, realising we had 1 torch & only 4 candles. The shops were devoid of anything in 48 hours so I filled up the bath tub & every container of water (in case the power & water were turned off) but as it was we could’ve happily showered in the street!

Warm wishes to all.
Puro and Fam. Xx

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@thane16

So glad to hear that you and family are coping with everything the elements could through at you. And yet still have a sense of humour!

I remember back to 2010 (?) when there were catastrophic floods in Brisbane. Mrs Blenkinsop and I had just purchased high above the river in Brisbane (near the university) and the flood waters rose up to within a few feet of our house. There were houses around us which only displayed the peak of their roofs until the flood waters receded. It was a bad time and a substantial number of lives were lost. Nature really shows no mercy. These days we live on Vancouver Island, off the west coast of Canada, and I have developed more of an appreciation for how nature shapes us. I would recommend The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet, which is a marvellous account of a mother and her five children who (with no crew) explored the coast of Vancouver Island  during the late 1920s and early 1930s in a 25 foot motor launch. I would also recommend Heart of the Coast by Alexandra Morton and Billy Proctor about the life of Billy Proctor, who spent his life as a commercial fisherman and developed an appreciation for the ways that human intervention were upsetting the balance between nature and the the fish.

Of course, writing from Canada today, the biggest threat is not nature, but lies to our south.

@winston As you say: stay strong

 

[winston @winston]

@blenkinsopthebrave    My daughter is on Vancouver Island and we have visited often and it is a wild paradise. A day on the Pacific Trail  and I was reminded of my place in nature. I was part of it. I hugged the biggest tree I will ever see and marveled at the stormy Pacific Ocean. I watched bear cubs play on the beach and little deer who wandered through the town like they owned it. Seals and sea lions and Grey Whales , oh my. What a magnificent place on earth.

We have driven coast to coast of this huge country and it’s ever changing landscapes and people never ceases to amaze me. Every province different but all beautiful with friendly people wherever we went.  Strong ,resilient Canadians.

stay strong

[winston @winston]

@thane16   I am happy you are all safe and dry. Floods are devastating and I hope your people recover quickly. You have to have a sense of humour about these “life things” or you would curl up in a ball on the floor and cry. Wait,  that might just be me but you know what I mean.Keep safe and dry.

stay strong

[nerys @nerys]

@thane16 I’m so glad that you and your family are OK. Thank you for letting us know.

@blenkinsopthebrave @winston “Elbows up” is the rallying cry now. But it’s so sad what got us here. It’s hard not to have vertigo or whiplash, with all the constant seesawing.

[winston @winston]

@nerys    “Elbows up”

[syzygy @thane16]

@blenkinsopthebrave @winston @ nerys @janetteb an’ all. Thank you, yes, all well. I didn’t receive any notifications for awhile so thanks again.

I guess, afterwards, I did have a sense of humour but the week before? @winston crying in a ball, on the floor, was tempting. Basically I was doom scrolling for 7 days listening to every weather report & checking the electricity and the internet every few minutes. I kept asking “should I tape up the windows? Does that even help?” Or “can the bath can hold more water in case the latter is turned off?” But, yes, thousands of homes damaged beyond repair.

Mr Blink I didn’t realise you’d lived in St Lucia during that time. That was also a terrible flood, as you say.

I’m glad you love the Island. It sounds absolutely beautiful.

How many days until Who? A month? I’m always waiting for something! I’ve enjoyed Yellow Jackets, Wolf Hall 2 and Unforgotten. But the trailers for the Doctor look exciting.
Much love,
Puro

[nerys @nerys]

@thane16 We’re currently watching Wolf Hall … and I don’t think we realized there was a previous first season. Oh well, it’s fine because we’ve watched so many films and documentaries on Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell that we know the story without necessarily knowing this story.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@thane16 and @nerys. I have yet to watch season 2 of Wolf Hall but have read all the books so am really looking forward to it. It is a well worn story, as Nerys says, but H.M. manages to make it fresh and interesting and the acting and direction is as excellent as one would hope, though no longer expect sadly. .

Only a few more days to Dr Who is back. the second trailer does look promising. I was less enthused by the first, i think it was aimed at a different audience. The second was more tailored to fans. I expect to love some episodes and not really take to others and that is fine. I  prefer that to the series all being just meh. (as in the Chibnell years)

cheers

Janette

[syzygy @thane16]

@nerys @janetteb @blenkinsopthebrave lol. Yes, there are so many differing docos & series/movies on Henry & Wives, it’s flooded. But, yes, WH is quite lovely. The medieval wind & brass are a nice touch.

To all, Severance on Apple+ is terrific- a lot of the visuals are perfectly executed; office styles from a photographic book* inspired the director (I won’t say who because you might think “what? HIM? Wasn’t he once an obnoxious, American sit-com, comedian? Yes, no, yes, yes and yes but bear with).

The drama examines the nature of corporate control & trauma; identity-loss; corporate religious-style governance; renditions of grief & ennui. It’s honestly one of the best shows in 10 years, & worth purchasing considering  U.S. corporate environments & the direction of American theocracy.

It’s also very funny. But not bloated or broody or self absorbed.

Only a few DAYS for Who? Wonderful!
Puro

* Lars Tunbjork, Office.

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

Hi all @nerys @janetteb @blenkinsopthebrave and @thane16
Just de-lurking from Rarotonga where I’ve been for 4 days; another 3 weeks to go. (Weather’s been OK, typical Raro which is to say unpredictable but generally warm. Lagoon’s great for swimming and snorkling and bothering the fish, not that they seem to be very bothered.) I’m watching a DVD because Cook Islands television is about what you might expect on a remote Pacific island (think, like a country district c. 1960, i.e. virtually unwatchable), and Internet is – limited and expensive, so Youtube is right out. So I took the precaution of bringing a dozen assorted DVD’s with me. (I’m at an age when going out and partying all evening is no longer optimal, and also Mrs D is now scarcely mobile, with the aid of a stick, poor dear).

My 2c worth (he says, finally getting to the point), I’m re-watching ‘Good Omens’, with Michael Sheen and David Tennant, and finding it just as quirky and delightful as the first time. I love the banter between Crowley the demon (Tennant) and Aziraphael the angel (Sheen). Excellently adapted by Neil Gaiman from his and Terry Pratchett’s book. There are just so many nice little blink-and-you-missed-it touches. I get the impression that Tennant / Sheen / Gaiman were having fun when they filmed it. And I loved the hidden-in-plain-sight tweak at the end.
I’ve also got in my little stack, Neil Gaiman’s ‘Neverwhere’, a similarly quirky series, incidentally featuring Peter Capaldi as the angel Islington, who turns out to be [no I won’t – spoilers!]

Sorry to be mentioning stuff y’all saw years ago, but I’ve always been well behind the times. Not sure when I’ll get the new series of Dr Who.

 

[janetteB @janetteb]

@dentarthurdent. I never tire of re’ watching my old favourites. I am currently watching an old BBC series from 1976 that I first watched when I was in high school. In terms of script, acting, filming, and historical accuracy it holds up. video quality less so but one puts up with that for the sake a great series.

Good Omens is always fun to watch. I think it too will stand the test of time. (despite the antics of one of the writers)

@thane16 I keep hearing about Severance. It does sound very interesting. Is on my to watch list.

cheers

Janette

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@thane16

Severance is a brilliant dissection of Freaky Corporate Nonsense that is irrevocably changing the world. We particularly liked the ‘egg bar social.’ Although the original idea for Dot and Bubble was pitched 15 years ago, I wonder is Severence influenced the design.

Not seen the Mirror and The Light yet. The first series of Wolf Hall was extraordinary. Mark Rylance is peerless but lots of other amazing performances.

[winston @winston]

@thane16   We had a terrible ice storm 12 days ago that almost had me curled up in a ball on the floor from sheer terror. The rain started to freeze in the afternoon and just kept falling all day and night coating everything in at least a 1/4 inch of ice or more by evening. By nine pm the branches on trees all around us started to break and fall and at ten the lights went out.They stayed out here for 10 days. By midnight the trees started to fall, crashing down with huge cracks and bangs so loud and scary I sat in the middle of my house away from the windows and whimpered in fear. The rain fell all night and so did the trees leaving a horrible frozen disaster when morning finally came. We have been dealing with the results ever since.

My garden and the forest behind me have been changed drastically with the loss of so many trees and I am devastated over the destruction. Over 40 years of planting and gardening destroyed in about 36 hours of freezing rain.

But and it is a good but , we are safe and my kids are safe. None of the trees fell on my house or car but that has happened to thousands of people in the area hit by the storm.Over 2000 electric poles fell to the ground. A state of emergency has been called but what that does is anyone’s guess.

It would take me pages to tell you about all the destruction and I guess I just wanted to vent to people who might understand. Weather sucks sometimes. Climate change is real and is causing extreme weather all around the world.

Sorry for being a Debbie Downer but real life has been very frosty here. Doctor Who take me away or at least drop off a generator and a chainsaw.

@dentarthurdent Please soak up some of that salt water, sand and sun and send it to me. Have fun bothering the fish.

stay north strong.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@winston so sad to read about the destruction and so sorry about your garden. That is heartbreaking and I grieve for every tree that falls. I despair for this planet. One feels so helpless, watching what is happening, unable to do anything meaningful to change the direction we are heading in, not even voting helps as both parties are equally unable to make a difference. (well one party does, in the wrong way) All we can do is hope for a miracle now and that is getting more and more desperate.

Sending virtual hugs from the other side of the planet

cheers

Janette

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@winston I guess we all understand, and if you can’t talk to us who can you talk to? An ice storm is certainly an odd one in the way of natural disasters, but no less serious for that. I’m afraid I’d go spare if I was without power for a day, let alone ten. Pleased to hear your house at least is undamaged, but I sympathise with your feelings for your garden and trees. I hate it when a tree gets cut down (I’m an unashamed treehugger). We had a 50-foot wattle tree in our garden that leaned over our house and I was nervous any time strong winds were forecast, for our house or the neighbours, so eventually I regretfully had that cut down. The lemonwoods (pittisporums) I planted to replace it are now a non-threatening 20 feet. I know it seems easy to say, but your garden will grow back, in time.

We had our disaster in January 2023, when there was unprecented rainfall in Auckland – one spot recorded three times the previous all-time record. Large areas flooded, many slips on the steeper hillsides. A few roads are still closed now. I went outside at midnight and watched a shallow sheet of water flowing rapidly across our back lawn – but we were very lucky, our house was above flood level. It was very ‘patchy’, some areas badly hit, some escaped. Then two weeks later Cyclone Gabrielle came through and hit some of the areas that the previous storm had missed. There are many pleasant places that are now – not quite so pleasant, and will take years to recover.

I think many others here have had their own disasters.

When I was younger I thought that all those Biblical disasters were a thing of the past, but it seems Nature will do its thing and we’re provoking it into doing it more often. And, I think, parts of Nature just keep on having wild events, then Man came along and tamed it and expected his solutions to be permanent, where all they’ve done is hold the minor disturbance back until it becomes a major one. Don’t I sound apocalyptic? Probably a result of watching ‘Good Omens’.

I’d happily send you some nice warm water, sand and sun – in fact you can have the sunshine, too much of it for me, I’m taking amiodarone to keep my pulse regular after a period of atrial fibrillation and a zap – which worked – but one of its many side effects is, I have little protection from sunburn, so I’m having to slap on liberal quantities of SPF 50 including the shiny patch on top of my head. First world problems. 🙂

[nerys @nerys]

@winston I am so very sorry about your garden, and the trees. I’m glad that your family and your property were spared, but I understand how it feels when a natural disaster causes such devastation. The wildfires we had here in 2023 destroyed so many trees. My heart aches still to drive by them now and see a seemingly endless stretch of charred trunks. And that’s just what I can see from the highway or road. There’s far more damage than meets the eye.

I will never forget the ice storm of January 1998. We were living in southeastern Ontario at the time. It was shocking to see the damage to trees. It was as if a giant hand had reached down and stripped each tree so that the branches pointed downward. The weight of the ice did that. Quebec’s massive hydro towers that were pulled down, again by the sheer weight of the ice, was something I never expected to see.

But, as natural disasters go, we did OK. We were without power for four and a half days, which meant that we had only limited heat and spent most of the time shivering under blankets. And, because we were on a well, we didn’t have running water. But we had a roof over our heads, food, a camp stove, and unlike many others, we had plenty of batteries and candles, so light was not an issue. Still, not an experience I wish to repeat.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@winston So very sorry to hear about the ice storm.The loss of the garden is particularly unfair, as a garden is something one puts one’s personality into. There are no instant solutions, but at least Spring is on the way.

Stay strong.

[winston @winston]

@blenkinsopthebrave   @nerys  @dentarthurdent   @janetteb     Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. Yesterday was a sad one and I guess I had a wobble or a wibble? We went to our town and were shocked all over again by the damage we saw. So depressing if you are a tree lover. Many of the trees we lost were planted by me, some up to 40 years ago and now they are gone or unsafe so they will have to come down.  Poor birds and animals.I will replant some new trees but I don’t think I will be around for another 40 years to see them grow as tall but I also think we plant trees for the people yet to come.

Many others have had far more damage and we are helping our neighbors clean up but it will take months.  We went through the ice storm of 1998 but we were not hit as bad as those further east. I was well prepared for a power outage with plenty of water ,candles, batteries etc. and we have a wood stove but the chinks in the armor started to show about day 6. Boredom.

Anyway spring is around the corner and I have been sent some sunshine and a hug from the other side of the world , sympathy from Canada and Doctor Who is almost here. Things will get better. Thank you all again.

Stay north strong

 

[nerys @nerys]

@winston Because of where we lived, we didn’t experience that sound of trees crashing down, which you endured. But I knew people who did, and they described it much as you did.

The sad thing is that even trees that appear undamaged, or not so badly damaged, may eventually die. That was what we experienced from the 1998 ice storm. It took several years for the damage to take its toll. But I was also amazed at how, over time, the forests bounced back. I remember driving to Ottawa and becoming accustomed to that awful “stripped” look of the trees along the highway. Then, at some point, I realized that the trees looked normal. I don’t know if it’s because younger, healthy trees obscured them, or they lost their stripped branches. However it happened, I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of relief.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@scaryb

Great to see you back! Am responding on this forum as it is just general “hi!”

As we are of a similar vintage (and like good wine, improve with age) I could relate to your memories of watching TV back in the’70s. My university days really began in ’75 (after a bit of disorder back in ’71 but all sins were forgiven). The mid ’70s years were, for me, the share house years with other students which were, for the most part, really good years. Of course, the TVs were uniformly crap, but looking back, my memory was that it didn’t matter, and I can still remember so much TV from those years.

Anyway, great to see you back, and as you mentioned her, I am hoping @mudlark will be back soon with her archeological expertise.

 

 

[ScaryB @scaryb]

Waves at @blenkinsopthebrave

Good to be back, my old friend, as we prepare to jump into another new (and hopefully not the last) season of Dr Who 🙂 🙂 And yes indeed, times were very different back then. Not least if you missed an episode (or couldn’t get the aerial adjusted 😛 ) it was gone forever. None of this…”Hmm, will I watch it at broadcast, will I sneak an early peek, or catch up later…”. Dammit!! Too many choices, LOL (And sympathies to those not living in the UK mothership for whom choices my be a bit more limited).

A big hi and “CHEERS” to all in the pub here. (Virtual) drinks are on me 🙂

[nerys @nerys]

Just to clarify one of my earlier posts: We are currently watching the first season of Wolf Hall on PBS’s “Masterpiece” program. I thought that since others were talking about the second season, that must be the one we are watching. We’re recording it on our DVR, and I see now that the episode descriptions say Season 1, Episode (whichever one we’re on). Sorry about that!

Hello @scaryb and welcome back!

[ScaryB @scaryb]

@nerys Hi back, lovely to “see” you.

Not checked out Wolf Hall yet, but I’ve heard great things

 

[ScaryB @scaryb]

@winston So sorry to hear about your storm, that sounds really scary, and glad you came through it OK.

“I also think we plant trees for the people yet to come.” – what a beautiful thought. Hang on to it.

I met a couple of Canadians on my recent travels down under (sadly not close enough to catch up with @janetteb or @thane16 ) who mentioned temperatures of -22 (which is quite a jump to Melbourne’s 34 deg (and 40 deg the week before).  Strange and scary times.

[winston @winston]

@scaryb   Thank you, I intend to replant some new trees next week. Might as well get started to make some positive repairs.

We do get some cold weather in winter and -20 isn’t too extreme where I am.Mind you we also get into the 30s in the summer sometimes. It is all happening here.

stay safe

[syzygy @thane16]

@winston that sounds horrible. Sitting in your home, hearing the groans & sighs of trees while the whole house’s shuddering is very scary. It’s the sounds of this impending damage that’s often worse-but then in the light of day you really experience that awful truth. I hope some Dr Who & your family around will begin to return your heart & soul to something close to normal. We’re thinking of you. ❤️

[syzygy @thane16]

@scaryb good to see you! 👋👋

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

On a lighter note, totally unrelated to Who but the animal lovers might find this amusing. I was snorkelling around in the ‘lagoon’ (which in Rarotonga is just a pool amidst the coral, extends to the inside of the solid flat reef), looking at the small tropical fish, when, rounding a coral head, something huge and dark flashed past my mask. Whooa! Startled the heck out of me.   I looked round and – it was a dog, swimming extremely fast. He carried on to the far edge of the pool, fully 120 yards from shore, turned round and swam back. No sign of his owner, or any other reason, I can only assume he does it because he just likes swimming.

I can’t make any Who connection, just found it sufficiently odd and quaint that i wanted to share it.   🙂

[ScaryB @scaryb]

@thane16 “waves back”

@dentarthurdent Haha. Not jealous at all of you lazing about in tropical lagoons. It’s a tough life 😛

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@scaryb     – but someone’s gotta do it.   🙂

Meanwhile back in Auckland they’ve had the remains of another tropical storm, with high wind and rain warnings.   Hope our house (and garden) is undamaged when we get back in 1.5 weeks.   Nothing I can do about it here, so it’s fairly easy to not worry about it.   Just go and look at some more fish.

cr

 

[Author]

Posts