Allan Bell Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 14 hours ago, Cecile Marion said: I’m not sure if it’s the whole state of New Jersey (US), but where we’ve stopped it’s required that an attendant fill up your car. For me, it seems strange and I’d rather do it myself. I am currently staying in an ancient Italian town, sipping a glass of local red, and listening to the sound of light rain outside the window. Absolute bliss. Sounds idyllic. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 Da dove in Italia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cecile Marion Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 25 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said: Da dove in Italia? Lucca 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 4 hours ago, Cecile Marion said: Lucca Ah, the birthplace of Puccini, a chap who knew how to write a decent tune. It's a lovely walled town with cars severely restricted. The cops ride around on push bikes. Feeling envy...... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cecile Marion Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 (edited) Bryan, you probably would have enjoyed our tour of the Puccini museum. Plus, later that same day my daughter and I, and the small group we were with, listened to an opera singer perform some of Puccini’s arias. (Mind you, neither my daughter, nor I, know much about opera). Edited April 24, 2022 by Cecile Marion 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 Ah, Tuscany -- can't do better for food and wine. And opera is best when not embraced too fully. I was once a photog stringer for Opera News in NYC and had to sit through many long rehearsals. Areas are great but attending entire operas can be painful. Here's opera as good as it gets. Luciano nails it to the wall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWc7vYjgnTs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 After this talk of Italian opera and wine, back to the mundane. Some while ago I bought an automatic thermostatically controlled opening gadget for the top vent of my aged greenhouse. I remember reading the reviews and noting that folk with older greenhouses had struggled to make it work, while the manufacturers also stated that it wouldn't necessarily fit all houses. So I put it on the back burner, until this afternoon that is, when it was reasonably warm and I had nothing else to do. I first warped out my electric drill and a collection of screwdrivers and spanners. I then tentatively removed the glass pane from the opening frame, disturbing years of gunge and other worldly growth, while fearing the worst. However, as it turned out, the most difficult part of the job was taking off the old manual fittings, which had suffered some corrosion, but nothing that a squirt of WD40 and a very large screwdriver couldn't shift. Attaching the new gadget was easy, no holes to drill, it just clamps onto the static and opening frames of the greenhouse. What's more it appears to work ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted April 24, 2022 Author Share Posted April 24, 2022 Jeff (my son) helped me change the soil in my pots. I now have 3 tomato plants and a bell pepper plant in the pots. I never could have done it without help. He did most of the work, but I helped fill a bit and did the planting. Cant wait to have fresh tomatoes again. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 13 hours ago, Cecile Marion said: Bryan, you probably would have enjoyed our tour of the Puccini museum. Plus, later that same day my daughter and I, and the small group we were with, listened to an opera singer perform some of Puccini’s arias. (Mind you, neither my daughter, nor I, know much about opera). Indeed, I have a special place in my heart for the music of Puccini, as my first date with my wife involved a visit to Newcastle's Theatre Royal to see La Boheme. We sat in the cheapest seats, high in "The Gods", but what a great evening. That would have been circa 1968. We haven't seen the opera since, it's beautiful but far too sad. Lucca was one of our last trips abroad pre Covid and we also visited the Puccini museum. I'm not sure if we will travel abroad again as we are finding airport woes increasingly demanding, and post Brexit, there will be more hoops to jump. We recently watched the PBS series on Benjamin Franklin and was amazed that he had the strength of purpose to cross the Atlantic in a sailing ship while in his 70s, clearly made of far tougher stuff than me ! 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cecile Marion Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 A very special memory, I’m sure, Bryan. I hate to fly (and drive) and find it exhausting. A travel rule for me is to always take trains and buses once I’ve arrived in Europe, or the UK, from the US. I’ll soon be making my way back to Paris by train, stopping a couple places along the way. Of course, the older I get, the more challenging travel becomes. Lucca seems like a wonderful town and I love that it’s flat! After slogging my way through a few hill towns with uneven pavement, it’s nice to walk on somewhat level surfaces for a change. If only the rain would go away. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 Bryan, did you know Ben Franklin was a life-long vegetarian? Also a Freemason. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAROL SAUNDERS Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 The last couple of days we've had a pure white Pigeon in the garden. I googled and found out that it's an Albino Pigeon and quite rare. In pigeon terms it really is quite pretty and popular with the ordinary pigeons😄 It has no tag or ring on it. The woodpeckers are also visiting the garden. My aquatic pond plants are doing very well and seem to grow quite quickly much to my surprise 😁 There are mute swans nesting at my local park they have 6 eggs so hopefully I think another week or two they will hatch. Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 1 hour ago, CAROL SAUNDERS said: The last couple of days we've had a pure white Pigeon in the garden. I googled and found out that it's an Albino Pigeon and quite rare. In pigeon terms it really is quite pretty and popular with the ordinary pigeons😄 It has no tag or ring on it. The woodpeckers are also visiting the garden. My aquatic pond plants are doing very well and seem to grow quite quickly much to my surprise 😁 There are mute swans nesting at my local park they have 6 eggs so hopefully I think another week or two they will hatch. Carol Ohhh. Picures. I want pictures. Paulette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAROL SAUNDERS Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 29 minutes ago, NYCat said: Ohhh. Picures. I want pictures. Paulette I would love a few pictures of the tiny signet swans Paulette, I think I will need to visit my local park on a regular basis now, I think incubation time is 4/5 weeks and I think it's coming up to about 5 now..... Also luckily their nest is in plain sight although thankfully out of harms way of humans anyway... Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 1 hour ago, CAROL SAUNDERS said: The last couple of days we've had a pure white Pigeon in the garden. I googled and found out that it's an Albino Pigeon and quite rare. In pigeon terms it really is quite pretty and popular with the ordinary pigeons😄 It has no tag or ring on it. The woodpeckers are also visiting the garden. My aquatic pond plants are doing very well and seem to grow quite quickly much to my surprise 😁 There are mute swans nesting at my local park they have 6 eggs so hopefully I think another week or two they will hatch. Carol Carol can I ask if the pigeon had pink eyes? If so it is a true Albino. If not it is a white pigeon not Albino. We used to breed budgerigars long ago and produced white and Albino birds. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAROL SAUNDERS Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 20 minutes ago, Allan Bell said: Carol can I ask if the pigeon had pink eyes? If so it is a true Albino. If not it is a white pigeon not Albino. We used to breed budgerigars long ago and produced white and Albino birds. Allan Ah thanks Allan, I've just zoomed in again, the actual eyeball itself is not pink so maybe just a common white pigeon as you say, still pretty though, got a couple in QC - the light in my garden late afternoon isn't great at the best of times but pleased I managed a couple. Thanks for the info..... Carol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 5 hours ago, Ed Rooney said: Bryan, did you know Ben Franklin was a life-long vegetarian? Also a Freemason. Missed that Edo, he was a truly remarkable man ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 He was. Vegetarian or not, he hit the tables a Le Procope too often. Jefferson liked to dine there too. Franklin left Paris before the French Revolution, but Jefferson was there with his pal, Lafayette. The best of times, the worst of times. . . . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 (edited) Back from short hols, ladies' festival and visiting in Lymington via some local pinot noir (and other beverages) finally to a negative LFT after THIRTY-ONE DAYS. A faint line may have appeared after the 30-minute window, the image enhancement is inconclusive, but that means it's still negative, dammit. For the sharp-eyed- yes, that is a square and compasses Edited April 26, 2022 by spacecadet 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 So in order to build our house extension we had to remove a polycarbonate glazed canopy over a patio. I tried for weeks to sell it using both Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace. There was lots of interest but also lots of time wasters. In the end I was under pressure to clear it away from the garden, either by taking it to the dump, or maybe using parts to built cold frames at the allotment. Despite having my ear severely bent, I persisted, and, eventually, a person who actually wanted to buy it got in touch. He had to hire a van and make a round trip of 200 miles, so, given previous experience, I was more than a bit sceptical. However he and his mate turned up with the cash and took it away. He has since contacted me with a photo of the canopy erected at his house, one very happy customer ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Gee, Bryan -- I wonder if I could sell the lift in this building? It's out of order again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 7 hours ago, Ed Rooney said: Gee, Bryan -- I wonder if I could sell the lift in this building? It's out of order again. 😟 Moving not an option Edo ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 On 25/04/2022 at 06:55, Bryan said: Missed that Edo, he was a truly remarkable man ! Old Ben certainly is well represented on Alamy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 3 hours ago, Bryan said: 😟 Moving not an option Edo ? Moving without a lift would be a nightmare. And if the lift is working, I have less desire and need to move. 🙃 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 (edited) 12 hours ago, Ed Rooney said: Moving without a lift would be a nightmare. And if the lift is working, I have less desire and need to move. 🙃 Get your own lift. Park a cherry picker under your window.😃 Also quick way out in case of fire. Allan Edited April 27, 2022 by Allan Bell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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