Post a good thing that happened in your life today

[Allan Bell]

1 hour ago, Vincent Lowe said:

Just had a text from GP surgery to book my 2nd Covid jab.  Clicked on the link - all done within five minutes of getting the text.  Booked for April 1st - I hope it's not an April Fools joke... 😎

 

When I had my first jab back in late January they gave me a card with my name, name of vaccine (Pfizer) with batch number and date given. Underneath all that was the date and time of my next appointment in April.

 

Very efficient I thought.

 

Allan

 

[sb photos]

4 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

 

When I had my first jab back in late January they gave me a card with my name, name of vaccine (Pfizer) with batch number and date given. Underneath all that was the date and time of my next appointment in April.

 

Very efficient I thought.

 

Allan

 

My second jab is due early May. The first one was a slick operation.

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

Well I am finally a homeowner again.  After many years of renting, I went to settlement/closing this morning and the house I have been living in for years, is now mine (or really a bank's..til paid off).  Feels good to not be a renter anymore!!

Great! It’s a nice feeling to know you can do anything you want to it without going through a landlord.  On the other hand, the plumber’s bill will now be on you going forward.

Try not to think how far you’d be toward payoff if all that rent had applied.

[NYCat]

It is a beautiful day today in New York City and we have beautiful birds building nests in our garden. We often get robin nests and it looks like we'll have another. This morning we have had a pair of cardinals building a nest in a place that just might be secluded enough for them in a small tree. Last year they gave up on it and I have my fingers crossed this year. I got some pictures! I hope they will be good enough with the poor light we get. I will have to keep shooting from my "blind" (bedroom) because when I went down with my camera I scared them all away. Bad me. I look forward to an exciting springtime now.

 

Paulette

[aphperspective]

Got the call from my local Covid jab center, 3.30 on Sunday getting my first one. 🙂

[LSP]

Happy to hear people are getting the vaccinations already. Here in Australia they are starting with the frontline workers and vulnerable people so I won't be eligible until at least July/August. Still, so far we've had hardly any outbreaks compared to other places, so can't complain.

 

[sb photos]

7 hours ago, LSP said:

Happy to hear people are getting the vaccinations already. Here in Australia they are starting with the frontline workers and vulnerable people so I won't be eligible until at least July/August. Still, so far we've had hardly any outbreaks compared to other places, so can't complain.

 

 

I read here in the UK a few weeks back that Covid vaccinations were about to start in Australia. My brother-in-law lives inland from Queensland's Whitsunday Coast with his family. Although he settled in Australia around 15 years ago, he is still registered with a UK GP as he has until now fairly regularly visited us when working in Europe. Here he had a letter, the same as me, that he is clinically extremely vulnerable. As with some in the UK, he has to work, and I wonder how he will react if he's invited to book a vaccination appointment when he's working abroad. His last trip abroad was to the Netherlands for 4 weeks.

[Bryan]

Both of our sons have now had their first jab.  The younger one has asthma so a priority, but not sure how the  41 year old managed it.  Maybe it helps to have a surname starting with A ? Our second dose is due next month.

[Jansos]

Treated myself and family and had a Deliveroo lamb curry, lassi and Mochi ice cream! 😀

[AlbertSnapper]

I made a new front garden gate to replace the one that was rotting away.

 

Now why didn't I photograph the making of it ?! ..... 😖

[MizBrown]

I remembered to ask Luis my helper to get a nacatamal for photographing.  He decided we needed to do this as a typico breakfast with tortillas, coffee, on a place mat from upstairs.  Luis did the voice activated light stand help.  I had to re-learn how to set up my lights and get the radio connection between the camera and lights working again.  Lola was intensely interested in having her share of the nacatamal.   Haven't processed the photos yet.  The Sony/Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 lens cost more than an a6000 body but has been my most useful lens on that body.  Had the 30mm f/3.5 macro ready but didn't use it.  Paid Luis C$100 for the help since I will have a payout in April.

 

Luis knows where to get good nacatamales -- even somewhat cool after it served as a model, this one was better than the last one I tried.  Nacatamales are a Sunday thing in Nicaragua, all the basic food groups except fresh fruit.  Does contain raisins.   This one had nice chunks of meat in it.

[Betty LaRue]

Spring is definitely here, not just on the calendar. I’m seeing a green blush in trees or blossoms emerging. My lawn has been mowed twice and the birds are nesting.

I’m not a fan of spring winds blowing pollen up my nose, which is normal in the plains, but when we don’t have the wind, you can’t beat the warmish sunny days.

I’m not looking forward to the emerging of mosquitoes, though.

I’m fighting the urge to buy flowers and tomato plants since we had a frost this morning. I always try to rush the season. I well-remember the spring when I actually waited until after the last average frost day. I watched the forecast, and no cold weather was predicted for the next 10 days after that.

I planted something like 150 bedding plants and two days later a cold front from hell descended, out of the blue. I wanted to kill a few weathermen. In a 50 mph cold wind, I plucked all of the plants out of the ground and stuck them back in their little plastic boxes. I put them in the garage until I could plant them again.

That was not a fun experience.

[Michael Ventura]

2 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Spring is definitely here, not just on the calendar. I’m seeing a green blush in trees or blossoms emerging. My lawn has been mowed twice and the birds are nesting.

I’m not a fan of spring winds blowing pollen up my nose, which is normal in the plains, but when we don’t have the wind, you can’t beat the warmish sunny days.

I’m not looking forward to the emerging of mosquitoes, though.

I’m fighting the urge to buy flowers and tomato plants since we had a frost this morning. I always try to rush the season. I well-remember the spring when I actually waited until after the last average frost day. I watched the forecast, and no cold weather was predicted for the next 10 days after that.

I planted something like 150 bedding plants and two days later a cold front from hell descended, out of the blue. I wanted to kill a few weathermen. In a 50 mph cold wind, I plucked all of the plants out of the ground and stuck them back in their little plastic boxes. I put them in the garage until I could plant them again.

That was not a fun experience.

 

March is always such a rollercoaster when it comes to weather here (in the DC area) as well.  One day hot, next day near freezing.  Haven't had to mow the lawn yet but that is coming soon.  I too dread the mosquitoes...they basically own my backyard from June thru early October.  We have thunderstorms rolling into the area, with high winds, as I write this.  Always worried that I will lose electricity when I hear those winds start to howl and the skies turn a dark slate grey. 

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

March is always such a rollercoaster when it comes to weather here (in the DC area) as well.  One day hot, next day near freezing.  Haven't had to mow the lawn yet but that is coming soon.  I too dread the mosquitoes...they basically own my backyard from June thru early October.  We have thunderstorms rolling into the area, with high winds, as I write this.  Always worried that I will lose electricity when I hear those winds start to howl and the skies turn a dark slate grey. 

At least, we didn’t get the tornadoes Alabama did. ‘It’s the season, though, and I live in Tornado Alley. That said, Oklahoma City area was much more of a hot spot than Wichita.
I’m sure Dorothy and Toto have an opinion about that. 😉

[aphperspective]

2 Good things, got my first Covid jab late yesterday and my largest outstanding invoice cleared this morning taking well over the payment threshold for the month.😀

[Thyrsis]

Going to reach a nice warm 19° tomorrow and Wednesday....that’s good for the UK in March! 

[Michael Ventura]

9 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

At least, we didn’t get the tornadoes Alabama did. ‘It’s the season, though, and I live in Tornado Alley. That said, Oklahoma City area was much more of a hot spot than Wichita.
I’m sure Dorothy and Toto have an opinion about that. 😉

 

Yes, no tornadoes is a good thing for sure!!  "Tornado Alley" seems to have moved more south and west in the last decade or so.  States like Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Georgia seem to getting the worst tornadoes these days.

[Allan Bell]

Got my washing out drying on the line in lovely warm wind.

 

Allan

 

[Betty LaRue]

3 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

Got my washing out drying on the line in lovely warm wind.

 

Allan

 

It’s been a long time since I had an outdoor clothesline. I loved the smell of the wash after drying outdoors. Especially the sheets.  I did fight insects though. Spiders laid eggs on them a couple of times and I couldn’t get the stains out. Wasps liked to steal material from the wooden clothespins to make their nests. I had to be careful where I put my hands taking them down.

My problem was it was too easy to forget to take the wash in soon as it was dry, leaving it out too long which allowed the insects a go.

Once I took a pair of my jeans off the line, brought them in the house and began putting them on. There was a buzzing in one leg. I grabbed the material, confining the insect, which turned out to be a bumblebee. My 5 year old daughter had to help me get the jeans off because no way was I letting go of my grip on the wad of material confining the insect.  My terror was contagious, and we both were sweating by the time it was done, poor thing. Why that bumblebee didn’t sting me the second I put my leg in, I’ll never know.

Edited March 29, 2021 by Betty LaRue

[Michael Ventura]

I got my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine today.  Seems like everyone I know, over 60, (here in the USA) has gotten at least one jab already.  Went pretty smoothly, just a few minutes from where I live and it was a hour in total, from arriving to leaving (including the 15 min wait after the jab.

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

On 26/03/2021 at 15:40, Michael Ventura said:

Well I am finally a homeowner again.  After many years of renting, I went to settlement/closing this morning and the house I have been living in for years, is now mine (or really a bank's..til paid off).  Feels good to not be a renter anymore!!

Wow your transaction seemed to go through very quickly - that is brilliant and lots of luck owning your home again.

 

Here in the UK buying and selling can take absolutely ages for even what seems to be a simple sale and/or purchase.  I would have thought with modern technology it would make things quicker, but not so asfaras conveyancing in the UK goes !

 

Carol

[Michael Ventura]

18 minutes ago, CAROL SAUNDERS said:

Wow your transaction seemed to go through very quickly - that is brilliant and lots of luck owning your home again.

 

Here in the UK buying and selling can take absolutely ages for even what seems to be a simple sale and/or purchase.  I would have thought with modern technology it would make things quicker, but not so asfaras conveyancing in the UK goes !

 

Carol

Thanks Carol! Yes, here, in the U.S., once the seller accepts your proposed contract with the price and terms, it usually takes about a month to make the legal transaction.  The slowest part of the process is satisfying the bank that you are able to pay off the loan.  They do A LOT of digging into your financial past.

[Allan Bell]

My second lot of washing drying on the line. Even hotter than Monday.

 

The only insects to contend with are a few Ladybirds. (Hey! I'm talking to ladybird Betty. Come in Betty.)

 

Allan

 

[MizBrown]

Yesterday, Luis made Nicaraguan style guacamol (note the missing e -- that's the way he pronounced it) which uses eggs, avocado, tomatoes, onions, lemon juice (substituted balsamic vinegar) which with chips and a fresco of orange juice and chia seeds makes a complete meal.    He cleaned the house and did the laundry and bought some of the ingredients so I paid him C$400 (roughly a bit over $12) for the work since today will be the last day before the Semana Santa holidays (Thursday through Sunday).

 

And today, after Luis came back from shopping for his old ladies (my British friend and me), I got the call from Migracion saying my residency renewal was approved, asked Luis to talk to the guy, and got the details and checked to make sure next week would be fine for getting down to Managua.  It's going to be $53 US every six months, but once we have vaccines, I can take public transportation and a Managua taxis for that.  So, I can stop worrying about that.  And in the future, ask Nicaraguans for what I need to do when rather than the gringo expats.  My former landlord will drive me down on Tuesday.  We will both be wearing KN95 masks. 

 

Next question will be when will the National Health Service be vaccinating the foreign residents.  Maybe soon.  Dunno. 

 

 

[gvallee]

1st April. 36 years to the day that I left France. There will be bubbly tonight.