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Post a good thing that happened in your life today


Betty LaRue

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1 hour ago, Sally R said:

Headed out at dawn to a lake with my bird lens. An injured tendon in my right arm is finally starting to heal so I feel I can carry and hold up this heavy lens again. Yet to download images to my computer so don't know if there are many keepers, but I so enjoyed being out on a still autumn morning. I saw many lovely birds including glossy ibis with shiny feathers.

 

Just before heading home I saw a kookaburra in a tree with a small snake it had caught in its beak. Only got a couple of shots before it moved on. Doubtful they will be sharp enough to upload here, but will see. It was probably a juvenile tiger snake, tiger snakes being common around the lake, and sometimes seen swimming in it too! They are very good swimmers.

 

Funny thing was there were workmen doing maintenance on the boardwalk on the lake and they were listening to a radio station playing dance-oriented 80s music. It was kind of surreal watching birds to a party music soundtrack. The birds didn't seem to mind.

 

 

 

Shame about the people around. Very early morning is a truly magical part of the day. My favourite. I have no problems getting up for it.

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10 minutes ago, Sally R said:

 

Fortunately there were some quiet spots away from the boardwalk too. The work will be finished on it soon making it quieter out there.

 

Yes, it is absolutely my favourite time of the day too - the peace, the freshness of the air, the first bird calls of the day... This morning I was trying to decide between between landscape photography and bird photography, and decided the sky probably wasn't going to put on a spectacular sunrise so went for birds.

 

I love your recent bird images Gen, having just had a look at your latest page of images 🙂 

 

Thank you. We can't really go wrong on Heron Island, so many bird species, so close!

 

We recently camped by a wetland with nobody around apart from a neurotic tiny dog. The half hour before sunrise was quite incredible. The musty smell, birds waking up, cows with calves slowly heading to pastures, the sky changing to orange, pink, the first three seconds of the sun on the horizon, then golden light. Magical !! Then the damn crop sprayer started his ballet, making sure he flew low straight overhead in his first lap!! We could have almost touched it!!

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Took the train home from Settle via Carlisle and then over to Newcastle. Very few passengers, and glorious sunshine most of the way. 

 

On the southern section of the S and C railway the banks were lined with wild primroses while lambs were to be seen on the lowland sections. I spotted a deer coming over from Carlisle and a heron fishing by the river Tyne. These two railway routes must be near the top scenic train rides in England, the S&C is the more dramatic, as it cuts through the Pennines, but the line across to Newcastle is through the gentler rolling hills, farmland and forests of Northumberland. While some train journeys disappoint due to the time spent in cuttings, or limited visibility due to banks of lineside trees, these routes give clear views most of the time. The whole experience was Infinitely preferable to driving and not expensive, at £20. The only drawbacks were having to wear a mask, and the reflections from the windows making quality photography impossible.

 

A 10 mile bike ride on my trusty folding bike got me home in time for tea - a great day out after months of lockdown.

 

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21 hours ago, gvallee said:

Then the damn crop sprayer started his ballet, making sure he flew low straight overhead in his first lap!! We could have almost touched it!!

That’s when I’d get my cameras out and not before!  Isn’t it strange how people’s photography styles differ?

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19 minutes ago, Colblimp said:

That’s when I’d get my cameras out and not before!  Isn’t it strange how people’s photography styles differ?

 

Yes we all react to different things. Yesterday I met a woman who was my total opposite: she hated cooking, loved water (swimming), couldn't hold a camera without shaking she said. Still, she was lovely and we would get on well.

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6 hours ago, Bryan said:

 

These two railway routes must be near the top scenic train rides in England, the S&C is the more dramatic, as it cuts through the Pennines,,............................. and the reflections from the windows making quality photography impossible.

 

 

 

Consider a special excursion train one day if you haven't already...

 

The rolling stock is generally from an earlier generation, with big windows, tables, and drop down windows at the carriage ends, so you can lean out and take photos, such as when the train goes over the magnificent Ribblehead viaduct !

 

Much nicer than a modern sealed air con railway carriage, with airline style seating that resembles rows of ironing boards.

 

 

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12 minutes ago, AlbertSnapper said:

The rolling stock is generally from an earlier generation,

Careful what you wish for.

The New Zealand Wellington commuter loco is Canadian, but the carriages are ex-BR Mark 2 from 1973🤩. So that's what happened to them.

You can get beer though. And cakes on a Friday.

Edited by spacecadet
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20 hours ago, AlbertSnapper said:

 

Consider a special excursion train one day if you haven't already...

 

The rolling stock is generally from an earlier generation, with big windows, tables, and drop down windows at the carriage ends, so you can lean out and take photos, such as when the train goes over the magnificent Ribblehead viaduct !

 

Much nicer than a modern sealed air con railway carriage, with airline style seating that resembles rows of ironing boards.

 

 

 

Have to agree that the older loco hauled stock is quieter and more user friendly, although the diesel multiple unit on the S&C wasn't too bad noise wise, the older multiple unit heading east was noisy.  I had my first ride on one of the new ECML LNER Azuma trains some while ago from York to Newcastle having travelled there on an old HST.  I found the new train to be disappointing, with a harsher ride and generally noisier than the HST, such is progress.

 

However, getting back to the subject, we once took an excursion along the S&C but it rained heavily, I can recall sheets of water running down the sides of the cuttings !  So you need to get lucky with the weather if you book in advance.

Edited by Bryan
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We had some wildlife action in my garden today. I've been aware for a while that we have a squirrel and yesterday I saw the dogwood tree outside my window quiver in an unusual way and then the squirrel popped up in my window. This morning I saw him on the trunk of the redbud tree across the way and then I noticed a robin on that fire escape. The squirrel wound up under a bush after the robin dive bombed it twice. Protecting a nest I guess but no one has been using the robin nest they built this year... or the cardinal nest... though we do see robins and cardinals regularly. They must have nests nearby in a quieter area.

 

Paulette

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50 minutes ago, NYCat said:

We had some wildlife action in my garden today. I've been aware for a while that we have a squirrel and yesterday I saw the dogwood tree outside my window quiver in an unusual way and then the squirrel popped up in my window. This morning I saw him on the trunk of the redbud tree across the way and then I noticed a robin on that fire escape. The squirrel wound up under a bush after the robin dive bombed it twice. Protecting a nest I guess but no one has been using the robin nest they built this year... or the cardinal nest... though we do see robins and cardinals regularly. They must have nests nearby in a quieter area.

 

Paulette

Please allow me to ship all of my local squirrels to you. You can watch their antics and I can think about putting out bird feeders again. I have the red Fox squirrels which might be different from yours. I can afford to feed little birdy appetites, but not these furry hogs.

 

ABX6RT.jpg

Edited by Betty LaRue
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The following actually happened yesterday but I did not have time to post so will post today.

 

Went into Lincoln on the 9.15am bus (free ride) and spent two hours taking photos, about 85, came back (free ride again) had lunch, went out to the local bowling green and played a few ends came back home, absolutely whacked. (The lockdown has not done much good for my stamina, going to have to get more exercise in.) This morning decided to process and keyword my images as I was aching in places I did not know I had. Jobs a good'un.

 

Allan

 

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This is a small good thing but still fun.  This morning, while out doing some errands, I went a Starbucks coffee house drive thru....which I rarely do.  And when I got to the window to get my drink, the guy said, "You're our ten thousandth customer at this location, your order is free"!  That was nice and welcomed since it is the most overpriced coffee going!!  It also had me scratching my head, do they really have some sort odometer type thing keeping a customer count??

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On 26/04/2021 at 00:26, Betty LaRue said:

Please allow me to ship all of my local squirrels to you. You can watch their antics and I can think about putting out bird feeders again. I have the red Fox squirrels which might be different from yours. I can afford to feed little birdy appetites, but not these furry hogs.

 

ABX6RT.jpg

Chilli powder in the feed Betty, the birds can't taste it and Squirrels hate it. I used to be plagued with the grey furry horrors in England, found the Chilli trick, no squirrels.

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14 minutes ago, aphperspective said:

Chilli powder in the feed Betty, the birds can't taste it and Squirrels hate it. I used to be plagued with the grey furry horrors in England, found the Chilli trick, no squirrels.

Wow, that sounds wonderful. I actually have ordered two bird feeders and will try it. Do you just do a few sprinkles through or a bunch of it?

Just think. When I lived in Oklahoma City, I could have sprayed chili powder water on my loaded peach tree and kept those buggers from either running down the power lines stealing peaches as big as their heads, or taking bites out of what was left hanging on the tree, ruining them. I guess they were testing for ripeness. The bites caused them to rot.
Of course, my peach cobbler might have been a tad spicy.

Every time I see a squirrel, I look at it with hateful, squinted, beady eyes.

 

CXFY5K.jpg

Edited by Betty LaRue
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Some time ago I was walking through our local park in Cambridge when I came to a narrow track with tall trees close to the path on both sides when there was a crashing noise high above me in the trees. Not sure what or where whatever was happening was going to fall so stood still. After what seemed an eternity but probably a few seconds a grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) crashed to the ground on it's side right beside me. It lay there and panted two or three times then gave a deep breath out and was still.

 

Not sure if it missed its footing when leaping from one tree to another or maybe had a heart attack. I felt a bit sorry for it then I thought "That's one less that is going to trouble our beautiful native red squirrels." and walked on.

 

Allan

 

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Yesterday was cold and then wet, pretty miserable. However the rain was welcome as we have had a prolonged dry spell and the garden needed a drink. 

 

Now to the good thing. We possess a telescopic mop or squeegee that I use for cleaning windows etc, but a week ago I knocked it over and the plastic end connector broke. I tried to fix it with acetone but that didn't work. Next I tried epoxy resin, and that worked for a bit, before failing under load. But yesterday I decided to fashion a new connector out of wood.. Now this thing has a parallel section that fits into the telescopic aluminium tubing and a larger diameter tapered part that accepts the mop or squeegee heads. If I had access to a lathe it would been a relatively easy job, but no such luck. So I drew a circle on the cut end of a broom handle and used a sanding disc on my drill, chisels and abrasive paper to fashion the component. Ok only a retired person with time on their hands would mess around like this, but...

 

To my amazement it worked, and I was able to clean the first floor windows way above my head. I could have bought a completely new tool, but that would have involved scrapping most of an otherwise workable assembly, and I hate to see waste !

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39 minutes ago, Bryan said:

Yesterday was cold and then wet, pretty miserable. However the rain was welcome as we have had a prolonged dry spell and the garden needed a drink. 

 

Now to the good thing. We possess a telescopic mop or squeegee that I use for cleaning windows etc, but a week ago I knocked it over and the plastic end connector broke. I tried to fix it with acetone but that didn't work. Next I tried epoxy resin, and that worked for a bit, before failing under load. But yesterday I decided to fashion a new connector out of wood.. Now this thing has a parallel section that fits into the telescopic aluminium tubing and a larger diameter tapered part that accepts the mop or squeegee heads. If I had access to a lathe it would been a relatively easy job, but no such luck. So I drew a circle on the cut end of a broom handle and used a sanding disc on my drill, chisels and abrasive paper to fashion the component. Ok only a retired person with time on their hands would mess around like this, but...

 

To my amazement it worked, and I was able to clean the first floor windows way above my head. I could have bought a completely new tool, but that would have involved scrapping most of an otherwise workable assembly, and I hate to see waste !

You are Mr. Fixit. That’s good. Waste not Want not.

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6 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

Some time ago I was walking through our local park in Cambridge when I came to a narrow track with tall trees close to the path on both sides when there was a crashing noise high above me in the trees. Not sure what or where whatever was happening was going to fall so stood still. After what seemed an eternity but probably a few seconds a grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) crashed to the ground on it's side right beside me. It lay there and panted two or three times then gave a deep breath out and was still.

 

Not sure if it missed its footing when leaping from one tree to another or maybe had a heart attack. I felt a bit sorry for it then I thought "That's one less that is going to trouble our beautiful native red squirrels." and walked on.

 

Allan

 

When I was a young pup expecting my first child, we were in Texas. It was summer, I was almost due, and it was hot. We were in a garage apartment. Half of the garage below was ours, the other half was rented to a guy who stored his fishing boat in it. One miserably hot day, while Bob was at the Air Base, I sat by the large open window hoping for a breeze. No A/C., no fan. I could look out directly into the branches of a large shade tree.

The guy and his son were pushing his boat by hand up the gravel drive to the garage, making a crunching noise. A squirrel was on a branch at my eye level, so curious it was leaning over far and watching the guys below.

It leaned over too far, and fell. It landed in a flower bed and bounced. Then climbed up on the fence and proceeded to cuss those guys out. Loudly!  I’m sure if I could’ve understood squirrel talk, I’d have blushed.

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14 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Wow, that sounds wonderful. I actually have ordered two bird feeders and will try it. Do you just do a few sprinkles through or a bunch of it?

Just think. When I lived in Oklahoma City, I could have sprayed chili powder water on my loaded peach tree and kept those buggers from either running down the power lines stealing peaches as big as their heads, or taking bites out of what was left hanging on the tree, ruining them. I guess they were testing for ripeness. The bites caused them to rot.
Of course, my peach cobbler might have been a tad spicy.

Every time I see a squirrel, I look at it with hateful, squinted, beady eyes.

 

CXFY5K.jpg

I used to get some nice strong chilli powder and mix  enough to coat everything. Basically all my bird food was in a plastic box just tipped it in and gave it a good old mix up. (Watch the dust!!! in your eyes). Saved me a fortune in seeds and peanuts etc and the birds were not pestered by the grey horrors. Let me know if it works for you.

Andy.

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I passed some kind of flat inspection today, not sure what or how.

 

Those little furry-tailed guys need to survive too, and they are good at it, like the Herring gulls. The common pigeon tries to survive too. Back awhile, some idiot in Venice decided they should get rid of all the pigeons in St Mark's Square. They got rid of him instead. 

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