Early Risers.

[Coombe Barton]

... Covid testing is being scaled back even further in England from April as part of the "living with Covid" approach that relies on vaccines to keep people safe. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/03/30/decline-slowing-increase-and-vaccination-justification-and-testing-cessation/

[grandadbob]

37 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

Do you think it might be prudent to try another, just in case?

Sounds like a plan to me!  😁

[zarniwhoop]

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Daffs here are just about over now, I was taken to task yesterday by one of our USA correspondents for p!ssing him off with the photos I posted of ours several weeks ago - he still has many inches of snow never mind daffs.

I've had tiny daffs (tête-a-tête) out for a couple of weeks, and this week my tiny narcissi (i.e. white petals) are out. But the full size dafs are not yet out. This is at the front of my house, so East facing and open - seems to me they are the best part of a month late compared to past years.

[Tony_S]

13 minutes ago, zarniwhoop said:

seems to me they are the best part of a month late compared to past years.

Ours are nearly finished. 

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, southern42 said:

I would be delighted to know what sort of bee it is, and what the shrub is called (a Pieris Japonica?)*, if anyone can tell me. 

 

 

 

I dont know your bee but we  have a similar furry bee here native to Australia called the Teddy Bear Bee   (Amegilla bombiformis)  -  its cute as:

 

 

 

 

I've seen a few around the plants here,  they are much fatter than the European honey bees and much cuter. Unfortunately this causes resentment  on the part of the introduced bees who mock the Teddy Bear Bee mercilessly. They are all "Hey fatty - all that weight must pay havoc on your knees!" but the Teddy Bear Bee is like"Mate, you just mind your own bees knees!".

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[New Haven Neil]

3rd of March!

 

[Ozexpatriate]

The daffodils here are finally looking robust after some sun yesterday. They didn't like being snowed on a few days away. They need a good dose of sunshine and should get some today.

 

The local tulip festival is open, but based on their webpage, it's very sad looking right now. There are *some* blooms but they don't appear to have opened. Many of the variants have no blooms yet at all. They anticipate mid-April for peak bloom which is later than usual.

 

In Chicago the tulip bulbs we planted were not in full bloom until the end of April.

 

The Sakura downtown have apparently bloomed but those in front of the local high school are yet* to appear. The buds have turned to a red fuzz of proto-blossoms but nothing has opened yet.

 

* I have photographs from March 25 last year with them in full bloom.

[woodenhead]

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Its taken me most of the day to have a bath due to the arthritis/sciatica. I consider myself fortunate despite the painful joints that there is no sign of cancer. I received a bowel cancer test kit a couple of weeks ago and the other day I received a letter giving me the all clear. Now for another muggatee.

I’ve got one of those tests awaiting my next call of nature.

 

Not exactly looking forward to using the trowel.

[Winslow Boy]

5 hours ago, southern42 said:

In photographing the daffodils on Sunday,

 

but only after I had taken this photo, did I spot this furry little fella.⬇️

12:40:47

I neither saw it fly down or fly off, just millimetring itself, dead slowly, from flower head to leaf and from leaf to leaf, before I went for lunch. When I returned, it was back on the flower head - Did it millimetre its way back there  on foot or did it fly onto it while my back was turned?

 

So, here is Creepy Crawly in action slow mode. 

12:41:03

 

12:41:49

 

Climbing up the leaf

12:45:17

 

Now at the top of the leaf

12:46:05

 

Onto the next leaf

12:46:22

 

Clinging onto both leaves for dear life

12:48:09

 

Phew! Made it! Now, the race to the top...

12:50:57

 

Coming through!

12:51:52

 

Dun-it!

12:59:33

 

An hour and a quarter later... back on the head of flowers

14:14:48

 

I would be delighted to know what sort of bee it is, and what the shrub is called (a Pieris Japonica?)*, if anyone can tell me. 

 

* Whatever it is, the bees sure love it.

 

Polly

 

 

Yep Pieris japonica. It looks quite large.

[Winslow Boy]

54 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Ours are nearly finished. 

 

Ours are in full bloom. Photos don't do them justice I'm afraid.

[PhilH]

All these lovely pictures of spring…meh, it’s ‘orrible down ‘ere in ‘Amsher (nb only 25 letters in a true ‘Amsher alphabet, no h).

 

It’s blowing an ‘ooley and peeing down.

[Winslow Boy]

Many thanks for all the 'words'. Not a pension just an ISA that had reached the end of its run.

 

The financial institution was saying go on line but three guesses what,  when you went on line you couldn't do it and get a message saying ring us.

 

So you ring them and you get 'we are extremely busy why not try on line'. Try again and again and again in the end after listening to this for 30 minutes I got through to a cockwobble who was about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

 

Not wishing to knock our American correspondents, but really guys don't send your cockwobbles over here we are more than capable of producing our own. 

 

So in the end I decided just go with the flow and ended up making an appointment to speak to someone in person. Heaven help me if they are a chocolate teapot I'll just throw myself on the floor and scream and scream and scream.

 

Ps why is it that no matter when you ring up they are Always extremely busy. I bet you could ring at midnight and they'd still be extremely busy.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Winslow Boy

[Tony_S]

10 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Not wishing to knock our American correspondents, but really guys don't send your cockwobbles over here we are more than capable of producing our own. 

The call centre may have been anywhere in the world. American English is the most popular version for people to learn now. 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

They didn't like being snowed on a few days away.

We had some messages from our friend who lives in Gresham,OR. Not sure if it was during the very latest snowfall but she had a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop and was told she needed to be taken to hospital. The snowplough had made her house driveway inaccessible so firefighters had to get her to the ambulance. The hospital sorted her out but after treatment had to wait 5 hours before she could get a cab home.  Recently here it would have been the long wait for the ambulance. 

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, KeithMacdonald said:

This was on the joke thread. So this is what @polybear gets up to in his spare time.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. The arthritis/sciatica is quiet for now but its dry outside. In the early hours it is expected to pour down but hopefully I will be asleep by then.

[polybear]

6 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Buff-tailed Bumble Bee Bombus terrestris

 

More commonly known as Arsus Stingyus.

 

6 hours ago, grandadbob said:

@polybear  Yep, tasted OK to me ! 😋

 

 

You left CRUMBS 😵😵. Hang your head in shame - and consider yourself duly b0llokked.  And pray that Big H doesn't find out.

 

5 hours ago, woodenhead said:

Discovered that fake Marmite spreads better than the branded stuff.

 

However, revalation today, got myself an Aldi Mighty Yeast - tastes just as good and it spreads like chocolate spread - yes.

 

Bear has been scoffin' Marmite for over half a century; I thought I'd test a jar of fake stuff from Lidl a few months back - tastes identical to me, only a lot cheaper.  If only they'd dump the silly shaped jar and had one with parallel sides to make it easily to scrape out (Marmite actually did that for a little while ratheralottayearsago but for some dumb reason dropped the idea.

 

50 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

So in the end I decided just go with the flow and ended up making an appointment to speak to someone in person. Heaven help me if they are a chocolate teapot I'll just throw myself on the floor and scream and scream and scream.

 

Don't forget to finish off with the "make yourself sick" bit at the end....

 

8 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

This was on the joke thread. So this is what @polybear gets up to in his spare time.

 

If only...she could most definitely put a smile on this Bear's face.

 

Bear here....

M.E. Group today - for the first time in ratheralottaweeks;  the only catch now is it's closed for the Easter Break for two weeks.  Yep, T.C's.

At least The Paw held out, though did start protesting towards the end; I spent much of the evening draw filing so that could've had something to do with it.

I got home to discover that the NNNND had accepted a delivery of 9 rolls of wallpaper for Bear, which was kinda handy; I hope to finish the lining paper tomorrow (paw permitting) but I'll wait until next week before starting the papering proper.  I'll use the weekend to plan and mark the walls for the various vertical drops and also have a tidy up in the muddlin' room (it's a bombsite at the moment, with loads of DIY & decorating cr@p everywhere) so I can set up some form of plastic floor covering and makeshift pasting table (most likely a sheet of MDF on a couple of trestles - a cheap cr@p pasting table is only fifteen quid but it's highly unlikely I'll need it again (or certainly not for many years I hope) and it'll be something else to store so I really don't want to go there.

Bear gone.

[monkeysarefun]

Nil  sign of daffodils here. Best I can do is the Bird Of Paradise that I bought for 2 bucks from a Girl Guides plants stall a few years ago and dumped in the ground and have never fed or watered. In revenge like most tropical plants here  its grown to the size of a small car and is making it impossible to get down to my shed complex.

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

54 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

We had some messages from our friend who lives in Gresham,OR. Not sure if it was during the very latest snowfall but she had a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop and was told she needed to be taken to hospital.

Legacy Mt. Hood Medical Center (the hospital in Gresham) is very much in the news lately.

 

They (without a required waiver from the State Health Department) closed their "birthing center" aka maternity ward. All their maternity patients are being redirected to a hospital immediately across the river from downtown - anywhere in the vicinity of perhaps 45±15 minutes away in potentially heavy traffic.

 

It's quite the brouhaha. Legacy Mount Hood is the closest hospital for many eastside people who live in small communities in the foothills of the mountain and already have a long drive just to get there.

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

The call centre may have been anywhere in the world.

India (cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru/Bangalore) was well known for call centres but even that appears to be old hat these days. A quick search provided unexpected responses - companies in the business of recommending locations. The Philippines was frequently touted. This hit recommended places like Jamaica and Columbia.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well the weather this morning was bl00dy awful, so I stayed inside. Once I’d got back home after dropping Sheila off for her Zumba class, I decided to get a few small minor jobs done. Things such as emptying bins and recycling etc, once that lot was done, I decided to have a go at getting my head around Templot. I watched a couple of tutorials and then had a play, it’ll take some time to become proficient in it but I’ve made a start.

 

My pooh sticks game arrived over the weekend, I completed it yesterday and I’m now just waiting for the results. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[Winslow Boy]

29 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

India (cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru/Bangalore) was well known for call centres but even that appears to be old hat these days. A quick search provided unexpected responses - companies in the business of recommending locations. The Philippines was frequently touted. This hit recommended places like Jamaica and Columbia.

 

That was the thing normally with call centres you get a bit of background noise but there was nothing. I'm also fairly certain English was his first language so I suspect it was just the script he was working from. He tried his best it was just unfortunate it wasn't good enough.

[Erichill16]

Can’t sleep so an early breakfast is being consumed.

while SWMBO was watching game show (Rise and Fall (probably best described as a cross between Big Brother and I’m a Celebrity get me out of here)) I thought to myself I don’t know anyone whose been on any tv quiz show. Has any ERs appeared on any such show ? 
As I can’t sleep I may as well bore you with my day.

Not a great deal to report but a walk with Hovis to Cannon Hall and paperwork sums the day up quite well. Phone calls and moving money about electronically also formed entertainment for the day.

Really ought to try for some more sleep as tomorrow evening I’m going out to a music concert (tribute bands) with a friend and it may be a late night. Unfortunately I’ve got and had for the last couple of months a cough and it’s playing up at the moment and don’t want to wake SWMBO and Hovis so perhaps the spare bed  may be the best option.

Robert