anyone past 50 on here?

[Tja]

35 minutes ago, Mz Terry said:

Wondering if I should plant something to grow on the arch.

I think the arch, and fencing, are beautiful. They perfectly frame the garden.

Still, a flowering vine would be lovely, as long as it doesn't overpower the architecture.

[Skycaptain]

I shared the day with @CustardCream, and many others. We were caught a bit by surprise as everything started on time (apart from me (see grumps club)) 

 

@Mz Terry, beautiful garden - that looks like it's taken a lot of work. If you do decide to grow something over the arch I'd suggest it shouldn't be too bulky or it would block the view behind 

[Semisweet]

@Skycaptain @CustardCream, glad you enjoyed the London gathering.

 

@Mz Terry, your garden is quite picturesque. Speaking of gardens, when I awakened this morning to another steamy day cooped up in the city, I decided I needed a dose of nature and took a train out to a village with charming old architecture and greenery and a quaint main street with artisan shops and a farmers market. After strolling around for a few hours, I was heading back to the train when a heavy downpour struck just as I passed a bakery. Darn if I didn’t have to wait out the storm enjoying a chocolate truffle tart to cap off my mini-getaway. 

[ryn2]

That’s lovely, @Mz Terry!

 

Glad everyone had fun at pride, too.

[pickles.]

On 7/4/2019 at 6:58 AM, faraday☘ said:

I'm in the mist of a horrible cold.

I adore this typo.  But I hope you are feeling better!

 

Had a great time camping, and exploring on the beach, and I had several more bald eagle encounters.  The first one was the one I already mentioned--the eagle was in a tree about a mile or two down the beach from my beach access.  I first spotted her when I was about 400 feet (120 m) away, and she allowed me to walk within 10 feet (3 m) of the tree before taking off.  The tree was short and scrubby, so I had a very good look at the eagle (and she of me!  She kept looking at me, then back at the ocean, as I walked slowly towards the tree).  I stayed in that area quite a while, hoping to find (and searching for) an eagle feather in the long grasses.  I did find one big feather, but it is most likely a raven's.

 

When I went back up the beach and was near the access trail, I looked up to see six eagles circling right overhead.  They circled several times before flying off to the cliffs nearby; I watched until they disappeared.  Immediately after, four eagles landed on the beach--one at a time, but right next to each other.  They were at most 200 feet (60 m) away, and they were all facing the ocean.  I had a good profile view of them--could see their white heads and the light edges of their feathers clearly.  I was curious how close they would let me get, and was hoping to get some photos (I had gotten a couple good* shots of the lone eagle I had seen down the beach), but right at that moment a man with a small dog appeared, and the eagles flew away.

 

(*good is relative here.  They're not great photos, but they're amazing for shots without a zoom with my not-wonderful phone camera.)

[daveb]

3 hours ago, Mz Terry said:

The thread has gone quiet.

So has my neighborhood, thank gods.

That is a lovely garden!  

 

1 hour ago, Semisweet said:

Speaking of gardens, when I awakened this morning to another steamy day cooped up in the city, I decided I needed a dose of nature and took a train out to a village with charming old architecture and greenery and a quaint main street with artisan shops and a farmers market. After strolling around for a few hours, I was heading back to the train when a heavy downpour struck just as I passed a bakery. Darn if I didn’t have to wait out the storm enjoying a chocolate truffle tart to cap off my mini-getaway. 

Sounds like a grand day out! mmmm, chocolate truffle tart...

 

6 minutes ago, pickles mcgee said:

Had a great time camping

Sounds like it. With some awe-inspiring eagle encounters.

I think the closest I've been to a bald eagle was the one I saw quite a ways up in the sky, being mobbed by crows, above my house when the painter was here.

 

Cool to hear @Skycaptain and @CustardCream, et al., had good day at Pride, too.

 

As for me, nothing much to "write home" about. Just a lazy Saturday at home, enjoying the quiet (comparatively) and the cool weather (yay for cloudy days!).

[pickles.]

@Mz Terry, your garden is beautiful!  I think a vine on the arch would be beautiful too.  Climbing roses?

 

1 hour ago, Semisweet said:

Speaking of gardens, when I awakened this morning to another steamy day cooped up in the city, I decided I needed a dose of nature and took a train out to a village with charming old architecture and greenery and a quaint main street with artisan shops and a farmers market. After strolling around for a few hours, I was heading back to the train when a heavy downpour struck just as I passed a bakery. Darn if I didn’t have to wait out the storm enjoying a chocolate truffle tart to cap off my mini-getaway.

This sounds like a wonderful day, and so European!  You have villages?!?

 

11 minutes ago, daveb said:

So has my neighborhood, thank gods.

😂

[daveb]

4 minutes ago, pickles mcgee said:

This sounds like a wonderful day, and so European!

My thoughts, too. The whole idea of taking a train out to a village and stopping at a bakery and all that.

[Gentle Giant]

@Autumn Sunrise Hoping you’re healing well from your surgery.

 

@Tja Hope your elbow is better.

 

@faraday☘ Hope you’re recovering from your cold.

 

Firecrackers are so annoying! When we had a dog it scared her so much. Those inconsiderate neighbors would shoot them off every day before and after the 4th for a long time.

 

I worked on the 4th, but got a nice free meal which I enjoyed very much.

 

I watched Bohemian Rhapsody recently. It is an excellent film, I recommend. Got me listening to Queen again. I just listened to The Game album a little while ago.

 

 

[cdrdash]

Another lovely hike today at Butano State Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/DM5tz9MgLKn5GcUH7

 

On Friday, my cube neighbor moved to another building and left at noon.  It was marvelous to have the afternoon quiet and be free of his noise!

 

I did not view my fireworks on July 4th but I did hear them banging away around 9:30 p.m.

 

Cathy

[BobRossRules]

3 hours ago, pickles mcgee said:

I adore this typo.  But I hope you are feeling better!

 

I type like an ape!!  I am feeling a wee better.  I'm certainly hoping I'm all better by the time I venture out for Hawaii!!  Since I was feeling a wee better, I took the pups our for a bike ride...

 

It wore me out though, and I got a headache.  

 

46 minutes ago, Gentle Giant said:

 

@faraday☘ Hope you’re recovering from your cold.

 

I watched Bohemian Rhapsody recently. It is an excellent film, I recommend. Got me listening to Queen again. I just listened to The Game album a little while ago.

 

 

Thank you, I took some more cold and headache medicine, and I'm feeling better again!  I too recently watched Bohemian Rhapsody, and I started listing their music again.  I'm wanting to see Rocketman when it comes out to stream.  

 

[Semisweet]

2 hours ago, pickles mcgee said:

This sounds like a wonderful day, and so European!  You have villages?!?

I’m probably using the word village loosely here, but that’s what the place I went to feels like to me. I do love walking around villages when I travel, and today made me think I should be exploring more of the closest equivalents in my own area too.

[Semisweet]

Great photo, @faraday☘!

[Gentle Giant]

@faraday☘ Oh I want to see Rocketman too. I laughed when you wrote you type like an ape.

[pickles.]

56 minutes ago, Gentle Giant said:

Firecrackers are so annoying! When we had a dog it scared her so much. Those inconsiderate neighbors would shoot them off every day before and after the 4th for a long time.

I dislike them too, especially the screaming Piccolo Petes.  My neighborhood has been very quiet this year, which is beyond puzzling.  Did the teens move out en masse?

 

Quote

I watched Bohemian Rhapsody recently. It is an excellent film, I recommend. Got me listening to Queen again. I just listened to The Game album a little while ago.

Such a coincidence--I was listening to Queen on my drive back from Washington yesterday, and thinking of the movie, which I loved.

 

@faraday☘, did a friend take that pic, or do you have a tripod?  I go lots of places, but rarely get pics of myself. <sad face>

 

[daveb]

Great hiking pics and pup bike ride pic!  

 

5 minutes ago, pickles mcgee said:

rarely get pics of myself. <sad face>

same - especially on my solo trips, like some of my past trips to Europe, I didn't get any photos with me in them. I'm always hesitant to ask anyone to take my pic.

[pickles.]

1 minute ago, daveb said:

I didn't get any photos with me in them.

I do make an appearance by foot, or shadow, in a fair number of my photos, and I take the occasional selfie now that I have a smart phone, but they don't turn out well. 😂

[Autumn Sunrise]

7 hours ago, Mz Terry said:

The thread has gone quiet. 😮  I have been teaching this morning and received some lovely miniature roses in a trough from a pupil as an end of term thank you.   

 

I am still working hard to recapture my violin playing and am hoping to invest in a better violin soon, as I feel I have made enough progress to deserve it.

 

The garden is taking up quite a lot of my time, but if I ignore the weeds it is looking pretty.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Wondering if I should plant something to grow on the arch..

Clematis, maybe? There are some really stunning varieties, although I don't know how they would go in your climate. I do love your garden!  I'm glad your violin playing is going well - good for you 

 

@faraday☘ Awesome set-up with the bike and dogs - looks like great fun!

 

Have a nice weekend, everyone 

[Skycaptain]

@cdrdash, @faraday☘, great photos 

[ryn2]

Great bike (quike?), @faraday☘! Hope you keep feeling better and better.

 

I sometimes forget quaint villages are more of an “older states” thing.

[Semisweet]

28 minutes ago, ryn2 said:

I sometimes forget quaint villages are more of an “older states” thing.

Good point—there are multiple villages/towns and historic sites in my area and state that date back to the 1700s or even late 1600s (which of course for the U.S. constitutes ancient history ). Although these days the word “village” is more likely to be part of a developer’s name for a retirement community.

[ryn2]

1 hour ago, Semisweet said:

there are multiple villages/towns and historic sites in my area and state that date back to the 1700s or even late 1600s 

Same!  But “European-style” development like that came a lot later to the western states, so I have to imagine there’s a lot less of it.

 

It’s always weird to look back in history and see how much (more) of a powerhouse my smallish rust belt city once was... but that’s largely because the rest of the country wasn’t there yet.

[Tunhope]

Not meaning to rub in some historical one-up-person-ship, but I spent the day in Canterbury on a field trip that, in the morning,  focused on the twelth century monastic water supply and,  in the afternoon, looked at Roman and Saxon building stones. Nothing later than the seventh century. Now I'm knackered.

I love the yellow slugs @cdrdash and that's a lovely  jolly photo @faraday☘ 

 

[Nick2]

18 hours ago, faraday☘ said:

I type like an ape!!  I am feeling a wee better.  I'm certainly hoping I'm all better by the time I venture out for Hawaii!!  Since I was feeling a wee better, I took the pups our for a bike ride...

 

It wore me out though, and I got a headache.  

 

Thank you, I took some more cold and headache medicine, and I'm feeling better again!  I too recently watched Bohemian Rhapsody, and I started listing their music again.  I'm wanting to see Rocketman when it comes out to stream.  

 

I, at 1st, thought I was looking at the Alaskan Iditarod.

[daveb]

3 hours ago, Nick2 said:

I, at 1st, thought I was looking at the Alaskan Iditarod.

what with global warming and all?

 

Here, we've had another relatively cool day with some clouds.

[pickles.]

19 minutes ago, daveb said:

Here, we've had another relatively cool day with some clouds.

It's been the best late June/early July in Portland EVER.  When I make a smoothie, I have to turn the space heater on to drink it, and am charmed every time.

 

@Tunhope, your field trip sounds fantastic!  I want to come!

 

Speaking of water supply, there's a cool tour you can do here of the Bull Run Watershed, the source of Portland's drinking water.  It rains 130 inches (330 cm) a year there.

 

We have yummy water. 

[daveb]

47 minutes ago, pickles mcgee said:

It's been the best late June/early July in Portland EVER.  When I make a smoothie, I have to turn the space heater on to drink it, and am charmed every time.

Yeah, I love it! The longer it keeps up the happier I will be. I haven't even been using my basement as much as I thought I might, so far. It has actually been cool enough down there that when I do sit down there I have been using an afghan my mom made.  

 

48 minutes ago, pickles mcgee said:

@Tunhope, your field trip sounds fantastic!  I want to come!

I am envious of the journeys people can make in the UK and some places back east in the US. But I guess other people would envy our access to forests and fantastic coasts.  

[pickles.]

It's only 73 F right now, which is the high for today, and it's supposed to get down to 59 by midnight (22 C and 15 C, respectively).

 

On 7/7/2019 at 5:42 PM, daveb said:

when I do sit down there I have been using an afghan my mom made.

Awww...

 

On 7/7/2019 at 5:42 PM, daveb said:

I am envious of the journeys people can make in the UK and some places back east in the US. But I guess other people would envy our access to forests and fantastic coasts.

The UK has forests and coasts too, I've heard tell. 😉

 

There's not a lot of places in the world I wouldn't want to visit.  I can just think of three off the top of my head: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Las Vegas.

 

[daveb]

2 minutes ago, pickles mcgee said:

The UK has forests and coasts too, I've heard tell. 😉

Yeah, but not like PNW forests and coast.  (not saying ours is better, just different, with more old growth and larger trees and "real" mountains  )

 

I don't like heat or sun or crowds, and I'm picky about food, and travel in itself doesn't appeal to me (I mean the part of getting from one place to another, especially over long distances by plane or bus), so I am much more picky about places I would like to visit. On the other hand, I do enjoy rail travel and would be happy to do more of it (especially if I could get a private cabin for long journeys lasting days/overnight). For me, travel is much better with a good travel partner (got spoiled the last few years).  

[will123]

On 7/6/2019 at 8:53 PM, faraday☘ said:

I type like an ape!!  I am feeling a wee better.  I'm certainly hoping I'm all better by the time I venture out for Hawaii!!  Since I was feeling a wee better, I took the pups our for a bike ride...

 

 

Is that a recumbent fat bike?