Lifeboat Muster Point for TalkExiles - Thread 2

[Kucingsparkles]

Continuation of previous thread.

Gather here all ye refugees from the foundering ship of JTT, if ye be in need of "How the heck do I format my post?" "Why can't I edit my typos?" "What do those acronyms mean?" and most importantly, "Where is everybody that I used to know?"

Or just to chat randomly.

Curlews!

uk.yahoo.com/news/endangered-birds-return-south-england-160000303.html

One of Britain’s most threatened birds has returned to the south of England after becoming locally extinct, thanks to the work of northern gamekeepers. Curlews were once commonplace across Britain, but they suffered a sustained period of decline from the 1970s onwards and now only thrive in isolated northern regions, particularly on grouse moors.

In the winter of 2019, me and my dad saw scores of them on a school field, near us. There had been heavy snow. He's a twitcher and said that he was amazed, as he's never seen them in such a large group. He thought that they'd moved from their normal habitat because of the bad weather.

Curlews nested for the first time in decades on land near here this summer. The farmer is getting into regenerative agriculture and is making changes to the pastures, including creating scrapes that will fill with water for the likes of curlews. They found it right away and move straight in to nest. The nest had to be protected, of course, but the birds nested successfully and that's promising.

Surely the most evocative bird call?

Here you go:

The snipe sounds like the room next door....

Thanks for all the good wishes. Today I feel like shite physically but mentally better than I have in quite a while.

The heating came on overnight! Alas it's not the more modern storage heating, it's ancient but it will be updated and I'm warmer now which is all that matters.

Really glad the move was yesterday when the weather was so good because today it's wet and grey and very moody.

Good for you, Crows.

Just filled the car with LPs and I'm knackered but still got to get them to the new house, unload them and carry them upstairs. Am at the stage of getting the house empty enough that I can sort the rest of the junk into what's coming with me, what's going to the tip (do I really need that spare playstation 2 power cable that I've been luging around fore fiteen years bt never had use for?), and what's going to the charity shop. I've also deciided I need to at least half my LP collection, so the plan for next year is get myself an account for selling on discogs. Even selling the stuff at rock bottom prices should net me a few grand.

Did I mention I was knackered?

Is it half or halve when using it as a verb?

Halve looks better to me.

I think I'd halved that cake.

Good luck to the moved and in the process of moving people. Hope you're settled soon and can relax.

Yeah, after I posted 'half' it just didn't feel right, then I did that thing where I stopped trusting myself, so had to ask.

You'll be amazed at the volume of junk you get rid of.

Finally got some light snow late this morning, very neat-yet-chonky snowflakes. For good or ill, the snow has turned to rain.

We got about three inches yesterday, and himself spent a while snow blowing the driveway as it basically turns to a sheet of ice after rain otherwise. A friend who lives further inland had about fourteen inches of it.

Oh and I agree with Pike about the deleterious effect of the internet on my reading habits.

@Kucingsparkles Great pics, they don’t look real.

5°C here now and nothing but rain.

It's 0° here, with a stiff breeze. I was out this morning when it was below freezing, but no wind and it didn't feel too bad. I've just been to a shop and it feels painfully cold.

I think my reading habits were going downhill pre-internet, tbh. But it surely doesn't help. These days I am still a keen reader of book reviews. Actual books, not so much.

@ Crows, glad your move went well. Lovely little fox too.

re: reading habits. I got a kindle years ago but my consumption of books went down, I hate not being able to flick back a couple of pages to remind myself of something. I abandoned it a few years ago and went back to physical books. I've had a few hb's which meant I can only read them in bed. Having been ill this wk, I've had a reading spree and finished three. I was a sickly child and think reading a lot was my solace, and so if I get ill, it's a great excuse to read. The net definitely eats into book time.

I have been outside. It is a delightful combination of half frozen snow and driving, freezing rain.

0/10. Woud not recommend.

They’ve been heralding THE GREAT THAW for the best part of a week here in Devon, just kept putting it back by a day. For such a small amount of snow it lasted a very long time, but it’s been raining for 12 hours now, the road is clear and the rivers are fast and brown.

Hooray for Crows - warmth and a sleeping fox!

Almost at the winter solstice, and hard to imagine that in a few months the garden will look like this again:

That garden is gorgeous!

We didn't get snow at all here in the East Midlands, but it's been pissing it down for a few hours. DD is most disgruntled, as she had to do both dog walks due to DH being at work and me having a nasty cough (and no voice). Teams meetings should be interesting tomorrow.

That's not a garden, it's an estate! 😀