Thread 17 - TalkLair: "Okay, first of all, what's with the outfit? Live in the now, okay? You look like DeBarge."

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(Previous thread 16).

Spring is springing, daffodils blooming all over our LairGarden, which have not all been picked by a neighbour's kid...

In the TalkLair, the hearth is glowing, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, cosy rugs are down on the floors looking a bit stained by cat hairball regurgitation. The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch though, always eager for general chit-chat on all manner of topics. We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

How lovely! I miss English springs and this one seems to be particularly beautiful. Bluebells in another month or so!

I love magnolias. There are a few gorgeous ones round here.

My magnolia is looking a little in need of tidying up, but it smells glorious.

In another part of the garden a foolish long-tailed-tit has built a beautiful nest out of lichen and cobwebs, right beside the path, at nose height. A little face looking out at me suggests the eggs are now being incubated. I hope they survive.

The nest of the long-tailed tit is an extraordinary thing, isn't it.

The magnolia here gets more ridiculous every year, it's enormous. This is it a couple of Aprils ago behind a cherry plum.

Have to say that whilst the magnolia is a real show when it blooms, it's otherwise a bloody nuisance. First the leather sepals drop as the flowers open and there are thousands of them. Next it's the petals, though they do at least shrivel up. In autumn a vast number of huge leaves come down and it usually takes four or five raking or mowing sessions to clear them all up.

Saying all that, it's a very good shade tree in summer.

Things have started to flower here (specifically small purple stuff - note my expertise in plant-naming!) and our back garden is heaving with very happy bees. They are great cheerer-uppers!

In personal news which reflects badly on me, MrG's ghastly elder son (who yearns to be a politician, but the voters of British Columbia have more sense) has been emailing incessantly wanting to Skype me about his dad, who has Alzheimer's. The words "going forward" and "support from afar" figured heavily. What the latter means is "Let me tell you what you're doing wrong and how you could Do Better".

I'd been fobbing him off with the truth ... I don't have a working mic on my computer (not that I've bothered to get one) ... but he persisted. So yesterday I bit the bullet and replied rather bluntly. The words "Kindly fuck off, I don't have time for your pompous, self-righteous bullshit, you utter pillock" were implicit. I read it to MrG who laughed a lot and said "Yes! Hit send RIGHT NOW!" So I did. Result! Radio silence for 24 hours, so far.

Pray for me! Or better still, laugh.

Fingers crossed for the message getting through without major incident, Gonners. It sounds like a very trying situation.

Radio silence must be rather nice though. I shall pray and do a little fist punch of "Yes! You tell him!" It's all good.

It was warmer yet today which I realised when B and I went out, me in the shades again but feeling warmth in my face when the sun hit it. What larks. I made it all the way to the pier with stop offs along the way and then got an exhausted cab homeward for a nap.

One of the stop offs was for a "let's get rid of the hair!" haircut and here it is. I sort of was okay with it. Then I sort of liked it well enough. And then I loved it. It's nice to finally appreciate myself as I near the departure lounge but I do wish I'd discovered the secret a little while ago. Ah, well. Here's me, shades and hair. The hair is looking better now as I've styled it a bit better and have a little baby fringe.

Looking fabulous. I love the earrings.

That haircut looks great on you (and so do the earrings).

I ordered some more over the top earrings because I love those ones so much but they get a bit heavy. It's all about having fun with stuff at the moment and it seriously does bring me moments of unadulterated joy!

Looking good, Fags! Excellent hair and impressive earrings (the weight would drive me mad though).

Great pic, @FagsMagsandBags ... those shades make you look like Ingrid Bergman!

Lovely pic, @FagsMagsandBags !

Nice one, @Gonners ! I wonder how long the spell will last?

Very glam, FMB.

Excellent development @Gonners, pompous pillocks need to be told.

You look fab @FagsMagsandBags. Great shades. I've never been able to find a pair of sunglasses that look right on me.

My hay fever kicked off spectacularly on my drive home last night. My nose started burning and I had to keep making funny faces to stop myself from sneezing. When I got in I promptly did six or seven violent sneezes and must have irritated a blood vessel in the process because I started sneezing blood. There weren't any allergens in the car I could think of so it must have been a slightly delayed reaction to my walk across the campus which is full of trees. I've gone through one and a half boxes of tissues since then, my nose won't stop streaming. I've taken dymista and fexofenadine but so far it doesn't seem to be doing much. I'm not sure how I'm going to manage when I go out later.

That sounds horrible, @VictorianBigot There's a lot of tree pollen at the moment so maybe it was coming in through the car vent.

I get the sudden sneezes and streaming in pollen season, sometimes with the nosebleed too, but don't get on with antihistamines, so when it gets like that I dab Olbas Oil on my shirt and that helps. Saline nasal spray helps a lot too.

Oh I didn't think of the car vent. I've google mapped it and it started about here. What trees are these?

@VictorianBigot What works for me is Boots saline nasal spray. It's intended for babies with blocked noses! We have the sea about 800m north, so if the wind's coming from that direction all is well. But there are fields about 500m south, and Trees From Hell in a park over the road.

I have some saline spray, Sterimar, which helps a bit. NeilMed is best but the bottle melted in the microwave and replacements are so expensive. I'll have to bite the bullet and get another one. The ENT man said it's fine just to wash the bottles with dish soap and regular water rather than sterilise them but I'm scared of the amoebae.

Vicks do a saline nasal spray which you can get in most chemists and that's the one I use. It's pretty good and a couple of squirts and sniffs up each nostril helps loads.

Can't tell what the trees are. MN seems to be reducing the quality of the photos we post and they're not posting very clearly at the moment.

@FagsMagsandBags You look absolutely fabulous!

@VictorianBigot Sympathies on the extreme hay fever, sounds horrible.

You're rocking the pink hair there, Fags! Bit of a Vermeer thing going on, Fags With a Pearl Earring.

On blossom, quite a few neighbours have cherry trees, but only one is in magnificent bloom. Neither my apple, nor my pear have shown signs yet.

Moments of unadulterated joy are great things. Wise words, FMB.