[BigMackCam]

Well... what a lovely holiday weekend we've had here weather-wise...

Saturday and Sunday were particularly good with temperatures in the low 70s, so yesterday - as I previously mentioned - we had a simple but relaxed bbq lunch in the garden

Today, I sat in the garden with my Mum and helped her with some of the puzzles in her competitions magazine - always fun, and more difficult than you'd expect, largely because she doesn't always read out the clues properly, or write the results in the correct boxes... a puzzle that should take 15 minutes can take an hour or more I made a light-ish lunch of pseudo-Mexican-style rice with onions, peppers, beans, garlic, cumin, paprika, chilli and crispy fried chorizo. I thought I'd gone a little heavy on the chilli, but my Mum & Dad finished every last bit. Mum said it was her favourite meal this year, but nine times out of ten she says that about every meal I cook Anyway, no-one was ill afterwards, so it mustn't have been too bad. I enjoyed it too.

Once my lunch had settled, I mowed the lawn at the rear of the house... just a medium cut, in case we're lucky enough to get more of this weather in the coming week or two (though I think that's unlikely). The buds are coming out on various bushes and the garden's starting to look inviting again after the Winter...



It's much cooler this evening (9.4C / 49F), but still dry and pleasant. It's supposed to be sunny but cool tomorrow, so my Dad and I are thinking we might visit the local air museum (North East Aircraft Museum - just a few miles from home). It's a pretty small and basic enthusiast-run affair, apparently (I've never been before), but it turns out they have some very interesting aircraft. I'll take "the camera that must not speak its name" with me and see if I can't get a few photos for the image library...

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Last edited by BigMackCam; 04-22-2019 at 02:49 PM.

[MarkJerling]

Well... what a lovely holiday weekend we've had here weather-wise...

Saturday and Sunday were particularly good with temperatures in the low 70s, so yesterday - as I previously mentioned - we had a simple but relaxed bbq lunch in the garden

Today, I sat in the garden with my Mum and helped her with some of the puzzles in her competitions magazine - always fun, and more difficult than you'd expect, largely because she doesn't always read out the clues properly, or write the results in the correct boxes... a puzzle that should take 15 minutes can take an hour or more I made a light-ish lunch of pseudo-Mexican-style rice with onions, peppers, beans, garlic, cumin, paprika, chilli and crispy fried chorizo. I thought I'd gone a little heavy on the chilli, but my Mum & Dad finished every last bit. Mum said it was her favourite meal this year, but nine times out of ten she says that about every meal I cook Anyway, no-one was ill afterwards, so it mustn't have been too bad. I enjoyed it too.

Once my lunch had settled, I mowed the lawn at the rear of the house... just a medium cut, in case we're lucky enough to get more of this weather in the coming week or two (though I think that's unlikely). The buds are coming out on various bushes and the garden's starting to look inviting again after the Winter...


It's much cooler this evening (9.4C / 49F), but still dry and pleasant. It's supposed to be sunny but cool tomorrow, so my Dad and I are thinking we might visit the local air museum (North East Aircraft Museum - just a few miles from home). It's a pretty small and basic enthusiast-run affair, apparently (I've never been before), but it turns out they have some very interesting aircraft. I'll take "the camera that must not speak its name" with me and see if I can't get a few photos for the image library...

Sounds like a good day out Mike.

[robtcorl]

Well... what a lovely holiday weekend we've had here weather-wise...

Saturday and Sunday were particularly good with temperatures in the low 70s, so yesterday - as I previously mentioned - we had a simple but relaxed bbq lunch in the garden

Today, I sat in the garden with my Mum and helped her with some of the puzzles in her competitions magazine - always fun, and more difficult than you'd expect, largely because she doesn't always read out the clues properly, or write the results in the correct boxes... a puzzle that should take 15 minutes can take an hour or more I made a light-ish lunch of pseudo-Mexican-style rice with onions, peppers, beans, garlic, cumin, paprika, chilli and crispy fried chorizo. I thought I'd gone a little heavy on the chilli, but my Mum & Dad finished every last bit. Mum said it was her favourite meal this year, but nine times out of ten she says that about every meal I cook Anyway, no-one was ill afterwards, so it mustn't have been too bad. I enjoyed it too.

Once my lunch had settled, I mowed the lawn at the rear of the house... just a medium cut, in case we're lucky enough to get more of this weather in the coming week or two (though I think that's unlikely). The buds are coming out on various bushes and the garden's starting to look inviting again after the Winter...



It's much cooler this evening (9.4C / 49F), but still dry and pleasant. It's supposed to be sunny but cool tomorrow, so my Dad and I are thinking we might visit the local air museum (North East Aircraft Museum - just a few miles from home). It's a pretty small and basic enthusiast-run affair, apparently (I've never been before), but it turns out they have some very interesting aircraft. I'll take "the camera that must not speak its name" with me and see if I can't get a few photos for the image library...

Mike,
I know you're cherishing this time with your Mum and Dad, I'm happy for you and envious at the same time because mine have passed.
The garden looks lovely, and the meal sounds delicious!
Fingers crossed for another day or two of summer.

[Racer X 69]

The parcel scanned through Seattle at 7:27 am today. That's only about 50 miles away.

I'm thinking Christmas will be a stretch. Maybe sometime after New Year's day.

3:37 pm and it is still showing Seattle.

Must be taking a coffee break.

Oh, and the updated delivery estimate is now Friday.

I could walk to Seattle and back, twice, between now and Friday.

And I only have one good foot.

Sheesh!

[CharLac]

Rub salt in Racer's wounds why don't ya Chuck.
Say you're sorry.

I am sorry for your poor postal service

[Racer X 69]

Today, I sat in the garden with my Mum and helped her with some of the puzzles in her competitions magazine - always fun, and more difficult than you'd expect, largely because she doesn't always read out the clues properly, or write the results in the correct boxes... a puzzle that should take 15 minutes can take an hour or more I made a light-ish lunch of pseudo-Mexican-style rice with onions, peppers, beans, garlic, cumin, paprika, chilli and crispy fried chorizo. I thought I'd gone a little heavy on the chilli, but my Mum & Dad finished every last bit. Mum said it was her favourite meal this year, but nine times out of ten she says that about every meal I cook Anyway, no-one was ill afterwards, so it mustn't have been too bad. I enjoyed it too.

Once my lunch had settled, I mowed the lawn at the rear of the house... just a medium cut, in case we're lucky enough to get more of this weather in the coming week or two (though I think that's unlikely). The buds are coming out on various bushes and the garden's starting to look inviting again after the Winter...

The garden looks awesome Mike. Lush green grass, recovered nicely from the winter nap. Hedgerow thick and healthy looking.

Very nice.

[BigMackCam]

Mike,
I know you're cherishing this time with your Mum and Dad, I'm happy for you and envious at the same time because mine have passed.

I'm most certainly cherishing it, Bob. It's not all roses, frankly... we each have our foibles, differences, and the occasional clash as a result - but they're infrequent and short-lived. When I was married and living down South, I'd never have expected to have this opportunity, for a variety of reasons... so, I count myself very lucky. I'd like to make the most of it, that's for sure.

The garden looks lovely, and the meal sounds delicious!
Fingers crossed for another day or two of summer.

Thanks, Bob England's such a tiny country compared to the US, and quite heavily populated. As a result, homes in residential areas - even those like mine on the edge of town - typically don't have large gardens, especially if those homes were built in the second half of the 20th century or later. This is the largest garden I've ever owned, but it's still small compared to what many of you good folks have over there. Still, it's my little private slice of serenity.

As for the food... it wasn't my best, in all honesty. Something of an experiment, but not bad at all, considering. I might consult a proper recipe next time, though

[robtcorl]

I am sorry for your poor postal service

Speaks highly of Japan's though.
On another note, there was an Amazon van in our neighborhood yesterday, Easter Sunday.

[BigMackCam]

The garden looks awesome Mike. Lush green grass, recovered nicely from the winter nap. Hedgerow thick and healthy looking.

Very nice.

Thank you It's mostly good... there's a few feet at the top end (behind the lens) that's still a little thin, from footfall when wheeling the bins out of the garden and round to the front for the weekly collections. But it's not bad... a few weeks and it should look just like the rest.

There's one part I've never been happy with, though, since I moved in, and it's that section between the rowan tree at the bottom of the garden and the shed... I have what I believe are some kind of dwarf beech trees there. That's what I've been told, and certainly the buds and leaves would confirm that. Anyway, they come into leaf much later on than the rest of the garden (right now, they're still dropping dead leaves). When the new leaves have fully sprouted, the trees look lovely and provide some privacy with the next garden behind, but it's out of sync with the rest of the garden. For four-and-a-half years now, I've been deliberating as to whether I should replace them with something else... Ah, well, another year won't hurt

Speaks highly of Japan's though.
On another note, there was an Amazon van in our neighborhood yesterday, Easter Sunday.

So far as I can tell, there's not a single day in the year that Amazon doesn't deliver here. I believe most of the deliveries are owner-operator... which gives them all the incentive they need

[CharLac]

I'm most certainly cherishing it, Bob. It's not all roses, frankly... we each have our foibles, differences, and the occasional clash as a result - but they're infrequent and short-lived. When I was married and living down South, I'd never have expected to have this opportunity, for a variety of reasons... so, I count myself very lucky. I'd like to make the most of it, that's for sure.



Thanks, Bob England's such a tiny country compared to the US, and quite heavily populated. As a result, homes in residential areas - even those like mine on the edge of town - typically don't have large gardens, especially if those homes were built in the second half of the 20th century or later. This is the largest garden I've ever owned, but it's still small compared to what many of you good folks have over there. Still, it's my little private slice of serenity.

As for the food... it wasn't my best, in all honesty. Something of an experiment, but not bad at all, considering. I might consult a proper recipe next time, though

I had the most excellent luck to drive with my Mum from my sister's place in Texas to Mum's place on Vancouver Island. Nine days days. A few months later and she was gone. I will cherish that time always.

[CharLac]

So we were back here today for lunch...a tad sunny for our drive today

[CharLac]

Speaks highly of Japan's though.
On another note, there was an Amazon van in our neighborhood yesterday, Easter Sunday.

Well let's see, I bought a Helios from Russia recently and it shipped yesterday. Let's see how long it takes.

[BigMackCam]

I had the most excellent luck to drive with my Mum from my sister's place in Texas to Mum's place on Vancouver Island. Nine days days. A few months later and she was gone. I will cherish that time always.

Ah, that's a lovely experience (a gift, really), and a wonderful photo, Charlie

I've never been one for recording family moments with photos, strange as it may seem. Anyone that knows me would probably say I'm not in the slightest bit sentimental. But... I don't know... In very recent years, I've started taking occasional snapshots of my Mum & Dad (like the one below from January this year - I think I may have posted this previously), specifically with the intention of having some keepsakes for the future...

[Racer X 69]

So we were back here today for lunch...a tad sunny for our drive today

Oh yeah, that place built out of shipping pallets.

[Racer X 69]

Well let's see, I bought a Helios from Russia recently and it shipped yesterday. Let's see how long it takes.

I bought an Industar 61LZ from a guy in the Ukraine a few years back.

Took four days.