21st

[Mick]

mae all how are we doing today? hope all is well...Overcast here today but storms ahead methinks ..at the moment dry .Just been out to the greenhouse picked 7 tomatoes off...5 made it to the house .Didnt sleep again last night ..was up at silly o clock so went out with camera ..got some nice pics ,plus met up with a friend who is big into macro photography ..so he was showing me how to use it ..Saw 2 kingfishers ...mother and a young male ..lovely colours .still warm here but rabbits have declined to go out .

hiya Lav how are you doing ?hope all is good .Well done for the young un across the road ..I reckon he thinks he has found a gap in the labour market.I haven't seen any poison ivy..I tell you what is really prevalent over here is Asian Balsam.its everywhere and the trouble is it spreads like wildfire.you had a decent weekend? Was going to go up the loft to just clean the railtracks off ...its as hot as heck at the moment..hope you have a good evening ..

hiya everyone else ..how are we all doing ?

[Lavande]

Good evening to all!

Cloudy here today but it still hit 88 degrees. I think we’re getting some storms tomorrow which will save me from watering everything.
The bad news is that Joe Biden has decided to drop out of the presidential race but he is endorsing his VP Kamala Harris to run in his place. The white males in tis country will have to get used to the idea of having a female president, haha!!! I think she could handle the role quite well, she’s very smart. I truly hope the Democratic party is behind her 100%.

Mick, sleep has been crappy for me too but. It’s that way every month right before the full moon which is tonight. Your pics were great as usual.
So is Asian Balsam poisonous too like PI? Makes me hate summer every time I get it, ugh. I imagine it’s way too hot in the loft, you need to wait a few months. I take it your tomatoes were good? Lol

hello to the rest of the crowd & hoping everyone has a nice night!
Lav

[Mick]

mae all...how are we doing?hope all is good ...raining here again....hopefully chuck it all down before we go on holiday .

hiya Lav ...how are you doing? hope all is well..yes I saw that Joe Biden has dropped out ..Now as far as a woman goes ..We had the same ...and I can tel you .....the women we have had as Prime Ministers could in the main buy and sell the males..No ,Asian Balsam is not poisonous but its really really invasive

https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/himalayan-balsam

tomatoes were lovely ..little sweet cherry ones and a big meaty marmande one .have a good afternoon .

big shout to everyone else ..

[Lavande]

Good evening Mick & everyone,

Rain here, off & on all day but it’s a light rain, not much accumulation. Looks like Wednesday & Thursday will be the same.
Spent $99 at the vet today for two med refills for my older dog. Nothing is cheap today.

I think our female VP will make a great President! She may end up choosing our PA Governor as her running mate. Lots of talk going on around that today, we shall she.
Looks like your Himalayan balsam is at least good for the pollinators. I know how invasive some species can be. The stuff that popped up in our ‘meadow’ is just wild & crazy including several trees!!

Hello to everyone & wishing a good night for all!
Lav

[porqoui]

MAE ALL...home from my dog sitting at my brothers. I didn't realize how important my AC is to me until spending 4 days without it at my brothers. OMG...with temps at 32C/90F and humidity, go figure, the air was sticky!! It really affected my breathing, I was just exhausted the whole time. Thankfully the dogs were too. LOL Easiest dog sitting as all they did was lay around. The minute I got home to the AC my breathing improved. Tomorrow is our highest temp 34C/94F. I have an appointment with my dermatologist in the morning, oldest son home in time to take me, and then into work. I am the only one that has AC at the office, so all should be good other than the catch up I'll be dealing with.

Mick...I couldn't imagine going up to the loft in this weather. Sleep, what is that? I'm averaging 2-3hrs at a time and if lucky, twice a night. How fortunate that your friend knows about macro photography. Jealous of your rain.

Lav...I was actually glad to see Biden finally step down. It really put a screw in Trump's plans. Now he's the oldest. LOL It does sound promising for your PA Governor, I've heard the talk as well. It looks like our heat dome is going to break on Thursday. Our temps will drop from 10-15 degrees. I'm off again on Fri & Mon, perfect timing. LOL

Waves to anyone reading, will check out MG to catch up. Have a good night all...PPQP

[Mick]

hiya all....29 degrees here today...hope all is well with everyone .Just back from the dentist.hopefully the last time for a while ..the weather looks pretty promising for our jamboree away ..Julie is away down to see Amy ..she messaged me to say there was a massive traffic jam .

hiya ppqp...how are you doing?how is the breathing now that you are home?hope all goes well with the dermatologist ..I need to make an appointment to see one .I slept a bit more last night .Hope all goes ok at work for you ...

hiya Lav ,how are you doing today?any more rain today?yes the vets are not cheap anywhere...As I look out the window I can see Asian Balsam in the field .Im watching a series called Madame Secretary .an American political series.its really good ..Picked a few more tomatoes today hope you have a good afternoon .

big hello to everyone else

[Lavande]

Greetings friends,

We did have a little rain overnight, not much though. 85 & humid again, what’s new? Haha!!!
YB’s sister stopped here after dropping a daughter off at the airport. I made a dairy & gluten free chicken & rice casserole so we could both eat safely. It was good & will be making it again. Doc got away from me this morning & took off across the road, dragging his leash. There were two guys installing new siding on the neighbor’s house & Doc just had to go see them. This dog is now stronger than I am & he’s not 5 months old yet. Don’t know what to do with him.

PQ, I imagine the heat & humidity were awful for you, breathing wise. Sounds exhausting for sure. Hope your Derm appt goes well. I’m feeling better about Biden dropping out now because the VP has been on the news constantly & she sounds as strong as ever. Trump is sh*tting his pants, LOL
Enjoy your cold front when it arrives!!

Mick, I have a dental appt coming up next week, can’t wait haha! Hope your weather holds for your next trip.
YB has harvested all of the onions & garlic already. I think he’s getting tired of all the work gardening involves these days. I remember the show Madame Secretary, it was good.
Hope Amy is doing well.

Hello to the rest & wishing a good night for all!

Lav

[porqoui]

MAE ALL...well that was one interesting day. The dermatologist appointment was what I expected. Although it doesn't seem to be spreading, it looks the same. She wants me to do another round of Terbinafine HCL but wants more blood work done before I fill the Rx. Keeping an eye on my liver. She did take another scraping hoping they can pinpoint which fungi I have. It doesn't help that I'm also on biologics. It was another scorcher today, 34C/93F. I can hardly wait till Thursday when we drop 10 degrees. I think the accountant has finally lost it. She started off arguing with me about how I wanted to record an expense on the books till the boss said that's it, he's busy and will deal with it later. Told me him and I will sort it out and make a decision. We came up with a solution. LOL Then discovered the accountant didn't take a June payment for an out of school care child, at least the parent brought it to our attention. Wonder how many other payments she missed. Then discovered she applied a payment to the wrong account and said that since the payment wasn't the full amount she's decreasing the damage deposit amount. OMG it just went on and on.

Mick...what a difference AC made. My breathing went back to my normal state. Glad you were able to sleep better last night. I really think the accountants days are numbered. Neither the boss or I can trust her. He's currently working on the budget for next fiscal, working out raises, bonuses. I figure every time the account screws up he should deduct her increase and give it to me. LOL I loved the Madam Secretary series.

Lav...more rain, so jealous. Wow, Doc is still just a puppy, you've got a ways to go to handle him. I guess he's too young for a perimeter shock collar. Nice to get a visit in with YB's sister, she's the one that was estranged for awhile, right? Awe, I feel so bad about Trump having to regroup after Bidden stepping down, NOT! The VP has raised a record amount of $ in a short period of time. It'll be interesting to see how this all unfolds.

Time to shut it down and get into relaxing mode. Thinking of the rest of the gang. Have a good night all....PPQP

[Mick]

Hiya all how are we doing today? Hope things are good. I have spent the whole day cleaning and washing and polishing my car and the van. My arm is aching...and the temperature is 31 degrees. I must be thick. Julie went on her walk this morning.

Hiya ppq..glad things are going OK with you. And that the ac sorted out the breathing issues why is the boss doing financial issues? Is that not the job of the accountant? If her days are numbered then make it a small number..sounds like she is a liability

Hiya lav how are you doing? Sounds like you have got your hands full with Doc.Amy is doing good no issues...She is due within the next 10 days.Arent you the lucky one..a dental appointment.
yes that show is great..mebbe they should re show it over there..get people in the mindset. Playing around with the macro lens on the camera this morning. Took a picture of a leaf with water droplets on it and also the end of a crocosmia plant. Its quite difficult keeping it all steady and in focus..but interesinter.have a good afternoon

Big shout to anyone else out there

[Lavande]

Greetings friends,

We seem to be stuck in this hot, humid & overall damp thing with a little touch of rain a couple times/day. Yuck! They’ve just reported the weekend is going to be nice so we only have to put up with one more day of this wet stuff.
I spotted more poison ivy growing up thru my azaleas out front & reminded YB he has to get rid of it ~ I just can’t.

PQ, good luck with the fungi search, not an easy thing to do. When you were describing the accountant the first thing that came to mind was she’s either over-medicated or sneaking drinks during the day, haha. Sad she just can’t seem to get her sh*t together. My goal with Doc right now is to survive his puppyhood without him pulling me off my feet, falling & fracturing something. He’s so incredibly strong, it’s crazy. YB’s sister was the youngest of the 4 kids in that family. She seems to be having difficulty sorting things out concerning her childhood & the behavior of her parents who divorced exactly at the same time my daughter was born. I’m just not sure how to tell her that her parents were both pathetic & she’s lucky to have survived. She’s raised 4 kids of her own, the youngest just graduated from college. Personally I’m hoping Trump has a total meltdown or stroke, whichever comes first haha!

Hello to the rest if the group & wishing us all a nice night. Btw, I slept 5 straight hours last night - Lol

Lav

[porqoui]

MAE ALL...well, if a major water main break, history breaking record highs and tornado warnings weren't enough, we woke up to a blanket of smoke this morning. Air quality is at a 10+ so the field trip to the zoo was cancelled and they had to keep the kids in all day. Childcare director is off for 2 days, her Dad had surgery today. So I got the call at 7am to cancel everything. Boss was in a weird mood, probably frustrated with the accountant but he left at noon for the day. Accountant was surprisingly unconfrontational today, probably got a dressing down from the boss. So it was nice and quiet and was able to spend my time on our Civic Affairs webpage.

Mick...you must be thick doing all that in 31 degree temps. Ah, I see Julie was out for her walk, that's why you got away with it. LOL I think the problem is the accountant is really just a bookkeeper who thinks she's an accountant. Yes, we both feel she's becoming a liability. Boss is working on the budget, raises and bonuses to be approved by the board in September. You must be off to the Jamboree soon.

Lav...I experienced the "damp sticky thing" today as well. What's with that. Glad you spotted the poison ivy, you don't need to go through that again. Survive Doc's puppyhood, yes, top priority. Hmm, parents both pathetic and she's lucky she survived. Yup, that would be a tough one to get across. Sounds like she did ok raising 4 kids on her own (I had 2 and that was tough). You and I think alike where Trump is concerned. 5 straight hours of sleep, so jealous.

Should be a good day tomorrow, accountant is off. This heatwave is to break just as I start my 4 day weekend. YAY Waves to the group, have a good night all...PPQP

[Mick]

mae all how are we today then? hope all is good ...overcast here ,but still very warm ..its likes storm conditions ...We are going out detecting on Sunday...first time for a long time we have been out .doing pretty good .with the weight losing ..got 8lb to go ...job done .Booked my doctors appt this morning ...earliest I could get was 21st August.I keep thinking this is Friday for some crazy reason .

hiya ppqp...how are you? has Calgary on Sea calmed down a bit? 4 day weekend ? go for it hope you have a good time .I think (possibly wrongly) that your accountant is just an inflated in title bookkeeper..Yes I am enjoying the series .Are you doing anything over the weekend or as it comes?

hiya Lav how are you doing? ....stay away from the pi...Beat you ...I slept for 6hrs 39 mins ....and still feel tired !!!yep think youve got your hands full with doc ...I think its going to be cunning and guile as opposed to brute strength...but I know you will get the upper hand.hope you a great afternoon .

hiya everyone else ..how are you doing?

[Lavande]

Greetings friends,

The heat & humidity continue but they say tomorrow thru the weekend will be nice. That will certainly be nice LOL
tried to do more weeding just now but quit because the ground is so hard & dry, makes pulling weeds too much of a hassle for this old lady. I’ll try again after we get a good rain.
We started off the day with Doc actually knocking YB off his feet in the living room, OMG the whole house shook. Doc is going to kill one of us like I said. Later when I took him out he pulled the leash right out of my hand & ran across the road to where the two young boys live. I guess he missed seeing them haha! I don’t know what we’re going to do with him, he has to settle down.

PQ, I was just looking at pics of the wildfire smoke in BC. Is that where your smoke is coming from or do you have your own wildfires? California & Oregon have huge fires too, sad.
yeah, my in-laws were extremely difficult people. They didn’t do a good job shielding the youngest two from the father’s drinking & the mother’s narcissism (she was a real princess, haha). My sister-in-law home schooled her 4 kids & they’ve all graduated from college now, she did an excellent job as a parent. I hope yo have a fabulous 4 day weekend & the smoke disappears quickly.

Mick, that 5 hr sleep was not repeated last night unfortunately. I honestly don’t know the how or why of it!!! Glad you got a decent sleep.
I hope you get decent weather Sunday for detecting. Good job on the weight loss, I seem to be stuck, haha.

Hello to all & wishing everyone a decent night!
Lav

[Determinator]

oy ABeroooos! boy do I suck at staying in touch. it's been a whirlwind to say the least. To make a crazy adventure short, I've landed in WA state and hanging out at my sisters place and regrouping.
Need to find work, pay down credit cards and figure out what the heck I'm going to do with myself.
Very cool that there are two recovery groups nearby that have in-person meetings weekly and I just got back from one of them....always good.
Macro photography is super fun but I don't have a macro lens anymore. You can actually do very well these days with a standard lens since camera sensor technology has come so far.
Starting my photo biz all over in a new area is quite a grind for the first year so I'm shaking all the trees I have the stamina to shake. Have only been stateside for about 12 days and still
adjusting to the body clock and a bunch of things. I just feel a bit fragile and unanchored in ways that are hard to describe. Having patience with myself doesn't come easy but I know it's important.
catching up here best I can.
thanks to all the lovely ABers for being here.
love

[Mick]

mae all..how are we doing? hope all is good ..getting stuff ready to go away....checking tidying ...the usual....and sorting out my metal detecting stuff for Sunday....Id forgotten how to put it all together!job on now .
was going to go out with the camera but the weather was pretty rubbish....hopefully go out tomorrow.

well well stranger nice to see you Det ...how are you doing mate?hope all is well.Im just getting into photography using a Nikon D500...lenses are Nikon pf 500,70-300 40mm micro and 28-55 ...Sigma150-600 and a Sigma 105 macro...Its good fun rewarding and interesting to learn ..Ive got a few friends helping me out .In the future I will be looking at mirrorless but thats a bit down the road yet...how is your business going?Ive just had to enlarge the font on this ..is it made for spiders or something ...I doubt even the best eyes can see it .great to see you though .


hiya Lav ,how are you doing? hope all is good .did you sleep any better last night ?I think you have your hands full with the Doc ..apart from anything else ...shooting across the road aint so clever ...2 of Amys cats tried that and failed...the weather is allegedly good for Sunday ..so fingers crossed ..hope you have a great weekend


a big hello to everyone else ..