You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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Watcha' Doing - 2020
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Janice, Moderator
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Apr 12, 2020 08:37AM
Oooh - I'll check it out. I just finished watching Ancient Aliens on Netflix. Having just finished reading Origin, it was interesting hearing a different view point of where we came from. I'm not convinced about either supposition. Food for thought though.
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I've had a bit of a day. We gave up the little rooster, Calcifer, yesterday. He seemed to be okay in his new/old home. The birds came over to him in his little pen to make sure he was okay, and fed him through the wire. Adorable!!Today, his new human messaged me saying he had hurt himself throwing himself against the wire trying to attack the other birds. For his safety, they let him into the flock. I got a message tonight saying he had attacked about 10+ of their birds today with varying success (he got beaten up a lot, had a rooster walk with him policing his every move, but also attacked a lot of hens including hurting one mum with chicks). I think it's coz he's scared, nervous, and doesn't know anyone and where he fits. He was so beautiful here accept for the crowing. But i feel terrible for this woman and her family, and her flock!!!
On the other side, I have a very depressed hen (his sister, Kakashi) who I have spent all day with. I got her outside with the big girls, but they all walked in circles around me. She and I sat in the sun for 2 hours where I *finally* got a chance to read in the past month, which was great for me and I hope made her feel better. It's just a slowly slowly process.
I don't want a rooster living in my laundry again, but who knows what will happen over the next couple of days...
Janice wrote: "Oooh - I'll check it out. I just finished watching Ancient Aliens on Netflix. Having just finished reading Origin, it was interesting hearing a different view point of where we came..."ETA - I guess I've already watched Next in Fashion. I'd forgotten the name of the series, but I did enjoy it.
I hope the laptop drama's have rectified, Sarah. I have no idea what it is like over there, but I have spent 10 days trying to order IT equip here with multiple orders in multiple stores being cancelled as everyone tries to work from home.Good luck!!
Rusalka wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Anyone watch Next in Fashion on Netflix hosted by Tan France and Alexa Chung? There’s also Queer Eye Tan does as the Fab Five on Netflix. Just finished listening to [author:Tan Franc..."And forgot to say I loved the show. I watched a couple of QE episodes too. His book is lovely - it published last year. He’s so fun and at the same time so down to earth - he did the audio - awesome.
Rusalka, sorry to hear about your rooster's experience at his new home. I hope things settle down.The company I'm going to order my laptop from builds them from scratch. They normally take 10 days to do that. They have a covid-19 statement on there site saying they are still open for business but they have a lot of orders due to people working from home so things may be delayed. Going to order it asap. I'm not bothered by the wait as I can make do on my small notepad.
Sarah wrote: "Rusalka, sorry to hear about your rooster's experience at his new home. I hope things settle down.The company I'm going to order my laptop from builds them from scratch. They normally take 10 day..."
Thank you :( It's actually horrible and stressful. And we risked a $1000 fine to take him there as it was 5 mins over the state border! I just want him to be happy and safe, so we will see what happens.
I'm glad you have something to work with. It sounds like everything may take a while.
I just saw Tim Brooke-Taylor died!! I absolutely loved The Goodies growing up, and Lexx introduced me to the radio show before the Goodies and Monty Python of I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, which is wonderful. My heart is a little sore tonight.
I didn't realize that chickens were that emotional. I hope things will settle for your rooster at his new home.
I didn't either until I started owning them. They have huge range of emotions, that they feel really intensely. It's really hard once you discover or observe this to not get free range eggs or meat.
I was watching some of Nat (the swearing cook)'s videos from 2017. He was reviewing the Easter show and there were cages of chickens on show. He asked a question of one of the chickens and held his mic out to it which was promptly pecked. LOL!
That is my frickign life right now!
Poor Calcifer and Kakashi! I hope they settle down soon.
Yes I read about Tim Brook-Taylor earlier. Such a shame.
Aww I'm so sorry Calcifer is having a difficult transition. I hope he figures out his place there quickly. And yes for free range!
Janice wrote: "I was watching some of Nat (the swearing cook)'s videos from 2017. He was reviewing the Easter show and there were cages of chickens on show. He asked a question of one of the chickens and held his..."That's hilarious!
Poor Calcifer. He thinks he’s human, and why the hell has he been brought out to the country to live with the poor cousins at the farm? Lol.
Really though. Let’s hope he settles down for everyone’s sake.
Lol Shirley, I sent a photo to the lady who's taken him back on Thursday, when he snuck inside when it was really cold, and fell asleep (with his head under his wing) in the middle of the day on the couch in front of the wood fire.Her response was "Oh my god, the metrosexual city boy has no idea what is coming!!" lol
Metrosexual city boy!! LOL!
Rusalka wrote: "Lol Shirley, I sent a photo to the lady who's taken him back on Thursday, when he snuck inside when it was really cold, and fell asleep (with his head under his wing) in the middle of the day on th..."Lol! Poor Calcifer! They even make fun of him!
I know! And me too, although my heart is hurting - poor little boy. Today was better. He picked one fight with a hen that fits in a grown person's hand (coward). And had multiple interactions with roosters establishing space, and where was safe. He likes a particular lonely jungle fowl who is a problem child apparently, so you know, maybe loners beget loners. We will see what the next couple of days bring.Kakashi needs harsh love to push her into the flock, but she is so lovely and we are at home...
We both need to toughen up so she can have some friends. But the baby chook on your lap today while reading was selfishly lovely.
Rusalka, that lady's response made me laugh out loud. Seems he's settling in a bit. He was just trying to figure out the pecking order there and was surprised that he wasn't at the top. lol He'll figure it out. Kakashi will be fine too as she has you to help her.
I'm so disappointed! Almost all week the weather was great but I was stuck inside, grading theses. I looked forward to the weekend, as today was predicted to be sunny and 21C. It's 5pm now and it has been cloudy and chilly all day. My parents live only 18km away and they have blue skies and are enjoying a beer in their garden.
Poor you Peggy.Has anyone else noticed how much less nervous the birds are lately. They are coming so close to our house now that the traffic has gone away. The morning chorus seems so much louder.
We have a roofed alcove outside our our back door where we firing, veg etc and a robin has nested in the shelves. We are very cautious when we need to get anything from the shelves in case we scare her. I love spring!
It hhas beeen glorious hear today. Sunny all day. Sorry Peggy. Spent time on the towpath listening to the birds. I agree Margo that they seem louder. Maybe without the traffic noise to drown them out we can hear them better. It has been wonderdul hearing them. Had been feeling pretty emotionl and low today. But this evening, me and my boat friends had a disco. A socially distanced disco. We had a play list which we all started at the same time and danced on the roof of our own boats. There was a long line of boats participating. It was so much fun. It was quite beautiful as the sun started to set.
That sounds like a great time, Sarah!
I think birds here are not just louder but frisker. I had quite a show while sitting on my porch. Between the squirrels and the birds I had quite a blue show
Sarah wrote: "It hhas beeen glorious hear today. Sunny all day. Sorry Peggy. Spent time on the towpath listening to the birds. I agree Margo that they seem louder. Maybe without the traffic noise to drown them o..."Sarah, that sounds like great fun!
Birds were like crazy this morning. Beautiful. I'll buy some seeds for them next time I go to the store. We see the birds often in our backyard, trees and bushes,but we like to put some seeds in our windows to get them closer.
That makes me think that I should get a little bird feeder for my deck. I don't see many birds here and it could be that the trees are still young.
You can make one with things you have at home. We did a couple with plastic jars. you cut a "window" on one side, make a hole on the lid for a string, and voilà. Our problem is squirrels. It's difficult to keep them away from the seeds, maybe with a feeder I bought that is supposed to be safe. They manage to make it fall it and eat. But my kids also love squirrels, so I guess that still works. In this area squirrels are very bad behaved. :)
We bought some fat balls and put them in an old lemon netting, tied it up with string and hung it up in the tree opposite our boat. No takers yet. But we have blue tits, great tits, long tail tits, chiff chaffs, and goldfinches in the trees opposite. I look forward to seeing them a bit more.
I've been feeding the birds on my windowledge - that way I get a first row seat when they come. Recently though, the seagulls have been getting braver and have been gobbling everything up. There are no tourists in the harbour (obviously) and I think they're missing their fish and chip leftovers. I wouldn't have believed they'd even fit on my windowledge - but they definitely manage ok. They have such piercing eyes and evil looking sharp beaks - I wouldn't like to mess with one.
The seagulls are really loud - especially at night when they wheel overhead. It's as if they're complaining that the food supply has dried up - or they're taking over the place in our absence and squabbling about territory?
I haven't lived in the town in Summer before, so have no reference points. This is possibly normal behaviour in April for all I know (lol)
I haven't been out in the country this year. I'm missing seeing the baby lambs : (
I'm missing the baby lambs too Annerlee. I am in the country but with not going out, I'm missing things that aren't right on my doorstep. I like the sound of seagulls, it reminds me of the sea and being on holiday. When I lived in Bristol there were quite a lot of seagulls and combined with the harbour and docks there, when walking around it made me feel like I was on holiday, even though it was where I lived. They are bloody noisy though. I bet they are getting low on food what with no one to drop scraps of food for them to pilfer. I wonder if they'll start to head back towards the coast a bit more.
Rob's at work today. I'm trying to keep busy to stop me worrying about virus related stuff. I've done lots of chores so far which feels quite productive. I've been finding my feet on the board game website that Rusalka recommended a few weeks back. I'm using it as a testing out of games that I've had my eye on for a while but wasn't sure if I'd like or not. Basically try before I buy it for real. But also, I told a few friends of mine so we might have a games night too at some point. We've done the quiz already is this is next. I have bought the ingredients to make a ginger cake which I might do this afternoon too. My oven is pretty rubbish so not sure how it will end up. You cannot regulate the temperature at all as there is something broken on it so it is either off or on full. I've learnt to cope with it for most meals but have avoided baking of any kind. But I really want to make this ginger cake so I'm going to test it out. I'm thinking it will burn n the outside and still be a bit raw in the middle. Haha. I'm hoping I will be proved wrong.
What's that website Sarah? Sounds interesting but I must have missed Rusalka's post about it. Lol, your oven sounds exactly like ours! If you turn it on, it doesn't matter which temperature you set it to, it just goes all the way to 300 C. We bought a small oven thermometer to see how hot the oven is, and whenever we make something in the oven we have to keep a close eye on it and turn it off when it gets too hot, then on again when it goes below the temperature we need.
I was going to suggest the same thing, Sarah. Turning on and off the oven to keep it at a "baking" temperature. Good luck.I remember when we visited Dunkirk (France) last year there were seagulls everywhere. They were loud and could be heard permanently. I kind of liked it, but I can understand it might get too much if it is everyday.
I think Rusalka mentioned it in the corona thread. It's boardgamearena.com The cake started to burn on top then the gooey middle erupted through the top. I put some tin foil over it to stop it burning so that the middle might cook. Seems to have done the job. I'll try it later when Rob gets home. My new laptop arrived today. Yay!! HArdly took any time at all. They were saying 2weeks but it has not even been a week i don't think.
I like the idea of turning it off and on again. I might have to find an oven thermometer then.
Sarah wrote: "We bought some fat balls and put them in an old lemon netting, tied it up with string and hung it up in the tree opposite our boat. No takers yet. But we have blue tits, great tits, long tail tits,..."Sorry, the Australian is giggling at all the tits.
Sarah wrote: "I've been finding my feet on the board game website that Rusalka recommended a few weeks back. I'm using it as a testing out of games that I've had my eye on for a while but wasn't sure if I'd like or not. "Oh nice! Happy to play some games with people if you need partners!! During the week we're a bit wonky with timezones, but we could probably make it work on weekends!
Oh and I will say, European seagulls are next level. I miss the birds here in Aus when I travel, but the seagulls over there are on steroids!
Sarah wrote: "I like the idea of turning it off and on again. I might have to find an oven thermometer then."I think this will make you're life so much easier, and cheaper than fixing the oven lol
It's not ideal. You can't do very precise baking, but most oven dishes work.
Opps and sorry Peggy. I mentioned Boardgame Arena (online and you don't need to pay for the basic package, but more games in premium). And I think Tabletop Simulator (we're using through Steam), which we have bought but haven't tested yet.
Oh and if anyone is RPG tabletop orientated (so Dungeons and Dragons, or Pathfinder, and I believe Warhammer etc), Roll20 works reasonably well (has some quirks). If you play DnD, the Beyond20 Chrome extension works really well syncing Beyond DnD and Roll20 too.
... Only 3-4 weeks in people... we'll get there. Just wait until you start Lexx and I on video games (Lexx, my brother, and many other friends have resubbed to WoW, Janice... Just in case you need another excuse in lockdown ;) )
I've always wanted to play DnD but I've never had any friends who were interested in it at any stages of my life. So I've missed out on that. I bought a Game of Thrones card game a while back but it's quite complicated. I like it but Rob doesn't like it when it takes too much effort to learn the rules. We played it during the week and didn't go too well wo I guess we won't be playing that again. Hence trying out some of them online so i can decide which ones to get to play at homee with Rob. So far Jaipur is a contender.
Rusalka wrote: "Only 3-4 weeks in people... we'll get there. Just wait until you start Lexx and I on video games (Lexx, my brother, and many other friends have resubbed to WoW, Janice... Just in case you need another excuse in lockdown ;) )."I am so tempted! Every now and again I have nostalgia just thinking about WoW. I know I'd get totally consumed though.
That is my problem with WoW too 😞 it’s like I use up all my willpower on everything else (except ice cream), and have none left to be good with WoW time lol
Are you currently playing, Jenn?
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You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
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