Marty

Hi, Page. Hope all's well with you.

I hope you realise what that suggestion is likely to do to poor @Albert1434's heart rate..?

Hey, young fella! I hear you've been singing and dancing today...

Stay safe, Gary.

Right back at ya, Page!

I met a friend in a nearby town for breakfast this morning, and it was almost spring-like when I first got in the car, with blue skies and sunshine. Two miles down the road and, although I still needed the sun visor down, a message appeared on my dashboard warning me "Beware of ice and slippery roads. 2.5°C". Amazing how a sunny day with little or no wind can seem much warmer than it really is. It had turned cloudy by the time I got to my destination twenty miles away and, when we were leaving the restaurant after breakfast, the rain had returned, making the day suddenly seem much colder. The rain turned to sleet on the way home, and then a few hours later it was back to blue skies. There's a saying where I live: "You can get four seasons weather in one March day." Today certainly lived up to that saying. I'm just hoping the old tale about March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb proves to be true this year... The town where we met for breakfast is on the River Shannon (which, at 360 km or 224 miles, is the longest river in the whole of Britain and Ireland). After probably the wettest February on record, the river is beginning to flood parts of the town. Here's a photograph I took after breakfast showing some of the flooding: The pale-blue building on the far left is the local multiplex cinema. The car park in front of it is flooded, and they've had to make a temporary raised pathway through the flood water to enable customers to actually get to the front door...

Hey, Gary! Wow! A clean-shaven cowboy!

I thought it might have been something something similar to New York, New York... (So good they named it twice)

(Sorry... Just couldn't resist )

Yea. My grandfather (he sold fruit and vegetables house-to-house using a cart and horse) used the terms headstall and reins. Together he called them the bridle.

Living up to your (profile) name, eh?

How's things with you, Gary?

Hi, Page

Hey, Albert! Hope all's well with you. I'm just wishing there was some way I could send you some of this almost constant rain we're currently experiencing over here in the west of Ireland...

Hi, Page

And, in related news.... Ireland Files Restraining Order Against Storms In The High Court Advisory warning: The article contains a few swear words

Evening all! Apart from moving a few things from the rented house to the new one, I didn't get much done with the house today. The main reason for that was that I met a couple of friends for lunch/dinner and then helped one of them walk his dogs through the forest near the top of a local mountain. I did manage to do a test wash in the new washing machine I installed in the new, old house last night. All went well, with no signs of any leakages. Today felt almost like spring, but Met Éireann have issued Status Orange (Red in some counties) rain and wind warning for my part of the country for tomorrow and Sunday as Storm Jorge is due to track across Ireland. Met Éireann says the storm will bring “very severe winds” ranging in speeds between 85 to 100 km/h with gusts of 130 to 145 km/h in Galway and Clare tomorrow, and gusts will hit 130 km/h in other parts of the country and possibly higher in very exposed areas, and that the powerful winds will bring an elevated risk of flooding in coastal areas. The ground is already saturated from three other storms this month, and lakes and rivers are very high, so there is likely to be more flooding inland, as well. I think tomorrow looks like a day for inside work...

I'm just hoping that Addie appreciates all the trouble the two boys are going to for him...

Not meaning to burst your bubble, but I can't help wondering whether humankind is the mistake... Perhaps Nature's way of fixing our mistakes might just involve removing us from the equation... Here's a bit of writing of mine (taken from a much longer piece I originally wrote back in 1997 reflecting on the appearance of the comet Hale-Bopp in the night sky) that looks at the possible consequence of humankind's belief that we are not a part of nature...

Moving along slowly, Albert. Managed to get in a couple of hours tidying the garden this afternoon. Mainly cutting down more brambles and briars, and also managed to make some progress on clearing the ivy that's overgrown part of the back garden. I showed yous all a photo of part of it last November in this photo: But clearing the ivy is slow work; especially considering that some of the stems are around 3 inches (7.5 cm) thick in places, plus the fact that briars and brambles have grow up through the overhanging part of it. Still Rome wasn't built in a day, as they say, and I am beginning to see progress... Back in my rented house at the moment. Think I may have fish and chips for dinner tonight. Then back to the other house to fit a new washing machine that was delivered today - along with a fridge-freezer which is already up and running. That answer your question, Albert?

Hi, Gary.

Thanks, Thorne. I should have known that. Another of my senior moments...

I see exactly the same when visiting Dodger's stories page. Using a Toshiba Laptop with recommended screen resolution of 1366x768, running Windows 8.1 with all security updates, and up-to-date Google Chrome, Version 80.0.3987.122 (Official Build) (64-bit) with zoom set to 100%. And if I lower the zoom in Chrome I still don't see the right hand edge (unless I scroll), or the bottom of the banner (at all).

How's things, Abert?

Interesting first chapter, that's certainly got me hooked.