October 2023 Chat Thread

[Bean]

Brrrrrrr! That's all I have to say about October right now!

[bazookagoof]

Our weather is still rather acceptable; it's in the high 50's in the mornings, then gets into the mid 70's by day.

The issue I will run into soon will be bringing a coat to work. I've been assigned a locker, but never use it since I have nothing to store in it right now. I'm used to entering the building, clocking in and standing ready until I get my orders. When I leave I just clock out and exit. 

If I bring a coat for the mornings, I'll likely forget it and have nothing to wear against the cold. It also costs me some time, as the lockers are up a flight of stairs. Clocking in is not an issue; I usual leave myself plenty of time- but leaving? Every minute counts as everyone wants to get out of the lot, drive to the highway and go home. Sometimes a minute or two delay is all it takes to add considerable time to the commute.

I'll deal with it when the temps become steady. 

[3piggles]

Cool and very foggy this morning. Fog didn't burn off until about 11 a.m. Then it warmed up quickly. Temps could reach the 80s by Tuesday. I have cold meals planned. I figure this is the last gasp before the temps turn downward and keep going. We're supposed to have muted colors on the trees this year, because of all the rain, but this late warm spell is supposed to make the colors we do get last longer. Not sure it's worth having long-lasting muted colors, but I'll have to wait and see

[Bean]

Are you planning a leaf-peeping trip this year?

We lost a bunch of still-green leaves and branches in a recent storm, but the colours are definitely starting to change a bit.

[3piggles]

Don't know about the leaf peeping. We just bought a new gas grill, and since that set us back a bit, I think we may just stay home this year. If it were supposed to be a banner year, I'd go anyway. We get good foliage around here. Living in the country, which I've done most of my life, has always been good for leaf peeping

[Bean]

We had a sparrowhawk pay us a long visit yesterday. We're a pigeon down for it, but it was amazing to watch the hawk up close (we did keep back from the window so as not to disturb it). I've picked a photo that doesn't show too much of its feast.



Our garden usually has a constant background chatter from all the birds, but it was very quiet while this was going on. A couple of times a bigger bird, like a crow, would come and land in the garden and then suddenly clock the hawk and skitter off like its life depended on it!

[3piggles]

They are magnificent birds! I know they kill to eat, but I don't want to see it. We've had a couple come through our backyard, which isn't very big. One almost got Vic, who was coming around the corner of the shed when the bird flew through. I counted all my chipmunks afterward

[Bean]

We ended up watching it for ages - it was gruesome but fascinating. We've seen sparrowhawks get smaller birds in our garden, but they just fly off with those. The pigeons are a bit more cumbersome to carry so they usually eat most of it where they are and carry off the carcass when it's been stripped. There's always a very distinctive circle of feathers around where they've been.

[3piggles]

It's not something I would watch, but I can imagine it was fascinating. I know everyone has to eat. I just don't want to see them do it. I wonder how much of what we eat we would still eat, if we had to watch it be slaughtered and butchered?

[bazookagoof]

Oct 8, 2023 18:02:34 GMT 3piggles said:

It's not something I would watch, but I can imagine it was fascinating. I know everyone has to eat. I just don't want to see them do it. I wonder how much of what we eat we would still eat, if we had to watch it be slaughtered and butchered?

I'm certain I mentioned this elsewhere, but I know that if I had to kill and prepare my own meat, I'd definitely become a vegetarian! 

[Bean]

I quite agree, and I'm all for pulling my head out of the sand! With us leaving the EU and the Tories being in charge, animal welfare legislation has not been so much of a priority, so that's definitely increased my desire to consume less flesh.

We've only had meat a couple of times in the last month, so perhaps I will return to vegetarianism. I was vegetarian for years but had such a craving for meat when I was pregnant with my son that I lapsed - but that was 19 years ago now! While we don't eat meat a lot, I've just not quite managed to get back to it. My son's been a vegetarian for about a decade anyway, so maybe that evens it out?!

[3piggles]

I've never been vegetarian or vegan, but I prefer the Mediterranean diet over most others. I also find some aspects of Asian diets mimic Mediterranean diets, as they are mostly veggies and noodles, or pasta. Lidia Bastianich, a TV chef and restauranteur, talked about fleeing the German invasion of Croatia, into Italy and finally to the US. She said they ate very little meat or fish, only on religious celebration days. They grew what they ate, had some milk-giving animal for milk, and poultry for eggs, and they ate simple but tasty meals. They would make things like smoked meats-salami and others, that were more a part of their regular diet, but still in great moderation. They might be one item in an antipasti, which included fermented foods, olives, and veggies, cheeses, etc. Americans turned Antipasti into a meat selection the Italians still don't eat.

Every civilization has bread, pasta or noodles, veggie casseroles, and lots of other foods that don't include meat or meat by-products. They use their vegetable oil instead of lard, etc. Vegans tend to make going meatless a challenge to the gross uninformed about not eating animal flesh, etc. Most countries have had a version of vegan or vegetarian all along. It's nothing new, and even western countries did it, that just got forgotten when meat became an affordable commodity.

If Vic weren't around, and no, I don't want him to leave or die so I can change my diet, I would definitely eat very differently than we eat, now.

[Bean]

We had our annual Light Night event, there were some really nice installations and hoards of people out to see them as usual!

[3piggles]

Excellent! I love the unicorn I wish someplace around here would do something like that. I think it would bring in a lot of people, and be a real boon to the small businesses.

Morning temps have been at or below freezing, with the days warming into a decent temp, at least with a sweatshirt or jacket. Typical Autumn weather for us, and it's nice to have it. Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year. I've heard leaf peeping is in full swing in the north country, where the colors have peeked. Not much happening where we are, and we're supposed to be in the peak colors right now.

[Bean]

It's great, they shut off the city centre to cars for the two evenings it runs, and the streets are packed with people wandering around enjoying the displays. It's definitely been scaled back for the last couple of years due to budget cuts, but it's still a really nice event.

We're going down to near freezing at night now, but have still had some nice, sunny days. Not too much changes in teh foliage yet, but I'm sure it won't be long.

[bazookagoof]

My sister-in-law is turning 40 and tonight is her party. Normally I'd be thrilled to be going, but I'm still tender from the operation and cannot wear any sort of costume without personal discomfort. (Everything I have uses some sort of gunbelt or utility belt with accessories bumping against me when I walk.)

The theme is supposed to be rock n' roll, and I originally planned to do something akin to Bruce Springsteen, and I'd probably spend a few months doing pushups so I could wear jeans and a T-shirt convincingly. But, recovering from hernia surgery really put all these plans in the trash this year.

[Bean]

I'm thinking an Elvis onesie might've worked (never mind if you'd actually dare to be seen in it!), but without the belt! I know you enjoy dressing up, so it's a shame comfort scuppered your plans, but I hope you had a fun time anyway.

[bazookagoof]

It was fun, although I had deep regrets about a few things. My mother came along (this was a good thing) and it was joyous to see her dancing with her grandchildren; she hasn't looked so happy in years. (My father is slowly losing his mind and driving my mom crazy, so she will go out on her own any chance she gets.)

I really wanted to jump out on the dance floor, but I'm not sure if I would have held together- and I really didn't want to rupture something and spoil the festivities by being carried out to an ambulance. I mentioned this to my sister-in-law and she understood. 

I am really glad I didn't attempt to come in some sort of costume! Half the people were in suits/gowns, and the other half went in 1970's disco outfits. If I had gone in say, my Evil Dead costume (with the shotgun and chainsaw hand) I really would have drawn unnecessary attention to myself! 

I did manage to talk to some my brother's friends who I got along with well back in the day; I hadn't seen some of them in probably 15 years! 

[Bean]

Haha! I kind of like the idea of you turning up with a chainsaw among a crown of people in their swanky kit, but yes, I can see you enjoyed your evening more for not doing that! Glad you had fun at the party, and that sounds lovely seeing your mum letting her hair down and looking so happy. Good call holding yourself back from throwing some shapes too, I'm sure you'll have a much better week ahead because of that decision!

[3piggles]

Glad you had a good time at the party, even if you couldn't do all the things you wanted to do. I'm also glad you got out and had some fun, as being home isn't much fun for you. You said your brother lives at home with your parents. Does he help with your dad? I'm sure your mom could use as much time off as possible, even if just to go grocery shopping without worry. Happy 40th to your sister.

Seems strange that your sister is 40. My daughter going to be 42 in 19 days, and we just celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary. The season of 40s