The General Chat Thread (2023)

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MrsT mentioned yesterday that it’s August and we’ve yet to sit out back on the deck to eat/drink anything (that’s a hint for “Where’s my picnic/afternoon tea?” :laugh: ), so this morning, I got up, made coffee, and went out on the deck to straighten the furniture, etc.

She’s still sleeping, BTW - she was up half the night with a client having day-of-travel issues, so I did this on my own.

Anyway, now I’m sitting out here, sipping coffee, and all I’ve heard all morning is:

1. Birds chirping
2. Roosters screaming maniacally (sorry to whomever said they crow - that’s BS. They sound like they’re being murdered)
3. Cows lowing

Hard to believe my house sits about half a mile, as the crow flies, from a major interstate/motorway.
 
Windigo said:
hey that's interesting, in Dutch we call the sound Cows make 'loeien' and we're always told the English word is 'mooing'. This sounds much more familiar! I wonder if it's leftover Dutch influence in America.
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Well, well, have a look:

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When I was a little kid, my dad had a recording of a favorite song of his that liked (“I Wonder How the Old Folks are at Home”), about a man who’d moved away and was reminiscing about his childhood home, and it contained this line:

You could hear the cattle lowin’ in the lane
See the fields of bluegrass where they’d roam

I always loved that song because of that imagery.

As of 2019, it looks like I’m the only one left here saying it. :laugh:
 
TastyReuben said:
Hard to believe my house sits about half a mile, as the crow flies, from a major interstate/motorway.
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I have kind of an opposite situation. I live in the middle of a city of 220,000 people, and a couple blocks away, there's a 3,000 acre cattle and horse ranch. :scratchhead:

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CD
 
TastyReuben said:
1. Birds chirping
2. Roosters screaming maniacally (sorry to whomever said they crow - that’s BS. They sound like they’re being murdered)
3. Cows lowing

Hard to believe my house sits about half a mile, as the crow flies, from a major interstate/motorway.
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I'm going out to a friend's house a few times next week to go swimming and she lives in the country in a small town called Sterling (population of about 425 people, cows outnumber them by far). They have about 4 acres and right behind her pool is a cornfield and then cow pastures (next door to her they used to have sheep but got rid of them, thankfully). The farm across the street from her has cattle as well, so hoping there won't be much wind. The scent of cattle can be rather ripe sometimes. Horses don't bother me but cows have a really funky odor.

In any given direction from my house if you go 20 miles (sometimes less) you can run into small dairy or other cattle farms, along with corn and soybean fields. In the spring after they plow and fertilize (cow manure), it's not a good idea to roll down the car window when passing through. :(
 
It’s the annual back-to-school tax holiday on school supplies and clothes in Ohio this weekend, so I was able to get a pair of Levi’s (slim straights, to flatter my boyish figure :laugh: ) for the meager price of $38 - that’s unheard of at Kohl’s, who’re notorious for doubling the price of everything before artificially lowering it to a still-high “sale” price (helped out by MrsT’s $10 Kohl’s Cash coupon).
 
TastyReuben said:
It’s the annual back-to-school tax holiday on school supplies and clothes in Ohio this weekend, so I was able to get a pair of Levi’s (slim straights, to flatter my boyish figure :laugh: ) for the meager price of $38 - that’s unheard of at Kohl’s, who’re notorious for doubling the price of everything before artificially lowering it to a still-high “sale” price (helped out by MrsT’s $10 Kohl’s Cash coupon).
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Thanks for reminding me I have Kohl's cash to spend, too. I will probably hit the sales rack and get some capri pants and other summer wear if I can find anything I like.
 
Surprisingly, in 22 years living by Brinkmann Ranch, I've never smelled the cattle at my house. The density of cattle to land is modest, and the cattle are moved from pasture to pasture often, which may be the reason.

Now, if you go to West Texas, where the massive feedlots are, you can smell cow poop for twenty miles, when the wind is just right. But, feed lots are nasty places.

CD
 
TastyReuben said:
It’s the annual back-to-school tax holiday on school supplies and clothes in Ohio this weekend, so I was able to get a pair of Levi’s (slim straights, to flatter my boyish figure :laugh: ) for the meager price of $38 - that’s unheard of at Kohl’s, who’re notorious for doubling the price of everything before artificially lowering it to a still-high “sale” price (helped out by MrsT’s $10 Kohl’s Cash coupon).
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Thanks for the reminder. Our sales tax holiday is next weekend.

CD
 
caseydog said:
Surprisingly, in 22 years living by Brinkmann Ranch, I've never smelled the cattle at my house. The density of cattle to land is modest, and the cattle are moved from pasture to pasture often, which may be the reason.

Now, if you go to West Texas, where the massive feedlots are, you can smell cow poop for twenty miles, when the wind is just right. But, feed lots are nasty places.

CD
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If the scorched land where you live is as brown as other cattle pastures I have seen near Houston and Port Arthur, it's a wonder they have anything to eat to make any poop!

Here in Ohio the grass is green and lush and the soil is fertile--ripe conditions for "ripe" odors. The steaks and dairy up here are spectacular but the farms stink.
 
One of the delightful things of living where I do, which is like 10 miles from the centre of Caracas, and 300 mts higher up, is that there's plenty of peace and quiet. There's a highway about 100 mts away, but no noticeable noise. The house/garden is always full of birds: tropical thrushes, tropical blackbirds, various finches, wrens, humming birds (which will sometimes hover right in front of me when I'm gardening) and these prehistoric chickens, called "guacharacas". There are currently two of them who will stand outside the kitchen window until I give them bread. Really, really tame.

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I've just had a wake up call.

After watching the service of the UK funeral of a long time colleague and friend on the internet I received a message from a mutual friend who now lives in Spain (she had also watched it). I thought that I'd pass the message on to all the others who were around in the early 70s only to discover that there are hardly any left!
 
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