Kathy from Valrico, Florida, USA

Thanks Kathy for looking at the lorikeet pictures!

What fun, I've started a new page! There's a picture of a painted bunting in the Coffee Shop at Roseville Park where I play tennis! I noticed it last week when I bought my cappuccino last week & then forgot to tell you!

Hi Kathy, Yeah, tennis is something to watch while you are doing something else. So during the tennis this week I am putting in 10 years of photos into albums. After 2005 there are no more photos; they are all on disk. Havent figured out how to save them in an organized watchable format. We leave from Orlando on the auto train July 1 and return Oct 1. Shosho says she may be in New Symrna Beach June 26 and asked about a "reunion". It is not good timing for me and would be a 6 - 7 hour drive anyway. I told her you would be closer in Tampa. Your colors sound Great! I love a positive look like red. I think you will too. Hope all is well!

Kathy, Kathy, Kathy!!! Would love to meet you! My plans are arriving in Hubert, NC 6/25 about 10PM, then taking off in the morning 6/26 for NSB, Florida, should get there about evening. Don't know how long it's going to take with an 18 month rambunctious boy! Need to give my son and DIL time together before he's goes to Iraq again. But the following morning will drive to Orlando or wherever you and hopefully Jane want! Girl, I'm ready for my vacation!

Oh wow! A painted bunting! That stuff for legends! And you photographed one in the wild, well close. If I use my left hand to cover up the seed feeder, it's very wild! I can't believe that here in the US is actually a colorful bird like the ones in the tropics! I envy you!!!

Hi Kathy Thanks for the question about soapstone or granit. My curuosity went to work.... and checked some websites. for me cleaning is important you may want to check http://www.e-counters.com/einfonew/silestone101.cfm for a surface comparaison, care and maintenance for granit and silestone. AND see below for soapstone.
Cleaning a Soapstone Countertop
Any common household cleaner can be used to clean soapstone counter surfaces. Chemicals and acids do not harm it. However, we do recommend that you use regular soap and water because harsher solvents may remove the mineral oil treatment, therefore generating more maintenance. Soapstone, being softer than granite and marble, is also more prone to scratches. The great advantage is that any scratches can be easily removed with a light sanding and/or mineral oil.
Removing Scratches
Eventually the countertops will get scratched. Most scratches can be hidden by lightly applying some mineral oil. If you get a deep scratch in there, you will need to do some sanding. With a small piece of 120-grit sandpaper, sand the scratch area in a circular motion until the scratch is almost gone, then using a 220-grit sandpaper do the same thing but this time using water. Clean up the countertop and oil that section again. Sanding will remove the mineral oil, and remember that the stone will take 3 coats to reach the final color. You may notice a slight color difference on that spot, do not worry you can oil in the morning, then again in the afternoon and so on until the color evens out.
Best of luck for your search. I'm sure what ever you choose will look very nice.

Hi Kathy, sorry about sending you on a wild goose chase. I thought I said there's a picture of a painted bunting in the coffee shop at Roseville. So I only saw a picture, we don't have them here. I just thought it was a coincidence that I had seen your photo & almost the next day I saw another picture of the same type of bird! Thank you for the comments on my photos. The people in the canoe with Ralph were my husband (in the back) & a friend who'd come up on Saturday (with his wife) & stayed over night. And I had thought the pelican was a statue too, when we came back down river we were closer to that side & I saw it was real then!

Hi, thanks for clearing "CP" up, lol. BTW, I have now added a photo of the naughty pup. I did actually have one in there, but lost it when the site went belly-up earlier this year. I'm 48 - not that young really, but I guess that's relative.

Cheers, Martha

Hi Kathy
Thanks for your message, yes the family I am talking about is the aboriginal family that I got very close to when I was living on a community, half way between Darwin and Kunnunnura, in the territory, top end of Australia, I lived there for 7 years.
We had a great time at Gails today, getting to meet everyone was so very nice.
nice to meet you two, and I hope we get to chat soon. bye for now have a great day

Gday Kathy, haven't got long so just a quick note. Lachie is Bean's son. He and Hannah get on very well, we have had the opportunity to meet several times.
Just getting ready to take Broni to her brother's place and he will then take her to the airport as she is returning home today.
It has been an absolute pleasure to have her here and yesterday was evidence that we are all one big, happy family, with the surname Sudoku!

I am glad that you came to welcome me so quickly. Sidney is off of I-75 between dayton and lima, or toledo and cincinnati. I-75 is west of columbus almost directly between columbus and indiana. where is valrico?

yeah. i have never even resided outside of the county. i have family in florida and some live south of tampa in North ft meyers

Taking the time to say thank you for your message of love and support through the tough times with my mum, and her death. My heart has been lifted by the warmth and love shown to me here.

Hi Kathy, don't remember is I have been to your site before, but enjoyed the photo. I won't be in the state next week (11th) for the get together, but would love to try next time. I travel for work most Sun-Thur so ... Hope you all have fun,

Hi Kathy! Your photo of a painted bunting is awesome! On my page, the pic of the bluebird was supposed to be my avatar ... Now that I've checked it's not even native to my part of the country! Birdwatching is a new hobby of mine... this past weekend my husband and I saw a blue heron at a nearby nature preserve.

Hi Kathy, hope to be over in the States later this year when I get my act together. Will probably only go to the west coast this time and hope to catch up with some of you over there. Glad you liked the pics. Have a great day/evening!

Hi Kathy. Thanks for the best wishes, but I'm not going any where at the moment. Ralph & i have actually been deserted - Paul's in Canada for work & My son's gone to Thailand for 3 weeks holiday & a wedding. His best friend from high school days is getting married there in a couple of weeks. (He lives in Australia, they're just getting married there). It's one of the other Kates - Melbourne Kate to be precise! There are too many of us!!!

I enjoyed hearing about you and Naomi connecting because of a statue. Great fun searching for statues to pose with. Flickr has several statue groups that are pretty interesting.

Hi Kathy

Yes 19 years do fly by, I sometimes wonder how I managed it, 19 years without doing prison time for murder or at least GBH

Hey Kathy... I just watched that stirring video on what sportsmanship is all about, with tears in my eyes. Thanks for posting it.

Thanks for the vote, Kathy. Somehow, the ballot box knows who and who has not voted. It has to be a completely different computer. I took a print out of the voting results as of 0900 (local) to coffee and gave it to Allen, he was thrilled. I'm not real clear on what the prize is. Allen said something about a trip to Denver and one of the guys popped off with 'who the hell would want to go to Denver?'. A very supportive and nurturing bunch of guys.

Nice picture of your little bunting. We see those around here in the countryside. They prefer a more woodsy, brushy environment and are a bit shy to be around where lots of people are, so an in-town sighting is quite rare.

Kathy, How was your get together with Jano and Karen? I sure was thinking of you. Any pictures?

Oh Kathy, I'm trying to decide. I could take the train from Selma, NC to Daytona Beach, Fl. And my in-laws would pick us up but then I would not have a car to get around to meet you. Or I could spend 6/26 driving down to NSB, sleep over and meet with you on the 27th. I'm just thinking about my grandson and whether he could take the 449 miles! I know I must make a decision soon. Argh!

Thank you anyway, Kathy. I didn't know what to do when I learnt that because I'm A+ and so are my husband and children and brothers and sister...so I decided to ask sudokuland. They couldn't find it in French official structures, so the parents tried to diffuse the message on the web.
I watched Nadal/Djokovic and was impressed by the way he improved, I also watched Federer's final and found him much stronger than in the French Open.

You missed the end of the story??!! It became surreal.

My neighbors took the bird to Raptor Rehab the next morning. The people there freaked out, expecting it to be a Kestral or Merlin, since Peregrines are so rare. First, they called the state wildlife people to tell them about the Peregrine, then they checked the numbers on the leg band, looked them up, and called the owner. Who had given up ever seeing the bird again.

The bird was flown back home to him that day at his home south of Atlanta, GA, where he left from 2 weeks earlier! That was a 400 mile trip!! There had been sightings of him all over, one supposedly from Alaska. That one nobody believed.

The owners name is Steve Hoddy. He is a professional animal trainer for TV and movies (the AFLAC duck is his), as well as being an actor, a well known environmental activist (a big deal in Earthquest) and the foremost Falconer in the WORLD!!! He's worked with Jim Fowler on Wild Kingdom and all of his appearances on the Tonight Show. My neighbor and I are planning on visiting his place this summer.

Oh, the bird's name is Renegade ( appropriately) and he is a 12 year old Peregrine/ Gyrfalcon hybrid ( he looks like an immature Peregrine) who was born and hand-raised in captivity by Mr. Hoddy.

Tell Rob his vote is appreciated. Us whisky drinkers gotta stick together.

Hi Kathy. There are photos on Flickr about cockies ripping oranges off trees, but not this time.

To Kathy and Rob

A very Happy Anniversary to you both for the 17th



May you have many more wongerful years together

Hi Kathy. I've put a photo on my page of 2 cockatoos eating an orange they'd taken from my neighbour's tree, this happened last year. The comment I made recently was about me hearing them at another neighbour's tree! There are more in the set of cockatoos.

PS Happy Anniversary, Kathy, to you & Rob!

Gday Kathy, in answer to your question, it is absolutely freezing here in Cockatoo!
Touchwood, all's well here at the mo. Oldest daughter has recently started working for another company and seems a lot happier. Apparently it was extremely difficult for her to work in the family business with such a LARGE chip on her shoulder! Go figure.
No colds here yet, although we have had a mild dose of gastro in the house. Hubby was very uncomfortable with a 'greebly' tummy and lost 4 kilos...it bypassed me of course! I could have done with losing some kilos.
Nothing else terribly exciting going on, will let you know when something crops up.
Have a great day with hubby, oh and BTW, I will be hovering around waiting for #1000!!!
Gail

Is it this one: ? It's Hoya carnosa "exotica" also called a wax flower. That's a photo of a friend's & it's growing in a basket on her back patio. I have a white one growing in a crevace in rocks out the back. It came from a friend's property near a place called Casino in northern NSW. You have to be careful of where the flowers form because they always grow from the old flowers! My mother has one in a basket And it is growing out along a rod so when it flowers it looks like a living flower curtain. They come from Australia, Burma & China! Here's a link to an Australian gardening show site: http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1866501.htm

Hello Kathy - a very big for your best wishes on the safe arrival of my newest grandson, Bailey.
Thank you from Amanda, Wayne, Johnathan and myself.

Happy Anniversary Kathy and Rob, I hope you have the best of best days, enjoy. love and flowers xxx

Happy Anniversary Kathy and Rob!

May you have many more years of love and happiness together. A toast to you on your special day! Cheers!

Glad you enjoyed the photo's Kathy. The Chateaux were amazing... such beautiful places to stay in. I went with a good crowd (six of us) and we meandered down to the Loire Valley. Unspoiled and a pleasure to visit... We wanted it to be special so splashed out a little on the places we stayed in, so glad we did... Heaven. xx

Happy 41st Anniversary to Kathy and Rob. Have a wonderful romantic day - and may you have many more!!!

Kathy - many thanks for your Anniversary wishes last week to Colin (Mr CynB) and I - we had a lovely day, topped with a lovely dinner and all on a short break in lovely Port Macquarie. Then we met up next day with Elise - also very enjoyable. Cheers.

Hello Kathy and Rob

Happy Anniversary to you both , i wish you many many returns with love and health

Phew!!! Just in time.

Happy #1000 Kathy

It couldn't have happened to a nicer person


WOOHOO