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Hello, Elle!
I was right about your cousin!
Good to hear they are well!
The reCaptcha not doing you any favours by the sound of it.
I have not noticed anyone else mention problems the last couple of days with it, so I wonder if switching your desktop on and off at the wall switch, may make it behave?
But, a word to Norah should bear fruit, I think.
Miss O is on the mend, says she, and made it to Gran's for tea, so that was nice to hear.

Hi, Rusty!
I don't think the fault lies with the computer, Rusty, if that is what you are thinking?
And, yesterday, I tried logging off, and switching the computer on again, and it made no difference to the Captcha hiccough.
It doesn't happen every time, though, only occasionally.
But when it does, the time lag is a nuisance!
Good to hear that Miss O is feeling somewhat improved, and was able to go out for tea.

Hello, Elle,
Yes, I thought unplugging it for a minute or two may have helped.
Have you tried refreshing the screen while the circle is whirling?
Miss O says she is a wee bit better, she has just texted "Goodnight".
Her and Miss L-B and my grandson do this every night.
It's a bit like the Waltons up here!
I think Miss O would get a bit of molly-coddling from Gran!
And why not, indeed!

Good morning, Rusty!
Dreich here!
A very miserable morning.
Yes. you have mentioned the Waltons before.
But it is a series that I have never watched...all I know of it is that there is a character called, I think, John boy?
I think it is lovely that your granddaughters and grandson text you before bed!
I hope that Miss O is fully recovered today, but at least she is on school holiday and so can take it easy.
I am waiting for a parcel delivery.....

Good morning, Elle!
A fine day here and very mild for February!
Well, The Waltons was a great series about a family living on Walton's Mountain in Virginia, during the Depression and Second World War.
In every episode the final scene was their house at night, in darkness, with two or the three lights on, and they were calling out "goodnight" to each other.
"Goodnight John-Boy", "Goodnight Momma", "Goodnight Mary-Ellen", "Goodnight Grandpa", "Goodnight Jim-Bob", "Goodnight Erin", etc!
My "Goodnight, Granddad" texts start arriving around ten o'clock every evening, so a bit like the Waltons!
Is Miss O on holiday today?
I am not sure. I'll text her later.
The schools have different holidays around here.
We're on the border of Perthshire, Angus, and Dundee, and they are off at different times.

Hi, Rusty!
Ah, I see! Now I understand your reference to the Waltons, when talking about saying "Good night!
Isn't Miss O on half term holiday?
I thought that you had said that?
Although it could, perhaps, be that I assumed it, as my grandchildren both here , and in the Midlands, are all on holiday.
I was simply thinking that she could rest up and recuperate from her bug, if she were on holiday.
It will be the longer Easter holidays, too, before we know it!
Time has this relentless habit of marching on, very quickly!
Or so it seems, the older I get!!
Have you done your crossword ?
I haven't yet got around to printing mine out.......

Hello, Elle!
Miss O was on holiday on Thursday, but I do not know about today.
But I do remember her chatting to the girls at Pine Cone and they were all off school at different times depending on which school they attended.
I have just finished my puzzle.
25a, is a new word to me, but it was a fine puzzle.
I have just had a peek at the osprey nest at the loch.
The sound seems to be much better than last year.
Maybe they have been fixing stuff?

Good afternoon, Rusty!
A pleasing puzzle today.
I found it refreshingly straightforward!
I was helped by the answers being somewhat obvious, without my needing to parse first.
(I did the parsing afterwards in many instances)
I have done all bar two of the clues.
I couldn't do 27a nor 25d?
27a: D?I?N?
25d: B?H?A
And it took me a while to realise that "catholic" in 17d meant "broad".
I haven't looked at the osprey site recently ......I shall do so now.....

Good afternoon, Elle!
Yes, I agree, a good puzzle!
Ah, 27a crops up now and again.
It is "DJinni", a spirit of some kind or other.
A dj plays in a club, "in" in clue with NI.
25, Anne Bradford got for me!
A tea called " Bohea"
Sound tie is "bo", chap is "he", and "a"ssumed at first.
It is very windy here.
I have been out trying my bank card in various ATM's to no avail.
RBS are sending another card, which I hope works!

Hi, Rusty!
Ah yes, I can see the answers, and the parsings, of the two errant clues, now that you have very kindly explained it all to me.
All done and dusted now, thank you!
I am sorry that you are having trouble with your bank card.
I very rarely use the "hole- in- the-wall" cash points any more, since one of my friends had his card "cloned" by some gadget that had been fixed in the machine.
He recovered his money eventually, of course ...but it caused a lot of hassle!
I usually get cash back in Sainsbury's supermarket.
Hopefully , your new card will arrive soon.
It is raining fairly heavily here...dog and I have been out in the garden, but I am foregoing the walk this afternoon.