Yesterday (Sunday) was again a lovely sunny day, part of the Indian summer we seem to be having to make up for the not so great summer. I did hear that the summer had been one of the warmest in recent years, but also one of the wettest, not sure any of us need to be told that one!
Anyway, back to sunny Sunday. My sister and I decided to take our elderly parents out for the afternoon to visit a local (to them) stately home and the grounds. So, I set forth from Surrey to Hertfordshire for the trip. Now, I should back track slightly here and say that for over a year now, due to family circumstances, I have been making many trips to St Albans (at least 1 each week and often much more than that). So, you would think that the M25 would be a piece of cake to me by now. In fact, I'm amazed that I haven't been asked to pay rent and Council Tax for spending so long on it whilst stuck in traffic jams. However, yesterday I was in a hurry and the fact that it was at a stand still really irritated me, not a good start to a day out. However, I battled on and had a lovely outing with the family. I then had to sit on my old friend (the M25 you understand not anything more than that for those who were wondering) for a further prolonged period of time to get back home. All very frustrating really, but there we go. I must remember to keep my cool more in future and not keep phoning my husband and telling him how bad the traffic is and how he should find another route to get to his destination.
Monday morning started early as my husband had an early meeting at work. So, through half closed eyes, i went to the kitchen to get breakfast ready. Daisy has this very strange habit in the mornings that she likes to come in the kitchen window, so there you are, bleary eyed, only half awake, when something comes hurtling towards the kitchen window. Yes, it's Daisy. She then goes out the cat flap and back in through the kitchen window, then in one window and out the other. What is going on in her mind I ask myself? Polite answers only, on a postcard please. In summer, this quirky little habit is not quite so bad as it's nice to get fresh air, but now that autumn is fast approaching I'm not so sure I want to play the game. The next disturbance on my hazy state was lots (and I mean lots) of bashing at the cat flap. Now usually this means one of two things, either 'the enemy' (ie any other cat in the Universe) is trying to get in, or Simba has once again lost his collar (and therefore the magnet that operates the cat flap). Daisy tries very valiantly to open the cat flap to let him in, however, she hasn't quite grasped that once it's open, he can't fit through is she is still hanging through it! The back door then has to be opened (with Daisy still hanging through the cat flap) to let Simba in. Then, shock horror, he has to be handled by a human in order to give him another new collar. I think at this stage between the 2 cats I must have shares in the magnet company! I usually try and fit the new collar whilst he is distracted and eating, but it doesn't always work well, as in this morning. Then Simba has to be PICKED UP!!!!!! This is traumatic for both parties as he growls very loudly when held. Not pleasant at 6.30on a Monday morning when still half asleep (me not him). So Monday morning and before 7am, I've managed to deeply offend the .4 of a cat that we share our lives with. Oh well, he can now go and tell all the neighbours what cruel people we are.
So now, I will try and make the rest of Monday as normal as any day is in my small little world in Surrey.
Speak soon.
Rxxxx
Monday, 28 September 2009
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Turkish tails
Well I'm back from a wonderful holiday in Turkey. Sunshine, sea and too much food! Quite how I'm going to explain this explosion of weight at fat club on Tuesday I don't know. Oh well, I'll face that hurdle when I have to.
Now, before anyone thinks that I've lost the plot and the ability to spell in my title, please don't be alarmed. All will become clear later.
I discovered whilst on holiday that I have a new skill and am working on yet another one. Now, interestingly, they both revolve around golf. No, I haven't had a sudden urge to start playing golf, but I did go round the golf course with my husband, not once, but twice! My first discovery was that driving a golf buggy is actually enormous fun. I'm not quite sure what any of the other players thought about my skill, but I felt great about it. I do admit to getting some slightly strange looks at the purple knitting I was doing whilst waiting to chauffeur my husband to the next bit of the hole (or whatever the terminology is). Yes, I discovered that I can drive a buggy, knit and watch golf all at the same time. Now before you panic, I was obviously not driving the buggy round and knitting at the same time. However, during the breaks whilst waiting to watch where the ball went (the second talent which I am developing), my purple knitting was a good distraction. Personally I feel that the rules of golf are bonkers and whoever invented them is some saddo. However many times my wonderfully patient husband tried to explain them to me, they didn't really make much sense. Added to that, they put trees, bushes and big dollops of sand in the middle of the 'green'. Sometimes there's even water. This makes it very difficult to find the ball on occasion and if you are unable to find it, they then make you take penalty points for the pleasure of losing your ball! How odd. Trying to look for a small white round thing in a huge bush or bank of grasses is very hard, trust me! I still have to refine the skill of following the ball and seeing where it lands. This is not all that easy as the idea is that the ball goes a long way. Now, given that it is quite small, there are hills, dunes and all the above mentioned obstacles, you are trying to spot something rather small at a long distance - not easy. As the advert says, should have gone to Specsavers. I'm not even sure they could help.
Our hotel was lovely, with a bathroom to die for. The most amazing bath I have ever seen in my life. Bliss. The weather was lovely and hot, the beach was about 5 minutes walk from our room as was the restaurant with soooo much food! Hence the slight over eating. I tried very hard to be good, but it simply wasn't possible. I did however manage to become almost vegetarian for the week. Now this probably sounds quite strange, but there is a very good reason and it belongs to the tails in the title. One large tail and 6 very small tails, all belonging to such a cute little feline family. There was mummy pussycat and her 6 babies all living in the flower bed alongside the outside eating area. They were very popular and created quite a stir. I decided (in my usual way) that they needed some help, so each day I got my meat from the buffet and then took it outside. At this point I had to devise various ways of concealing it if we weren't sitting close enough to them so I could transport It across to kitty corner and feed them. So it was that I spent several minutes after each meal sitting on the ground (or worse still climbing in the bushes in the flower bed) feeding a hungry little family while bemused people stared at me. I however feel that I have done my good deed and Daisy should be thankful that it is illegal to bring live animals back home in a suitcase or she would have some stiff competition. If I'd know they were going to be there, I would have taken all the food that fussy Daisy won't eat with me to feed them!
Daisy was not impressed by our absence and has shown us in the only way she can, by scratching and making life pretty odd since we got back. She spent most of the first day back literally clinging on to me as I tried to walk round the house unpacking and sorting stuff out. Thankfully she has now regained her composure somewhat and become her normal self (whatever that may be as she is certainly not normal). I'm not sure if Simba even noticed we were gone or not. He may have realised just because he could come home without the fear of being touched (shock horror) by one of us and therefore sleep in peace. Who knows?!
Now it's time to play catch up with life in the next week to get ready for the next trip. More on that later.
Am now off to do some more sorting but will e in touch again soon.
Bye for now.
Rxx
Now, before anyone thinks that I've lost the plot and the ability to spell in my title, please don't be alarmed. All will become clear later.
I discovered whilst on holiday that I have a new skill and am working on yet another one. Now, interestingly, they both revolve around golf. No, I haven't had a sudden urge to start playing golf, but I did go round the golf course with my husband, not once, but twice! My first discovery was that driving a golf buggy is actually enormous fun. I'm not quite sure what any of the other players thought about my skill, but I felt great about it. I do admit to getting some slightly strange looks at the purple knitting I was doing whilst waiting to chauffeur my husband to the next bit of the hole (or whatever the terminology is). Yes, I discovered that I can drive a buggy, knit and watch golf all at the same time. Now before you panic, I was obviously not driving the buggy round and knitting at the same time. However, during the breaks whilst waiting to watch where the ball went (the second talent which I am developing), my purple knitting was a good distraction. Personally I feel that the rules of golf are bonkers and whoever invented them is some saddo. However many times my wonderfully patient husband tried to explain them to me, they didn't really make much sense. Added to that, they put trees, bushes and big dollops of sand in the middle of the 'green'. Sometimes there's even water. This makes it very difficult to find the ball on occasion and if you are unable to find it, they then make you take penalty points for the pleasure of losing your ball! How odd. Trying to look for a small white round thing in a huge bush or bank of grasses is very hard, trust me! I still have to refine the skill of following the ball and seeing where it lands. This is not all that easy as the idea is that the ball goes a long way. Now, given that it is quite small, there are hills, dunes and all the above mentioned obstacles, you are trying to spot something rather small at a long distance - not easy. As the advert says, should have gone to Specsavers. I'm not even sure they could help.
Our hotel was lovely, with a bathroom to die for. The most amazing bath I have ever seen in my life. Bliss. The weather was lovely and hot, the beach was about 5 minutes walk from our room as was the restaurant with soooo much food! Hence the slight over eating. I tried very hard to be good, but it simply wasn't possible. I did however manage to become almost vegetarian for the week. Now this probably sounds quite strange, but there is a very good reason and it belongs to the tails in the title. One large tail and 6 very small tails, all belonging to such a cute little feline family. There was mummy pussycat and her 6 babies all living in the flower bed alongside the outside eating area. They were very popular and created quite a stir. I decided (in my usual way) that they needed some help, so each day I got my meat from the buffet and then took it outside. At this point I had to devise various ways of concealing it if we weren't sitting close enough to them so I could transport It across to kitty corner and feed them. So it was that I spent several minutes after each meal sitting on the ground (or worse still climbing in the bushes in the flower bed) feeding a hungry little family while bemused people stared at me. I however feel that I have done my good deed and Daisy should be thankful that it is illegal to bring live animals back home in a suitcase or she would have some stiff competition. If I'd know they were going to be there, I would have taken all the food that fussy Daisy won't eat with me to feed them!
Daisy was not impressed by our absence and has shown us in the only way she can, by scratching and making life pretty odd since we got back. She spent most of the first day back literally clinging on to me as I tried to walk round the house unpacking and sorting stuff out. Thankfully she has now regained her composure somewhat and become her normal self (whatever that may be as she is certainly not normal). I'm not sure if Simba even noticed we were gone or not. He may have realised just because he could come home without the fear of being touched (shock horror) by one of us and therefore sleep in peace. Who knows?!
Now it's time to play catch up with life in the next week to get ready for the next trip. More on that later.
Am now off to do some more sorting but will e in touch again soon.
Bye for now.
Rxx
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
A wet Tuesday and a grumpy old woman
Today it is pouring with rain and has been all day.
I set out at about 9:30 this morning for an appointment and my feet don't seem to have touched the ground. Am off to 'fat club' (my name - not theirs in case you are wondering and not everybody is fat) shortly. Bad weight loss week coming on I think. This combined with the rain has turned me into something of a grumpy old woman today. In ASDA this morning (or was it afternoon - it's all merged into one now) I frankly wanted to strangle a child who was sat in the trolley screaming at the top of it's voice and the parents who seemed to be totally unaware of this fact.
I've been trying to buy ladies lingerie today, but without much success. Why oh why is this year's fashion for padded bras? Being not terribly small up top I son don't want to add to my already ample cleavage. Thankfully I have a good supply, but much more of this padded fashion and it could lead to a disaster! All I wanted was a skin coloured t-shirt bra, you wouldn't imagine it could be so complex.
As it is raining the .4 of a cat has come home to sleep. I just found him on my bed all curled up and cosy. I will leave him in peace for now as he so seldom comes home (other than to eat of course!). It comes to something when you have to go to neighbour's houses to find him and when you go to collect their resident's association subs they all assume you have come for your cat! You will learn more about him as time goes on, he truly is a funny little boy.
Oh well, off to fact the humiliation of the scales laughing at me as I step on them.
Bye for now.
Rxx
I set out at about 9:30 this morning for an appointment and my feet don't seem to have touched the ground. Am off to 'fat club' (my name - not theirs in case you are wondering and not everybody is fat) shortly. Bad weight loss week coming on I think. This combined with the rain has turned me into something of a grumpy old woman today. In ASDA this morning (or was it afternoon - it's all merged into one now) I frankly wanted to strangle a child who was sat in the trolley screaming at the top of it's voice and the parents who seemed to be totally unaware of this fact.
I've been trying to buy ladies lingerie today, but without much success. Why oh why is this year's fashion for padded bras? Being not terribly small up top I son don't want to add to my already ample cleavage. Thankfully I have a good supply, but much more of this padded fashion and it could lead to a disaster! All I wanted was a skin coloured t-shirt bra, you wouldn't imagine it could be so complex.
As it is raining the .4 of a cat has come home to sleep. I just found him on my bed all curled up and cosy. I will leave him in peace for now as he so seldom comes home (other than to eat of course!). It comes to something when you have to go to neighbour's houses to find him and when you go to collect their resident's association subs they all assume you have come for your cat! You will learn more about him as time goes on, he truly is a funny little boy.
Oh well, off to fact the humiliation of the scales laughing at me as I step on them.
Bye for now.
Rxx
Monday, 14 September 2009
the mystery ends
I just wanted to let you know that the mouse is now safe and well and roaming around in my neighbours' garden.
Daisy has not been helpful at all! I came home this evening to find Mr mouse (or Mrs mouse) running around in the utility room, Daisy simply stared at it as if to say 'well, I'm not going to lower myself to chase that!'. So Tupperware and cardboard at the ready, I managed to capture it and pop it over the fence (for it's own safety you understand!).
SO now some semblance of normality has returned to my life and home. Hurray!
Until next time.
Rxx
Daisy has not been helpful at all! I came home this evening to find Mr mouse (or Mrs mouse) running around in the utility room, Daisy simply stared at it as if to say 'well, I'm not going to lower myself to chase that!'. So Tupperware and cardboard at the ready, I managed to capture it and pop it over the fence (for it's own safety you understand!).
SO now some semblance of normality has returned to my life and home. Hurray!
Until next time.
Rxx
the mystery of the missing mouse
Well, here we are at nearly 3:30 in the afternoon and the mystery continues. So far I have done 3 loads of washing and have spun each one twice in order to try and encourage our little friend (who now in my mind is not so little any more) out from his hiding place. Daisy has been absolutely useless and is currently curled up fast asleep on a cushion the armchair looking at me as if I am mad. I would add that this is a new sleeping place for her, so she knows all is not well. I left her locked in the kitchen area for nearly 2 hours in the vain hope that she might recapture her friend. No. All I got for my efforts were a bite from her and her hanging from the hem of my dressing gown - this is one of her endearing ways of getting attention. Having failed to get rid of her I realised I couldn't walk round for the rest of the day with her hanging from me (not an easy way to do housework - or any sort of work). So I let her out.
So here we are with a mouse still at large in the house. As I see it there are 3 options: either the mouse has died of fright under the washing machine, or it is a deaf mouse, or it escaped out the back door when I went to hang out the washing and left the door open. I guess I have to sit it out and hope that the mystery gets solved before I have a nervous breakdown.
I'll keep you posted.
Rxxx
So here we are with a mouse still at large in the house. As I see it there are 3 options: either the mouse has died of fright under the washing machine, or it is a deaf mouse, or it escaped out the back door when I went to hang out the washing and left the door open. I guess I have to sit it out and hope that the mystery gets solved before I have a nervous breakdown.
I'll keep you posted.
Rxxx
Welcome to my blog
In my introduction, I said I dreamed of a simple life. Well today is a classic example of how that doesn't always seem to work out. Today was to be half housework and half office work. It is now 11:55 and I am still in my dressing gown, trying to sort out a household crisis. I would hasten to add that I have done some office work already (just so you don't think I'm a complete slob!). Wishing to be efficient, I took the breakfast dishes down to load the dishwasher, followed by a load of washing to put in the washing machine. Sitting in the corner of my utility room was a very small and terrified looking mouse. Obviously a love offering from Daisy. I'm not quite sure who was most surprised out of the two of us to be honest. Being brave, I got out my trusty old Tupperware and piece of cardboard. By the time I got back to the utility room, the mouse had gone into hiding, presumably under the washing machine. So I thought if I load the machine and it starts, the mouse will come out and I can catch it. That was nearly 2 hours ago. I am now on my second load of washing and Daisy is locked in the kitchen/utility area with the mouse. Unfortunately, she is curled up fast asleep on the chair and in no mood to play 'find the mouse'. I am now going to clean the rest of the house as I have a lady from a cleaning agency coming to visit tomorrow to arrange for a new cleaner, and I simply can't let her see the house like this.
And my husband wonders why some days nothing much seems to get done around here!!!
If I am still sane, I will update you soon.
Rxxx
And my husband wonders why some days nothing much seems to get done around here!!!
If I am still sane, I will update you soon.
Rxxx
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