Tuesday 30 December 2008

Christmas is Banned!

Christmas has never been a favourite time of year.  Something always goes wrong.  Illness, bereavement,  couples splitting up, you name it.  No relaxing time for us.  lol

This happened today.


Thursday 25 December 2008

Hobblearound

We had a quiet day. Among my pressies from Junior are a pair of flashing Rudolph earrings:o))

Mother isn't speaking to me. Probably 'cos I haven't visited in the last few days due to these rickety joints, which she thinks no-one else has but her. I'm getting the emotional blackmail, again. I don't care about her, apparently, because I keep the cats. I spend too much time with them and not enough doing stuff for her. Why don't I paint my walls white and get rid of everything and just have one of each?  blah, blah.  Other siblings have given up and stay away, leaving me to it!! Junior wants to stay away, too which is sad.

So, once my tablets had kicked in...around dinner time....I managed to get vertical! lol   The pets have had a ball with their pressies. The catnip disappeared pronto and ping pong balls are being chased around the house:o) Piper is holding her own and play fighting with the older kittens.

And LooLoo!!!!

At 5am Christmas morning Olive decided she wanted to go on walkabout. She can open every door in the house so, when the mood takes her (which is too often) lets all the mogs out and off they run, causing mayhem and partaaaying!! LooLoo , who is much better, hightailed it downstairs and out the catflat. So, there's me, hobbling around the garden, in pitch darkness, cursing for Europe never mind England, holding torch with nearly spent batteries trying to catch this bloody cat. An hour later I was back in bed, with LooLoo safely behind locked doors.

This morning, with it being a nice day, I let the snipped boys out into the garden for a runabout. Tinkerbelle slipped out too, when Junior turned her back. Next thing you know, she's up a 30 foot fir tree!! Once she'd realised how high up it really was.....eeeek....starts miaowing and crying. Tries to get down, but ends up going back up.  Daughter is hysterical and says we must call out the Fire Brigade to rescue her!!  Don't think so.  What goes up must come down and all that.   I suggest the old chestnut of temptation.    So, Junior, armed with tin of cat food and fork, rattles away and calls and calls her. Neighbours come out after a while. "Is that you kitten up there?" Junior confirms this. "Oh, dear" comes the reply. Anyway, 45 minutes later Tinks is back in the house, smelling of pine, with a look of 'I'm not doing THAT again!' lol

Son came up with grandchild of Min:o) They bought me a crafting lamp and a couple bottles of nice wine for Crimble:o)
Son no2 and Junior engrossed in a DS game. Junior had gotten on really well with it prior to our visit.....and then her brother went and accidentally wiped out all her 'saves'. lol    Grandchild of Min engrossed in Granny's iMac.

Wednesday 24 December 2008

Merry Christmas from us lot.

Junior and I....and the mogs and Cilla dog wish you all a happy Christmas/festival/holiday and a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful New Year:o)))) xxxxxxx Peace to all:o))

Listen to song no 3.

Junior is busy wrapping pressies up and enjoying herself immensely. Pressies for the pets, me, family, bestest friends and friends and family.....and are all to be lovingly wrapped. The mogs are REALLY interested in all this rattling and rustling and being extremely nice to Junior. Think they have sussed out the cat nip parcels, judging by the big holes in the wrapping paper. lol Bet they get "unwrapped" before dawn.

Cilla just sits and waits patiently. Bless her. LooLoo is lots better:o) Keeps trying to get outside....can't blame her, can you? Now the boys have been snipped they can go out. 'Tis muchly better. No more confined mogs in dog crates on a night and having to get up early to let them out.

We went out and did our 'shopping' today. Had to retreat early due to rickety old me.

About the last of Olive's kittens to be homed..... We have been picky as to where the kittens have gone. All, so far, have wonderul homes. Not Chrissy pressies, which I hate, hate. Someone was supposed to pick up the last one tonight. Their family cat, aged 17+, had died and they wanted another, supposedly. They never turned up and we got a text to say it was too far to drive (10 miles if that). So, it is fate. Last one stays. Bet it's because she isn't stereotypically 'pretty'. Anyway, Junior is WELL happy (she's been badgering me for ages to keep this little one) and so now we have Piper:o) Female Ringo lookalike. Tiny. Little sod!! sigh...

My new friend who helps run the local cat welfare place is going to retire (she's well into her 70"s and deserves a rest). So, shall just have to step in and help:o)) Should keep me busy:o))....as long as the old joints keep up to it!!

Monday 22 December 2008

Bet you can't watch this all the way through. Enjoy your food.

Turn the Christmassy music off and listen. You'll cry.

It gets a bit better a few minutes in.

Makes my blood boil that this sort of thing happens. Kindness is free.

Sunday 21 December 2008

Celebrate

Happy Yule, everyone:o))

and....

Happy Birthday to Michael, my lovely, kind, funny and handsome nephew:o))  xxxxx  One of those people with a heart of gold. xx  A lovely, lovely bloke who watches out for his Mum and keeps an eye out for his Dad....even though he and his Dad don't see eye to eye, it seems.

He was born 29 years ago.  My sis already had one child and had lost a son, Peter,  who was stillborn.  Sis and hubby were so poor that they couldn't afford a funeral, so the baby was buried with another adult.   A stranger.   They don't know where he is buried.  What if that person had been cruel in life?  Makes my blood run cold.

To me, it's like something from a bad movie.  Oliver Twisty.  Work Housey.   How could people let that happen?  He deserves his own resting place, surely?  He was never blessed by a priest.  It broke my parents' hearts, too.

My Mother lights a candle for him every time she goes to church.  For Peter, my Dad and Gran (Baba). xxx  

Sis was desolate when she lost the baby and so was not herself.   Desolate.    She never got to hold him and say what she wanted to say to him.   To kiss and cuddle and just....hold.   It's the not being able to hold him that just cuts.  If I couldn't hold Junior then I'm sure I would die!  Just to be able to hold and hug the ones you love, especially your children,  is so important.   They knew that he had died inside her but made her wait until natural labour took place.  She knew she wasn't giving 'birth' .  What hell could that have been?    He was taken away, never to be seen again.  Put in a refrigerator.  Cruel or what?   Why wasn't she allowed to hold her own baby?   It's heartbreaking and I wish I had been older and thus wiser and able to help her.  I was just a child then, though.

She has searched the cemetery and just cannot find him, so it's just messed her head up.  She's never recovered from her loss and him not making it has just cut her to pieces...and our family, to be honest, as she has changed from the vibrant girl to someone who just plods on, day to day.  She is not the same person and has withdrawn from everything...absolutely everything and everyone.  She talks to me, no-one else, about things of the 'head and heart' sometimes...not often though.  I 'get' her, if you know what I mean?  Others in the family don't and just think she should get on with it.    Hubby just wants to get on with life too, even after all these years, but sis can't so they are not happy.  She has been grieving for 33 years and can't find peace.... and he just doesn't know how to make it better.

So, Peter, up there with Dido and Babushka , Auntie M loves you lots.   And I wish I could have held you, too.  xxxxxxx


Saturday 20 December 2008

Weekend

Have had a weekend full of family visitors.

Bro has been to help sort out practical things....like back gate, sorting security,  lights, washing line (yippeee!!)....and has been good company:o))

I don't know why we ended up living so far apart.   Will soon be remedied, hopefully.

His dog, Max,  is HUGE!!  Blummin Scoobydoo gone wrong.....but soooooo soft.  He even ended up sleeping on my posh sofa..mainly 'cos I couldn't get him off 'cos he weighs too much!!!  He is such a lovely dope.  He's so big that he has his own armchair at home:o)

He's so nice with the mogs, although Cilla isn't too keen on him!!!  Maybe she demands a bit more intelligence!!

Olive's last litter has gone... new homes.

Junior.  Upset, as per the norm.  Anyway, they have gone to lovely homes and will be spoiled rotten.

Ollie is due in to the vet's after Crimble.  I am worried...given LooLoo's reaction to being spayed.   Ollie and LooLoo are really similar physically; long-haired, light as a feather while the others are heavier.   LooLoo is at last walking.  Just a bit at a time.  She's been wiped out by the op, so is being lavished with tlc and upmarket cat food.  Tinkerbelle, who was 'done' two days after Loo, is like the proverbial Tigger:o) 

Camera has been playing up of late...sigh!!!  We did/do have great photos!!!

Arthritis playing up too...means I am REALLY slow at everything (what's new? did I hear you say.  lol) with typos galore.  Bugger!!!!  Shall keep taking the oil!!! lol

We're trying to put up Christmas decorations.  Junior has two little trees, both lovingly adorned....and being eyed up by the mogs. lol    Found some posh, singing and dancing twinkly lights in the garage.  They're going up in my bedroom; 'tis where I can sort of guarantee that they won't be used as an assault course and so felines won't be barbecued!!   "Weeeeeee.  look at me.  I'm swinging"..........Bang...sizzle!"   

Wednesday 17 December 2008

Foot Bliss

Been trying out a bit of the old reflexology.  Ok, foot massage:o)

Seeing as I'm still struggling with iffy joints, thought I'd give it a go.  Junior, of course, had the job of Chief Massager.  lol    We struck a deal.  A sort of "I'll do yours if you do mine" type of arrangement.   I explained to Junior about reflexology and she seems quite interested, so my old books are coming out:o) 

Anyway, 20 mins each using the Barefoot Doctor lotion that we had kicking about.  Was bliss.  No smelly feet and, I can walk alot better.  Junior is happy, too.  It's relaxed her and she went straight to the land of BoBos once her head hit the pillow:o)

We're doing this twice weekly now, purely for relaxation and footcare.  

I did think of this as a possible new career in a former life.  That or herbal medicine, which I have great respect for.  It cured me of gallstones and I was eyeing up university courses at one point but the unis were too far away for someone with kids and I would never have been able to manage everything.   Sigh.....so, for now, I potter about.

Daughter is into herbs.  She has her pots of basic stuff, which she's always snipping and adding to her food.  We sometimes buy pots of basil and coriander and she munches the leaves as we walk around the supermarket!!  eeeek!!   She is, of course, into cookery and especially likes this person, so Santa is bringing her  this.       Junior isn't vegetarian;  she'll be trying out all these recipes asap, me thinks.  When she has her cooking head on, the kitchen looks like it's been hit by a hurricane.   lol !  Clearing up is always the worst job and is when I wish I had a dishwasher.    I think she likes this particular chef/cook because she's very even tempered and informative, with none of that effing and blinding that some of the other chefs seem to deem necessary.

Tomorrow is 'attempt to waddle around town' day and purchase stuff.  I have not a lot of dosh and I'm not really into overindulgence nowadays.  I've seen the light!!  lol    The green/eco/frugal way for moi:o))    Trouble is, most people I know seem to think the more you spend on someone, the better it is.  The boys, especially, feel the need to spend fifty quid on each present.  'Tis madness.  Told them no more than a fiver for me, tenner at the most as it's the thought that counts.   The less you spend, the more thought you give to the gift.      Here endeth my sermon.  lol  

Anyway, need to get arse into gear.  Humbug!!


Sunday 14 December 2008

Dark Nights

Junior is sort of recovered from the flu.  Still has a chesty cough but she's got an appetite back, sort of.  

We've been making the most of the dark nights.  Curtains drawn and snuggling indoors, trying to keep warm and eating comforting, healing food.  Shutting out the crap from the outdoor world.  I love the dark nights.  All the peace and quiet.  I end up doing all sorts of rearranging.  Bit like nesting, I suppose.   We've rearranged furniture to maximise warmth and cosiness.    The mogs have been doing their bit for peace in the Min household and switching off the phone by stepping on the Belkin.  lol

On the subject of warmth and cosiness, we're making novelty draught excluders...or trying to...and Junior has been Christmas card making.  Her efforts are quite good, but she gets her hair off when something goes wrong.  You can hear her muttering away...."stupid, stupid".  Little perfectionist that she is!

I don't much care for Christmas, though.  Can't get in the mood for it.  The over commercialism drives me mad plus it's the month when Dad went.  But, hey ho, must make an effort.  Tomorrow shall buy some twinkly lights to put up in the window:o)

 

Sunday 7 December 2008

Dad

Been thinking of Dad.

We lost him on this day a few years ago.  I was expecting Junior at the time and my family were concerned that I might miscarry because of grief.  

Dad knew he was going to be a Grandad again to a little girl.  First birth child of mine.  I was the last of the kids to 'produce' physically, so it was a big thing.  All his sprogs had become birth parents!     He desperately wanted to hang on and 'meet' her.  But, sadly, it wasn't to be.  I know he watches over her, guardian angel-like.  He said he would.  She has some of his traits.  Stubbornness....and his eyebrows!!!  And she cheats at cards!!!

Mother, of course, was desolate when he died.  50+ years of togetherness had ended.  Ups and downs and the like.  I was at work when I got the 'call' to go the the hospital as it was 'time'.  I lived over a hundred miles away.  So, my lovely workmate rang the kids' school and explained and soon after I collected them at the school gates and we were on our way up the motorway to the hospital.  The boys were bewildered but very protective.  Primary school aged kids protecting their mum:o))  I drove on autopilot. 

Everyone else was there when we arrived.  Even an old family friend, Emilia.  Beautiful woman, salt of the earth type.  Adopted auntie, if you like:o))  She was another WW2 refugee.    

It turns out that Dad had been hanging on for me.  Everyone was in bits...especially Mother.  My siblings couldn't bring themselves to stay in his room for any time.   Watching someone die is no fun when they are struggling for breath.    After a while I asked if Mother had eaten or had a break?  No.  So I took her for a 'break'.  She needed it.  After a while, maybe 20 minutes, she sat bolt upright and said she had to go back, so we went.  It was time and 20 minutes later Dad was gone.  Mother sobbed at his bedside.  But I didn't cry.  I couldn't because of Junior.   I couldn't lose her too.

We felt relief that he was no longer suffering.  So now we had to support Mother.
  
When we got back from the hospital, their dogs were waiting.  They knew!!!!!    and comforted Mother in their way.  A few days later, Mother laid out Dad's burial clothes on a bed.  His favourite suit and Ukrainian tie.  They had been dry cleaned.   And thermals.  She didn't want him to be cold:o)   We were pottering around downstairs and I noticed that one of the dogs was missing.  Went upstairs and found him laying, hugging, curled up on the burial clothes:o))  Wouldn't leave them.    Broke my heart to see that and when the dog eventually died, years later, we scattered his ashes on Dad's grave, so they are together again:o)

None of my siblings could bring themselves to sleep at 'home' once he'd died.   So, I stayed.  Autopilot, again.    Couldn't leave Mother on her own. He came home the night before the funeral. I thought I would hate it, but it was strangely comforting.

What do other people do on such 'anniversaries'?  Do they congregate together, have a post wake type of thing, or what?

We don't seem to be such a family.  We all contemplate, remember, celebrate in our own ways....on our own.  No gatherings. 

We are a strange lot.

Now I can cry...and I do  But he's probably up there telling me to stop being such a wuss!!  xxx 

He was just an ordinary bloke with faults, just like any other.  Forced out of his homeland and away from his loved ones because of some tyrant.  Did his bit and best to help keep us ALL free.

My Dad, the Hero:o))) xxx

Friday 5 December 2008

Yes, it'snot!!

Junior has flu.  Poor thing.  

She does not sleep or eat well with this., having a head full of mucous.   You know how it is.  

So, Vick, Oil of Olbas and the tissues reign here!  And throat tablets to help keep an irritating cough at bay!   And Lucozade.

The mogs are doing a sterling job of keeping her feet and back warm while she's lolling on the sofa.  (warmer down here)  Cilla acts like a foot muff when she's on the computer.

Iffy joints and flu.  What a pair of old crocks we are!  lol  

Thursday 4 December 2008

Never argue with a cat!!

Junior has been a tad argumentative of late.

Think she's a bit fed up of the chores known as 'Tidying up after yourself' and ' Could you just do **** for me?''  Well, hey ho, 'tis tough.  Needs must and all that,  especially as Iffy Joint Old Crock aka Min isn't as nimble as she once was and needs a little help now and again.

Anyway, the mogs are hungry and need feeding.  Seeing as I was up at 4am due to Junior sleepwalking into my bedroom and could not get back to sleep, I asks daughter to attend to them.  One, Meg, has become really grumpy and growly which does nothing for you when you are as equally short-tempered and trying to feed the hungry furry masses.   It just makes you even more bad tempered.

So, they are fed.  House rule is that animals are sorted first, humans second.   Junior asks me to cut her a few wedges off the homemade bread.  She is going to make herself a tuna and mayo sandwich.  Her favourite.    Of course, the aroma is not missed and soon she has a mass of furry 'friends' vying for titbits.  Still grumpy, Junior shouts and yells at them and tells them to go away, leave her alone, they've had theirs, etc.  They, of course, ignore her and carrying on hassling.  lol

She makes the sandwich.  It is piled high with tuna mayo and they still pester her for some.  She tells them that under NO circumstances are they having any of this.   Not a chance.   It is hers and hers alone.  

Off she toddles to sit down and consume it.

A few seconds later, there is a little commotion and a child-like expletive.  

She returns to the kitchen, with plate and lop-sided sandwich.

It seems that because of her bad temper (sigh) her hands slipped and plate fell onto the floor...followed by sandwich.

Ah ha!! 

See!!   

The mogs got their tuna, after all.

There's a moral in there somewhere,...eg;  What goes around comes around...and all that.....  but I'm in danger of losing bladder control as I'm laughing so much!!!!

I made her a fresh one and presented it in a large, non-slip bowl. 

Still tittering:o))

PS.  The Mogs...filled with tuna mayo sarni...are strategically lazing around..or so it would appear.....but, don't be fooled... all eyeballs are on Junior incase she drops this one aswell.   


Tuesday 2 December 2008

Keeping Warm!

Woke up to find that it had snowed here overnight.  A bit more than a dusting....and it looks REALLY cold and icy outside!!  

Unfortunately, we have to venture out to visit Mother, who has the bag on with me 'cos we didn't go down yesterday.  Iffy joints a la moi and daughter who is suffering from cramp sort of makes your mind up to stay put...especially when it takes me ten minutes to put one boot on!!!  Junior titters at the sight of her old Ma rolling round and cursing, fighting these boots,  'cos she isn't as supple as she once was, going red in the face, etc.  Have to put these boots on to go out nowadays.  Slip on flatties are a no no in this cold, even with three pairs of socks!!     I'm taking a daily health supplement that the chemist recommended, but says it will take a couple of months to get me feeling better so, until then....I  think thermals might be in order to keep the joints happier:o)  The old-fashioned haberdashery shops are no more around here, which is a shame 'cos they were an Alladin's cave, full of the useful things that you don't find in the high street shops nowadays.  Have been explaining the virtues of bloomers to Junior.  lol  She still prefers leggings.

Daughter is into watching a maths type programme  of late. ..and some strategy games. Suits me:o))  I was waddling around WHS a few weeks ago and spotted their book deals.  I love books.  There's something safe about them.  There were some great offers on educational stuff, so I got a huge encyclopedia of the Earth for a fiver.  Bargain!!   It's like a doorstop!!   I was going to wrap it up for Crimble (present from the Ho Ho Ho HE fairy) but she eyeballed it before I could say sellotape!!  So, she's going to do an hour a day on a subject of her choosing, which I think will be geology based to start with:o))  Where can you dig for precious stones in Hill Billy Land?   Guess who ooos and aaaahs at Gems tv?   lol

Re our cooking list from the other day.  Soup and the veggie pasties are on the agenda today.  Maybe bread, but that'll be cheating via the breadmaker.  Not enough hours in the day!!

         


Friday 28 November 2008

The Wise and Wonderful

We got as far as soaking and cooking the chickpeas the other day. Got waylaid with Mother...who is suffering with, amongst other things.. gallstones. She is learning the hard way to stick to the appropriate diet...naughty Mother!! lol Anyway, Junior watched her gran and got another language lesson while I hot-footed it to the pharmacy for all her meds. Believe it or not, Mother is well known (and liked) over there. Made her mark already:o))

So.....today, we managed to make the mini vegan 'cornish' pasties. They are DEELISH:o) Really, you must try.

They are basically shortcrust pastry circles (we used a wide-brimmed coffee cup as the cutter and a shop bought pack of pastry) filled with veg (obviously) consisting of sauteed chopped onion (one), grated carrot (three littlies) and potato (three medium)..with seasoning (lots of ground black pepper and Maldon sea salt). I made a samosa type mix with half of the mixture by adding chickpeas, tomato puree, a drop of water, ground cumin, coriander, paprika and chilli flakes. The pasties were baked for about 20 mins on 180C and were about three mouthfuls big...if you get what I mean...'arry?'
Vegan Pasties.

Tried making the spicy chickpeas, but I guess they're not meant to be in our house. Turned out like tasteless bullets. They need LOTS of spices if they are to hit the spot say, like Bombay Mix...sigh.....
The doomed chickpeas

Aside from cooking...there was a Christmas 'Do" at Mother's place tonight. Junior and I dutifully attended and it was actually very okay. Fun, even. We were made very welcome. The warden and her family sorted it all and will go to heaven for their kindness to the residents. The elderly do have a sense of humour and definitely tell it as it is....which is good...I suppose. Big, wide-eyed lesson for Junior! lol

I treat her well......for,.... when the time comes, she'll choose my care home. lol (One with a G Clooney or P Brosnan would be preferable!!!)..sigh:o)))
Honey Pot...wishing on a star:o))

Thursday 27 November 2008

Food Glorious Food

Sushi making is on the cards for today. And mini vegan pasties. Plus butternut squash soup. And chocolate orange brownies. And bread....and mini calzone pizzas and spag bog sauce. I'm going to try out toasted, spicy chickpeas, too. The list goes on and on.. All recipes will end up in Junior's cookery book.

We're fed up of not having anything to 'snack' on, so we're up for a Snack Making Extravaganza! Some of the goodies are destined for the freezer, but the sushi, I think, will not last the day, even if we could freeze it! lol 'Tis Junior's favourite at the mo. We don't have wasabi, so I'll have to dig out a bit of horseradish from the garden.

I've been perusing some of the American blogs and am impressed with what people can and do preserve, especially by means of canning, which I have no chance of doing here. But still, would be nice to have rows of preserved food in jars, grown from ones own garden displayed on my non-existent welsh dresser. Just wait til my Square Foot Garden takes off. lol

We're (ahem...I'm) hoping to organise the freezer. You know how it is when it all goes to pot and you can't see what you have in there for the ice!....:o) I have visions of loads of little food containers, all neatly lined up and labelled. We shall see:o))

My new mog-free craft room/office (still a tip a the mo) is also going to be trebled up as a 'warm little potting up and grow on the windowsill' place. Am fed up of running out of the tender herbs and salad leaves (and paying such high prices) so shall see how it goes.

On with it, as they say. First things first, though. Shall have to have a nice cup of tea:o))

Sunday 23 November 2008

Yay!!

Musical bedrooms, again!

Junior has decided that she'd like the little bedroom. It's next door to mine and was being used as a dumping ground, basically. It's tiny, but she says she feels snug and safe in there. Her old room is at the back of the house and she can hear next door's rabbits scratting during the night. She doesn't like the landing either, same as me. There's something about it..like you're being watched.....cue X-Files music! lol

So, there's stuff all over the place. She is 'in' and happy. Meanwhile, boxes seem to have morphed out of nowhere and have instantly been 'bagged' by the mogs. We have way too much 'sentimental' clutter (mainly my mother's stuff) so it's off to live in the garage:o)....once I find a nice strong person to help rickety old me shift it!

Upshot is that I now have a spare double bedroom....which is going to be, in part, my NEW CRAFT SPACE!! Yay!! My own office:o) Makes a change from the loo:o) Even in there I can't get any peace and quiet. lol There are lovely views of Hill Billy Land from that room. Might inspire me to make something 'different'.

Anyway, Rule No 1 for Mum's Office...........Unsupervised cats are banned!!

Friday 21 November 2008

Meg v Min

Don't half ask for it!!

Joints are doing their usual...and now knee has chipped in. Blumming arthuritis!! Resulting in one mega bad-tempered moi!

Everything takes double...treble the time than it ordinarily would. Very frustrating and annoying.

So, it is 11.20pm. Min is pooped and wants to call it a night. Hotwater bottle is at the ready for knackered knee:o))

I hears a trill (cat language for 'Coooeee'). I hears the 'cat flap with no locks 'cos sex-mad Megan broke it' going.

Trill, trill....then growl. This means 'keep away, it's mine!!'. It is Megan's growl.....bad tempered so and so. So, oiks Meg out from under the coffee table and, true, there is another poor rodent clasped in her jaws.

Eeeek!!! I don't want another one romping around the living room, so I boots Meg out.....who was naturally growling away at me. It IS forecast Arctic weather, after all. Tough.

So, there am I. Guarding the 'cat flap with no locks 'cos sex-mad Megan broke it". Ooops,,,there it goes and oooops, there I boots her out. This goes on for a good 20 minutes. Ping pong in and out.

Ha!!! I won!!!.....said poor, pathetic Min. No chance. Turns my back and Meg whizzes in, rodent still attached to jaws. She eyes up the Laura Ashley slub sofa...then the stairs (and my bedroom door is OPEN!! Yikes!!

Eventually, my shrieking directs her back into the kitchen. Does she vie the knackered catflap. NOoooooooo.

She jumps up on the table and ceremoniously lays mouse on my new oilcloth!! Swine!!

Anyway, by now deceased mouse has been removed and a certain Megan Schooler has a mega bag on!!! (Having a 'bag on' is Yorkshire speak for mega sulk). I think she is crabby because she knows she is going to see a Mr/Ms Vet next week for 'contraception purposes'.

It is now past midnight. Shall hobble upstairs to my pit (bed).

Megan is in the kitchen... sat staring at a dish full of Whiskas biscuits...and my ears are ringing. Wonder what she's called me this time?

Nite all:o)))

Monday 17 November 2008

Not a Prickly Problem

We were walking Cilla tonight
when we spotted our first hedgehog of the year. Was quietly trundling along (until we came along and then it hot-footed it down someone's drive).

This is the first time Junior has actually seen one 'in real life' as she puts it. She was asking me loads of questions about the creatures and I was explaining how (during my own childhood) we used to play host to a female each year. She 'borrowed' our outhouse and raised her broods there, year in/year out. They all were different in their features...and so cute. It's a shame you don't see them so much nowadays. (blumming fencing.....AND cars!!) So, the questions were a flowing and now I can feel a project coming on:o))))...and a hedgehog house being built....pronto.

Junior is very much into music at the mo. Loads of stuff on her blog..and it's so varied:o)...which is nice. She spends ages researching stuff and getting the tunes she wants.

Bedroom's a tip...still:o(

She gets the sniffing out music stuff from me. I'm always playing DJ here. Can't be pinned down to any style or genre am afraid. I like everything...except doobedoo Cleo Laine type jazz...and brass bands...and some Motown..or is that Mowtown? So.......Saturday night is usually....gooooood! The oldies sometimes are the best...but not always:o))

James Morrison & Keisha Buchanan in sidebar......Ahhhhh:o)))

If family are reading this. DON'T buy Min a karaoke machine for Crimble!!! Bad news for neighbours:o))

Sunday 16 November 2008

The advantages of having long, asbestos claws!!

Picture the scene.

Bro is down in Hill Billy Land.   Lots of 'maintenance' to do at Min's abode.  Min cannot manage due to rickety joints (bugger!!)  So, bless bro for helping out.

So, bro....not known for cooking himself up hearty meals..is resting, after having completed much in way of repair, etc.  

Min is cooking meat eater bro Aberdeen Angus humungous burgers with lime and coriander rice and veggie kebabs....followed by strawberry cheescake and has already plied bro with a glass of M & S red wine:o)  All is bliss.

Am in lounge, chatting away with bro and Junior.  Goes into kitchen to check on proceedings..ie; is burger cooked and ready?  Being health concious (!) I am grilling it.  It's huge!!...so takes a while.  

Have an electric cooker, oven with grill compartment and hob ontop.  Grill has a door that opens down and will only work if the door is down and level.

What do I find when I goes into kitchen?....but Tinkerbelle and Horrid Henry hopping up and down on the grill door.  Cat version of 'Yippee' going on....'cos they'd managed to oik out the burger from under the grill..onto the shelf and were blowing on it so they could munch as much of it as possible QUICKLY without being sussed out!!

When I spotted them,  red-handed (or is that pawed?) you could almost hear the mutual "oh crap".  

So, bro had to wait another 15 minutes for his burger (good job I had a reserve) and all the mogs enjoyed  their 'prize'.   They obviously prefer 'real meat' to Whiskas or Iams kitten food!    Bro gave them ten out of ten for ingenuity....and bravery!  lol

Was hilarious.  Serves me right.  Needless to say, when I put the reserve burger on, I did not leave the cooker for one second!!  

Friday 14 November 2008

Tuffy Tree

Junior and I have been trying to conjure up ideas for Christmas decorations and came up with this.  We are wary of having a 'traditonal' tree... because of the tearaway mogs, so we hope they leave this one alone.

Basics of what you need.  Cut the card into a cone shape.  Double sided tape was easier to stick the edges down, 'cos it can be a bit of a fight getting them to stay put!  You could use any colour card/paper to suit your preference.  Even glue down cheaper wrapping paper onto plain card.  Anything goes.
 
You could use an old tin for a 'plant pot' but you need to weigh it down and use the dowelling as a centre trunk.  Stick it to the bottom and attach it to the inside top of the tree with double sided tape, other wise it'll wobble for England and keel over. We tried dried beans.  If you stuck to a colour theme, it could look quite posh:o)

Honey Pot inspecting!!  We decided not to use the pot at the bottom because of the weight of the chocolates and because we used a firm enough bit of card, it stands up well  enough on its own.    

Chocolate Laden 'Tree'.  You'll always be able to tell if a certain person has nicked on!  lol...  Of course Junior....not known for being a minimalist,  did a pizza job and used two thirds of the tin.    You could stick on favourite sweets...as long as they're in wrappers (if you intend them to be eaten). (we used the double sided tape to stick ours on with)   Would make a nice little hand made pressie for someone.  Made with love..and all that:o)


Junior has spent this morning sussing out the camera. She's sussed out how to use the video facility on it, which I fear is bad news. Early morning camera stuck in my unglamorous face I am not looking forward to! lol

Monday 10 November 2008

That's My Boy!!!

Have to laugh.

With the state of things nowadays and all the tosh going on around me and the world, some people are getting their sequins in a twist for the daftest of things.. like this !

Is it me, or are JS and Jo Brand alike?  They could be twins.



 

Hope his hips don't give out and that he wins it!!  One up for the normal folk.  He might even encourage non-swollen headed J Public to have a bash.  Vote the judges off I say!!  lol

Saturday 8 November 2008

Weekend

We're babysitting brother's dog, who is a Scooby Doo lookalike, very soft, cat-pecked and blummin HUGE!!!  And he is currently howling for his buddy:o)  Very sad but cute, too, IYSWIM?  He loves my bro, who has gone to Silverstone for the day  (pressie from my niece to her car mad dad)  :o))

Today we're going to plant garlic.  I missed out last year but this time there will be no digging.  I'll plant them in empty tin cans and wire them to the back wall (to save space in my SquareFoot Garden).  Come Christmas I may dangle sparkly lights around them for added prettiness:o)

Came down yesterday to find a certain Tinkerbelle up on the lounge curtain pole, trying to figure out how to get down.   Sigh.
She looks huge on photos, but she's actually quite tiny and slender.  Still got a mean looking, don't mess with me face, even though she's a softy:o))

And, the mogs are getting really good at deleting ansaphone messages and even switching the thing off now!! Perfect PAs...eh?



The weather is the usual...wet.   So we are all cosied up here.  Heating on.  Mogs cuddled together.    Bro kindly brought some books down for Junior.  A few of his old maths books which are, surprisingly, quite interesting.  Better than the tosh you get in the shops nowadays.  So, might place these 'innocently' around the place, open and inviting for Junior to peruse:o)  lol 
Bro is Junior's favourite uncle.  He always bears gifts and they are often made by him.  Little bitty, thoughtful  things that she appreciates just 'cos they're from him.  I think he misses his daughter now that she is all grown up and living her own life hundreds of miles away.  He's the one I would trust to look after Junior if I should peg it early.   He's fun and never raises his voice or loses his temper.  A Mr Happy-Go Lucky who makes you feel safe type of fella.   They would have fun together those two...and he'd let her keep cats:o))  And he'd home ed.  Bonus!!  lol

Am trying to get on with making Christmas pressies, but it's so difficult without Junior spotting what I'm doing (some are for her).  She's started going to bed early lately which means, theoretically, that there is my timeslot for making the goodies.  Trouble is, I'm as knackered as she is at that time and so I usually nod off, too.   Bad news if I'm using the sewing machine.  Ouch!!   Can't win!!  lol  

   

Tuesday 4 November 2008

4th November

 Happy Birthday, Stephen. xxx

Up there with the angels......and probably teaching them how to make cocktails:o)  And trying, unsuccessfully,  to beat my Dad at dominoes....again:o))  lol

I miss our natters. x

Monday 3 November 2008

Jig

Seeing as I have been feeling sorry for myself lately, due to arthritic  stuff attacking the old bod and rendering me useless in certain departments, thought it might help if I got the old arse into gear and.....exercised a bit:o)    

Partner in crime...aka..Junior is up for it.  So.....we are on a dancercise routine:o)    Very technical....just means that we are to jig to certain 'tunes' every day.  Easy peasy.  Soon have all that excess flob dropping off:o)))  I shall, of course. choreograph:o))

This is reason for updated  playlist:o)

Not one to let an opportunity pass...I have, of course, been indulgent and put on pertinent tunes from my past.  All, of course, relevant to the muscles I intend to tone up!!!  (well, you have to pace yourself!!!)  Lots of chill out tunes in between the jigabout ones.  Got to watch the old muscles, and all that.

Junior has gone to bed...on time for once...in preparation.  lol

Actually, I reckon she's going to update her playlist.  Hmmm, should hazard a guess that it'll be mostly Now No 6.  She's been hinting big time for this.  Min has been hinting right back.....Santa!!!! 


Saturday 1 November 2008

Flu and Soup

We made the Butternut Squash Soup and French Bread (recipes in sidebar) today and all turned out well:o)  With the bread I'd advise to not go overboard on the water!!!   You can guess the scenario we had.  lol

Junior has succumbed to this fluey lurgy and is feeling a bit yuk, poor thing. Vick has come to the rescue, again....and rest.

So, Min has been in charge of entertaining the mogs (err, keeping them in order).  They have been well behaved to be honest, though.  Maybe they sense that Junior isn't so well and are giving her a bit of space...bless 'em.  Helps if you have the central heating on, too.  Cats love warm radiators:o)  

Tomorrow is unmangle brain day.  Must try and figure out how to upload piccies from camera to mac.  Can't see the wood for the trees at the mo.  Am pixled.   Sigh...very irritating.

Friday 31 October 2008

Whinge

I have had enough of schoolboy-like bullying.
  
Old blokes who have nothing better to do than be petty,  interfere and criticise. 
 
They can go and pick on someone else.
  
Enough!!

They can have their allotment.  Give mine to their supposed 'mate' in waiting...but the soil is crap and full of pests and it's probably been hexed.

If I get like that at that age, then someone put me out of my misery!!..'cos there are better things in life to worry about.

I have seen the light!

I am going to do this instead:o)

Mer!!


Thursday 30 October 2008

Deary Me

Am definitely awake!!!!

Why?

Just been on the receiving end of ear-piercing and prolonged scream....... worthy of some award.

Why the scream?

Horrid Henry, the juvenile delinquent kitten, was growling.  Asked Junior to investigate and, yes, you've guessed it......MOUSE!!!!!...albeit a very deceased one.  My eyesight being as it is at the mo, I thought it was one of the leaves that Meg is partial to bringing in and 'killing' off.  

Sigh.....

Tuesday 28 October 2008

Some Things Make Sense Now

Managed to hobble down to Mother's today.  Have started with the frozen shoulder pain now and nearly didn't make it out of the bath.  It NOT nice!!!!   That is, the pain and the vision of being oiked out of the bath by the Ambulance Brigade!    So, after taking  Iboprofen and paracetamol it is sort of bearable...for now.  I'm absolutely determined not to go to the doc's with it, though.

So, settled down at Mother's, after she made me rub Vick onto the affected iffy joint area.  In my Mother's world, Vick sorts EVERYTHING out:o)  It is a saviour:o)   lol    Anyway, we gets nattering about things...mistakes,  regrets, the world in general and slavery, of all things!!  Today was one of those days when she let slip a bit more about her childhood.  She never talks to my siblings like this.  Maybe it's because she and I have this understanding.  Don't know.  Sometimes, I can see through her grumpiness and bitterness when my siblings just can't.    But, we hardly know anything of our family's past, etc, so I am the Information Gatherer and Recorder!!  

 I mentioned Junior's packed week of meets and parties and we got onto Halloween.  Mother does not believe, she says,  in 'all that nonsense'.  Never has, she says.  Thinks it's a load of commercial tosh.  There was nothing like that in 'her day', etc.   Certainly, as a kid I never knew anything about Halloween.  It was kept from us.  I even got married on Halloween...oblivious of what other people, not on my wedding guest list,  would be celebrating.

As a kid, she lived up in the Carpathian mountains in Eastern Europe, right on the border to 'another land'.   In the past she's told me tales of her days..playing with catfish in the local river; playing with semi-precious stones in same said river, being chased by a bear, nearly dying because she ate too many nuts one time and the local 'herbalist' saved her!!   How storks? used to nest on their roof. 

She obviously had chores in those days and one was to go and tend the 'animals'...namely one cow and a few hens.  Yes, my Granny was poor, bless her:o)  My Grandad, the toerag, left her for another woman..just because she had more cows!!    My Gran was very, very pretty but had such a hard life:o))  Mother is an only child.     

The one and only cow was kept a bit away from their home, on some grazing land.   She said she was quite scared at times, because the woods, coupled with the mountains,  had their own 'atmosphere'.  Houses (or more like little wooden cabins) were few and far between (no noise pollution, then!!).... and she was wary of being taken!!   Taken?  What did she mean by being taken?      Well, yes,  turns out there were child snatchers about, even in those days...so nothing changes.  But, these people were not the norm.  Apparently, the children were snatched.  Vanished.  People couldn't figure it out.  Lost without a trace sort of thing.  

Turns out they were taken for their blood..to be drunk.  Eeeeew.   So I asks 'Like vampire stuff?'   I got the 'maybe' shrug then nothing else.  Enough said.  Too much information!!   The 'people' responsible were hiding behind another religion but were 'removed' from the area.  Local justice type of thing. 

So, things sort of make sense now.   It may seem a bit barmy to others, though.   Anyhow, when one of us lot moves, Mother is straight up with her bottle of holy water and proceeds to bless the house and garden..Usually without us knowing.  On the quiet sort of thing.  

She really loves us and protects us, in her own way:o))

Sunday 26 October 2008

Phantom Prints

Been trying to finish off the bathroom...the one with new red and white theme:o)  

Junior, in her new role as Interior Designer,  is always keen to assist when it comes to painting and decorating and is busting a gut to get in there and slap more paint on!  The more the better...bit like a pizza!    Trouble is, most of it ends up anywhere but on the walls.  Sadly, I've been just as bad , as iffy joints just had to start and give me jip when I donned paint brush and attempted to climb decorating ladder.  It's a bit of a pain (sorry, no pun intended) painting with the 'wrong' hand and harder still when trying to paint nice, clean, level edges!  Sigh.   

Anyway,  my 'assistant' and I have got on ok with it.  I also seem to have a phantom assistant who is much into 'inspecting" the work by the looks of it.  Let's call it quality control.    No, 'tis not the ghost...  It's a four-legged assistant.   How do I know this....ahhh.... little red paw prints on the landing and stairs just give it away:o))  lol

Must try and suss out camera to get photos up.

Meanwhile, Junior has a Moodboard at the ready for the next decorating project.....MY bedroom.  She thinks purple and red would be cool!!  Hmmm.   I was thinking more along the lines of shabby chic type duck egg blue and cream   Maybe I need to point her in the direction of a colour wheel.  She won't listen, though, 'cos she's always right!!    Wonder where she gets that  from?  lol

Saturday 25 October 2008

Not so Perfect Today

I have just been informed that I can expect visitors today.  Arghhh!   

Wanted to chill out a bit today because of this flu and rickety joint stuff.  Now I have to tidy up.   Tidying up makes me really grumpy.  Ironing even worse!!     Do you ever have that feeling of dread, knowing that there ain't enough hours in the day to accomplish these tasks satisfactorily?   I shall have to stop watching Wisteria Lane and that Bree woman!!  

Some people are just natural hosts and just so,so organised.  I'm not either, but still people want to come.  Someone once told me that my house is homely and welcoming!!!!  (I did nearly choke on my tea at the time!)    Can't think where they get that from.   lol    Is all the media's fault.  I'll blame them today.  lol  Perfect homes, nothing out of place is how it should be!!  I have been brainwashed!!!   Sigh.  mutter, mutter.  Where's me Shake n Vac?........

Friday 24 October 2008

Apples, Ears and Holes:o)))

Junior is well into the swing of Halloween pre-partying!!  Unfortunately, I think she has got Halloween and Bonfire Night mixed up just a tad.  She has been making Halloween 'food'........toffee apples covered with hundreds and thousands, except instead of toffee it is Tesco's finest chocolate.....and the hundreds and thousands!!   They are hardening off in the fridge as we speak.  I suppose chocolate covered apples finished off with hundreds and thousands would score more points with Mother than, say, Dead Man's Fingers...or the famous Cat Litter Cake:o))  

I have bought an extra battery operated toothbrush AND extra floss..just in case!!

My flu pain is moving on.....into my ear.  Yes earache....a pain in the......ear!  Mother thinks it serves me right for not wearing my snoopy hat that makes me look stupid today when Junior and I walked the mile and a half down to her place...and back I will have you know.   We'll be as fit as butchers dogs in no time with this exercise regime.  Even Cilla dog is pooped with all this walking:o)

We can't find a catflap to replace the one that we had that the cats knackered, leaving us with a hole in the door where the catflap used to be.   Sigh....   So, we need to go further afield and find the nearest Pets at Home and get a replica tomorrow.  Why?  Because taping up the hole in the door with cardboard and ducktape is not working.  They get out!  My kittens are GOOD little escapees.  lol.  Well, come tomorrow night babies (when I have fitted new catflap that fits),  just you try getting out!!  lol

Meanwhile.....I have new battery operated toothbrush and dental floss at the ready.   Junior has just demolished the first apple.. covered with Tescos finest chocolate and hundreds and thousands'.






Thursday 23 October 2008

Timber!!!!

Did not sleep very well.  Cough, cough, cough, sore chest, etc:o( .....plus I am still really sad about my fave list being battered and abused.

But, things still need doing here and I need to go out and get supplies.  It's blowing a wet gale so I reckon we'll have to taxi it back as I think I'll keel over if we get the bus back with all the shopping.   Wish you could get your shopping delivered by the likes of Tesco and Asda and pay cash on delivery.  That would save me SO much hassle.  I also have to do my CME consultation response today.  I am hoping that brain will have cleared up by tonight.  I also have tons of photos to load up.  The memory card on my camera is full and I have to figure out how to upload.  Computer is not allowing it at the minute, which is stressing me out a tad.  I have an instruction manual, but it's in French.  Can't find the English version one anywhere.  It's probably been tidied away by Junior to a 'never to be found again' place.  This happens all the time here.  Sigh....

Junior, meanwhile, is driving me mad.  She's a 'furniture moverarounder".   I do not want this activity when I am feeling like death warmed up, so I had a bit of a tantrum this morning and told her to stop.  It used up all my remaining 'voice' so now I am using sign language!!   She just wants to help and I know I am being a crabby old cow.  So, I have promised her she can do this when I feel better and not when I am orbiting around the front room because of this lurgy.   I have to keep away from Mother, too.  Getting flu at her age is a no no.  

Junior is one for maximising space  (more room for all her rubbish...err.stuff.)  And....she has plans for redecorating.  I think I have me a budding interior designer here.  It's the Schooler creative streak!!    I did do this at night college and so have all the tools for drawing plans, etc.  I think I may let her have a go and see what she comes up with., but she is so impatient and wants it all done NOW!!   Sigh........       We are already on with painting the bathroom (4th time in 3 years).  This time we are veering away from aqua to.....red!  Yes...red, which will go well with white suite and pine bath cladding and door.  'Tis her choice and it does actually look quite nice...and warm....and clean:o))   Upstairs floorboards everywhere are to be painted chalky white for the shabby chic look, with rugs here and there.   Don't do carpets.  I have non stop hoovering here anyway, so don't want more....hoover will complain.  lol

Anyway, we are about to depart for supplies.  Wish me luck that we manage to get home before I keel over.

Wednesday 22 October 2008

Sad and Mad and Language, Timothy!

I'm really sad...and bloody mad!!

My favourite home ed list is closing down.  One of those REAL  lifeline/chill out/best place to hang out/share your troubles or happiness/talk about anything places.

It's become overpopulated with plonkers who just don't know when to stop whining and bloody moaning and the really nice list owner has had enough.  Been battered with all the bickering, nastiness, oneupmanship and playground stuff.   My ex..Man Of Few Words,  would call these 'people'  arseholes.  Hmm.  excellent description!!! 

Myself..I think it's been deliberately sabotaged.  One less 'competitor' to deal  with...sort of thing.   Shame on them!!


Monday 20 October 2008

Words and Poo

I have two Sunday papers delivered.  The Times and the Mail.  Big workout for the paperboy, as these babies weigh a ton, what with all the supplements, etc!!  Takes him ages to post them all through the letterbox.  I am hoping that Junior will take more of an interest in these 'publications' than the red tops which seem to be her brothers' preference.  

We're starting a project on the history of fashion.  Makes sense, given the size of her bulging wardrobe, drawers, overflow wardrobe in spare room, etc.   It's safe to say that she has a healthy interest in this so we'll/should cover loads of subjects in all this:o)  Fashion supplements have their uses:o))...even if you can't afford anything in them.

I only get the Mail 'cos of the crossword.  Big prize if you win:o)  Older brother, who lives up north,  does all the filling in and I look up any answers he's stuck on on the good old internet.  If he wins we'll split the prize.  Yay!!!  Mind you, by the time/if we win then my share should just about cover the cost of calls to his mobile!  lol  Anyway, tonight he rings up and only needs help on five of the clues.  FIVE!!!   Yes.....he got more than his fair share of the family brains. 

Then, when paper has been read, it all gets torn up into little squares and used as cat litter:o)  The sports pages go in straight away as they don't interest us at all and the last ones in are usually the financial pullouts.    Wish I had the money to do something with the advice given.  lol

So, today, we've been holed up.  Too cold to go out when one feels yukky and fluey.  Junior has been deciding what to go as to a Halloween party she's been invited to.  It is mostly sorted...she likes to be prepared!!  She's also been looking at party food to take as our contribution.  Top of her list is a topical for us concoction named "Cat Litter Cake".   Throwing herself totally into party mode, she can't understand why I think it's a bad idea...like who would want to eat THAT?  It's presented in a cat litter tray (obviously new, unused, sterile, etc) and served with a poop scooper.  Classy, eh?  Lol



Thursday 16 October 2008

Ear Plugs Required

I keep wishing for a lie-in. 

I am not well, so I need one.  Bit poorly...old joints....flu symptoms have arrived now that it's Autumn..and now earache!!  I have been best friends with Ibuprofen lately.

Most parents with youngish kids and pets don't enjoy a full night's kip...do they?  We toss and turn because of over active brains that refuse to switch off and relax.  Then I need the loo....two times.   Then a couple of the mogs decide to yowl about something, etc.   So you are up and down, sorting stuff out.  I'm often driven to swear like a trooper at this time of night!!

So, I normally get off to The Land of Nod and stay there 'til about 4am.  No reason why I wake at this time.  Must be my natural wake up rehearsal alarm.  Actually, thinking about it, it's due to worry.  Have I locked the door (but it's too bloody cold to get out of bed and check?)  Did I turn the cooker off?  (ditto)   Did I let the dog back in or is she freezing outside, unable to get her tubby self into the house through the knackered-again hole in the door that used to be a cat flap? (ditto again, but at least she has a fur coat!!)    How am I going to pay for THAT bill?...etc.      Brain is then in orbit....whizzing about like an out of control Starship Enterprise, no Captain Kirk in sight and so not doing as its told and going to bed!!!   Eventually, after a cup of chamomile and honey, the loo, reading this month's knitting mags (sorry, that should be squinting at) I go to bo bo's:o)   

Then!!!...before you know it,  bloke across the road, with the "Ooooo, listen to my REALLY loud exhaust" revs up and goes to where ever.  This is around 5.30am.    Arghhhh!   Half the neighbours are awake by then.  They all seem to go to the loo in sequence...and flush in sequence!!!!!  Ah, the joy of thin walls:o)  No farting in private in Hill Billy Land.   I nod off again..eventually.   Bliss.   I am so tired...have weird dreams...some are nice  ..and try as I may, I can never remember them!!!   Arghhh!   Then.....

Bloody builders!!!!!  They are in attendance, across the road and seem to take great pleasure in doling out an 8am wake up call....with a VERY noisy and irritating circular saw, which seems to be on all the time to chop up the millions of patio bricks that they have had delivered.  Sigh........And Junior sleeps through all this..even when she sleep walks...but that's another story:o)

Don't worry.  I am plotting revenge:o)))   

Wednesday 15 October 2008

Wish Lists

I am a mean mother!!!

Junior is planning ahead for Christmas:o))  I see that she is now into lists (long ones!).... the Tesco catalogue...AND the Argos one, too.  

Now, there are  various expensive items on her wish list (computer, plasma tv, Wii, cd's, etc  lol).  She also wants fitted bedroom furniture, so she can have a more streamlined room, more floor space, etc.  She's a 'bunger'...which means when she tidies up everything gets bunged away into any drawer, wardrobe, box, etc when there is no obvious place (in her eyes) for said items.   Sigh.... So, she wants a more organised bunging system...hence fitted furniture...more storage:o))  

Well, over the years she has figured out that some pressies/wrapping papers that end up under the tree on Christmas morning look mighty like some of the pressies/wrapping papers that we have had around in our house prior to Christmas.  (Bad Mummy for not hiding them away properly!!)  I got round this by telling her that I quite like buying gifts, too so some pressies under the tree are from me.   Oooooooo!!!  Eyes light up!!      So, she has obviously churned this over in her head and figured out a foolproof way of getting her heart's desire at Christmas.  I can buy her one part of wishlist and Santa can bring the other.  She is, after all, a really, really, really good girl:o)))  I muttered something along the lines of "won't a pen and a bag of nuts do?"   sigh.....Sooooooo

We sort of had a 'talk'.

Junior now knows who Santa REALLY is...and the fitted bedroom stuff might/probably will arrive in time for her birthday next year.  This is fine by J...'cos she has time to declutter and tidy up!!!

On hearing about this little 'talk'...Son No 1 is having none of it of course and tells her that Santa is alive and well and not to forget to leave out a mince pie and carrot.  Son No 1 likes tradition.  He tends to spoil his sis at this time of the year.  'Tis partly the kid in him and also generosity...his way!    Told Son No 1  he now has a choice and can pay for either List One or List Two:o)  Moneybags!!!  Lol 

Tuesday 14 October 2008

Whacked!

We went to a new home ed meet.  Nice people and Junior was happy.  There were kids there of all ages..right from little toddlers upwards and they all got on so well and played together:o).....some random game at the end involving racquets, balls and running about...alot!!  Was so nice to see all those happy, smiley faces.

I've only been off-line for a short while but coming back there seems to be a lot going off re consultations and more stupid red tape, etc that will affect home edders and our rights..for the worse.  Sigh...Consultation Overload...as someone put it...enough to constipate you!!   Don't think some of these people will be happy until kids are chipped at birth!!   The AhED and EO sites have details.  Carlotta's Dare to Know blog is excellent for keeping us informed, too.   If you are a home edder in this fair land then you will be affected in some way, so get your comments in asap!!

The kittens are now at the mischievous, juvenile age and into EVERYTHING!  Usually, three times a day, they race around like loonies, chasing one another:o)  Last 'runaround' is about 8.30 - 9.30 pm.  For little things, their galloping feet make a lot of racket...on floorboards.  lol

My joints feel better today, although I'm a bit whacked with the lack of sleep.  Nurofen has helped muchly:o)   Think the old diet is to blame for some of this and my reluctance to slow down in certain departments!!!  I do feel a little 'battle weary' with a lot of things in my life at the mo but when your health is affected it sort of kicks your arse into gear!!!   So,  I'm going to start juicing again.   Small steps and all that:o))  Will start the day with an apple, carrot, celery and ginger juice - it tastes better than it sounds..honest!!  It's just the palarvar of the cleanup, especially when Junior doesn't particularly care for this juice combo, so I'll have to do a fruit one for her.  It's all well eating healthily..it's the affording it bit that's the problem when you're on a tight budget, so that's another project for Junior:o)).    Don't think I'm up to jogging yet.. with the old creaky joints being as they are, so..maybe Pilates might help?  I have a book...somewhere.  lol


Monday 13 October 2008

Oucho!!

Still mighty grumpy, due to this 'wandering' arthritis/ really sore bones/rheumatism that I have been suffering with lately... it's now in my hands...and it hurts!!  Can't bear to lift them up.  Times like this when I miss having a partner for the moral/emotional/physical support. 

I'm trying to keep it 'light' so have been sort of playing the comedian as I don't want to worry her unduly, seeing as I am the only parent.  Junior tittered when I was hopping about, trying to get dressed today which, by the time I could manage, was after lunch time.  Bath time was, err, interesting!!!  Lord knows how people who have to cope with this 24/7 manage?  I am really peed off with it!!  House is a tip as I can't manage to hold anything so housework is out (Junior does her bit and that's enough)  Central heating is on as it soothes the pain, just a little.  I've even raided Junior's Calpol stash now 'cos Ibuprofen doesn't help. lol  On the educational side... Junior learned how to put a wrist support bandage on:o))  With this 'wanderingitis' who knows what she'll be bandaging tomorrow?  lol

Joys of old age.   Grumpy old woman that I am!!

Sunday 12 October 2008

Cruelty to pans!!

Been busy lately.....doing this to my best pan!!!

I left it on the cooker ring for about half an hour (got way laid) and forgot all about it!! Heard a clinking ping and the lid was kaput!! At least it didn't set on fire.
Father and sons getting some zzzzzz in together:o))) Cats always find the warmest, sunniest spot....in our house that being my bedroom window sill.

Friday 10 October 2008

On line

I've been internet-less for a bit and have missed LOADS!!!!  Have hated it, to be honest.  Felt very cut off:o(

Anyhow shall, no doubt, make up for it:o))  I seem to have thousands of emails to get through!!  Eeeeek!

Seem to have developed some form of arthritis/stiffness in joints, which Mother puts down to a combination of age,  our concrete floor and lack of heating...lack of heating due to lack of funds and all that.   'Tis no fun.   Something else to worry about.   Then there is all this credit crunch stuff.  Wonder if my pension will be ok?

Son no 1 is visiting this weekend:o))  

Tuesday 23 September 2008

Food

I know they mean well.

The ptb have just cottoned on that kids ought to be able to whip up the odd meal from scratch and understand where food comes from and what is good/bad for you, blardeblar.  They're making food technology compulsory for school-going 11 - 14 year olds.  So, from 2011,  be prepared to see lots of kids at 3.30pm, carefully carrying a big tin (that probably housed sweets in its former life)  containing their culinary offerings.. which they should then share with their families when they get home :o))  Good food made from scratch and then consumed at the dining table with all family members present.  Happy, non-obese families:o)   The ptb have even brought out a cook book for the kids containing basic recipes so they can try them at home.  Can be downloaded from here

So, for those who didn't know, instead of using eggs, milk and sugar, you can make custard with custard powder, sugar and milk, instead of opening a 20p tin:o)  If you are living in poverty, which would you have to have?  For some kids cold custard is better than no custard..if they have no leccy or gas in the meter.

In my day we had to cook meals from scratch because ready-made/fast food was non existent if you were "financially stretched".  My parents would be out at work trying to earn enough for food, etc.  Shift work, too.    Yes...it was a LONG time ago and I remember being hungry and my parents, do doubt, went without.   I suspect there are loads of hungry kids out there today who have to cook anyway, 'cos single parent has been oiked out to work "for their own good/be a good role model" and so can't be there at meal times with child to supervise and teach; so easiest way for kid to get fed is a ready made, stick it in the microwave meal.  Saves putting on the cooker and burning the house down.  

Today is shopping/bill paying day. Home Economics, life and all that.    So, off we will toddle in search of supplies (with what money we have left, that is!!!) which should keep us going for a week:o))  But, if Santa is to make an appearance this Christmas then we have to save a third so we now have £20 a week to get everything.  Bye bye nice soft loo roll.  lol    Wonder how many healthy and interesting recipes we can rustle up from our budget and using minimal fuel, seeing as fuel bills use up well over 20% of our income.   It would be way more if we ever had the heating on!!!

Sunday 21 September 2008

Spider Season

We seem to be the luxury residence for spiders!! Spider Central. Have evicted loads....and of the bloody MEGA size!!

We were going to the allotment...for a spot of mowing. "Round up the kitties" I tells Junior. "OK" says she. All are in....bar one Perdy...who is notoriously SHY:o) She is the smallest of the bunch, too:o)) Anyway, tells Junior to look in my room, as that seems to be the preferred feline 'hanging out' place of late, due to BIG window sill which means lots of sunbathing space:o)

She dutifully goes up and gives her usual shriek when spotting Incy Wincy Spider. "It's bigger than the one in the bath" she tells me in high pitched and worried voice. And by God, it was.. Spider version of He-Man!!! So, another eviction takes place.....WAY away from home this time:o)) I didn't have time to take a piccy, given that this little beast was hyper and was on track to do the 3 minute mile if I didn't catch it first!!!

So, where was Perdy?    Junior, with vivid imagination and near to tears asks. "Mummy, what if she got outside and the bats get her?" (Yes, we have bats on our road and the houses are relatively young).

Soooo, we search high and low. And, half an hour later,  there she was. In my crocheting WIP (work in progress) bag, which is hung on the bottom bannister with a whole lot of other things that shouldn't be there! No wonder we couldn't find her...she chose the perfect place for a bit of p & q:o)))
Aw!! We woke Perdy up in her hidey place:o)))

Hunny Pot...what big ears you have!! And don't you seem.....bat-like...with those ears...and mouth....and look?!

What do you mean, big ears?!!!!!!!!


Brad, if I could send you one (two are better...for company) then I would. With love. xx 'cos you are a kind bloke and they'd be safe with you. Where is Star Trek Travel when you need it, huh?

This says a lot.   I'm not saying I agree with war.   Why don't our soldiers get the same respect?

Thursday 18 September 2008

First Bit For Tony!! Tee Hee!!

Junior was about to sit on the "throne" when she requests my presence...with an urgent-sounding voice!!!!

Just look at what I had to evict tonight. It was rather large!! Only 'thing' I had to put it in was an empty cotton bud box. Unfortunately, it still had some sticky residue inside from the labels and Spider nearly lost a few of its legs, but I managed to set it free 'intact'. It is now roaming our road, looking for next residence!!!


Meg being dive-bombed for a quick drink!!! She always feeds them on the stairs nowadays. Funny cat!


We went to a home ed meet today and were away for ages. Kitties and Cilla were pleased to see us and very.....HYPER!!! Cilla is just so good. The kitties are lovely and SO funny but....I need to now instill a little...discipline!! No more climbing up curtains. No more jumping up on table. No more pooing in my plant pot!! No more nicking my tea when my back's turned when they have dishes full of kitten nosh and pricey Whiskas kitten milk . No more switching off the answerphone and getting us into trouble for not returning calls. Yep...discipline ...says she... who notices that Junior has been dive-bombed by five of 'em..purring away and cuddled up for the evening, or so they hope:o)))

Wednesday 17 September 2008

I have a little Poet:o))

Autonomous works!

Been doing a bit more English with Junior.   She likes reading but isn't much into story writing, or so I thought.  I buy her pretty journals/notebooks/pens to encourage her to write and she generally ferrets away, mostly art, doodles, lists, etc.  This morning she tells me that she wants to gen up on her spelling so I ask her to dig out a little notebook/journal so she can log in the words and keep a record.  She brings one to me which is sort of half used but there are enough pages for our spelling use.  Anyway, I flicked through it and it turns out Junior, in her quieter moments,  has been busy with poetry and song writing:o)   Angels, hearts and beats are in there!!!! and even a tiny one for Gingernut!!...the dog with separation anxiety.  She wrote it while we were looking after Ging a while back.  (Gingernut, by the way, is still loyally devoted to my nephew and they are inseparable.  Even takes her to work with him.   Bless!)

For Gingernut xx

You don't have to bark
You don't have to bite
All you have to do
Is just be nice

I ask her, when did she do all this stuff, as it's very good?  "Oh, in my bedroom when I had nothing to do".  I'm glad it's happy stuff and not anything too dark.

Wonder if she has a little maths book squirelled away somewhere?  lol

Monday 15 September 2008

Eardrums Kaput!

I have not been well of late.  Not surprising really, given my age!!  lol!   That time of the month.....lately it's more that time of the fortnight, if you get what I mean?    So, don't have the energy at the mo to get out and about as much as I'd like.   Hopefully,  shall feel up to it, soon.  

The constant wittering and complaining of one certain mother is still doing my head in, which does nothing to help.   She seems very confused by anger at times.  Angry at becoming old and so she's taking it out on moi!   Which means I am in 'switch off'/ignore' mode.  We kids are such failures, did you know,  'cos we are not all married, have big fat salaries, nice house, etc.  In other words, have the life she once wanted.   We're sort of happy as we are, but she doesn't get it.   Everything was ok, once upon a time, when we were car-mobile, but nowadays it's too difficult, time-consuming and expensive to gad around on trips together a la bus.  Think this is what she's missing...being ferried around and seeing places..it's the being kept occupied.   I can understand how she feels, it's just the put downs that get my goat at the mo, especially when I feel like crap anyway!!   Would be nice to have a little runaround, though....with James Bond type ejector seat:o)  I jest!!!

When I explained to mother that I was feeling crap and why...she reminded me that I could still, theoretically, have more kids.  So, she tells me to get myself off to the doctor's and get 'fixed'.  Charming!!!!!

Well,  have decided that, amongst other things,  no more putting it off....I'm going to tackling this sodding washing machine, once and for all, as I'm fed up of mopping up all the leaks and I've been doing that for the best part of 18 months!!!   How hard can it be to replace a rubber door seal?  Hmmm....we shall see:o))  Will take me three weeks to save up for the part, so we have time to 'read and digest' fitting instructions.  A good little project for Junior to assist on.  I'll tell  mother we're doing it for the nappies!!  lol

And, continuing with my black mood.....have been thinking of giving up the allotment.  All this rain must have addled my brain!!   Allotment politics!   I just hate and despise politics.   Shall have to weigh up the pros and cons of keeping it.  Apart from the obvious, it's such a great place for Junior to learn about things not just food.....and then there's that lovely view. ..and that pentagram-shaped herb garden we had planned.  Hmmm

Ah well,  cheer up time.  When all else fails, eat pudding!!  Lots of it:o)) 


Saturday 13 September 2008

Poison

This got me a bit mad.

All the crap I get off the old boys on the allotment to use this, as it is 'safe'.  Bollox!!

Sorry....again.....bloody language, Timothy!!

Pecking Order Re-established

Since Molly the cat munching dog left to live in a new feline-free home... the animal dynamics in our house have changed.

Cats Rule!!

The position of Queen Sorterouter/Bitch/I am Boss and have first say on sitting on Mum's knee..has, seemingly, shifted to little Megan!!  Sweet, little, unassuming, Meg....who is now 'Don't ****** mess with my kids' Meg!!  You would not believe it to look at her..........tiny, little cat that she is...but full of spirit.  Little lioness:o)    Can't blame the mog, given what a monster Molly was towards anything feline or smaller than she.  The kittens are so lovely and happy, but the mums guard them 24/7.   Popeye Dad, the 'big kid' plays with them.    Someone was due to come and collect 'long-legged and big footed' Henry the other day.  Never turned up...so that means he stays.  Fate and all that.  Junior, of course, is happy at this prospect...not wanting our little 'family' to decrease.  
Megan



Little She Cat!!

Sweet, gentle Cilla


So, poor Cilla dog....who truly wouldn't hurt a fly.....got snotted the other day for sniffing 'in peace by accident' at a family get together (Meg feeding some of the kitties...even though they are WAY too old).  Spit and spank...poor Cill!!...who now follows me EVERYWHERE for safety.

Anyway, boundaries have been drawn.  Cilla sleeps under my bed at night:o)  Cats downstairs.  They are the better guards if anyone DARES to break in.  God help their ankles!!!!

Megan, meanwhile, continues to catch, bring into our house and KILL......leaves!!  So funny.   Anyway, if she can train them right..the kittens I mean......just imagine..IF someone attempted to break in.  Nine sets of teeth sunk in to a leg.... and even more REALLY SHARP claws!!!   Ooooooooo.  Ow!