Sunday 31 July 2011

Best Read So Far

I am reading this at the mo. It's BLOODY GOOD!!! Such an enjoyable, intelligent, informative read.

Picked the book up for 20p at the local jumble!! This woman is one smart cookie. If there was a 'dream' Come Dine with Me, then this lady would be top of my list. I would fail miserably as I am nearly vegan and she definitely is not. lol She is just SO interesting and totally unfazed by the people she knows/has come in contact with and seems such a thoroughly nice lady. Her dad even knew Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ffs!!!

Two Fat Ladies was such a hoot. Such a shame it ended. Jennifer was a lovely lady, too.



My brother sent me another great read not long ago. Tom Cox 'Under the Paw'. Unless you're a cat lover, you wouldn't understand.

Liz Jones did a great piece in the Daily Mail on 30/07/11 "Won't somebody love us?". It amplifies the fact that we are NOT a nation of animal lovers. Quite the opposite. And...still... some cat loving people go out of their way to help these creatures, abandoned and ignored by us.... 'supposedly' civilised beings.

There is a tale of Jack...a stray..who was picked up by a member of the public. He had an infected eye which was being eaten by maggots. She took him to a vet who recommended putting him to sleep. The woman contacted the Celia Hammond Animal Trust. They picked the cat up straightaway. As he was brought into the clinic, the remains of his eye fell to the ground! How much pain would have that poor animal been suffering? Anyway, the CHAT vets sorted him out. Removed EVERY maggot with tweezers and flushed the wound out. Now Jack is pain free and healthy. He just needs a loving home. Isn't there anyone out there who could love and give him a loving home? A one-eyed tuxedo? (black cat with a white chest).

Apparently, black and black and white cats are the least unfashionable nowadays...so must unlikely to find a home and the most likely to be put to sleep....just for being unwanted. Makes my heart break. Keep telling my lot how lucky they are! lol

My landlady runs sanctuary. She has 60 cats and kittens at the mo. She was reported by a malicious neighbour the other week. So, the RSPCA came out and informed her that her animals were not well looked after.....they were PAMPERED!! And they are....SO well looked after. We're hoping to set up a charity to help all these animals. I hope people will help.

Some of the stories you hear....well....makes you wonder what the human race has come to. Kids kicking kittens about....people abandoning animals in houses. People of ALL classes are guilty. It's shameful.

So, we go along. Cuddle and play with the kittens... to help socialise them so they are easier to rehome. Some of the older mogs are sooooooooooooooooo sweet. Dear God....Wish I could take and look after them all. xx

Thursday 28 July 2011

Peeping Thomesina - language, Timothy

I am feeling really agitated at present.

What do you do about nosy neighbours? Like, the stereotypical type.... REALLY nosy, thus intimidating, gossipy?

I don't like confrontation 'cos I always end up blowing my top and end up using a few choice colourful words! . I just want a quiet life and our privacy respected. Alas, I fear a mega ding dong is coming up.

My main gripe is that NN listens in on our conversations at any given opportunity and has even tried to 'tell' us who we should talk/not talk to on the street and who is a slapper! If she doesn't get on with/like them, so then we shouldn't..type of thing.

We get spied on when we go into the garden. Nosy neighbour has blatently stood at their back bedroom window and ogled. I know NN is spying because when we look up then NN jumps back away from the window....then moves forward when she thinks we aren't looking! What a plonker. We've seen it loads of times and so have other people. It's dead obvious. NN knows I find it rude as I've made it plain with a bit of sign language. lol But..still she carries on. Do people like this have some mental illness or what? Even when I go to 'nice' neighbour's and we go in their garden, we still get spied on via either the window method or the 'pretend to be doing something in the garden within earshot' method. Like I said, they know I find it rude and that we're on to them.

So now they've put in the tinted/two way type glass!! You know, the we can look out but you can't look in type. Carry on Spying! And when/if we have people round and we go into our garden to a spot 'unviewable' from the back window, then NN comes out and hovers at the other side of our hedge, plainly earwigging! It's just the height of rudeness. Arghhh. I keep our hedging high but they trim it so much at their side, they've virtually killed it off! Junior is all for telling NN where to go and the like. Others reckon I should just tell her to fuck off.

I was warned about this person before we moved in. Not to tell them anything I didn't want others to know. Even people who don't live on our street know about this person's antics and have offered 'sympathy' for what we have to endure...nosiness, privacy invaded, bossiness/bullying.

So, we hardly go in the garden and 'garden' or even just sit out and enjoy the weather nowadays because it's so bloody annoying, knowing that you are being watched and listened to and then gossipped about. It's making nice neighbour miserable, too. Nice neighbour is elderly and really.... nice.

Am at the end of my tether.... Can't believe there are so many nutters in the world that seem to live on our street lol ....going to take legal advice.

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Who owns who?

So, Junior has been 'shopping' with her Gran.

Those two are such a pair of fashionista girlies. Should see what they came back with. lol Anyway, they are both knackered.

I was hoping to get lots done with this free time. But did I? Nah. Got way laid, as per usual.

Nice neighbour came round for a 'let off steam' talk. Put dog in other room, out of the way as she jumps up and claws. Anyway, when neighbour had gone, I let Pooch out
to find that she had repaid me by peeing on the carpet! Arghhhh! I regaled this tale to nice neighbour and she thought it was really, really funny! I thought I would repay normally lazy pooch with a REALLY LONG WALK..

She is now clapped out by my side. Pooped. Bless.

In the morning I expect the little sod to repay me with another 'accident....so she's in the kitchen tonight...just in case. lol

Normally, she likes to kip under the bed. I don't let her sleep on the bed. Lesson learned.

Her dead weight stops my blood circulation. Bad for health, obviously.

I have just, very quietly, opened a packet of crisps. Pooch has miraculously awakened from her exercise-induced slumber and is giving me the 'look'....the 'ooooey, gooey, I am so lovely, give us a bit' look.

Sigh.....

Sunday 24 July 2011

Fetish

We've been to a mega jumble sale and come back with loads, as per usual.

I fear that I have a bit of a fetish and buy far too many pillowcases!.....like, this time I came home with over a dozen! Fifteen, in fact. lol Don't know what goes off, but as soon as I get there this homing device in me sends me straight to the home furnishings and bedding stall with me saying 'give me your pillowcases!' Well, my new supplies have all been washed and are drying outside in the sunshine. Nothing like a nice, clean pillowcase to rest your weary head on. Still, Shall have to think of what to do or make with them. Maybe a pillowcase quilt? I have about 50 in my pillowcase stash now:o)

We got loads of stuff from the jumble. Nick nakcs..all 10p each. Money goes to a good cause...so everyone's happy.

Camera batteries have just picked the right moment to conk out, so I will put piccies up when they're recharged.

Tomorrow, I carry on with bedroom renovations. It's all been done on a budget and most things have been recycled. Walls have been painted. White...Wilkos..£5.97 for 5 litres. lol Below dado rail a really pale pink. It isn't a colour of choice but was paint left over from Junior's previous room makeover. Only one wall's worth of paint was used from the two pots purchased, by which time she had decided that very pale pink wasn't for her. She now wants black and white! Eeek. Anyway,you have to make do with what you've got, especially when you've got two pots of the stuff, so I dutifully slapped the unwanted paint on my walls and I think it looks very nice! Bought in a sale for £4.19 for 2.5 litres and is the expensive chalky emulsion stuff that's in right now. V nice.

Well, I have to declutter and vacate my bedroom of all the stuff in there...so I get on with the next bit, which is paint the floorboards..you guessed it...white. Can't wait. No more manky carpet to hoover. Yay. Why do people pick beige carpets? Yak! So, after that I will be on with rugmaking. One for each side of the bed. Lots of unwanted clothes are to be cut into strips for the project...but do I go for the rag rug type or the plaited rug variety? Decisions, decisions. Well, actually, I'd like to make a 'Ragged Roses' type but haven't a clue how, so I may well end up with the plaited type..unless I could get 'pointed in the right direction'. lol

Saturday 23 July 2011

I don't fit the job description

So ok. I'm a granny, but I don't feel like one. Well, not like a 'useful' one. I feel woefully inadequate. Wonder if others feel this way? I've looked, but there is no Granny Manual.

When I think of a granny, I think of a wise person...one of those who, with minimal effort, can make things seem ok without effort, rustle up hearty meals out of nothing, make you better at the drop of a hat, make you feel safe when you look up to her happy, smiley face:o). Eeeek

Not me. I'm useless. I don't fit that job description. Arghhhh! There'll be no running round green fields with me 'cos I can't even bend down and put my own socks or shoes on without feeling like my head is going to explode with all the exertion! 'Cos, crikey, I still like T. Rex and George Clooney! I'm too young to have grandkids, I hear my head say!

Pah! Grans are supposed to smile and be happy. So, best get my finger out 'cos grandchild no 1 is a smart little cookie and getting to the age where she'll start sussing that I can be a grumpy old sod at times.

The plan? Grandchild no 1 is 3 now. She is old enough and ready for it, me thinks......So, this Christmas Santa might just bring her a whopping great big drum kit:o)....and lots of playdough! She'll love it! Yay!

Friday 22 July 2011

I'm thinking I'm lucky

Can't believe I'm a granny, again. Newest grandchild. She is beautiful:o)


Grandchild of Min no 1. She loves her new cousin:o) This is what I was thinking today. That I'm very lucky. Kids and grandkids...An idea from http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/ is a great blog. I think it's for most people. A very calming, relaxing and very informative blog. The blog author is lovely. She's a granny, too:o) If I've mucked up the link, then it's in my sidebar. Sorry, also, if you get this a million times. I tend to recorrect, a bit! spacing on my blog has gone to pot, too.


Olive mog has taken to stretching out on the keyboard...when I'm on the computer! Maybe it warms her up or maybe she's gotten a bit clingy now that she's a whole 4 years old! Anyway, behaviour has passed on to 'old lady' Muppet....aged 14! They're like bookends! LooLoo, O clever one, is sat on top of the 4 foot square ancient monitor, warming her nether regions! Bet her bladder is ok! lol



Muppet is semi-feral and it has taken me 14 years to get her to trust and come to me when I call her! Some 'person' used her as target practise a few years ago when I used to let the mogs out. They shot her in the side, so that's another reason why the mogs are house cats. She's virtually lived upstairs since then, but has decided that life's too short and has recently ventured downstairs..... and everywhere in the house/run. Plays like a kitten, too....racing up and down stairs with the others. 'Tis sweet to see. You can almost hear her shouting "Whoopeeee!!" lol

Muppet on the go


Muppet chilling out.


Jimmy is as bad. He is my mother's cat but pets aren't allowed in the place she lives in, which seems stupid to me as most of the people there seem to be very lonely. Anyway, she feels guilty and is convinced that he must be miserable because he doesn't live with her anymore. Hahahahaha! Don't think so. He's another OAP who whizzes about like a loony, goes nuts for catnip and likes to chill out by laying on his back, legs akimbo, playing with his pink mouse! 'Tis a sight to see.


Jimmy chilling out with his mouse:o)


In our village there's a little diy/home supplies/haberdashery shop. It's run by an older couple and they sell all sorts of random stuff, like sweets, ice creams, light bulbs, mops and brushes....anything repairy/diy that you can think of. Anyway, today is their last day of trading as they are retiring. I went in to get some bits...more for momentos really...and there was someone younger and unknown to me behind the counter ...the bloke was too upset to serve! Awwww!!!!

Anyway, I wish them a long and Happy Retirement.

To follow - gratuitous piccies of the mogs and a certain someone's feet!
Look at the state of those feet..and that furry footwarmer! lol

Two of Megans kittens. Honey Pot is on the right, looking very 'bat' like.
Kitten Ringo

Kitten Henry


Henry and Ringo aka The Chuckle Brothers


Brothers Bart and Henry - exact left ear markings


Some of the mogs lounging...on MY bed!
Olive about to pounce .......


Olive bags her den

Kitten Bart

Bart pouting
Ahhhh. Sweet Olive...bags and takes command of the laundry basket. lol

The end.

Tuesday 19 July 2011

Explain this

Blooming hell!!

This incompetent bladder of mine is doing my head in!! Arghhhhhh!!!

Have fed the tomato plants and could swear that they are moving! Triffids in the house! Eeeek

Something else on the EEEEK wavelength...

Have been decorating my bedroom so have been kipping on the sofa to avoid paint fumes. We have glass, leaded cupboards on the left hand side of the fireplace, in the lounge... and they house some of my nick nacks.

Well, most mornings at 5am...one of the doors opens....on its own. Talk about Eeeeeek. It's all silent, too...so God knows why it wakes me up.

Dog snores through it, though:o)

Could be my knackered bladder sending out 'go to the loo' signals! lol

Monday 18 July 2011

My world is over populated....with tomato plants!

Granny Greenteeth is back!

Yay!...for Son no 1's cast off pc:-) The matching flat screen monitor is pooped so we are using an old, antique type one that big bro brought down and which is about 4 feet square! lol

New grand child has arrived and she is sooooooooo beautiful. Junior is loving being an auntie....again:o) Mother (great granny) is totally besotted and has 'the knack' when it comes to soothing the little one.

We feel very blessed :o)

On the home front.......the mogs are still causing hilarity with their antics. Honey Pot has been sat in front of the pc monitor, totally mesmerised by the cursor! 'Tis so funny. The dog has become somewhat 'portly' in her old age due to lots of scoffing cat food on the sly! Junior is so tall now..model material.... and I seem to be going the other way and doing a roaring trade for Tena Lady! lol J has managed to discover my secret stash of wedge shoes and sandals which, annoyingly, fit and suit her well.

We are on with the 'grow your own 'cos food is getting soooo expensive' journey and have managed to end up with lots of tomato plants....courtesy of Junior aka Chief Seed Setter. The garden room is sort of over populated with said plants....'cos I didn't have the heart to chuck the excess out. (I am such a wuss)...did offer them to everyone we know...but, they all seem to be tomato haters! lol

So....wonder how many we'll end up with, weight-wise? Have visions of ending up with a freezer full of just tomato sauce. Eeek!