Well, this evening, I should be relaxing safe in the knowledge that I am finished with work for an extended bank holiday weekend........should be that is because in fact I will be going to work not only tomorrow but Tuesday, days which I originally booked off back in January.
Work is chaotic, I have a big important hearing in a couple of weeks, and it's the final push towards the financial year end..... when I looked at my list of things to do yesterday I realised that I was not going to be able to take the long weekend I wanted, so I cancelled Tuesday's day off.... then today I realised that there is so much to do I can't take tomorrow off either as I need to be in the office *sigh*.... I've not actually had a proper holiday since before my team leader went off on her honeymoon last November and I really, really need a break..... and looking at the calendar between cases running to Court hearings and other people in the team having booked time off I am looking at July before I can get a proper break.... seriously not happy.
I was wavering between throwing a tantrum over this or sulking, but after ranting to a friend for a while was reminded that (a) I am not 8 years old and so a tantrum isn't acceptable, and (b) sulking is not a good thing for a nearly 40 year old professional....... I am beginning to glare malevolently at that professional qualification I got... I knew no good would come of it....
Cancelling tomorrow's day off has also meant letting down a friend, whose litter of puppies and naked cat I was meant to go and see tomorrow has had to be put off. As she needs me to view the litter and help her pick the one she's keeping before the prospective puppy buyers arrive rather than a leisurely drive down I will have to leave at silly o'clock on Friday to get there in time..... though I shall get puppy snuggles, and they are very special puppies as they are my "grand puppies" (I bred their grandmother)....... the kitten is related to Hugo and Gina.... it's a hooligan..... no surprises there then.....
This evening I've had to go sort out my prescriptions for new bondage stockings.... the wonderful MacMillan nurse sent through all the details - including measurements and order forms - to my doctors, who wrote the prescription and completely forgot to attach these bits to it..... the chemist picked up the script over a week ago... and only phoned me yesterday to ask me how they go about ordering what I need as the correct paperwork wasn't provided....... thankfully I got sent a copy so I ran this to the pharmacy this evening.... It will be another week to ten days before I get them
I wondered round the pharmacy looking longingly at the shower gel but was good and bought some hypo-allergenic for very sensitive skin containing no flavourings, scents, colours, chemicals stuff....... it's very boring!
And to round off my evening... Hope appears to be having an allergic reaction to something and is chewing her back foot to bits and I've just tripped over the cat and smacked my knee into the wooden knobbly bit at the corner of the spare bed.... and the cat stuck her claws in my foot....... I think it must be bed time.... hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Showing posts with label critters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label critters. Show all posts
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Friday, 22 March 2013
The mating what?
At present I have all three bitches here in full season.......... and Ivan spending most of his time rolling his eyes or pretending to be very firmly asleep
Apart for some reason just after breakfast at about 5.30 am where for the last couple of mornings I've had to spend at least 20 minutes on my knees holding him and Hope up and the silly sod got carried away and they ended up tied..... thankfully he's too scared of Gretchen and Kammi to try it ... well that and they aren't having any of it! That said, the three girls flirt like mad and hump each other .... I daren't have visitors till it's all over!
Now all of this canine hormonal overload has kind of coincided with me discovering there was a list of "Gay shifter books featuring the mating knot".... which of course I had to go read a couple of (yes even knowing how wolf shifter books wind me up)... and this has made me laugh quite a lot.... because seriously... so not sexy at all......
Well not if you've ever had to stand for 40 minutes in a muddy field in the pouring rain when the two labradors you were trying to mate finally tied........... or when you have to kneel for around an hour on a concrete patio with your hand bleeding from a bite - because the small dogs you were trying get to mate finally decided they'd tie... but the bitch wants to eat the dog at the same time...... or you have to hold up the adolescent Alaskan Malamute dog who got so overexcited at his first mating that he passed out when he tied and you have to stop him crushing the bitch......
Then there is the other side of it.... the dog that was too eager to mate and ended up injuring himself and bleeding all over the floor...... or the idiot dog that was humping his blanket and managed to retract part of it into the sheath and you've got to tease it back out...... or my favourite... where the over amorous male develops "fifth leg syndrome" and you ended up dipping him in a glass of cold water till his glans go down enough for him to retract before he dries out....
These things will happen with wolves too - okay not so much the blanket, and I am not following a randy wolf around with a glass of cold water....... but in the books the tie ... sorry "mating knot" seems to be this uber wonderfully sexy thing.... oh and it hits the prostate every time... which makes for me envisioning interesting positioning as the glans are on either side not all the way round...... of course there is the ultimate killer...... it's the bitch that actually completes the tie, not the dog, so erm, two males... yep, not sure how that works...
Apart for some reason just after breakfast at about 5.30 am where for the last couple of mornings I've had to spend at least 20 minutes on my knees holding him and Hope up and the silly sod got carried away and they ended up tied..... thankfully he's too scared of Gretchen and Kammi to try it ... well that and they aren't having any of it! That said, the three girls flirt like mad and hump each other .... I daren't have visitors till it's all over!
Now all of this canine hormonal overload has kind of coincided with me discovering there was a list of "Gay shifter books featuring the mating knot".... which of course I had to go read a couple of (yes even knowing how wolf shifter books wind me up)... and this has made me laugh quite a lot.... because seriously... so not sexy at all......
Well not if you've ever had to stand for 40 minutes in a muddy field in the pouring rain when the two labradors you were trying to mate finally tied........... or when you have to kneel for around an hour on a concrete patio with your hand bleeding from a bite - because the small dogs you were trying get to mate finally decided they'd tie... but the bitch wants to eat the dog at the same time...... or you have to hold up the adolescent Alaskan Malamute dog who got so overexcited at his first mating that he passed out when he tied and you have to stop him crushing the bitch......
Then there is the other side of it.... the dog that was too eager to mate and ended up injuring himself and bleeding all over the floor...... or the idiot dog that was humping his blanket and managed to retract part of it into the sheath and you've got to tease it back out...... or my favourite... where the over amorous male develops "fifth leg syndrome" and you ended up dipping him in a glass of cold water till his glans go down enough for him to retract before he dries out....
These things will happen with wolves too - okay not so much the blanket, and I am not following a randy wolf around with a glass of cold water....... but in the books the tie ... sorry "mating knot" seems to be this uber wonderfully sexy thing.... oh and it hits the prostate every time... which makes for me envisioning interesting positioning as the glans are on either side not all the way round...... of course there is the ultimate killer...... it's the bitch that actually completes the tie, not the dog, so erm, two males... yep, not sure how that works...
Saturday, 9 March 2013
One of "those" days
Well just about nothing today has gone to plan, and it's turned out to be a rather expensive day!
This morning I traipsed into town to pick up my parcel from the sorting office.... where unfortunately there is no car parking, so everyone parks on the yellow line, nips in and out and this is all fine. However, the bloke behind the counter could not find my parcel! He searched high and low but no, it was not there. Which made me a little angry as the card they put through the door quite clearly said it would be. I got handed the number of the complaints department and told to come back in a couple of days!
When I got to my car, the traffic warden had just finished writing me up for a parking ticket. Bless him he'd waited for 5 minutes to see if I came out to the car before he started writing, but because of the ejits in the sorting office it was too late.... so no parcel and unexpected £70 fine.
I went to mum's house to beg coffee and to have someone to rant at and as I went to go in her neighbour stuck her head out the door to tell me the hairdresser was coming in 20 minutes to do her and her daughter's hair and did I want mine done......... erm yes! It's been needing doing for a couple of months .... queue more unexpected expense as my hair was chopped from somewhere around my shoulders back up into a chin length bob where it was meant to be. It had better warm up soon, my neck is cold!
The supermarket trip was boring, predictable and at least an expected expense.
Shopping away I was sitting at the kitchen table peeling apples for crumble when Ivan suddenly squeaked, scrambled across the floor on his stomach, went rigid and started shaking. I fended off the three girls and held him down till he seemed to come out of it, but he couldn't balance and was knuckling over on his front paw. Eventually got him calmed down and happy, to the extent he was bouncing up at me on his hind legs, so I thought, no problem, he probably just slipped on the wet floor and freaked a bit. Ten minutes later he was getting up out of his bed and the same thing happened. Phoned the vet, who thankfully was open still, and got told to come straight down. Quick exam later and I was told he was fine, nothing obviously wrong with him, that will be £45.00...... the vet's final diagnosis as I was leaving was, he's a lovely dog, but a bit of a drama queen.... tell me something I don't know!
I'm safely back home this evening and I think I shall stay here and knit, and possibly read, and do things that are definitely not going to cost me any more money today!!
This morning I traipsed into town to pick up my parcel from the sorting office.... where unfortunately there is no car parking, so everyone parks on the yellow line, nips in and out and this is all fine. However, the bloke behind the counter could not find my parcel! He searched high and low but no, it was not there. Which made me a little angry as the card they put through the door quite clearly said it would be. I got handed the number of the complaints department and told to come back in a couple of days!
When I got to my car, the traffic warden had just finished writing me up for a parking ticket. Bless him he'd waited for 5 minutes to see if I came out to the car before he started writing, but because of the ejits in the sorting office it was too late.... so no parcel and unexpected £70 fine.
I went to mum's house to beg coffee and to have someone to rant at and as I went to go in her neighbour stuck her head out the door to tell me the hairdresser was coming in 20 minutes to do her and her daughter's hair and did I want mine done......... erm yes! It's been needing doing for a couple of months .... queue more unexpected expense as my hair was chopped from somewhere around my shoulders back up into a chin length bob where it was meant to be. It had better warm up soon, my neck is cold!
The supermarket trip was boring, predictable and at least an expected expense.
Shopping away I was sitting at the kitchen table peeling apples for crumble when Ivan suddenly squeaked, scrambled across the floor on his stomach, went rigid and started shaking. I fended off the three girls and held him down till he seemed to come out of it, but he couldn't balance and was knuckling over on his front paw. Eventually got him calmed down and happy, to the extent he was bouncing up at me on his hind legs, so I thought, no problem, he probably just slipped on the wet floor and freaked a bit. Ten minutes later he was getting up out of his bed and the same thing happened. Phoned the vet, who thankfully was open still, and got told to come straight down. Quick exam later and I was told he was fine, nothing obviously wrong with him, that will be £45.00...... the vet's final diagnosis as I was leaving was, he's a lovely dog, but a bit of a drama queen.... tell me something I don't know!
I'm safely back home this evening and I think I shall stay here and knit, and possibly read, and do things that are definitely not going to cost me any more money today!!
Friday, 8 March 2013
And relax......
For it is the weekend..... this is probably going to ramble as I am rather tired (you've been warned, read at your own risk)
We will start with the stocking of doom....... I have managed to wear it all day at work for the last three days.... it feels kind of odd, not really painful, but like someone is hugging your leg, so just, well weird. On the plus side it seems to be working.... on the down side... I really must shave every last hair off my leg as even the shortest bits keep catching in the elastic and, well, ouch!! Trouble is I've been told because of how sensitive the skin is on that leg no blades, no waxing, no sugaring, no chemicals........ so apparently I have to go buy an electric shaver....... and any guesses how long it will take me to kill that?
The other downside to the leg is when I first take the stocking back off again the skin that has been under it is shockingly sensitive to touch.... I mean, the cat winds round my ankle and it's all I can do not to scream and kick out. I've queried this with my MacMillan nurse and hopefully she'll have some suggestions before the cats take pre-emptive action and get in first! I've also ordered a back up stocking for the bad leg and am waiting to be measured up for the good leg to have it's own stocking.... cos it looks odd only wearing one!
In other news, work is a bitch........ this time of year always is as we are in the last couple of months before financial year end......the new computer system went live this week and they expect us to all be up to speed right away and then add to that we have a whole new raft of changes to the legal system that affect the work I do in particular come into force on 1st April and, well, it's just madness.... and two hours of very boring and dry seminar on the subject on a Friday afternoon was not a good plan... my brain felt like I'd been swimming in treacle by the time I got out of work.
On the plus side.... highlight of the week.... talking about the changes and a colleague said that being young it should be no problem for me.... I kind of looked at him and asked how old he thought I was, to which he said, a couple of years older than him, and he turns 30 in August...... he looked genuinely shocked when I told him I turned 40 next month :)
Tomorrow I shall have an early start as the postal fairies tried to deliver a parcel today whilst I was out but as it wouldn't fit through the door I will have to go and fetch it from the sorting office. I think I know what it is, which is very exciting... and if it is what I think it is, there will be photos tomorrow! After that in intend to strenuously ignore the housework and finish knitting something, and possibly read...... I really do need to switch off and have some me time.
Finally for now, I've been watching Crufts on the TV the last couple of nights with very mixed feelings. For over 10 years it was a focal point of part of my life.....the big show that you have to qualify to enter, and which I did exhibit at every year during that time...... even this year I got tweets and e-mails asking if I was going, just to watch, I haven't shown any of the dogs for about 4 years now.... but no, whilst I miss a few people, those I do miss I speak to out of that environment and don't need to see ... and yes whilst I'd like to go back one day I am not sure how the wide spread the poison the ex spread about me is these days, though I am sure that it is there.... and of course I don't really want to run into her..... unless it's with a car, at speed.......so for at least the next few years it is strictly watching from the sofa with the mob.
We will start with the stocking of doom....... I have managed to wear it all day at work for the last three days.... it feels kind of odd, not really painful, but like someone is hugging your leg, so just, well weird. On the plus side it seems to be working.... on the down side... I really must shave every last hair off my leg as even the shortest bits keep catching in the elastic and, well, ouch!! Trouble is I've been told because of how sensitive the skin is on that leg no blades, no waxing, no sugaring, no chemicals........ so apparently I have to go buy an electric shaver....... and any guesses how long it will take me to kill that?
The other downside to the leg is when I first take the stocking back off again the skin that has been under it is shockingly sensitive to touch.... I mean, the cat winds round my ankle and it's all I can do not to scream and kick out. I've queried this with my MacMillan nurse and hopefully she'll have some suggestions before the cats take pre-emptive action and get in first! I've also ordered a back up stocking for the bad leg and am waiting to be measured up for the good leg to have it's own stocking.... cos it looks odd only wearing one!
In other news, work is a bitch........ this time of year always is as we are in the last couple of months before financial year end......the new computer system went live this week and they expect us to all be up to speed right away and then add to that we have a whole new raft of changes to the legal system that affect the work I do in particular come into force on 1st April and, well, it's just madness.... and two hours of very boring and dry seminar on the subject on a Friday afternoon was not a good plan... my brain felt like I'd been swimming in treacle by the time I got out of work.
On the plus side.... highlight of the week.... talking about the changes and a colleague said that being young it should be no problem for me.... I kind of looked at him and asked how old he thought I was, to which he said, a couple of years older than him, and he turns 30 in August...... he looked genuinely shocked when I told him I turned 40 next month :)
Tomorrow I shall have an early start as the postal fairies tried to deliver a parcel today whilst I was out but as it wouldn't fit through the door I will have to go and fetch it from the sorting office. I think I know what it is, which is very exciting... and if it is what I think it is, there will be photos tomorrow! After that in intend to strenuously ignore the housework and finish knitting something, and possibly read...... I really do need to switch off and have some me time.
Finally for now, I've been watching Crufts on the TV the last couple of nights with very mixed feelings. For over 10 years it was a focal point of part of my life.....the big show that you have to qualify to enter, and which I did exhibit at every year during that time...... even this year I got tweets and e-mails asking if I was going, just to watch, I haven't shown any of the dogs for about 4 years now.... but no, whilst I miss a few people, those I do miss I speak to out of that environment and don't need to see ... and yes whilst I'd like to go back one day I am not sure how the wide spread the poison the ex spread about me is these days, though I am sure that it is there.... and of course I don't really want to run into her..... unless it's with a car, at speed.......so for at least the next few years it is strictly watching from the sofa with the mob.
Sunday, 3 March 2013
Spring things.....
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| Some of my favourite early spring flowers in mum's garden today |
So, since Thursday when I last posted.... I spent nearly 2 days alternating between bed, bathroom and sofa ... sleeping for most of the time after the first 12 hours had passed thankfully.... the bug completely knocked me out and I didn't really feel fully functional till this morning. Sadly one of the things about having an immune system that doesn't work properly means that when you aren't picking up all germs known to man the damn thing goes into overdrive at the most inappropriate moments to do particularly unhelpful things.... like send your lymph system loopy, or make your joints swell up. When the medical powers that be next consider what transplants they'd like to do next, never mind doing a hand, or a face, a working immune system would be nice... erm, either that or possibly a spine transplant....
Actually, on the plus side with the whole being March thing it has got substantially warmer with temperatures reaching almost double figures in the last few days... fingers crossed this will hold (and we don't get too much rain)
On the minus side with the warming up.... the Hell Cats have suddenly got a lot more active.... to the extent where when I am downstairs it frequently sounds like rolls of thunder approaching as they race around.... they are also much louder and singing from the stairs regularly again. I guess when your naked winter is best viewed from mainly under the duvet with regular forays out for food. Sadly the evil capacity of these felines is also on the increase and Hugo is currently nicknamed "shark bait"........ as this is what I am threatening to use him as if he doesn't stop pulling down my clothes from their hangers as they are drying on the door frames.
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| baby daffodils....again from mum's garden... mine has flowers... you just can't see them for the weeds! |
Mum was in a celebratory mood as the free-loader has moved out the attic.... big sighs of relief all round... and thankfully the stress levels have completely dropped straight away. She was full of planning for the Comic Relief Tea Party she is holding on 16th March.... for which I am apparently in charge of cup cakes and cookies (and I have no doubt the kettle..... though for some reason Mum's kettle refuses to blow up!)
Next weekend in the UK it's Mothering Sunday (or Smothering Sunday as it used to be referred to when I was little) and my sister and I have arranged a posh Sunday dinner and a couple of small gifts .... I am also in charge of dessert, which will be crumble, because, after all, crumble solves everything ..... well, it helps anyway, in my world!
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
I love my critters.... but....
Sometimes, I really don't want to have to get up at just after midnight to let the dogs out, or to have to get up at 5.30 am every morning.... I'd love to actually see if I could work out what this mysterious thing that other people call a "lie in" actually is....I'd like to be able to get my clothes dry without the cats knocking things off the clothes airer, or pulling them off the hangers
I'd like not to feel like the mop is surgically attached to my hand, to be able to vacuum the lounge without having to empty the hoover at least five times. I'd like for some of my clothes not to actually have a dog hair on them...
I'd like to be able to leave things on the kitchen table, or on the coffee table, and not having to worry that as soon as my back was turned it would be swiped or destroyedI'd like my books to stay on the shelves, not to have to guard my legs from the cat's claws
Then again
There is nothing like the sound of contented purring from the cat sitting on my lap, or shoulder, or curled up in the middle of my back when I lie in bed to read
There is nothing like the expression on the dogs faces when I come home from work, or when I go down to them first thing in the morning. They will never not be pleased to see me.
I'd never part with them despite the negatives......... they are after all, when the really bad days happen, the reason I get up in a morning and carry on.
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Wednesday witterings.....
So, I am no longer lost in the ether - work found me..... alas..... though I was locked out my user area and needed a password re-set....... which apparently can't just be done by the IT team, oh no, your team leader/supervisor has to e-mail them to tell them that you genuinely do need a new password.... yeah, cos someone else would like to break into my area and do my work... wouldn't they? Please?? Anyway, due to sudden blizzards (no really) my team leader wasn't able to get into the office.... and the head of the team was stuck in traffic somewhere ..... the IT teams solution........... I should wander to their part of the building and present myself and they would verify I was who I said I was....... I haven't got a clue how that works, I just turned up said "hi" and they said, okay and re-set the password...... I could have been anyone....... I sometimes wonder if you have to be a complete muppet to work in IT.
Today started as usual..... though my morning routine has a new element to it...... It has been decreed that there will be at least 5 minutes of cat worshipping time...... no matter how rushed of my feet I am trying to get organised.... Basically I come out the shower, drape myself in towels and Gina promptly runs up them to demand attention....... I currently have an impressive array of scratches on my right thigh, stomach and right shoulder ..... I have now given up arguing with her and will just give her the attention.
Tonight there was, erm, a small amount of chaos at home..... My kitchen cupboards, save for the one where I keep mugs, glasses and tea making paraphernalia, are all under the work top cupboards......which is fine..... until I have "help" in getting something out from them.... As I was reaching in to find some chilli flakes a small helpful critter (who was possibly called Gretchen) was nosing around in the bottom of the cupboard, where I keep the cake making ingredients...... she found the caster sugar...... and pulled it out, spilling it liberally over the floor..... I got to the sugar with the mop about 8 seconds after it fell..... but alas this was too late and the three evil ones had managed to lap up most of it....... the sugar high hit them about 30 minutes later after which they barked at everything and nothing, ran around like loons, beat each other up (in a playful way) and generally made a nuisance of themselves....... They were starting to crash by the time I put them to bed thankfully..... I wonder if they get post sugar high headaches, cos if so I am going to have three very grumpy critters come morning.
Anyway, I finally finished the book I was reading - it's a Dreamspinner published book and the formatting is terrible.... there are no spaces after any of the full stops and on nearly every page there are words which run into each other making it bloody difficult to read..... Oh and there are areas which could have done with much tighter editing......... I actually feel sorry for the author that his book as been put out like this.....
And now it is bed time...... oh no.... now it is time for more cat worship apparently.......
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Midweek mumbling of the disconnected kind....
Yesterday, after my optimistic post on Monday, didn't get off to a brilliant start when it took me 45 minutes, the help of 4 neighbours with 2 shovels and a lot of spinning about and sliding to get the car out the drive and off the road.... though I didn't burn the clutch out.... the trouble with having a car with naff all power in it (tis a 1.1 litre petrol engine) means that when you it three inches of packed solid ice on a frozen brick surface you aren't going anywhere.
I committed car abandonment last night half way down the road where was easy to get out this morning. The car is there again tonight as the bit in front of my drive is still packed ice.... and I don't want a repeat performance.... I am sure the neighbours don't either.
The down side to this is 45 minutes of standing about in the freezing cold, shovelling snow etc is really not good for someone whose joints don't work at the best of times..... by tea time last night the arthritis flare up in my knees, hips and lower back resulted in an evening of lying flat and keeping as warm as possible. It's been a bit better today. All of this is not helped by the fact that it turns out I am allergic to one of my pain meds, so had to stop taking it, and trying to come off the other..... last night I would have killed for something stronger than paracetamol.
Today a friend of mine posted a picture of her new naked kitten...... wearing a fetching green stripey sweater...... now I have always insisted that mine did not need or in fact want sweaters....... which is something another of my friends argue about as she's had to be banned from knitting something for them..... alas she saw the kitten pictures and low and behold I can expect leg warmers at least for Gina and Hugo at some point in the future..... As if my poor cats weren't laughed at enough for the extreme ugliness :)
Work was hectic but boring.... the run up to the end of the financial year (which happens on 30th April) is upon us again, which means everyone wants everything doing, like last week.... I have shed loads of drafting to do to get money in...... so of course Rupert has early spring fever and is spawning plot bunnies at speed...... I've threatened him with castration if he doesn't stop .... I've now got four sets of voices screaming at me from inside my head....... but still feeling far too negative about my writing to do anything but listen to them.
Tonight I have had a nice long chat with a friend after which I've come upstairs to discover that the cats have eaten my mouse mat........ I mean seriously, I know that you are poor deprived indoor house cats who aren't allowed to roam free and hunt..... and it has the word mouse in it..... but it's not a real one! I shall go lay out some cat treats around the upstairs of the house for them to hunt later whilst I curse them and try use my ancient roller ball mouse on a bobbly desk surface.....
I committed car abandonment last night half way down the road where was easy to get out this morning. The car is there again tonight as the bit in front of my drive is still packed ice.... and I don't want a repeat performance.... I am sure the neighbours don't either.
The down side to this is 45 minutes of standing about in the freezing cold, shovelling snow etc is really not good for someone whose joints don't work at the best of times..... by tea time last night the arthritis flare up in my knees, hips and lower back resulted in an evening of lying flat and keeping as warm as possible. It's been a bit better today. All of this is not helped by the fact that it turns out I am allergic to one of my pain meds, so had to stop taking it, and trying to come off the other..... last night I would have killed for something stronger than paracetamol.
Today a friend of mine posted a picture of her new naked kitten...... wearing a fetching green stripey sweater...... now I have always insisted that mine did not need or in fact want sweaters....... which is something another of my friends argue about as she's had to be banned from knitting something for them..... alas she saw the kitten pictures and low and behold I can expect leg warmers at least for Gina and Hugo at some point in the future..... As if my poor cats weren't laughed at enough for the extreme ugliness :)
Work was hectic but boring.... the run up to the end of the financial year (which happens on 30th April) is upon us again, which means everyone wants everything doing, like last week.... I have shed loads of drafting to do to get money in...... so of course Rupert has early spring fever and is spawning plot bunnies at speed...... I've threatened him with castration if he doesn't stop .... I've now got four sets of voices screaming at me from inside my head....... but still feeling far too negative about my writing to do anything but listen to them.
Tonight I have had a nice long chat with a friend after which I've come upstairs to discover that the cats have eaten my mouse mat........ I mean seriously, I know that you are poor deprived indoor house cats who aren't allowed to roam free and hunt..... and it has the word mouse in it..... but it's not a real one! I shall go lay out some cat treats around the upstairs of the house for them to hunt later whilst I curse them and try use my ancient roller ball mouse on a bobbly desk surface.....
Sunday, 13 January 2013
Today I have been infected by an ear worm...
Well Hugo appears to be none the worse for his marinading in chilli and yoghurt yesterday and is back to normal today... if you count sleeping on the top of the door and then falling off normal....
It is bitterly cold here (note, I am British, for me bitterly cold is anything below 3 degrees Celsius and it hasn't cracked freezing here today) which means I've spent a great deal of time in front of a heater in one room or other in the house... the warmest room is the study which is doubling as a laundrette as I desperately try to get my work clothes dry for tomorrow...... the coldest room is the downstairs toilet... not a place to linger at present......
At some point early on this morning I picked up an ear worm (repetitive type rather than bloody annoying) and as it's a song that I actually rather like I thought I'd share....
And now alas I must go prepare for Monday and work.....
It is bitterly cold here (note, I am British, for me bitterly cold is anything below 3 degrees Celsius and it hasn't cracked freezing here today) which means I've spent a great deal of time in front of a heater in one room or other in the house... the warmest room is the study which is doubling as a laundrette as I desperately try to get my work clothes dry for tomorrow...... the coldest room is the downstairs toilet... not a place to linger at present......
At some point early on this morning I picked up an ear worm (repetitive type rather than bloody annoying) and as it's a song that I actually rather like I thought I'd share....
And now alas I must go prepare for Monday and work.....
Saturday, 12 January 2013
The Naked Cat & the chilli.....
Oh dear, poor Hugo.....
Earlier on today, in an unusual fit of organisation, I decided to do some cooking to fill up the freezer with easily defrosted and re-heated meals, and to get a head start on some things to take for lunch.... So I made some bulgar wheat salad, potato salad, a load of vegetable & lentil soup and finally put a large Quorn curry into the slow cooker......
(Finally I made a large tub of fruit salad to pick on during the week....... alas said fruit salad was a tricksy thing and at one stage not vegetarian.... until I re-washed the grapes which I'd managed to bleed over when taking them off the stalk... having been viciously attacked by the sharp knife I was using to cut the melon into chunks just before hand)
The Quorn curry has in it fresh ginger, garlic and chilli's..... which were the last thing I cut up and threw into the pot before switching it on..... being as it was then feeding time for the critters I flung wings at the dogs and went up to deal with the demands of the naked ones.....
Deciding to check my e-mails whilst I was upstairs I was swiftly joined by Hugo who insists on clambering all over me, the desk, the keyboard etc.... he's doing it now, I can't actually see the screen as he's stood in front of it tapping on my fingers as I type... So being an obliging serf to their needs I gave him the obligatory cuddle and he rubbed himself all over my hands.........
I was still pottering about upstairs half an hour later when he gave a very distressed sounding yowl and started shaking his head.... there was saliva frothing at his mouth which he started clawing at.....I thought for a second that he was going to have a fit..... I got hold of him and laid him on a towel just in case but his eyes were normal and he was showing no other signs..... he was just very distressed........ As I was trying to calm him his mother jumped up next to him and went to head-butt my hand, but then sniffed and drew away in disgust..... which was when it twigged.... the poor cat was covered in the residue from the chilli which had transferred to, well, all over him as I'd been stroking him.
So how do you remove chilli from a naked cat's body??...... I ended up basically covering him in plain yoghurt (it was either that or bathing him in milk but I didn't have enough)...... really, seriously messy, as I couldn't keep him still.... thankfully I'd thought first to shut him in the bathroom to do it, but still, it went everywhere....... then I rinsed him off in some very mild kitten shampoo.... Given that it's freezing and he has no coat, I then had dry him off with the hair dryer.... which whilst it appears he likes to come try get under it when I am doing my hair it's a totally different story when it comes to being dried himself.....
He seems to have forgiven me now...... but he's sniffing very carefully at my hands before I am allowed stroke him........ the curry was nice though.....
Earlier on today, in an unusual fit of organisation, I decided to do some cooking to fill up the freezer with easily defrosted and re-heated meals, and to get a head start on some things to take for lunch.... So I made some bulgar wheat salad, potato salad, a load of vegetable & lentil soup and finally put a large Quorn curry into the slow cooker......
(Finally I made a large tub of fruit salad to pick on during the week....... alas said fruit salad was a tricksy thing and at one stage not vegetarian.... until I re-washed the grapes which I'd managed to bleed over when taking them off the stalk... having been viciously attacked by the sharp knife I was using to cut the melon into chunks just before hand)
The Quorn curry has in it fresh ginger, garlic and chilli's..... which were the last thing I cut up and threw into the pot before switching it on..... being as it was then feeding time for the critters I flung wings at the dogs and went up to deal with the demands of the naked ones.....
Deciding to check my e-mails whilst I was upstairs I was swiftly joined by Hugo who insists on clambering all over me, the desk, the keyboard etc.... he's doing it now, I can't actually see the screen as he's stood in front of it tapping on my fingers as I type... So being an obliging serf to their needs I gave him the obligatory cuddle and he rubbed himself all over my hands.........
I was still pottering about upstairs half an hour later when he gave a very distressed sounding yowl and started shaking his head.... there was saliva frothing at his mouth which he started clawing at.....I thought for a second that he was going to have a fit..... I got hold of him and laid him on a towel just in case but his eyes were normal and he was showing no other signs..... he was just very distressed........ As I was trying to calm him his mother jumped up next to him and went to head-butt my hand, but then sniffed and drew away in disgust..... which was when it twigged.... the poor cat was covered in the residue from the chilli which had transferred to, well, all over him as I'd been stroking him.
So how do you remove chilli from a naked cat's body??...... I ended up basically covering him in plain yoghurt (it was either that or bathing him in milk but I didn't have enough)...... really, seriously messy, as I couldn't keep him still.... thankfully I'd thought first to shut him in the bathroom to do it, but still, it went everywhere....... then I rinsed him off in some very mild kitten shampoo.... Given that it's freezing and he has no coat, I then had dry him off with the hair dryer.... which whilst it appears he likes to come try get under it when I am doing my hair it's a totally different story when it comes to being dried himself.....
He seems to have forgiven me now...... but he's sniffing very carefully at my hands before I am allowed stroke him........ the curry was nice though.....
Sunday, 6 January 2013
A weekend with minor excitements.....
Sunday night with work looming over the horizon comes round far far to quickly!
This weekend has been one of doing things.... mainly because I promised myself I wouldn't spend my weekends just reading (well, okay, there might be the odd weekend) and instead I would make myself do something productive.....
Which means that this weekend I have....
- tortured all four of the dogs by savagely maiming them with excruciatingly sharp object so that they are no longer able to walk without severe pain and injury......... or in other words, I cut their nails..... they only thing they can no longer do is making tappy noises on the hard kitchen floor which means that Hope can stealth attack and arrive on my lap without warning......
- cleaned up, trimmed the grass edge and bleached the hell out of the kennel run.... it needed doing and there was a dry day on Saturday so grabbing the opportunity before the next week of rain, or heaven forbid, snow arrives.
- Combed out fully the fur ball known as Gretchen....... by the time I had done I could almost grow a spare spitz out of the undercoat I'd removed from her....... I have plans to do the others, don't tell them!
- Visited mother to carry out daughterly duties (and use the washing machine).... which was quite complicated as I arrived to find her having a complete tizzy because the flat roof in the attic was leaking water into the house..... my mother bless her is a drama queen at times and you'd have thought the world was ending....... when I told her to find her insurance documents and ring them she got quite snappy as apparently when she'd phoned my sister at goodness only knows what time this morning to stress at her about it she'd been told the same thing......I am not sure what else she was expecting from me... possibly to join her in her dramatic moment...... instead she got a small lecture on learning to act proportionately and that a leaking roof was not in fact a life and death situation...... apparently at nearly 75 she feels that if she wishes to be dramatic she will be....... mind you the roof now has a tarp on it and a temporary fix until she can get two quotes for the insurers.
- Unwound and balled up 3 skeins of new and exciting yarn (well these particular ones were new to me, it's one of my favourites to play with) and am now about 1/4 of the way through a new and fun knitting project (erm, which was actually on my to knit for Christmas list, but hey, you know, surprise gifts throughout the year are welcome I'm sure)
- Had one of those special moments involving melting plastic, glass fragments and flames....... okay, it goes like this.... I have some really nice glass candle holders that sit inside little metal pots on the kitchen window ledge. On Saturday I had had one alight for a while and as I was sitting at the kitchen table reading (yeah, I did do some of that this weekend too) I caught rather more flame than I would have expected out the corner of my eye. On closer investigation, namely walking up to it and leaning over the sink to look, I noticed that all the wax residue on the glass holder was burning and the wick itself had burnt out. On tiptoes I leant further forward to blow it out but it wouldn't go out. So I picked it up........ which would be my first mistake..... cos the pot it sits in is metal, and was hot, and there were flames, and I dropped it into the plastic washing up bowl in the sink........ where it started to quite happily melt the plastic as I blew at it quite dramatically..... giving up I turned the tap on to put it out..... and the shock of the cold water on hot glass, well, exploded it quite dramatically........ I managed to get the water out the bowl, leave the glass bits in and then carry the whole thing to the outside bin without further incident...... and then went back to run my hand under the tap cos I realised my fingers were a bit warm.........
- and that's about it for my weekend, oh save having only changed the bedding 2 days ago, I now have to go and change the sheets again because Gina has thrown up in the middle of the bed...... why when she has the whole of upstairs to chose from does she always manage to do this just after I've changed the bedding??
This weekend has been one of doing things.... mainly because I promised myself I wouldn't spend my weekends just reading (well, okay, there might be the odd weekend) and instead I would make myself do something productive.....
Which means that this weekend I have....
- tortured all four of the dogs by savagely maiming them with excruciatingly sharp object so that they are no longer able to walk without severe pain and injury......... or in other words, I cut their nails..... they only thing they can no longer do is making tappy noises on the hard kitchen floor which means that Hope can stealth attack and arrive on my lap without warning......
- cleaned up, trimmed the grass edge and bleached the hell out of the kennel run.... it needed doing and there was a dry day on Saturday so grabbing the opportunity before the next week of rain, or heaven forbid, snow arrives.
- Combed out fully the fur ball known as Gretchen....... by the time I had done I could almost grow a spare spitz out of the undercoat I'd removed from her....... I have plans to do the others, don't tell them!
- Visited mother to carry out daughterly duties (and use the washing machine).... which was quite complicated as I arrived to find her having a complete tizzy because the flat roof in the attic was leaking water into the house..... my mother bless her is a drama queen at times and you'd have thought the world was ending....... when I told her to find her insurance documents and ring them she got quite snappy as apparently when she'd phoned my sister at goodness only knows what time this morning to stress at her about it she'd been told the same thing......I am not sure what else she was expecting from me... possibly to join her in her dramatic moment...... instead she got a small lecture on learning to act proportionately and that a leaking roof was not in fact a life and death situation...... apparently at nearly 75 she feels that if she wishes to be dramatic she will be....... mind you the roof now has a tarp on it and a temporary fix until she can get two quotes for the insurers.
- Unwound and balled up 3 skeins of new and exciting yarn (well these particular ones were new to me, it's one of my favourites to play with) and am now about 1/4 of the way through a new and fun knitting project (erm, which was actually on my to knit for Christmas list, but hey, you know, surprise gifts throughout the year are welcome I'm sure)
- Had one of those special moments involving melting plastic, glass fragments and flames....... okay, it goes like this.... I have some really nice glass candle holders that sit inside little metal pots on the kitchen window ledge. On Saturday I had had one alight for a while and as I was sitting at the kitchen table reading (yeah, I did do some of that this weekend too) I caught rather more flame than I would have expected out the corner of my eye. On closer investigation, namely walking up to it and leaning over the sink to look, I noticed that all the wax residue on the glass holder was burning and the wick itself had burnt out. On tiptoes I leant further forward to blow it out but it wouldn't go out. So I picked it up........ which would be my first mistake..... cos the pot it sits in is metal, and was hot, and there were flames, and I dropped it into the plastic washing up bowl in the sink........ where it started to quite happily melt the plastic as I blew at it quite dramatically..... giving up I turned the tap on to put it out..... and the shock of the cold water on hot glass, well, exploded it quite dramatically........ I managed to get the water out the bowl, leave the glass bits in and then carry the whole thing to the outside bin without further incident...... and then went back to run my hand under the tap cos I realised my fingers were a bit warm.........
- and that's about it for my weekend, oh save having only changed the bedding 2 days ago, I now have to go and change the sheets again because Gina has thrown up in the middle of the bed...... why when she has the whole of upstairs to chose from does she always manage to do this just after I've changed the bedding??
Wednesday, 2 January 2013
In which normality returns.......
Or as near as dammit as we get to normal round here!
Today was back to work day...... which meant last night I went to bed at my normal time...... couldn't sleep so I read for a while.... then tried again..... and again....... and got up at 1.30 am, let the dogs out pottered about a bit, then tried to go to sleep again.... I then managed that fitful kind of sleep where you aren't deep enough asleep and every blessed noise wakes you... by the time I got up at just after 5 am I was wondering why I'd even bothered trying......So after sorting the critters I went back to the sofa thinking I'd just dose until 6.30 am when I had to get up and start getting organised... only to be woken by the alarm out of a very deep sleep feeling totally disorientated! Such a good start!
Work was, well, work.... I have quite a lot of stuff booked in for the next few weeks.... including a hearing next Monday, which I tried to pass off to one of the advocates in the team only to be told that given I was now qualified I could do it myself .... grrrr...... not impressed!!
To cheer myself up I booked some days off - a couple around Easter weekend and some in July for mum's 75th birthday and for the UK GLBTQ Romance Writers and Readers event... now I have the days off I have to pluck up the courage to sign up for it (though alas only as a day visitor not for the whole weekend) .... and then I have to find the guts to actually go!
On a positive note, I promised myself I would start making much more of an effort with my lunches... rather than grabbing fruit and yoghurt from home and then realising this is not enough and attacking the vending machines.... so today there was cous cous and veggies (tomorrow there is pasta salad)..... I did point out to my team leader who was admiring my lunch and bemoaning her soggy tuna sandwich that she shouldn't get too excited my usual (lack of) organisational skills will probably kick in by the middle of next week!
Hope this evening involved sofa surfing with the Kindle as I had bugger all energy to do anything else.... and now it's nearly bed time....... and I've just discovered the new nightshirt that I got for Christmas has a little breast pocket in it (complete with little purple button)... which begs the question why? It's only a tiny little pocket, I don't think it could hold much...... suggestions welcome though...
And now I must go, because Gina has just managed to throw her ping pong ball down the stairs to the dogs domain and it needs to be retrieved...... I am such a well trained human!!
Today was back to work day...... which meant last night I went to bed at my normal time...... couldn't sleep so I read for a while.... then tried again..... and again....... and got up at 1.30 am, let the dogs out pottered about a bit, then tried to go to sleep again.... I then managed that fitful kind of sleep where you aren't deep enough asleep and every blessed noise wakes you... by the time I got up at just after 5 am I was wondering why I'd even bothered trying......So after sorting the critters I went back to the sofa thinking I'd just dose until 6.30 am when I had to get up and start getting organised... only to be woken by the alarm out of a very deep sleep feeling totally disorientated! Such a good start!
Work was, well, work.... I have quite a lot of stuff booked in for the next few weeks.... including a hearing next Monday, which I tried to pass off to one of the advocates in the team only to be told that given I was now qualified I could do it myself .... grrrr...... not impressed!!
To cheer myself up I booked some days off - a couple around Easter weekend and some in July for mum's 75th birthday and for the UK GLBTQ Romance Writers and Readers event... now I have the days off I have to pluck up the courage to sign up for it (though alas only as a day visitor not for the whole weekend) .... and then I have to find the guts to actually go!
On a positive note, I promised myself I would start making much more of an effort with my lunches... rather than grabbing fruit and yoghurt from home and then realising this is not enough and attacking the vending machines.... so today there was cous cous and veggies (tomorrow there is pasta salad)..... I did point out to my team leader who was admiring my lunch and bemoaning her soggy tuna sandwich that she shouldn't get too excited my usual (lack of) organisational skills will probably kick in by the middle of next week!
Hope this evening involved sofa surfing with the Kindle as I had bugger all energy to do anything else.... and now it's nearly bed time....... and I've just discovered the new nightshirt that I got for Christmas has a little breast pocket in it (complete with little purple button)... which begs the question why? It's only a tiny little pocket, I don't think it could hold much...... suggestions welcome though...
And now I must go, because Gina has just managed to throw her ping pong ball down the stairs to the dogs domain and it needs to be retrieved...... I am such a well trained human!!
Monday, 31 December 2012
So that was 2012.... what next....
2012.... a year in which:
I learnt that I really don't do being poorly,
I became very familiar with being stuck on the sofa,
My parents health both had wobbles, mum now being fine, but dad still continues to deteriorate
My sister found a new partner and one year on they are still going strong
I didn't manage to electrocute myself (despite several near misses with the kettle, heater and light fittings),
I discovered that my destructive powers extended to my Kindle (but limited it to 3 replacements over the course of the year)
I spent far too much money on e-books
I spent far too much time reading said e-books
I took the plunge and wrote a story for more than just myself by taking part in LiAW
My internet friendships grew and provided me with some excellent memories, advice, support and parcels :)
oh yes, and I finally got my professional qualification.
So as I sit hear listening to some premature fireworks signalling the arrival of 2013 what am I hoping for....
That my mother continues in good health as she approaches her 75th birthday in the summer - and of course continues to embarrass me whenever she can!
That my dad's condition stays as stable as possible, or that if he does deteriorate then it happens quickly and without pain
That my sister and her partner's relationship continues to grow from strength to strength
That my friends who are pregnant have swift and safe deliveries of their expected daughters (who knows, the latest half daughter might get something hand knitted before her first birthday....)
That I continue to have a job and a roof over my head
That my critters behave themselves (yeah, I know, optimistic)
That my friendships, both online and in real life, continue to grow and flourish and that I can give back to my friends even part of what they give to me
That my leg continues to heal and there are no more set backs
That I can pluck up the courage to do more with my writing this year and in particular to join in and go to the UK GLBT writers and readers weekend in July
And with that, all that is left is to wish anyone reading this a happy and peaceful new year and all the best for 2013
I learnt that I really don't do being poorly,
I became very familiar with being stuck on the sofa,
My parents health both had wobbles, mum now being fine, but dad still continues to deteriorate
My sister found a new partner and one year on they are still going strong
I didn't manage to electrocute myself (despite several near misses with the kettle, heater and light fittings),
I discovered that my destructive powers extended to my Kindle (but limited it to 3 replacements over the course of the year)
I spent far too much money on e-books
I spent far too much time reading said e-books
I took the plunge and wrote a story for more than just myself by taking part in LiAW
My internet friendships grew and provided me with some excellent memories, advice, support and parcels :)
oh yes, and I finally got my professional qualification.
So as I sit hear listening to some premature fireworks signalling the arrival of 2013 what am I hoping for....
That my mother continues in good health as she approaches her 75th birthday in the summer - and of course continues to embarrass me whenever she can!
That my dad's condition stays as stable as possible, or that if he does deteriorate then it happens quickly and without pain
That my sister and her partner's relationship continues to grow from strength to strength
That my friends who are pregnant have swift and safe deliveries of their expected daughters (who knows, the latest half daughter might get something hand knitted before her first birthday....)
That I continue to have a job and a roof over my head
That my critters behave themselves (yeah, I know, optimistic)
That my friendships, both online and in real life, continue to grow and flourish and that I can give back to my friends even part of what they give to me
That my leg continues to heal and there are no more set backs
That I can pluck up the courage to do more with my writing this year and in particular to join in and go to the UK GLBT writers and readers weekend in July
And with that, all that is left is to wish anyone reading this a happy and peaceful new year and all the best for 2013
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Slightly less of the Bah Humbug....
It appears to be time for me to shed my outer Grinch and embrace the festive season....... for I have finished work today and don't go back until after the whole she-bang is over with.... I am working between Christmas & New Year (well just 3 days of it) again so that my colleagues who have young children or who have distant family can spend the whole of the festive period together.... I am not so bothered... as much as I love my family, there are limits on the amount of time I can spend with them and three full days (Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing day) are normally quite enough in one go for me!
So to try and embrace the festive feeling I went to my sister's to help her put up her tree. Now, small disclaimer here.... I wasn't in her house when she tested the tree lights, therefore I had nothing to do with the fact they went "bang" and refused to work....... I arrived shortly after...... I don't think they knew I was coming..... anyway, my sister decreed she was going to the shop to pick up a new set of lights and suggested that her other half and I should bring the tree in from the garden and set it into the base, carry it through to the lounge and place it ready for decorating. Then she looked at us both, shook her head and said, maybe we should leave it..... we rebelled, by the time she got back the tree was set up and in place.... though not sufficiently straight for my sister's liking.
The new lights were wrapped round it (they flash and sequence and all sorts...... and I am banned from touching the controls on pain of death....... which is a little unfair I feel)..... after which we got on with decorating....... well, I got banished to the sofa after the first couple of minutes for throwing the snowball decorations at, erm, the tree, my sister, Mavis the cat....... and was allowed only to hand out the requested decorations when asked..... sometimes my sister is no fun! It looks very pretty and the decorations are all red, silver or crystal.... my money is on Mavis taking at least half of them down before the big day.....
Tonight the last of my on line purchases arrived, which means tomorrow I shall battle with paper, scissors, ribbon, tape and cats to wrap up the presents for the family. Wish me luck!!
I also have to finish a story I am writing about a whip wielding demonic sharply dressed lawyer and his two faithful imps ...... Rupert has some seriously weird ideas and my brain is happy to play along. Hopefully the story will be ready to be gifted to a friend in time to be an extra Christmas present for her and her family :)
There is also unfinished knitting... but alas I fear this will remain unfinished till long after Christmas......
Okay, I think I'm ready to risk a seasonal mince pie now ....
Oh and my exam results should apparently be here tomorrow........ still not convinced I've passed but there is bugger all I can do about that now....
So to try and embrace the festive feeling I went to my sister's to help her put up her tree. Now, small disclaimer here.... I wasn't in her house when she tested the tree lights, therefore I had nothing to do with the fact they went "bang" and refused to work....... I arrived shortly after...... I don't think they knew I was coming..... anyway, my sister decreed she was going to the shop to pick up a new set of lights and suggested that her other half and I should bring the tree in from the garden and set it into the base, carry it through to the lounge and place it ready for decorating. Then she looked at us both, shook her head and said, maybe we should leave it..... we rebelled, by the time she got back the tree was set up and in place.... though not sufficiently straight for my sister's liking.
The new lights were wrapped round it (they flash and sequence and all sorts...... and I am banned from touching the controls on pain of death....... which is a little unfair I feel)..... after which we got on with decorating....... well, I got banished to the sofa after the first couple of minutes for throwing the snowball decorations at, erm, the tree, my sister, Mavis the cat....... and was allowed only to hand out the requested decorations when asked..... sometimes my sister is no fun! It looks very pretty and the decorations are all red, silver or crystal.... my money is on Mavis taking at least half of them down before the big day.....
Tonight the last of my on line purchases arrived, which means tomorrow I shall battle with paper, scissors, ribbon, tape and cats to wrap up the presents for the family. Wish me luck!!
I also have to finish a story I am writing about a whip wielding demonic sharply dressed lawyer and his two faithful imps ...... Rupert has some seriously weird ideas and my brain is happy to play along. Hopefully the story will be ready to be gifted to a friend in time to be an extra Christmas present for her and her family :)
There is also unfinished knitting... but alas I fear this will remain unfinished till long after Christmas......
Okay, I think I'm ready to risk a seasonal mince pie now ....
Oh and my exam results should apparently be here tomorrow........ still not convinced I've passed but there is bugger all I can do about that now....
Sunday, 16 December 2012
That Hope(less) dog....
I am sure there is an unwritten law known by all pet animals.... if you are going to do something stupid causing injury..... make sure the Vets is shut first....
This afternoon, shortly after I hit publish on the last blog post, I was still upstairs communing with the naked ones (well trying to persuade Hugo that bad things would happen if he leapt from the top of the study door onto my lap where his mother was enjoying a cuddle) there was a very loud cry of terror and pain from downstairs.....
Now my dogs can be quite vocal, but this was a definite "panic, panic, I'm in pain" type of cry....... not helped by the fact that it was shortly followed by at least one other dog growling and snapping...... It's amazing how fast I can get downstairs at times..... I could see the problem as soon as I got to the bottom of the stairs..... somehow they'd managed to open the kitchen door (which I shut when I leave them in there) and Hope had made a bid for freedom over the top of the baby gate - something she's been doing since she was about 14 weeks old..... only this time she'd misjudged it and her back left leg had got stuck at the hock joint between the bars, leaving her front half hanging over the top of the gate and her right back leg flailing about in mid air.... Gretchen and Kammi, freaked out by the noises Hope was making, had decided something was terribly wrong and reacted in a way that dogs will and were attacking her trapped leg.
By the time I'd untangled her and hauled her the rest of the way over the baby gate her eyes were rolling and she was looking rather shocky.... her hock was also starting to swell quite badly.... I couldn't feel a break and the joint were stable (there are times when being a former vets assistant come in very handy) but getting the vet to check her over was on the cards.... so off we went... luckily my own vets have a weekend call out service and when I got to the surgery with her the vet on duty turned out to be the one I'd worked with in the past, so after a quick prod at her leg she confirmed what I thought, the silly dog has badly sprained her hock and is now on crate rest for a week with anti-inflammatory medication and no walks.......
Hope is not a happy dog right now, she's in pain and shut away from everyone... because I don't trust her for a minute not to try and jump even if it does hurt she's not even getting supervised time out of her crate for cuddles.... Gretchen has been sitting on my knee looking extremely smug for most of the evening.....
Saturday, 24 November 2012
The (critter) Mafia...
A long time ago, a certain friend of mine, who should know better, started referring to me in tweets and on line generally as The Mob Boss (she also sends mail through the post with the same name... much to the consternation of my postie).... Now the reason for this is that the critters, well the canine part of them, are known collectively as The Mob.... shortened from Rent-a-Mob (for a small fee they will come round to your house and remind you why it's a damn good thing you don't have dogs)
Alas this stuck and henceforth in certain circles it's become almost an official nick name. However, being The Mob Boss, this also means I am also known as.... The Godmother!
And today I had an official invitation from said friend responsible for silly nicknames to go meet two new members of The Family
So, introducing Fynn and Theo........... My new God-kittens.....
.
Alas this stuck and henceforth in certain circles it's become almost an official nick name. However, being The Mob Boss, this also means I am also known as.... The Godmother!
And today I had an official invitation from said friend responsible for silly nicknames to go meet two new members of The Family
So, introducing Fynn and Theo........... My new God-kittens.....
 |
| Fynn "Go away Human, sleeping here" |
 |
| Theo Learning the enigmatic look |
 |
| Ah, finally, someone found the off switch... |
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
(un) Happy Feet....
Today has not been a good day for my poor feet!
Feet are important, I know this, they take the weight of most of a person's everyday stresses and strains, they are used for walking, driving, swimming, standing up after sitting down... they help you balance and it's a good thing to look after them really well..... as I learnt in the summer from the toe nail incident that landed me on the sofa for two weeks and has resulted in the lymph glands in my lower left leg packing up....
I have not always been good to my feet...... mainly because I hate and detest having to wear shoes and socks.... I am learning to be nicer to them as my McMillan Nurse was quite stroppy about the fact that I need to keep something on them pretty much all the time to protect them...... I sulk a bit sometimes about it but in general I try to do as I am told on this one (fear of landing back on the sofa for two weeks.... grief that was boring)
Anyway, I digress.... today.... it was wet and miserable this morning and in the walk from the car park to the office I knew I was going to get wet .... what I hadn't realised was that my right shoe had a hole in the bottom of it and a small crack near the heel...... I did realise after I'd splashed through a puddle or two and squelched a few steps further as my foot began to feel cold and soggy..... I divested myself of said shoe and the accompanying sock when I got to my desk but alas it did not dry out before I had to put it back on.... consequently my right foot was very wrinkled and prune like.
I was looking forward to having a nice foot pampering session this evening with some lovely citrus and rock salt bath goodies that I'd been sent ..... however, as I'd run out of cat biscuits, and three chicken wings will not feed four dogs, I stopped at the shops on the way home in order to prevent a mutiny by the critters.... by the time I'd got everything I needed I was flinging three carrier bags into the car, in the dark car park, and sliding into the drivers seat. As I dropped the bags onto the passenger seat and pulled the door shut behind me I kind of forgot to pull my right foot all the way into the car........ and slammed the door straight across my foot just below my toes!
After sitting in the car park with my eyes watering and my foot throbbing for about five minutes I tentatively tried it on the accelerator and brake before deciding that it was probably okay to drive home..... yeah, that was painful, and possibly in hindsight not more of my more brilliant ideas.
I half hopped and half hobbled my way into the house and pacified the critters with food before daring to remove my shoe.... the bruising was already starting to come up across the top of my foot, and after carrying out several strange contortionist type moves I could see that it was a bit bruised on the bottom as well. There is some swelling but not a huge amount. I thought about going to A&E and getting it x-rayed but as I can move all my toes and it isn't agony to touch on top or to stand and put weight on it I am pretty sure it's just bad bruising......I ice packed it for a while and have now strapped it up nice and tightly, taken some pain killers (though I am sure the approved method of this is not to swallow them by swigging cough medicine out the bottle) and am now sitting here with my foot up on the cat's toy box whilst I question why is it that these things just seem to happen to me??
Feet are important, I know this, they take the weight of most of a person's everyday stresses and strains, they are used for walking, driving, swimming, standing up after sitting down... they help you balance and it's a good thing to look after them really well..... as I learnt in the summer from the toe nail incident that landed me on the sofa for two weeks and has resulted in the lymph glands in my lower left leg packing up....
I have not always been good to my feet...... mainly because I hate and detest having to wear shoes and socks.... I am learning to be nicer to them as my McMillan Nurse was quite stroppy about the fact that I need to keep something on them pretty much all the time to protect them...... I sulk a bit sometimes about it but in general I try to do as I am told on this one (fear of landing back on the sofa for two weeks.... grief that was boring)
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| Obviously so not my feet!! |
Anyway, I digress.... today.... it was wet and miserable this morning and in the walk from the car park to the office I knew I was going to get wet .... what I hadn't realised was that my right shoe had a hole in the bottom of it and a small crack near the heel...... I did realise after I'd splashed through a puddle or two and squelched a few steps further as my foot began to feel cold and soggy..... I divested myself of said shoe and the accompanying sock when I got to my desk but alas it did not dry out before I had to put it back on.... consequently my right foot was very wrinkled and prune like.
I was looking forward to having a nice foot pampering session this evening with some lovely citrus and rock salt bath goodies that I'd been sent ..... however, as I'd run out of cat biscuits, and three chicken wings will not feed four dogs, I stopped at the shops on the way home in order to prevent a mutiny by the critters.... by the time I'd got everything I needed I was flinging three carrier bags into the car, in the dark car park, and sliding into the drivers seat. As I dropped the bags onto the passenger seat and pulled the door shut behind me I kind of forgot to pull my right foot all the way into the car........ and slammed the door straight across my foot just below my toes!
After sitting in the car park with my eyes watering and my foot throbbing for about five minutes I tentatively tried it on the accelerator and brake before deciding that it was probably okay to drive home..... yeah, that was painful, and possibly in hindsight not more of my more brilliant ideas.
I half hopped and half hobbled my way into the house and pacified the critters with food before daring to remove my shoe.... the bruising was already starting to come up across the top of my foot, and after carrying out several strange contortionist type moves I could see that it was a bit bruised on the bottom as well. There is some swelling but not a huge amount. I thought about going to A&E and getting it x-rayed but as I can move all my toes and it isn't agony to touch on top or to stand and put weight on it I am pretty sure it's just bad bruising......I ice packed it for a while and have now strapped it up nice and tightly, taken some pain killers (though I am sure the approved method of this is not to swallow them by swigging cough medicine out the bottle) and am now sitting here with my foot up on the cat's toy box whilst I question why is it that these things just seem to happen to me??
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
Further tales from Mr Hugo’s House of Grooming…
My cats are strange …. which if you’ve read any of this blog in the past you’ll know already… you may also recall that Hugo has a fascination for all things related to human grooming and hair care….(unlike his mother whose only contribution is to eat the “hair spiders” that I remove from the comb to make herself sick…. revolting creature!)
Hugo’s biggest grooming fads (well until this morning) are to comb my hair… which usually happens as I am trying to get to sleep…. he perches on my back, extends his claws and drags them through my hair…. if I don’t react he will continue with this, getting more and more into it until he gets carried away and sticks his claws into my head…. at which point he usually gets turfed off the bed…
The other thing he does is to pluck my eyebrows …. he will place his paws either side of my eyes (at which point I tend to either lie very still or remove him straight away depending on how awake I am) and then gently with his teeth pull out individual eyebrow hairs…. well hair… I am not big on the whole eyebrow plucking thing anyway, and done by the cat is just freaky as well as painful!
He’s also very partial to hair dye…. Not sure why, I am sure that the horrible ammonia/chemical smell of it would put any normal cats off and keep the far away… but no, not Hugo…. The closer he can get the better… though I have learnt my lesson and when my hair dye is developing he is not allowed to sit on my shoulder … (as an aside – have you seen the tattooed sphynx cats on the net? I am pretty sure it’s not a permanent tattoo they put on them, but really, no, too weird, even for me)… I do have to put the packaging from the hair dye straight in the bin as he has in the past ripped open the box to get to the left over chemicals.
This morning however I discovered that he has got over his fear of the hair dryer…..it, along with the vacuum cleaner, used to send him and his mother scurrying under the nearest duvet… alas not anymore! Now I am not one for usually drying my hair… its combination of not having time in the morning, having boring straight hair that doesn’t really require styling and, erm, my ability to blow up hair dryers… I mean seriously, they are such fragile things, you have them on for a couple of minutes and they are either smoking on the back end, going bang and tripping the electrics or setting themselves alight, and trying to take the carpet with them….. I am sure it really isn’t just me that can make them do this!
Usually I will only bother drying my hair if it is freezing outside and I am going to have to go scrape ice off the car (frozen hair defrosting as you sit at the desk in the office is seriously unpleasant) but today, what with the cold, I decided what they hell I had time I might as well take the worst of the water out my hair.
Monday, 12 November 2012
Fly - 1, Naked Cats - 0....
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| Hugo: "Where did it go?" Gina: "Quiet! Stalking!!" |
Well no, it wasn't thunder at all..... it was... The Great End of Season Fly Hunt.....
For two quite small cats they can't half make it sound like I've a heard of elephants crashing about upstairs......
By the time I put the dogs away and came up to play on the computer for a bit before bed they had managed to pull the towels off the back of the bathroom door, knock books off the shelf, tip over and spray their bowl of cat biscuits across the study floor and remove just about all the drying clothes off the airer.
I should be grateful they didn't knock the electric heater I put on for them up here over and set the house alight.
And the cause of all this .... a small innocent housefly, which was at the time lurking harmlessly on top of the bathroom door...
The following conversation may have then taken place....
Hugo (whilst bouncing up and down next to the bathroom door): "Fly, fly, look human, fly"
Me (with toothbrush in mouth): "stop it, and if you even think about climbing up... ouch...Hugo!"
Hugo (whilst leaping from half way up my back towards the door): "I can get it, I can, oh no....."
Gina (from her perch on the banister rail): "If I chatter my teeth at it will you help get it?"
cue teeth chattering and strange chirrupy meow.... as I heartlessly wander past into my bedroom ignoring them.
Hugo: "I can get it, I can get it"
Next time I looked he was stuck half way up the wall with his claws stuck in the revolting anaglypta wall paper staring pathetically at the housefly which was still on the top of the bathroom door. I left him there to find his own way down on the theory that he got up there himself he can get down himself.
I've turned the lights off now, and the fly appears to have won this round... Gina has taken herself to bed in a pile of my clean waiting to be ironed clothes, and Hugo is currently on guard duty on top of the book room door... which means any second he's going to make a leap for my right kidney to soften his landing on the way down.......
Remind me... I have these cats because????
Friday, 9 November 2012
Friday evening waffling.....
This time next week, three years of hard work and my finals will all be over.... which is a bit of a sobering thought for someone that has a problem with completing things... this is something I have no choice in though so I am going to have to live with it. Though the results of the exams won't come out until December so I will be in limbo for a while afterwards.
Talking to a friend this evening, in between the talk of babies, toddlers, badly behaved critters (more of which later) and knitting, we were coming up with ideas of what I can do with my free time.....Now I've said from about the start of this course that this will be it, I will not be doing any further studying... she however has doing various Open University courses over the last few years, some of which do sound tempting - I'd really quite like to do the medieval history course.... but then again, I have kind of had enough of studying.
I do need to think of something, as failing that I will end up taking work home to do in the evenings.... and as much as I could and in fact would spend my entire free time lost in my Kindle (well till it gave up and exploded... again) I should perhaps do other things to unwind. I do have several knitting projects I need to get on with, and I have some story ideas I would like to get written (and I have been threatened with nagging if my mainstream YA series doesn't get it's second book in the very near future... bossy beta readers!)
That said, I've still a week to get through, and a fun filled week of revision it would be. Tomorrow and Sunday are scheduled out into 3 x 2 hour blocks, with time off for grocery deliveries and laundry (I know how to have fun....), Monday night I will have revision free as I am always kippered when I get home from work on a Monday night.. more revision Tuesday and Wednesday night and then on Thursday I actually have an official revision day, by which I am hoping I will only be highlighting and cross checking.....oh and making sure I've directions to Leeds where I am sitting the exam.
Now hopefully the canine critters will be well behaved for the rest of the weekend.... they got a severe rollicking when I got home from work as the delightful little gits had emptied my kitchen bin all over the floor... it probably took me longer to clean up than it did for them to empty it.... I am just hoping there are no ill effects from the debris they have probably managed to eat.
The cats are being smug ... they always are when the dogs are in trouble, and I am in fact typing this with my head painfully tilted to one side as Gina is balancing on my left shoulder, purring in my ear, as she supervises my typing....... either that or she's getting revenge for me refusing to give her the Q-tip to play with this morning......
Talking to a friend this evening, in between the talk of babies, toddlers, badly behaved critters (more of which later) and knitting, we were coming up with ideas of what I can do with my free time.....Now I've said from about the start of this course that this will be it, I will not be doing any further studying... she however has doing various Open University courses over the last few years, some of which do sound tempting - I'd really quite like to do the medieval history course.... but then again, I have kind of had enough of studying.
I do need to think of something, as failing that I will end up taking work home to do in the evenings.... and as much as I could and in fact would spend my entire free time lost in my Kindle (well till it gave up and exploded... again) I should perhaps do other things to unwind. I do have several knitting projects I need to get on with, and I have some story ideas I would like to get written (and I have been threatened with nagging if my mainstream YA series doesn't get it's second book in the very near future... bossy beta readers!)
That said, I've still a week to get through, and a fun filled week of revision it would be. Tomorrow and Sunday are scheduled out into 3 x 2 hour blocks, with time off for grocery deliveries and laundry (I know how to have fun....), Monday night I will have revision free as I am always kippered when I get home from work on a Monday night.. more revision Tuesday and Wednesday night and then on Thursday I actually have an official revision day, by which I am hoping I will only be highlighting and cross checking.....oh and making sure I've directions to Leeds where I am sitting the exam.
Now hopefully the canine critters will be well behaved for the rest of the weekend.... they got a severe rollicking when I got home from work as the delightful little gits had emptied my kitchen bin all over the floor... it probably took me longer to clean up than it did for them to empty it.... I am just hoping there are no ill effects from the debris they have probably managed to eat.
The cats are being smug ... they always are when the dogs are in trouble, and I am in fact typing this with my head painfully tilted to one side as Gina is balancing on my left shoulder, purring in my ear, as she supervises my typing....... either that or she's getting revenge for me refusing to give her the Q-tip to play with this morning......
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