Came across my old blog (I say old, really mean my only blog that I haven't bothered to use) while having a look at my old lunchtime links in work. Can't believe how long it's been since I made an entry. So much for using it as a motivator to get on with the crafting.
Not much has changed on the crafty front, but plenty of changes have happened in the household front.
* We lost Oscar in August 2011 when he was hit by a vehicle. Our neighbour found but didn't get an answer when he chapped the door so he covered him with a plasic bag and left him in the garden. W was home but didn't hear the door. One of the worst moments of his life was when he walked into the garden and saw a tail sticking out a bag. His heart just sank and to this day still plays heavy on his mind.
I got a call in work to tell me the news. He wasn't going to tell me until I got home, but in order to get an autopsy done (we didn't know what had happened to him at that point), he had to be taken to the vets half an hour away by 6pm and W wanted me to have the chance to see him first.
It was such a horrible journey home. I just felt numb at the thought of what I was heading home to. There was was, laying on the couch. As a few hours had passed he was starting to smell quite a bit, but I'm glad I had my chance to say goodbye. Looking at him, his wee personality and soul were long gone, it was clear it was just a shell remaining which actually made it easier to accept. I have kept a tuft of his fur and we now have his ashes back proud of place on the cat shelf with his mousie for company and we have plenty of happy and funny memories to look back on.
* Worried about Harry getting too used to being an only cat if we left it too long to get another cat, I contacted the Cats Protection the next day for advice on getting another cat. They called me back that night to say they had a kitten available for homing if we were willing to take him. Assuming they meant in a week or two, we said we were interested. A short while later the phone went.... we were to take the cat carrier to the fosters home the next evening to collect the kitten!!! Harry was definetly not going to get used to being an only cat.
On the drive over we were discussing what kind of cat we thought we could end up with. The possibility of another black cat crossed our minds, but with all the colours of cats out there we were sure it wouldn't be another black one. After much driving in circles trying to find the house, we were taken up to the room where the kittens were being kept and there sitting looking at us through the cage was a black cat and a black and white cat. We were told the black one was ours. We couldn't believe it, another black cat had found us (I should point out that I have always said black animals always seem to find me through chance, Sam, Timmy, Oscar, now 'Barak'). He was a lovely wee thing, very slender and innocent looking. We were a little miffed that we didn't actually get to say hello to him, it was just assumed that we were taking him and he was bundled into the crate and off we went.
After the news of Oscar, the last thing anyone was expecting was the announcement of another cat! Word was sent out and many shocked messages returned. We didn't have a name for him at that point (but Barak was definetly NOT staying!) and it was a nightmare to get a good picture of him. We got him settled into his room and left him to his own devices to get to grips with his new surroundings for a couple of hours.
Harry wasn't chuffed in the slightest when he found out we had a lodger in the spare room. Alfie (as he was finally named) was kept in seclusion for the first couple of weeks, but once he started to explore the house it was inevitable that he was going to start to cross Harry's path. Cue the hissing and swiping! Harry was not a happy boy. It took at least a month to aquaint the pair, using a harness for Alfie and lots of patience with Harry, but now they are more than happy to play with each other.
Alfie learned all his catty business from Harry. He would follow him about and snuggle up to him. They don't really snuggle anymore, but they are more than happy hanging out and having wee play fights together.
Little did they know they would be teaming up together in the near future.....
Monday, 23 July 2012
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Blind as a bat
I've had a wee reality check today so I'm nowhere near as grumpy as I have been. Feeling like a bit of an idiot, but hey, when things get to you, you can't really stop them.
I'm a bit worried today (nothing to do with the above), but the bf has had to take the day off work sick because the new glasses he got last week have made him very very dizzy and sick feeling. This is despite him telling the folk in the opticians that he couldn't see properly with them TWICE! (we left for an hour and had to go straight back when he found he was struggling to function with them on). The first woman dismissed what he was saying straight away, didn't look at them, check them or make sure they were sitting ok and told him to go away for 3 days and try them. The next woman (an hour later) fiddled around with them, did loads and loads of checks to make sure they were made properly and told him to wear them for 2 weeks before comming back. He has lasted 3 days (Sat, Sun and a very sicky Mon at work). Last night he came home and switched to his old glasses straight away.
Will now need to trot back to the opticians at some point to try and convince them he can't use them. It's one thing to struggle to see, but it's quite another when you've paid £350 (he's one of these folk that need the big thick lenses thinned down) to struggle to see. The irony is, he paid a little extra for the middle of the range lenses which were supposed to be better at focussing than the standards that he was already using, yet with them he can't focus on anything other than dead ahead.
What I'm worried about though is, since he is only temping in his job, he doesn't get sick pay so thats a days wage down the drain with nothing really to fall back on. He was in his sick bed mumbling about doing overtime to make the 7 hours up, but thats not going to be a bundle of laughs.
Suppose he's getting his comeuppance after trying to poison me with his home made chilli last night. I'll make it mild he says, oh you can hardly taste the spice he says. AYE RIGHT! I didn't even manage a whole forkfull in the one go. Had to make do with just a pudding in the end (homemade strawberry tart, not very homemade as such, just home-put-together, but still very yummy) - poor me, huh :o)
Happy of the day - Mentos do grape flavour sweeties!!! The UK shores are finally comming round to the American Dream - Grape flavour rules! Although they have included the nasty watermelon flavour as well, bleugh!
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Frustration Ahead!
There is so much stuff I'd like to warble on about, but have no idea where to begin or how polite to be! There are a couple of people around me making most of my day almost unbearable with their constant whining and complaining and trying to make themselves look like the golden girls (no, not like the tv show) with their holier than thou attitude to making themselves look good. How on earth do you tune out of it all when it's right there in your ear all day long!
Sometimes I just want to shout a. IT'S YOUR JOB, JUST GET ON WITH IT, or b. IT'S NOT YOUR JOB SO BUTT OUT OF IT!
In the spirit of being polite, I'm saying nowt, but am no doubt giving off plenty of 'vibes'
On a better note, I spent yesterday evening moving my blog from wordpress over to Blogroll and I'm so glad I did (for now anyway) since I can now edit the layout ( I just couldn't get my head round all the wordpress confusion) and finally got round to adding a header picture (like it? I knocked it up in the space of a few minutes. I just need to make a mental note to update the wee foxyman at some point as I'd assume that wee guy is protected by copyright. Will need to try and draw my own).
I setup a Bloglist as well so I can keep an eye on all the interesting blogs I've been snooping at these past few months. It amazes me how you all manage to fit everything in to your days with all that crafting and fun stuff along side jobs, housekeeping and families. I just wish I could be that organised. In my head I am, but I rarely put it into practise.
There is a creative bug in me trying to come out, but it's just not really happening. I really want to try my hand at journalling but I just end up sitting staring at a blank page for an age rather than just getting on with it and jotting down whatever springs to mind. I've got every excuse in the book at hand, but my biggest one is still 'I fear failure'. I know some months back I declared I was throwing out this thought and embracing the failure, but it never did quite happen. I have been wallpapering my living room for weeks and weeks and weeks now because 'I fear failure'. The thought of messing up the next corner holds me back from just getting on with it.
I never used to be like this, but how to recapure that 'spirit'???
Rant of the day - Don't you just hate it when people listen into your conversations and even worse when they a. butt into them or b. answer for you when they hadn't even been spoken to. It's just outright rude!
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Wednesday, 21 April 2010
21 April, 2010 15:44
Been very quiet on the crafty front of late. Two reasons for this really, one I have lacked motivation and two we blitzed the house the other night but all the junk has been dumped in the spare room (in an out of sight out of mind ploy - but in reality it's just out of sight until I need to wander into that room on a daily basis to trip over everything). We would put most of it up the loft, but at the moment we have resident starlings nesting up there and with the fear that they may have already 'done the business', we don't have the heart to evict them leaving their eggs to perish. I might watch them at some point and try to work out if they are still just building the nest in the hope that we can throw things up there.
On the plus side, the rest of the house is the most sparse it's been in near enough a year. The unecessaries laying around are all tools and stuff for the decorating plus the bikes as we currently don't have a hut.
We were supposed to have made a lot of headway with decorating the living room at the weekend there, but it was M's birthday so I was at her wee party and then W's sister, brother in law and the kids came to visit so we headed off to the beach with M in tow (to give her parents the chance to tidy up the bombsite that 5 kids managed to leave behind) and had a blast. Pizza hut for dinner was a huge let down though, the service in the Kilmarnock branch was terrible. Very very very slow and the food wasn't that great when it did finally arrive. The kids were fed up waiting on their food. W being his usual self tipped, my tip was just for them to provide a better service. I won't be going back to that branch in a hurry.
On the plus side, the rest of the house is the most sparse it's been in near enough a year. The unecessaries laying around are all tools and stuff for the decorating plus the bikes as we currently don't have a hut.
We were supposed to have made a lot of headway with decorating the living room at the weekend there, but it was M's birthday so I was at her wee party and then W's sister, brother in law and the kids came to visit so we headed off to the beach with M in tow (to give her parents the chance to tidy up the bombsite that 5 kids managed to leave behind) and had a blast. Pizza hut for dinner was a huge let down though, the service in the Kilmarnock branch was terrible. Very very very slow and the food wasn't that great when it did finally arrive. The kids were fed up waiting on their food. W being his usual self tipped, my tip was just for them to provide a better service. I won't be going back to that branch in a hurry.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Broom Broom
I'm having a far too efficient day, somethings gotta give!
I'm feeling very very tired this week which I assume is an aftermath of the weekends migraine so nothing interesting is really happening.
Bit worried about my wee car. The poor thing coughs and splutters into life when I turn the key instead of firing up no probs. Another thing to add to my dad's to do list. We are down to 1 car at the moment since W's had to be scrapped so we can't afford to loose another car. I shudder at the thought. I finally got my license in April 2008 (so why do I still have P plates on my car I hear you ask - just out of lazyness and the fact that it annoys W) and since then have had the luxury of being a free agent when it comes to getting out and about. I don't want to have to go back to relying on public transport. Getting a train to work everyday is more than enough for me, I absolutly hate buses (more so the Glasgow ones which thankfully I have no need to venture onto these days since persuading W to move away from there). I'll be keeping everything crossed that it's alright. In all honesty it's probably getting fed up of being starved of petrol, but it's far too expensive these days. When W passed his test 3 years ago it was 70 odd pence per litre, now it's up at £1.17 per litre. Daylight robbery!!! Grrr!
I'm feeling very very tired this week which I assume is an aftermath of the weekends migraine so nothing interesting is really happening.
Bit worried about my wee car. The poor thing coughs and splutters into life when I turn the key instead of firing up no probs. Another thing to add to my dad's to do list. We are down to 1 car at the moment since W's had to be scrapped so we can't afford to loose another car. I shudder at the thought. I finally got my license in April 2008 (so why do I still have P plates on my car I hear you ask - just out of lazyness and the fact that it annoys W) and since then have had the luxury of being a free agent when it comes to getting out and about. I don't want to have to go back to relying on public transport. Getting a train to work everyday is more than enough for me, I absolutly hate buses (more so the Glasgow ones which thankfully I have no need to venture onto these days since persuading W to move away from there). I'll be keeping everything crossed that it's alright. In all honesty it's probably getting fed up of being starved of petrol, but it's far too expensive these days. When W passed his test 3 years ago it was 70 odd pence per litre, now it's up at £1.17 per litre. Daylight robbery!!! Grrr!
Monday, 22 March 2010
Bleugh!
No pottering around with the resin this weekend. Went out for some housewarming drinkies on Friday evening and started to feel a bit yucky (not drink induced, I only managed 1 1/2 southern comforts) and by the end of the evening was pill popping the migraine smarties. I managed to keep going a bit though and got the living room ceiling all washed on Saturday afternoon, ready for painting, but by Sunday I was feeling really rotten and spent most of the day in bed watching Ed and Ouchos Excellent Inventions on the BBC iPlayer.
I'm obsessed with puppets/muppets. Immature? - nah!
Had no choice but to struggle on into work this morning as I'm on a warning for my attendence because of recurring migraines, and since lunchtime have been struggling a bit. I don't want to take more pills while in the office tho as I don't want to be all spaced out, but I do feel pretty sick! Looks like I'll be having an early night.
Still waiting on my vice arriving (it has been dispatched though, woohoo!), so I don't want to potter around with the demoulded pieces anyway until I get it. I have lots of ideas kicking around for more pieces, but I'm a. running out of resin, b. pretty skint, c. pretty skint even after payday comes as there are 3 birthdays in the next pay period, d. we're trying to get a move on decorating the living room so that should be my prioroty and e. I'm a bit lazy at times.
No notable antics from the kitties this weekend. Harry is enjoying his new found freedom now that the catflap is open from dawn to dusk and Oscar is being his usual grumbly self. Harry didn't appear home for a few hours on Saturday so W decided to wander round the square to look for him and found him lying in 'the enemie's' garden. We think Harry broke his hip fighting with Peter cat, but either they have called a truce and are happily co-existing in the same area or they are having a very long standoff with each other. Either way, within 10mins of being brought back to our garden, Harry trotted off, no doubt back in search of Peter cat.
I'm obsessed with puppets/muppets. Immature? - nah!
Had no choice but to struggle on into work this morning as I'm on a warning for my attendence because of recurring migraines, and since lunchtime have been struggling a bit. I don't want to take more pills while in the office tho as I don't want to be all spaced out, but I do feel pretty sick! Looks like I'll be having an early night.
Still waiting on my vice arriving (it has been dispatched though, woohoo!), so I don't want to potter around with the demoulded pieces anyway until I get it. I have lots of ideas kicking around for more pieces, but I'm a. running out of resin, b. pretty skint, c. pretty skint even after payday comes as there are 3 birthdays in the next pay period, d. we're trying to get a move on decorating the living room so that should be my prioroty and e. I'm a bit lazy at times.
No notable antics from the kitties this weekend. Harry is enjoying his new found freedom now that the catflap is open from dawn to dusk and Oscar is being his usual grumbly self. Harry didn't appear home for a few hours on Saturday so W decided to wander round the square to look for him and found him lying in 'the enemie's' garden. We think Harry broke his hip fighting with Peter cat, but either they have called a truce and are happily co-existing in the same area or they are having a very long standoff with each other. Either way, within 10mins of being brought back to our garden, Harry trotted off, no doubt back in search of Peter cat.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Shiney Shiney
So after visiting my friends swanky new house (which really is lovely), I ran home to check how my top coat of resin looked and was pretty dissapointed. They have all went a little bit bumpy, and in a couple of cases it has messed up the overall look as the bumps cast awkward shadows into the pendants. Overall I don't think it's an 'epic fail' though, just a minor irritant. Next time I think I'll try the heat gun just after painting the layer to get rid of any pesky tiny bubbles that I don't see at the time, it certainly seems to work on the layers that I cast.
I have the decision now of leaving them as they are, or trying to sand them down and put another wee coat on them. The perfectionist in me wants them smooth and shiny but the realist in me says it's never gonna happen. I might try it on the worst one first and see how it goes.
Harry has his vet appointment today. I'm stuck in work so am waiting on a phonecall from W to see how it goes. I'm assuming they will be pretty happy with his progress but keep him on his pain killers for now. He jumped up on the kitchen worktop the other day and has scaled a tree in recent days, a sure fire sign that he's getting stronger. He had struggled to jump on anything higher than the couch ever since his op.
He never used to mind going to the vets, but he's not so keen anymore. I think he may have seen it on the calender as this morning he was not in either of his usual places when I woke up, instead he was chilled out in his bed on the couch, paws in the air, dreaming of his 'happy place'.
Oscar had a pretty low key evening. Must be regaining his strength for more hunting!
I have the decision now of leaving them as they are, or trying to sand them down and put another wee coat on them. The perfectionist in me wants them smooth and shiny but the realist in me says it's never gonna happen. I might try it on the worst one first and see how it goes.
Harry has his vet appointment today. I'm stuck in work so am waiting on a phonecall from W to see how it goes. I'm assuming they will be pretty happy with his progress but keep him on his pain killers for now. He jumped up on the kitchen worktop the other day and has scaled a tree in recent days, a sure fire sign that he's getting stronger. He had struggled to jump on anything higher than the couch ever since his op.
He never used to mind going to the vets, but he's not so keen anymore. I think he may have seen it on the calender as this morning he was not in either of his usual places when I woke up, instead he was chilled out in his bed on the couch, paws in the air, dreaming of his 'happy place'.
Oscar had a pretty low key evening. Must be regaining his strength for more hunting!
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Me and my vices
I spent last night sanding any successful castings, but can't quite get the near perfect edges I would like - especially on the round pieces. Maybe I'm hoping for the impossible, maybe the rotary tool is too powerful for such a delicate job or maybe I just don't have the patience for it. Anyhoo, I sanded them all to a tolerable finish (only messing up 1 by hacking a chunk out of it) and painted on a nice glossing coat of resin to make them all shiny. So far so good, but who wants to take bets on how many I mess up when I drill holes in them!
K now knows I have made one specially for her, but I have made sure it has not been in any of the pics she has seen of them and she is definetly intruiged.
I ordered a Dremel multi vice yesterday in the hope that it will make sanding and drilling easier, but it could take up to 10 days to arrive. I want it today, Grrr! I was going to buy a £10 hobby vice from Homebase, but while browsing around to make sure it was what I wanted, I chanced across the Dremel. It's £30, but I was sold on it's tilt abilities and rubber grips (I found it for £27 pluc £4.99 postage and packing).
Oscar is back on the hunt again after a months break. A wee vole met it's maker yesterday afternoon, the poor wee soul.
Harry has his vet checkup tomorrow. He's still limping too much for our liking, but I figure it's still normal at this stage. He's still on his daily painkillers, but is getting out for a run around for about an hour or two in the morning and another hour in the late afternoon. He had got used to being stuck indoors in the months after having his hip removed, but now when I get up each morning I find him keeping vigil by the catflap waiting on his morning jaunt.
My friend is moving house today, my other half has been roped into helping with the flit. I can't wait to see it, this has been over a year in the planning. It's a new build 3 storey, 4 bedroom house, and from what I have seen so far, looks lovely. I'm jealous and excited for them. Will be great to see how excited and proud M is at having her very own bedroom and a secure garden to run riot in. I'll be going for a tour after dinner <note to self - get a card!>.
K now knows I have made one specially for her, but I have made sure it has not been in any of the pics she has seen of them and she is definetly intruiged.
I ordered a Dremel multi vice yesterday in the hope that it will make sanding and drilling easier, but it could take up to 10 days to arrive. I want it today, Grrr! I was going to buy a £10 hobby vice from Homebase, but while browsing around to make sure it was what I wanted, I chanced across the Dremel. It's £30, but I was sold on it's tilt abilities and rubber grips (I found it for £27 pluc £4.99 postage and packing).
Oscar is back on the hunt again after a months break. A wee vole met it's maker yesterday afternoon, the poor wee soul.
Harry has his vet checkup tomorrow. He's still limping too much for our liking, but I figure it's still normal at this stage. He's still on his daily painkillers, but is getting out for a run around for about an hour or two in the morning and another hour in the late afternoon. He had got used to being stuck indoors in the months after having his hip removed, but now when I get up each morning I find him keeping vigil by the catflap waiting on his morning jaunt.
My friend is moving house today, my other half has been roped into helping with the flit. I can't wait to see it, this has been over a year in the planning. It's a new build 3 storey, 4 bedroom house, and from what I have seen so far, looks lovely. I'm jealous and excited for them. Will be great to see how excited and proud M is at having her very own bedroom and a secure garden to run riot in. I'll be going for a tour after dinner <note to self - get a card!>.
Testing Testing 1, 2, 3
I'm just testing out blogging through email, aka - the lazy way to update my blog. Maybe this will help me post more often as I can get a tad lazy at logging in ;)
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