GUARDIAN OF THE DOG ROLLS.

Every week our daughter Penny gets us a box of dog rolls from Tesco when she does her weekly shop.

We can't get them in a shop near us and they are really heavy for us to carry.

These are for the foxes who visit each night, not a dog. 

Bo, daughter's dog has decided that he'd better look after them until she can bring them over. 

Not sure why he looks as though he has one eye bigger than the other, lol

CAR BOOT SALES

Over the years Tom and I must have gone to hundreds of car boot sales and I can point to so many things in our home that have been bought there.

One of the things that I bought many years ago was a cupboard that cost me only £5.00.

Here it is in all its glory and I love it as much today as when I saw it laying on the ground waiting for a buyer.

It is completely hand made from various woods and written on the back  are the woods used in the making.

The sides are Chestnut.

The doors are Elm.

The back is walnut and the shelves are Beech.

Even the hinges are hand made and very basic but functional.

What made me blog about this cupboard?

This caught my eye this morning. lol

A spider has decided to make his web across the hole in the door and me hating housework anyway will not be removing it any time soon.

Stay safe little spider.

PRINTER WOES.

I have a fairly old Epson xp215 printer that is a bit temperamental but is still working.

The good thing about this printer is that I can buy new cartridges from Ebay at a smidgen the price that the proper cartridges cost and they work perfectly.

£35.48 for 4 Correct cartridges.

£10.99 for 14 Ebay compatible cartridges.

I have been using these for several years with no detrimental effects on the printer.

Of course there is a  little box that pops up tells me that I am not using the correct ones but I ignore it.

This printer is upstairs together with my old desktop along with my craft stuff but sometimes when I am downstairs on my other (how lucky am I to have 2 desktop computer's, lol) I want to print downstairs.

So I bought a relatively cheap printer for downstairs thinking that I could again get cheap ink.

Oh no, I cannot find compatible ink anywhere and am not prepared to pay an arm and a leg for the recommended stuff.

The manufacturers have cottoned on and are making it difficult to find compatible ink for the new printers.

So I connected the upstairs one to WIFI but am having all sorts of trouble. 

Sometimes it behaves and sometimes it doesn't, causing me to keep going upstairs to see what is happening.

Thank goodness for  a stair lift or I might possibly have expired by now, lol

Why is printer ink so expensive?

Because they know that we can't do without it .

Finally, thank you for all the lovely comments yesterday.

I know we are not the only one's coping with problems and life isn't easy when you are 'mature' and have various bits falling off. lol

XXXX

HOW ARE YOU TODAY?

Everywhere we go from meeting friends to the supermarket and on the phone people always ask, 'How are you today'  and I always say, 'Fine thank you'.

But the reality is that often I am lying.

Sometimes I would like to say that I am on the edge and feel like running away from our situation, or that actually I feel like bursting out in tears, but I don't.

I often wonder what people would do if I was truthful and said that I felt miserable and frightened about our future, because I often do.

I have in the past once or twice said how I really felt and was met with awkwardness from the person who didn't quite know how to respond.

With Tom's illness it's hard to accept what is happening and just because he is 80 and I am 74 does not mean that we are ready to lay down and die.

We still feel like we used to and have things that we would like to achieve, even if some of them are now impossible.

What about you.

Do you feel this way sometimes.

I SAVED THE DAY

WARNING

Anyone who hates snails, do not read as you will think I am bonkers.

During the hot weather we have put out a bowl of water for the seagulls and the foxes to drink from.

This morning when I looked out a snail was merrily making his way down into the water.

Oh, how cute I thought, he is having a drink.

But the fact was he couldn't stop, like on an icy path he was sliding to his doom.

I only notice this when I looked out for a second time and saw him submerged.

I got my crusader cape on and flew out of the back door and rescued him, putting him back on the ivy.

And in case you've never seen it before, here is a snail saying 'thank you' with a smile. lol

and wending his way merrily back to all his snail brothers and sisters.

My ivy is a snail sanctuary.

I was surprised when reading comments on the last post about catnip that some people did not know the effect it has on cats.

I found this piece on the internet that explains it fully.

A cat's behavior can change dramatically when they are introduced to catnip. ... Catnip also seems to make most cats more playful and more interested in toys. After a certain amount of time, cats under the influence of catnip seem to calm down and get sluggish and sleepy. Catnip has been found to be relatively harmless.

I do not give it to them often simply because of the effect but I took the box out of the drawer to put a bit in the crochet mouse and they were there like a shot, lol

Wish is worked on humans, we could both roll about having fun and then zonk out, lol

DRUG ADDICTS AND ROOT

I blogged about the Acanthus that had broken and I had put into water hoping to get some roots grow.

I omitted to say that there was some root already on it.

I bet you must have though me a dodo to think that roots could grow from a flower stem. lol

This is the bit of root that broke off.

Now what do you think the chances are of me getting roots if I leave it in water?

I was making another mouse and decided to put a little bit of catnip inside.

When I get the box of catnip out and even before I have removed the lid they all appear from nowhere.

Their sense of smell must be awesome.

Then the 'smelly bags' were distributed to each cat and there was lots of drooling and rolling around as if in ecstacy. 

I keep the bags that are also filled in the box so that they are impregnated with the smell.

We now have 5 zonked out cats. lol

I NEED FINGER EXTENSIONS

I'm still battling on with the Ukulele and really enjoying it.

I have a few chords now that I can play with ease and a lot of songs use just these so my warbling is coming along nicely, lol

But when it comes to more intricate chords my fingers are just not long enough to get where they should be.

Maybe in time I'll stretch them and be able to reach but at the moment I just can't see how that will come about.

Really pleased that the weather has cooled down, we have both been flaked out with the heat not able to do much at all.

Today though, we went and did a bit of shopping and felt better for being out.

Those of you who thought that the plant in the alley was an Acanthus were right, the flower has come right out now but unfortunately it has broken off.

I've put it in water and am hoping that it will grow some roots, then I can plant it in the garden.

Anyone know if this is possible or am I on a wild goose chase waiting for roots. lol

I'm making mice in between trying to finish my cat cushion.

I am putting a bell inside.

As you can see, this one is already getting mangled. lol

They really love them.

Have a good weekend

x

I LOOKED AHEAD

Remembering what the summers have been like recently and knowing how hot we get I decided to get a new fan well in advance of the hot weather.

I've been waiting to use it and its proving to be worth the outlay.

The best thing about this fan is that it has a remote control so I can lay in bed and turn it on and off or change the speed.

It has dual rotations up and down and side to side, a timer and can easily be carried from room to room by a handle that flattens on top.

It was a little bit more expensive than a normal fan but well worth the extra.

Princess lays on my bed all day and has given her nod of approval.

Note the casual paws.

29 SECONDS, GOOD READ

I felt I had to share this book with you as it kept me up into the night it was so good.

Give me one name. One person. And I will make them disappear . . .

When Sarah rescues a young girl in trouble, she expects nothing in return. But her act of bravery puts a powerful and dangerous man in her debt. He lives by his own brutal code, and all debts must be repaid - in the only way he knows how.

He offers Sarah a way to solve a desperate situation with her intolerable boss. A once-in-a-lifetime deal that will make all her problems disappear.

No consequences. No comeback. No chance of being found out.

All it takes is a 29 second phone call.

BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS A NAME TO GIVE. DON'T THEY?

I read another one of this author called 'The Holiday' and enjoyed it but this one was even better.

Give it  a try.