HECTOR

 On a previous blog, the one with the cats chilling out to classical music , Sandra mentioned that she could see 4 cats in the picture.

She was right of course as there is another one sitting on the fire.

This isn't a real one but has the name of Hector.

He is pottery and I bought him for about 17 shillings old money way back in the late 60's in the Lanes of Brighton.

I remember that I didn't really have the money buy it but I scraped enough together and splashed out. I've never regretted it.

That was before decimal money came into existence and they are now selling for anything from £70 upwards.

He has glass eyes and people often comment that it looks as though he is following you around the room. lol

I could never part with him as he's been with me so long and the fire is the safest place for him to sit, one of the places that the furry menaces do not go.

I have seen lots of these cats recently but none of them have the finish of this one and are probably mass produced.

We actually got to visit the place where he was made in Norfolk where Jenny Winstanley who was the originator and maker of these cats.  Sadly she is no longer with us as she died in 2004 but we were able to see the exact place where Hector began his life.

Her son is now carrying on the business and exports all over the world but I'm proud to have one of the first of the many cats she made and Hector has the no 40 on his underside quite possibly referring to being the 40th made with this mold.

RELAXING

 

Yorkshire Pudding, found here https://beefgravy.blogspot.com/, a blog worth reading, asked me how Tom and I relax.

Toms is one of those people who can easily just sit and watch the comings and goings of people, do his tapestry  or  read a book and be quite happy.

When he has been in  Hospital (and he's been in there many times,lol) he was often asked if he was okay as he was so quiet. 

I on the other hand have a mind full of rubbish and I add to it daily until such a time comes when I have to retreat from everything and take stock.

I've just had a break from blogging for a  few days as I'd got to that overflow stage again.

We have a lot to contend with concerning Tom's illness and other general worries of life that come with age and sometimes it all gets too much.

Crafting is my outlet and if I can do something creative I know that I will feel better.

What about you?

Do you ever get to overload?

CLASSICAL MUSIC FOR BABIES

 

How to relax your cats, put classical music for babies on Youtube, lol

NIGHTMARE BEDTIMES

 We are starting a new regime at night for the pesky cats.

Lately it has been really getting to us the messing about with food at the end of the day when all we want to do it go to bed.

Rupert needs to have the laxative in his food to avoid fur balls, Rowan like her dish of food on the top of 3 stairs that go through the flat and Polly has hers in the bathroom with the door shut.  The reason being that when she had the kittens (12 years ago) they always pinched her food, thus she always ate in the bathroom,  (I know, we are mad).

Rupert often will not eat his own and jumps off the table (where he usually eats, I know we are mad) to get to the other dishes, this worries us as we don't want him to be ill with a fur ball as the other dishes do not have laxative on them.

ARE YOU KEEPING UP?

So the decision is to put a small amount of the liquid laxative in all 5 dishes of food and throw them down (not literally, although we feel like this sometimes) and let them get on with it.

Now we are just hoping that the laxative doesn't work toooooooo well and we end up with 5 cats with diarrhea. lol

I can hear some of you saying 'why do you not feed them earlier'?

The reason for this is that if they are fed too early, when it is time for bed they start cavorting and causing problems.  Feeding them late means they all settle down for the night and we can sleep easy.

PHEW!

I KNOW WE ARE MAD.

YUK, BUT I AM SO HAPPY

 Last night Rupert was not bothered about eating, not to worry though as it was quite hot and the others were not too bothered about food.

This morning though he still didn't eat much.

This afternoon he coughed this up.

sorry if it is a bit distasteful but I can't tell you how happy this makes me.

It is a fur ball 3 inches long.

This means that we can sleep easy for a while knowing that nothing is stuck inside.

I'm not really a worrier but I do worry about Rupert. All the time he's eating and drinking we know all is well but when he gets mopey and picky I worry.

So, yes, I'm a happy bunny right now. lol

SLEEPING ON THE FLOOR

 Last night I was due to sleep on the floor on just the mattress.

The reason being that I needed to clear my bedroom in readiness for my new double bed. Whoopeee.

We managed to slide the single bed down the stairs to enable us to give the bedroom a good clean and make it easier for the delivery men to take the old one away.

Here it stands waiting to be taken away.  Just to be used on the floor for the one night.

The base is outside the kitchen.  A bit of a squash to get by but not for long.

Tom sleeps downstairs and I sleep upstairs, lots of reasons, but snoring from both of us is one and I get hot and like to move about a lot.

 I have been sleeping in a single bed but with my joints giving me jip it is difficult to turn over without having to pull some part of me the wrong way and get pain. With a double bed, if I sleep in the middle I shall be able to roll either side with no fear of falling out, lol

AMENDMENT TO ABOVE

Whilst sitting watching tv last evening I saw an enormous spider scurry across the carpet and disappear under the sofa.

I have nothing against spiders and would not kill one but this one was BIG.

Whoaa...I did't fancy sleeping on the floor with that around. My mind had it crawling across my face in the night.

So, we decided to take the mattress back upstairs.

Not so easy.

The end result was that Tom pushed and I pulled and Tom almost died on me.

He shouldn't have attempted it but he did and ended up almost keeling over for lack of breath.

It was quite frightening to watch and we had to wait for the oxygen to get going before he felt okay again.

We both realise that he shouldn't do these things but when you've been a big strong man it's hard to accept that even pushing a mattress is too much.

Lesson learnt though, no more strenuous escapades. 

Another adjustment for being a senior.  There have been lots over the past couple of years and there's nothing that can be done but accept them.

UPDATE

New bed is in place and looks and feels great.

Only worry was that the delivery men said to let it air for a few hours to get rid of the chemicals that are on it regarding fire retardant.

Don't like the sound of that much but guess its the norm now.

I DON'T LIKE DRIVING

 I learnt to drive way back in the early 70's and although it's come in handy lots of times I really do not like driving.

I'm a nosy person and I like to look around while driving and that's not good is it? lol

Tom on the other hand is quite happy to drive and at 80 years old I consider him to still be a very good attentive driver, (I'm keeping an eye on the situation, lol)

I'm not sure what would happen if neither of us could drive, we would be housebound and that's not good.

But for now we'll just keep going until we have to stop.

For the past two days we have taken advantage of the 'Governments Eat Out to Help Out' scheme and I have not had to cook or do any washing so that can't be bad. 

There's about another 2 weeks to go so will definitely do a few more eating out days.

Not sure how this equates with them wanting to eliminate obesity, I'm sure lots of people are filling up on burgers etc. but then the Government is totally confusing me lately over so many things.

OLD FILMS

 The TV hasn't been up to much for such a long time now, we struggle to find more than one thing a day that interests us.  We don't sit down to watch until about 9 p.m. each evening as I'm usually doing crochet or some other thing and Tom is also occupied.

We have Netflix and Amazon Prime kindly paid for by our Grandson and his girlfriend and you would think that was enough to keep us going, but it was not until recently that this old girl realised that lurking in the background of these apps are hundreds of other films, not just the ones that are readily advertised when you open up. duh.

All of the films so far, even though we have seen them before came back really fresh and we couldn't remember much about them (this could just be old age, lol)

Since finding this I now know that if you put in a particular actor it will provide you with a list of their films to choose from, or if you can remember a film from the past that you enjoyed you can look for it.

If its not on one it is possibly on the other, either Netflix or Amazon.

This has opened up a plethora of films and we are no longer at a loss when 9 p.m. comes along each evening.

You have to be a bit careful though as some films although old they still want you to pay for, but there are enough to keep us going for months.

Recently watched

Jesus Christ Superstar.  Brilliant even though way back from the 70's

Scent of a Woman.  Again so enjoyable.

Terminal.  Tom Hanks.

Payback.  Mel Gibson

The Jackal.  Bruce Willis

Just five of the films that we have already enjoyed and lots more to go.

Whoopeee!

 

Back after a break.

I have not blogged for a while due to overload of almost everything.

I'm sick and tired of listening, reading, hearing and watching anything to do with the 'Virus'.

Every blog is mentioning it and I don't need to be reminded.  I know its there but I have to get on with other things and have my own opinions of the b thing.

Life it difficult enough when you reach a certain age and every day is a slog.  Health takes its toll and knowing that time is not on your side is difficult to get to grips with.  The recent heatwave just about bought us both to a standstill and not being able to function even at our usual snail pace was frustrating.

It's not always easy to be upbeat and positive even on the blog so I thought the best thing was to give it a break.  I've done that and am now starting afresh.

The cats are all fine and glad not to have to lay still like sausages each day waiting for the evening to come for a bit of cool. lol

Tom was actually not bad with the breathing throughout, it's the damp and heavy weather that affects him most, so we were at least grateful for that.   My joints on the other hand didn't like the heat at all and are still giving me jip.  A visit to actually talk to a doctor about the situation would maybe help but it seems we are all doomed to only be able to discuss things over the telephone and I'm not sure how a Doctor can diagnose properly without actually seeing you.

But

On the bright side, I am making bunting.

6 down and 4 to go should do it.

I plan to put it around my mantelpiece

 

Here it is with the tassels attached. 

Find the pattern here

http://www.lululoves.co.uk/item/crochet-pattern-boho-bunting.html

SMILING BO

Here's Bo just back from the groomers.

Does he look as though he is smiling to you?