The day after a very sad day....

Thank you so much for your kind comments - it has been a really difficult day....not much sleep last night as DD spent most of it crying. Night time is always worst, that's when cats snuggle up in bed with you isn't it. I kept DD out of school today as I knew she would be tired and teary, and she would have been sent home anyway, and also we had to take Maddie to the vets to be cremated. That was so sad, our little baby....DD chose a toy for Maddie to take with her. Sadly the vets nurse was very brusque


Her: Are you a client?
Us: Er yes! DH just called you to make sure it was ok to come over!
and what does it matter at this moment in time, just deal with the situation appropriately - can't you see how upset my 14 year old daughter is?????


Us: Can Maddie take this toy with her?
Her: Sigh - I'll have to out it in the bag with her
Us: (silently) and your problem with this is what exactly?????? just let Maddie take it with her

Her: So you want the casket?
Us: Can we have her ashes in a simple wooden box?
Her: That is the casket!
Us: Oh ok - Can you make sure that the casket has her family name on it - Maddie McGee. (Not her real family name, but you know, her "family" name!)
Her: They will probably put your surname on it too.
Us: Do they have to? Can they not just put Maddie McGee on it?
Her: NO

Her: They will take her today, and you can pick her up next Monday afternoon, we'll call you.


Yes, normally I would have said something, but it wasn't appropriate, though they may well be getting a letter, epecially given how much they will charge us!


Anyway, she has gone, and it was a teary day.


DH went back to work, and DD and I went off and had some breakfast and talked about Maddie. Bought some net for DD to complete a college project - a skirt thing that will be photod when it is finished, and we picked up a little gift for Archie and Pumpkin - a little catnip filled treat that sent Pumpkin into an eye rolling frenzy, she tried to pin it down to get the "cat-crack" out. We think Archie has lost his sense of smell, it completely passed him by hee hee!


Here's P after her complete lack of decorum

She wore herself out.....
and here she is cuddling her new toy, or should that be hanging onto it for grim death so no-one could possibly nick it I think she needs to go on a diet, or maybe it was a bad angle - yeah right!

Although all in all it was a really crappy weekend, we lost our baby, and I wasn't there to protect her, some good did happen:

We went to a Naming Day for our very good friends daughter. It was like spending a day with family (but the kind you choose, if you know what I mean ;-) so it was very special in a very good way). And then yesterday morning my sister called to see what we were up to, which was strange as we nearly drove to theirs without calling beforehand to say hi as it is my nephews 6th birthday tomorrow (15th). Yay Happy Birthday - 6th already, wow!!!! Anyway luckily they called otherwise we may have crossed somewhere, not realised and then called each other to see where the others were!! They sat and were very polite about DD and DHs 1000+ photos of the trip to NY, Memphis and Nashville. Alex then pronounced it VERY boring, could he play on the Wii, to which the answer was no as DD was using it to show the photos on - did you know those things take a camera memory card. Poor lad - 800+ is bad enough at 40, but at 3......it look nearly his entire life time to sit through it.

Then we took the boys and DD out for a walk, and played with a fab aeroplaney thing, can you tell BIL is in the Air Force??????? And yes, he did eventually let the boys play with it...eventually......

It flew far, and it flew high, so much so that it had to be retrieved from a tree! And we all had a go, even DH (who I think might quite like one of his own)We walked past the theatre - the RSC, which is being gutted at the mo
and yes, we have also lost all of our trees - we are a very beautiful town to visit! Don't bother bringing your camera, just buy old photos, then you will see what we should look like! The boys enjoyed a ride on the merry-go-rounds and then it was all back to ours for a cuppa before they went home.EDITED: the knitting bit has been taken out and posted as a seperate post above.........

A very sad day

we lost Maddie. She was hit by a car outside our house. They didn't stop and we have lost our baby.

Thank you for sharing your short life with us. We love you x

I have now lost DD and DH...

It seems that they missed their flight from Memphis to Newark and so missed their flight home....DD rang at 00.17am to tell me. I woke up suddenly and was a little disorientated to say the least. I don;t even know why I had taken the phone to bed - spooky!!....she was sooooo excited, 1 more night in New York - I think it comes under the adage of careful what you wish for!!

Needless to say DH was a little pissed off. The luggage had already gone through and should now be sitting in our local airport, so they only have hand luggage - so I guess DD gets to shop AGAIN!! DH had had a run-in with the car hire company in Memphis over payment - they had double charged him and to be honest I wasn't taking it all in as I was still half asleep, all I heard was blah, blah, blah $400 blah blah blah $800 blah blah blah fax machine blah blah blah pre-paid voucher and then he said oh what time is it with you? Is it late?.....and all I could get from DD was talk of a voucher for a cab and a voucher for a hotel in New York...I may never see her again!!

GOOD NEWS......

...she shot through the cat flap at 9am.....she smelt of car oil, and her coat was unloved, but she is back! I got a collar on her immediately, and she had some breakfast and went back out....she has spent the day so far rolling in the gutter intimidating the passing cars....she likes to roll in the dust and then bring it into the house (dust and an air of intimidation)..... She won't stop in, she isn't relaxing in the house and won't sleep inside BUT she is back. I am still getting lots of phone calls from neighbours enquiring if she is back, and there have been various meetings on the street of different people asking and then giving her lots of cuddles (when they can catch her!). I have never spoken to so many people on this estate in the whole 10 years I have lived here.
Thank you all so much for your vibes and good wishes, it was great to know that there is so much support and it never fails to amaze me, the power of the vibes! THANK YOU!

The camera is back tomorrow so I can post piccies of the girls and they can wave their thanks too.

Pinkphish - thanks again for your continued support, sounds like a cuppa at the Woolfest, what do you reckon??

Weezalana - Goodness me your locator vibes are GOOD!!

Knittingozfan - Thank you ;-)

Bezzie - The family should be with you about 3.10 this afternoon and then leaving about 7pm. They promise to wave as they go over, and no I didn't sleep much either!

Jo - Thanks, it certainly worked.

Diane - Thank you so much for your good wishes. I am just over the river, and there have been lots of cats disappearing from the new estates round here....luckily on this occasion things worked out ok. But there seem to be so many people in the same boat but sadly don't get the happy end that I did.

This is NOT a good day...

we are one cat down! Pumpkin went out about 8pm last night and hasn't come home! Both the Rumpies are normally in and cuddled up for the night then, and very rarely go out that late, and if they do it is for a few minutes. It was horrible going to bed last night knowing that she wasn't in. Archie doesn't seem to have noticed, but Maddie is completely out of sorts and subdued. We (Mad and me) have leafleted the neighbours, I have called all the vets, and the local resuce place. The good thing is that there doesn't appear to be anything nasty that has happened on the streets around the area, but there is no sign of her.
The night before she went out late and came back late without her collar, but she seemed ok otherwise...she came in, settled down and life went on as normal. When I was gardening yesterday I kept an eye out for her collar but there was no sign in the garden or on the road near the house..then this morning as Mad and I were walking the street and calling her, I found her collar on the road in front of the house, but her name tag and bell are missing! Oh, I am beside myself, DD and DH are back Friday morning and I really hope that Pumpkin is back by then. One of the Rumps was spotted in a field some way away, but the neighbour who spotted her said she was wearing a collar, but I will go and leaflet that street too.
Please keep your fingers crossed, and send vibes that she comes home soon - DD has bought her a new collar from her holidays and is looking forward to getting home and putting it on her...I am such a bad cat-mum :(

Another fantastic day...

this weather is wonderful. So what did I do with my beautifully weathered day...
Well today it was the turn of the "spare room" to be done...but it was done so quickly I took on the bathroom too, and threw out all the out of date things in the cabinet. So now the cabinet is empty and we need to go shopping for plasters, depilatory (sp??) cream, dry skin creams, sterile gauze and all the other things I didn't know we had in the house, as we now have none - it all got thrown out as the expiry dates were generally last century!! And then, it was onto cleaning the loo - goodness it was a heady day!
I popped round to the neighbours with a bottle of champagne as they had some good news to celebrate. Why is it that we can live next door to people and not speak for months at a time - hopefully this will change now the clocks have altered. No more going to work in the dark/coming home in the dark for 7 months - yay!!!!!!!
DD and DH called from Memphis. They were off to do a few touristy bits including going to the Gibson Guitar Factory (well that is what they said), DD was very excited (not), but I am sure she would have enjoyed it really. They seem to be having a really good time, and I think DD wants to emigrate, although telling her I have exorcised the dust elepahants she is also keen to get back to see what I have done. They also spotted a celeb at the Grand Old Opry...a judge from the X Factor or Strictly Ballroom or something like that, DD wasn't too sure but did recognise his face...I am sure I will get the lowdown on Friday morning when they get back...

off for more knitting, I love these socks, they are looking fab though they are a little slow (or maybe that is me).

Someone told the planet it is summer!

What a fabulous day - the weather is glorious - blue skies, slight summery breeze, sun shining, the leaves and flowers are all coming out. It is beautiful!
And for some bizarre reason I was up at 5.30am - me! 5.30am!! (it is 6.30am new time), but dear god 5.30am!!!
I was down the garage at 6.00am (7am) buying the Sunday paper and cat food. I took Danni down, I was worried when she wouldn't start but after a few attempts and asking the universe to help us out, she did and we ventured out - for any one that knows me you will know this was a major feat! AND I DID IT!
When Danni and I got back The Rumpies (can you see what we do in this house? yes that is right EVERTHING gets a name) and I then sat in bed with a cuppa and read the papers - front to back/cover to cover, and then I got on and did DDs bedroom - dear god did I do her bedroom.
She left for her holiday on the understanding that she had "done" her bedroom. But obviously our definitions vary slightly. Her definition seems to be tidy the main carpeted area and vaccum that bit, I see it as blitzing the lot and chucking out the crap, pulling it all out giving it a really good dust and then vacuum round, so I thought I was going in to clean her window and vacuum - I was also going to hang the curtains that I bought 6 months ago, but weren't going to go up until she had cleaned out her room....hhhmmm I knew the edges of the carpet wouldn't be done as DD is scared of the noise of the Dyson, but it turned out that various other bits hadn't been done either. Anyway, 4 hours later IT IS DONE, and the curtains are up, and I have bought her some lights which look like white blosom, so all in all it is looking very girly. I may wel photo it, as I am sure it won't last long despite the nagging.
We aren't talking dust bunnies! When I pulled out the table that has her TV etc on, I got trampled by a herd of escaping dust elephants...the Dyson was emptied twice, and her room really isn't that big.
Anyway, my chore for the day is done, I am now planning on making a cuppa and getting on with the socks. I can't wait to get my camera and show you these socks, they rock!

Thank God for tonight!

The clocks go forward! So I guess tonight is almost officially the last day of Winter??
The weather is crap - grey, wet and windy - should I be surprised, I do live in England...so what to do at 5.40pm after watching the Boat Race...Open the wine, reheat the remains of last night's chinese and toast the end of the miserable season - yay to an extra hour....surely things can only get brighter from here?




Knitting Update - cos I do you know...I have cast on #3 for DHs sox...they have been jaywalkers twice, and toe-up jaywalkers once....they are currently taking on the form of these


off to partake of "fuck off shitty season!" winefest celebration....tomorrow will only be better!

UPDATE - I think these socks will stick, they are looking good already...and the family said they will wave on the way over on Thursday - they have a 2 hour stopover in Newark

One week on...

well, they have been gone a week. What has gone on in my life as I live be myself and can't be bothered to cook properly but have installed the red wine and maltesers??? I have become THAT crazy cat lady from the Simpsons. You know the one, wild grey hair (me not the Rumpies yet) and cats stuck on me all over my smelly old coat eek! Why do I fit the description of CCL so well....well, The Rumpies have started walking me to the bus stop in the morning - they sit by my feet, wait for me to get on the bus, wait for the bus to start moving and then they go home! And this evening I was met by Miss Pumpkin Rumpy. God knows how long she had been waiting in the bushes, as the buses come by every 20 minutes aaawwwww!!!! They are soooooo sweet......
ALSO Having washed the cat beds this weekend, every wash that has since come out of the machine since has come out covered in cat hair, depite running the "fluff removal" programme a gazilion times, but I guess it is fluff removal NOT cat hair removal. I have started talking to them - in THAT way, as in expecting them to answer, and being surprised when they don't.
I am also watching Most Haunted Live, eating too much chocolate and still using the dishwasher(!!??).....BUT and this may be TMI I still haven't used a whole loo roll yet, yet when the family is here we would be on number 10 at least by now, and I haven't managed to fill a supermarket bag with rubbish yet - so why is it me x3 can create so much more rubbish!! But no knitting in the evening!?!? I am spending too long catching up with blogs, surfing t'internet and watching shite TV

I am in lurve.....

but what do I lurve more, my new pomatomus socks that I have just this second finished, or my harmony DPNs that I have knitted them on - yes, yes I bought the DPNs too (had to be done) . Damn, but these sox look fab - I have knitted them in hot pink and they fit like they were knitted just for me <3 Actually they are for DD but when she tried on #1 she declared it too small, so they may just be for me - swoon! No piccies though :( but why not I hear you ask......it is because my camera is currently in Memphis with DD, DH and MIL....it has just travelled down from a 2 day stopover in NY (they all waved to Bezzie when they were there) and it is currently being employed in Graceland. This weekend it will travel onto Nashville before at some point comingback with at least 999 photos (none of which will be duplicated of course). It is very strange being at home just me and the team (Archie and the Rumpies)...oh and 1 dead mouse (so far). Waving them off was very strange...I went back to bed and cried, but maybe that was because it was 4am and I had to go to work at 8am. DD and DH would be crap as Santa, they got up at 3am and stomped around with the stage whispers of "shhhh, don't wake mum" which obviously did. I went to work at 7.20am - what else do you do when you have to go to work at some point -if I picked up my knitting I would never have got to work. This weekend is a long one - which means I managed to get these sox finished (finally, a pair of sox, 2, left AND right). My sister keeps phoning saying things like, "what do you mean you haven't seen another human being all day", "have you really not left the house!!!!", "you are what!!!! knitting!!!!", " have you not left the house at all".
I can happily answer that no I have not really left the house:
I work bloody hard all year and it is good to just sit and enjoy peace and quiet in the place where I CHOOSE to live.
I have enjoyed catching up on the housework (a bit every day - today I steamed a carpet, it looks like new, what is not to love)
I am enjoying spending time with the cats who have chosen to live with us, they are good company
I am enjoying watching shite TV all day as I sit and knit
I am enjoying getting up when I want to, and having a pyjama day
I am enjoying having the time to knit
I am loving catching up with Knitty and Ravelry
I am enjoying updating the Yay-Pod
I am enjoying reading and catching up with blogs I have fallen behind with....

In other words I am enjoying spending time doing what I want to do, where I want to do it, when I want to do it......... and I can do it all again tomorrow

But it is odd lying in bed in an empty house (of humans, not furry friends), thinking about my family being half way round the world....BUT we have email, we have phones and we are keeping in touch. And I also have furry friends freaking out at 4am, cos another furry beast is trying to get into the cat flap....well I was woken by growling, I ran downstairs and found the Rumps pinned to the walls in the hall with fear, and Archie all hackled up looking twice is normal size (normal is fucking enormous, so imagine what I witnessed....) and growling for all he was worth, with the catflap swinging....who needs dogs :)

Tomorrow I begin Jaywalker #2 for DH...I may just rip the first one as it was finished oooohhhhh a long time ago.....in fact, do I even know where it is....but apparently his team is relying on Jaywalker 2 to stay up in the Premier League (good sign this weekend, they had a good result and other teams have good result for them too, and all because I knew that #2 was about to hit the Harmonies).


The football was the first thing DH asked me about when he called me from Newark............happy days!

Cheers and Happy Easter! Cheers, as I have found a bottle of Disarronno that would be rude to ignore now I have dusted it off, and Happy Easter cos the Bunny found me, decorated my tree and left me a chocolate bunny, which sadly is no more.....