How long is a piece of string?

Good morning, I am pleased to report sunshine. It's cold, but sunny with only a wisp of fluffy white cloud in the sky. Funny how it changes overnight. The country was being battered by winds as I went to bed and when I woke up all is calm. Amazing. 

After getting the kids breakfast, cats always eat before me, I took my mug of coffee upstairs to see to George. He is in the habit of scoffing his food overnight, all the dishes were empty. I put his Felix down and escaped out of the door with his litter box while he was distracted. So far he hasn't tried to escape. You have to be so careful with cats who have to stay indoors, they become curious about the outside world, and eventually try and make a dash for it. 

Although cats are independent animals and can be left to amuse themselves some of the time, they also need company, and reassurance that someone is looking after them. George is a little bit wary of me, but is coming round a bit. Lots of baby talk is needed. 

I have a few cat toys about the place, purchased from the Pound Shop when I had the rescue kittens here. George has not shown much interest in them, preferring to chase a length of string which I trail around the floor. A few shakes and flicks of this has him mesmerized for a few seconds, then he takes a dive at it and rolls on his back while he grapples with it. You have to be careful with string, make sure it is of a suitable thickness and length as they can be prone to chewing and swallowing something as thin as cotton. Best if these games are supervised and the string removed when the cat is alone, unless it is tied securely to a large object like a chair. 

We also have another game. Cats like to chase things rolling along on the floor. You don't have to buy small balls for this purpose, keep a few small round bottle tops handy. The cat will happily flick these around, sometimes deliberately rolling them under something and losing them. They spend a good few minutes trying to fish them out with their paws, then you have to help them when their little legs aren't long enough to reach. 

There are a plethora of toys you can buy for your cats. Pets are big business and company's play on the fact that people are soft on their animals and will cough up. Take for instance the posh designer cat beds that are available, hundreds of pounds some of them. OK, if you have a posh house and unlimited funds, you might as well get one of those. Otherwise, a cardboard box lined with an old blanket or towel will do the job just as well.

What I am saying is that cat's don't care how much you spend on them. All they want is the basics, a warm dry place to sleep, food, and some company. What I can't understand are those people who think it's ok to buy all the fancy stuff for their animals, thinking that's all they need to do, then proceed to kick the cat out at night and ignore it for most of the day. 

The same could be said of dogs as well. Again, pets are big business. People get a dog, buy all the stuff they think it needs, conscience spending I call it, play with it while it's young, then the novelty wears off and they resort to only seeing to it's basic need, feeding it. Some don't even do that. A dog or a cat or any pet you have deserves to be treated as a family member. You can throw all the money you like at them, but all they really want is to be loved. And that means spending time with them. Playing with them, talking to them, and entertaining them. Ignoring them is cruel, locking them up for hours is cruel. Cats will socialise amongst themselves if allowed outside, but if not they need the stimulation of games indoors. Dogs need walking at least once a day, preferably twice, and access to the garden in between. They need to meet other dogs and humans, which will teach them how to  to behave themselves. Dog training classes are ideal for this, they make training fun. Some of you may remember me speaking about a little dog called Rocky. Just to let you know, I am walking him every day. He is fine. 

And on another topic,  Caterina asks, what is Quorn? I have scanned the bag for you, I hope you can click on it and enlarge, and read all about it. If not here is the web site.   I only buy it when it's on offer, this 500g bag was half price at £1.50. I would not pay full price for it. There is a lot of fibre and protein in it, though some people would argue that it isn't good for you because it contains mycoprotein, a member of the fungi/mould family, and may cause intolerance in some people. I don't appear to have any food intolerance's so I am ok with it.  

Right, sunny day beckons me outside. Got to make the most of it. Toodle pip.

Blown away

The wind is battering us tonight in North Lincolnshire, it almost sounds as if it could take the roof off. We have had heavy rain this afternoon. I was out with Lady dog, she normally would walk for hours, but today she dragged me back after twenty minutes. Graham, Lady's owner, was out on a ramble with his pals, must be mad, ha ha. He leaves me the TV programe magazine out to read and do the crossword, so I sat in his conservatory listening to the rain on the roof.  I had to dash back home through the rain. Best to stay indoors with weather like this. 

Tonight I have made a big pan of Tuscan Lamb, well that's what it said on the packet of sauce mix. Thought I would add new flavours into my stews, so picked up five x 20p packets from the Cash and Carry. Potatoes, carrots, onions, frozen peas, chick peas, and red kidney beans. plus a handful of Quorn pieces. It was chuffin loverly, four meals in one pan, just need to warm it up in the microwave tomorrow. Beats cooking :o))   

So, it's been a day of sewing again, and playing with George. He is getting used to me a bit now. He has to stay in the room by himself, it wouldn't be right to let him wander around the house. No point in going through the stress of him meeting my cats and them seeing a new cat in their territory. I don't want to have to separate any punch ups. He is fine in the room, he can sit on the window sill and watch the comings and goings on the road outside. One of my lovely readers has offered to send a donation towards his food. A very kind gesture indeed. Thank you.

That wind is not giving up, glad we are snug inside. I saw some pictures of the wind and rain in the papers. Can someone tell me why people are struggling to hold on to their inside out umbrellas in 90mph gusts of wind? Isn't it obvious that an umbrella is not going to last very long? Why are they trying to use them at all? And also, why do women insist on wearing the shortest skirts and the flimsiest ballerina type shoes in such atrocious weather? Are they nuts? Why don't they travel to and from work in trousers, boots and a warm jacket with a hood, and carry their day clothes in a bag and change when they get there? Makes sense to me. Just wondered.
Anyway, less of the pondering. It's Dragons Den tonight while I rack up the miles on the cross trainer. Best give it ten minutes to let my dinner go down first though. Toodle pip.

This made me titter.
  

Him Bugsy, me slave :o))

Told you it would rain today, and it did. Twas chucking it down all morning. This is where I spend a lot of my time, with the sewing machine and computer close to hand. My desk light is handy for lighting the area I am working in. 

Bugsy has to be right up close to me, if I didn't put his bed here he would be crying to sit on my knee. As my legs are under the table this would not work. I have to keep stroking him, and whispering in his ear. He rests his chin on the cushion and purrs contentedly. Every so often he gets out of his bed and I lift him down. He could jump off but I prefer to help him, don't want him overdoing things at his age. He strolls across the room to the other table and climbs up with the help of a chair. His food is on that table. So all day he goes backwards and forwards from bed to food, and back again. With the occasional stop off at the litter box. He has a wonderful life. I am honoured to be his slave.

This afternoon I did an hour on the cross trainer while watching Mr Selfridge on the itv catchup. Another hour of sweating. I like that programe. There are a few decent programes on at the moment. Lunch today was a portion of frozen carrot soup and a slice of wholemeal bread. Cheap 'n cheerful.

I've just scoffed a mega portion of steamed veggies for my dinner tonight. Potatoes, carrots, sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, and onion. A splodge of tartar sauce helped it down a treat. Sorry no picture but you know what it looks like. I am using the heating very sparingly, only putting it on for an hour when it is very cold. Sometimes I just put the gas fire on for an hour in the living room, sometimes that's all that's needed.

Time to go and sit with George for half an hour. I went round to the mother of the lad who dumped him, to ask for a donation towards his food. She wasn't in but the sister was, so I asked her to pass on the message. Don't expect anything to be forthcoming, I felt I had to voice my disapproval on what he had done.  
Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.

A new scrappy quilt, with a difference

It's been a glorious afternoon, the frost melted away and we had sunshine, so I had a walk in the park. The birds were twittering and the sun was streaming through the bare branches of the trees. The ducks were gathering around mums and toddlers as they tossed their seed onto the grass. Everyone was smiley and saying what a lovely day it was. Glad I got out, tomorrow is another day and we may get more rain.

Twas crafty club this morning. I decided not to take the rag rug as it is getting too big and taking up too much room on the table. I took a new project with me.  

I have been given a load of fleecy offcuts, my friend was given them from someone who makes soft toys. Some of the pieces are quite small, most people would throw them away, but I thought I would try and make something from them. 

I started with a piece of old cotton bed sheet, 20 inches square, then arranged a few random pieces on it, in a mosaic fashion.

I hand stitched them around the edges. These pieces are very small. This was a test piece to see if it might work. My idea is to make a small soft mat for cats to lie on, which can be moved about the house, or put in a cat bed.

Next I decided to start another one, make it bigger, and use the bigger pieces before the smaller pieces. This one is a piece of flannelette sheet, 25 inches square. 

My plan is to back it, and run the machine across it in zigzags, a bit like a fleecy quilt. This will make it stronger to stand up to machine washing. It will be like a mini fleecy quilt.

A George update. He is spending a lot of time in his cat basket which has a small cushion and a towel inside, making it snug. I think he spent time in this before, to get out of the way of the dog he was living with. He is using his litter box, and eating well. I keep going into the room so he gets used to me. He was quite confident when he arrived, but I think that was because he was hungry. Now he has gone a little bit shy, because he knows he doesn't have to look for food, and comes out of his bed when it suits him. Hopefully it won't be too long before some kind person comes along and offers him a home.
Catch you tomorrow, toodle pip.

George is the lucky one

Meet George. I have called him George, he is a boy, so Boy George, also George after William and Kate's small boy. Pretty isn't he. I found him last night, at 10pm when I went into the porch to lock the front door. I saw something just outside, between the door and my car, I park my car close to the house. On closer inspection I saw it was a blue plastic cat box, with a cat inside. Someone has dumped him on my front doorstep. I have no idea how long he was there for, I hadn't been out since lunchtime. Maybe he was put there under the cover of darkness.  

He is a friendly little fella, and well cared for. I rang Janet and she came round to have a look. He was hungry and scoffed half a sachet of Felix and a bowl of Whiskas dry food. Our rescue pens are full so we have no room for him there, he will have to stay here for the time being.

I know who dumped him, I was accosted in the street about a week ago by a young man who wanted me to take his cat in as it wasn't getting on with his dog. I said I couldn't, I can't afford any more, and he should email us a photo and we can put it on our Catchat web page as available for re homing. He didn't send the photo, he dumped the cat instead.

George is the lucky one, lots of cats are just abandoned when the owners move away. They leave their animals behind. Some cats are driven miles away from their home and left to fend for themselves. Some are kicked out and never let into the home again. At least George has a warm bed and food. We will look for a nice home for him. Some people are so cruel.
Toodle pip

The poshest shopping bags in town

I think we ought to call this Soggy Saturday. We had tons of rain during the night, but luckily so far, no rain today, unlike those in the south who have had continuous rain which seems like forever. I think it's about time that the government started thinking about helping those in dire need at home, and suspend aid to the rest of the world for the time being, until things are put right here. Not going to get political, just feeling sorry for those who have lost everything here. They desperately need some help.

Anyway, moving on, more bags made, and they are getting posher. A lot of these are one off's, as there is just enough material for one bag only. These are strong enough to carry mixed items, heavy on the bottom, light on the top. They are not waterproof like plastic. Not that you would want to trudge a mile in the rain with them, they are too nice to get wet. 

The pink is actually the reverse of the fabric. I thought it was too pretty to hide so I turned one side the wrong way before sewing it together.

I took my car for a service yesterday, I am £70 lighter now. I stretched it longer than the normal 12 months because I have not done a lot of miles. I think every 15 months will suffice. 

As I was close to town I picked a few things up, did a bit of foraging around the discount stores. There was a fruit and veg stall set up outside Poundstretcher so I went to have a nosey to see what their prices were like. I thought a big net of onions was a bargain for £1, so I bought one. You can't have enough onions. I shall be eating them every day from now on. They were selling even bigger nets of carrots for £2, and they looked good quality, not broken bits. I have already got carrots bought from Tesco, so I don't need any more. If you have potatoes, carrots, and onions that's the basics for a wide range of meals. All this for around £3.

I keep my cupboards tidy and arrange the contents so I can see at a glance what I have in. When I unpack the shopping I check the receipts and mark the price on each item with a black marker pen. That keeps the price in my mind so I will notice if anything has gone up next time I shop.

Here are a few of my regular purchases. Plain yogurt, which went up to 55p for a few weeks, but is back down to 45p. Soya milk has stayed the same for ages, I notice they have changed the packaging to a square carton now. I am down to my last bottle of Sesame Oil, cost £1 from the Cash and Carry. I keep looking for more so I can stock up, but no luck. When this is gone it's gone, I wont be paying the £1.60 for a lot smaller bottle from the supermarkets, I will manage without. Fruit juice is usually two for £1 from the C & C. Sometimes it's three for £1 if it's well over the sell by date. I always read the labels on the juice, as it's bound to have a shorter shelf life than tins and packets. I also like to check where it is made, and if it's a company I have ever heard of. Sometimes they have well know brands, sometimes the labels don't have much English on them. I get the Coffee Mate from either Home Bargains or B & M, they charge the same price. I put one teaspoonful in my coffee, one carton lasts ages.

The Cash and Carry has tartar sauce in at the moment, it won't last forever so I have a few in stock. I put it on anything and everything as I like the taste. Salads, sandwiches, and steamed vegetables. Tesco own label Value, these are pretty good. I did try some cheaper peanut butter from B & M once, at 50p per jar, but it was horrible. I ate it but never again, I will stick to this one at 62p. Nice flavour, no palm oil. I like a bit of lemon curd on a slice of wholegrain bread now and again. No butter or spread, just lemon curd. 

And lastly to the tins. More Value stuff. The chick peas are not cheap in Tesco, I get them from Home Bargains or B & M, usually three tins for £1. Asian shops usually have a good deal on these if you buy a pack of 12. I put a shake of curry powder in baked beans if I fancy them a bit more spicy. I often fancy rice pudding about 8pm at night, so I put half a tin in a mug and zap it in the microwave and eat it out of the mug. Then I transfer the rest of it into the mug and put it in the fridge to eat the following day. In my opinion it's as good as the posh brands, and at 7.5p a portion it's a cheap pudding.

I'm not going anywhere for the rest of the day, lots of crafting to do. I did an hour of litter picking and dog walking this morning, (multi tasking), so now I'm staying in. The wind is getting up, and there's the possibility of rain. Whatever you are doing, have a good weekend. Toodle pip.

Pssssst, any bad habits?

As the title says, have you any bad habits? The reason I ask is that bad habits could be costing you money, and if it's money that you can't afford to waste, then you need to break the habit. As well as emptying your purse, bad habits can also be detrimental to your health. Maybe it's time to look at what you do in your daily life. I am constantly scrutinizing mine. Changing bad habits for good habits could give you a better quality of life.

For instance, whenever I am in a large building and need to access the upper floors, like the hospital audiology department at the hospital, I always use the stairs. Bad habit using the lift, good habit climb the stairs, = better for health.  When I park in a supermarket car park, (only use the free ones), I park well away from the shop. Bad habit to cruise around looking for a space to squeeze into closest to the door, good habit to walk a bit further, and choose a quiet spot where you aren't going to get your doors bashed by the person in the next space when they get in and out of their car. Less likely to get your car damaged so kinder to your pocket in the long run.

More good and bad habits.
Bad habit, stick a pack of dishcloths or J cloths in your supermarket shopping trolley. This is a lazy bad habit which is costing you money. Good habit, cut up old towels, tablecloths, pillow cases, and sheets, into handy size squares. Find a second use for them. When you have finished using them as dishcloths, relegate them to floor cloths and other dirty jobs.

Bad habit, pick up a newspaper and a bar of chocolate on your way to work. There is nothing in the newspaper you need to know about during the working day. A bar of chocolate every day will make you fat and sluggish and will block your bowels up. Good habit, wait until you get home and get the news from the radio, television, or the internet. Chocolate is a treat, no more than once a week, and only as a reward when you have earned it.

Bad habit, getting the hoover/dyson out every day. Uses lots of electricity, and surely your house doesn't get that dirty that quickly to need cleaning every day. Good habit, actually look at the floor. Small spillages can be swept up with a dustpan and brush. Make a rule that shoes are taken off when anyone enters the house. Animal hairs are a nuisance I know, get used to them. Put throws on the furniture which can be taken outside and shaken.

Bad habit, leaving it until the last minute to get ready and go out. Leaving yourself short of time means you have got to drive faster to get to that appointment. Driving fast often means not concentrating fully on what you are doing because you are worried about being late. This way of driving is going to cost you more money. Harsh acceleration and braking means more fuel is used, and more wear and tear on your car. The brakes wear out quicker, and so do the tyres. Good habit, Give yourself plenty of time to concentrate on your driving. Smooth acceleration and braking is kinder to the car, and will cost less in petrol. You also have a better chance of getting there in one piece, and in a better frame of mind. Good for your health, less stress.

Bad habit, driving past filling stations even though you will need to top up your tank soon. You watch the needle hover on the red, you are looking for the cheapest deal. It never comes and you have to stop at the next garage you come across because the car is about to splutter to a halt. You end up paying premium price because you have no choice. Good habit, you keep your eye on the fuel gauge when it gets to the quarter full mark. You start looking before it becomes an emergency. Supermarkets are generally the cheapest places for fuel, fill up when you get your shopping. Get to know the best places in your area and fill up when passing.

Bad habit, bottling things up. Something is not right in your life but you are reluctant to talk about it with anybody. You battle on regardless, putting on a brave face so people around you have no idea that inside you are suffering. You try to hold things together, try to carry on with your day to day routine. This is bad for your health and well being. Good habit, there are some worries which need bringing out into the open. When things begin to fester, and your worries are beginning to impact on how you function, then you should seek help. A good friend or family member may be the first candidate, but if that is not possible, there are professional organisations with caring volunteers that you can turn to. Letting go and getting it off your chest is the first step to a healthier lifestyle.

Bad habit, is to get all your shopping in one supermarket. Yes it's convenient, but it will cost you more. Good habit, know the prices of the items you buy on a regular basis. then if you have a choice of supermarkets shop around for the best deal. Cherry pick at a range of different shops.

Bad habit, using your oven far more often than you need to. If you are batch baking all well and good, but an hour of heat in the oven is more expensive than fifteen minutes on the hob. Good habit, make meals in one pan, or use the microwave or slow cooker.

Bad habit, drinking fizzy drinks every day. They are bad for you, even the diet ones. You can become addicted to coca cola. Good habit, drinks made of mainly water with a splash of fruit juice. Don't buy them ready made, get a carton of juice and make it up in a bottle.

Bad habit, going to the sandwich bar every day for lunch. If you are skint you can't afford it. Good habit, save pounds by making your own lunch at home and taking it with you. Home made food is far more tastier than mass produced stuff anyway, and you know what's in it. Access to a microwave at work? Batch cook your own ready meals and take them to work. Take soup in a flask, or salad in a plastic box.  

These are just a few of my suggestions, there are many more. It's all about habits and doing things differently. Challenge yourself, turn a bad habit into a good habit, for the sake of your purse, and the sake of your health. Bye the way, your health should come first every time. If you bugger that up you are in for a rough ride. Money problems can be solved, if you mess with your health you are stuck with it.
Have a nice weekend, I'll be back tomorrow. Toodle pip