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[Jay-me (Janet)]

I'm back like a bad penny.
Reading as much as I can, listening to audiobooks to fall asleep with.
Still taking care of mum and working part time.
The only difference from last year is that we no longer have our dog - she was almost 16 years old.
We now have 2 kittens - the rescue called them Prince and Precious. If they saw them now I think they would have called them Madcap and Mayhem.

Now to read through previous posts to find if I have missed anything.

[Alicia]

Hi!

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

Hi Janet! good to see you back

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Glad to see you back Janet. Sorry to hear about your dog, sounds like the kittens are keeping you on your toes though!

[M.T.]

Desley, sorry to hear you've had an annoying week but glad you've been able to enjoy the wildlife too!

Alicia, I'm delighted to hear that you've been able to see your family again. It must have been wonderful. Good luck with the writing. I hope you manage to get some done.

Janet! Helloooo! Likewise Ro Hellooo

All is quiet here. I've joined a gym which is very expensive but I did a try out month and have really enjoyed the classes so I'm going to see if I can work at it over the next year and fix the last few niggles with my knee and also get myself back to a reasonable weight. I doubt I'll ever be able to wear women's tops again, but if I can just get rid of the giant third boob on my stomach that would be grand! So far it's working. If it keeps going the way it is I may lose a few pounds. I think if I can that will help my other knee which is also a bit shit. Just going to put the first of my new shelves in my office now and fill it with shite! :-) Woot! Also hope to get a bit of writing in. I've done alright at that this week which is always heartening.

[✿Claire✿]

Hi! I'm joining Janet in turning back up after far too long a time! I hope everyone is well.

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

Blimey it's like a reunion! *waves*

[Jim]

Did a bus just arrive :-) Welcome back folks

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, another rubbish day at work, with colleague being rather rude! Was wet most of the day, so didn't get my lunch time walk, and had to work late, am hoping tomorrow will be better, but I do have 3 meetings and 2 deadlines, so the plan to go shopping after work has gone out of the window! Had a voice mail from the vet, nothing concerning on Lucy's bloods, so she didn't need to speak to me. Then while it was windy when I left work, it was sunny, so went for a walk with ratty neighbour. The large goose family were in a field, so didn't get to see them up close, but saw the duck and ducklings twice, they were a bit friendlier today, the second time, ratty neighbour fed them and the moorhen came over to investigate, they've never done that before. Didn't seem to keen, but was nice to see one up close. Then we saw the large goslings, who ignored us the first time, but came over the second time.

So nice to see you back as well Claire, hopefully it'll get busier, so it doesn't feel like I'm talking to myself :)

[Jim]

when you were 'talking to yourself' you were giving the rest of us a good shot of decent normality. It was public service broadcasting, thanks

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Glad to be of service :-)

[M.T.]

Jim wrote: "when you were 'talking to yourself' you were giving the rest of us a good shot of decent normality. It was public service broadcasting, thanks"

Yep. Good way of putting it Jim. :-)

[Jay-me (Janet)]

I'm glad you are still around Desley - I might need kitten advice!!!

They are quiet at the moment, which is good as mum is having an off day, I'm waiting for a doctor to visit.
I managed to get the carers to come for an hour this morning so I could dash into work. I still do about half of my work at home.
I should have been at the gym this afternoon - Zumba and Pilates. I also go to Yoga on Mondays. I miss the Fight Class I used to go to but at the moment the class times don't fit with my schedule.

During lockdown I decided to learn something new and decided to try Swedish. With duolingo I have learned all sorts of useful phrases like "is that your aunt sitting on a moose" and "don't eat yellow snow"

[M.T.]

Jay-me (Janet) wrote: "I'm glad you are still around Desley - I might need kitten advice!!!

They are quiet at the moment, which is good as mum is having an off day, I'm waiting for a doctor to visit.
I managed to get th..."

Don't eat yellow snow is excellent advice!

[Jay-me (Janet)]

If you ever need it - Ät inte gul snö


Another phrase was "I didn't hear you because I had cinnamon buns in my ears"

[Jim]

Jay-me (Janet) wrote: "If you ever need it - Ät inte gul snö


Another phrase was "I didn't hear you because I had cinnamon buns in my ears""

a common problem in some parts :-)

[Alicia]

Near Cinnabons, mostly.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, bit long winded today I'm afraid! So glad it's Friday and I really made the right decision not to do the food shopping! Very long day, didn't get a full lunch break, so no lunchtime walk, and then worked late, sent an e-mail about 10 mins after hometime and had my boss asking if I was still in the office! Did my canal walk after work, nothing to feed today unfortunately. Walked past the fisherman who told me about a couple of blokes drinking and said to shout if I needed him, ironically I was just listening to a song that was talking about the benefits of smiling at people and wondered if he'd been quite as helpful if I hadn't had a conversation with him the other day, although I'd like to think so. Bumped into a friend on the way back, so had a chat with her, then popped in co-op for a bottle of milk and a treat for tea, ironically they were £2.60 for 1, or 2 for £3, glad I only wanted 1!! Will have to go back before Tue, they had a few bargains on, but I only had a small bag with having been out for a walk. Have asked the insurance company about using the garage who'd looked at the car, they have said yes, but I'll have to pay an extra charge, and mess about getting them to take pics etc, so will just agree to their garage fixing it and giving me a hire car.

Any time Janet, how old are they?

[Jay-me (Janet)]

Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: ".Any time Janet, how old are they?



They are now 20 weeks old, we got them when they were almost 11 weeks old.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, did my usual weekend trick of waking up at 5.30! Had some time to chill, then I went for my blondie and did a quick walk of the park in case I didn't hit my step count while out with sis and the kids, good job as I wouldn't have done. Ironically as soon as we stepped out of the car, we were greeted by a female mallard and 2 male mallards! I'd taken the food with us, so we fed them, there were no proper ducklings there, but some very white, young looking ducks. Kids had a great time running about and playing on the playground, although youngest preferred the older kids playground and wasn't keen on the one for young kids! We did a bit of a canal walk, then we had ice cream (although comes with two scoops as standard, I struggled), before coming back to candle shop to get my sis's present - I was good, I only came back with an accessory and some body scrub. While my sis was getting niece into pram, me and my nephew went to see if there were any goslings about and the creche has started turning up there now, must have realised better food source! They are a lot bigger than when I saw them a week ago, niece and nephew were enthralled seeing over 20 goslings, but they are starting to get a bit nasty over food. Luckily it only rained as I was dropping them off, it was nice sitting out in the warmth, and have suggested it to one of my other friends. I was glad to get back, put my PJ's on and sit reading for a bit though!

They must be getting big now then Janet, any pics?

[Jay-me (Janet)]

Kitten photos added

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

What cuties - they look slightly fluffy?

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, did feel slightly drained when I got up this morning, decided not to do my canal walk, as I wanted offers/special buys from both Co-op and Lidl, so did those and a little park walk - bumped into some neighbours who do the opposite direction of the canal to me, they saw some ducklings for the first time today and said it's rare to see them, they normally just stay out of sight, so I felt very blessed for the ones I've fed a few times to actually come over from the opposite bank for food. Really need to do some housework, but what I have done today has been rather halfhearted, I'm finding the inclination hard now I've realised there are better things to spend your time doing! My friend was right that it is well worth the money.

[Alicia]

As someone who can do NO housework, I don't think of it as a necessity. But I DO pick up after myself as I go, and we do have Housekeeping get the worst every two weeks. I am not the source of the problem - but he does ALL the work to remedy it, and I will not complain about standards. And with the pandemic, washing thousands of take-out containers from having meals delivered has been a massive undertaking - he alone handling it all. I really miss carrying my share of the load.

But it is awfully nice to have separate bathrooms.

[Kath]

Hello again, Janet and Claire! Those kittens sound like a handful.

Don't know where the time goes at the moment - actually, I do. Much remodelling of the large garden. The problem then is that I nod off in the evening so my knitting is reduced to a couple of rows. I don't have the energy I used to have, but that applies to us all.

Nice to see more people here. All take care.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, that was quite a good day at work, got in to an e-mail from the director I'd helped last week thanking me for my help and saying it was appreciated, which was nice, then mid morning my boss came and had a chat with me, she was pleased with the work I'd done on the design software last week and commented that I've come so far with it since Nov, she might give me some more work on it! I'd asked her to help fix something I'd done that didn't look quite right, she said while she fixed it, I was millimetres out so it could have been submitted as it was, so that also made me feel good, especially as it was something I'd never done before and my first attempt was pretty much spot on (unlike second, third and fourth, I got worse trying to fix it!!). Weather has been lots of intermittent rain, so I haven't done my steps today. Had to go to the vet after work for Lucy's meds, and asked them to put a claim form in, see how much I get back - I normally wait till the end of the year, but she has cost a lot this month.

I think I might have said this before Alicia, but not picking up after myself is a big cause of my housework, if I could just get into that habit, it would make life so much easier! Good luck with the garden remodelling Kath.

[Alicia]

You do have a lot of things to do, Desley, and you're working full time. And some things have to be done whether you want to or not. Maybe a bit tidier is something to aim for - but it does help find things.

I just got back from vacation, and my assistant put everything from the trip to rights in an hour - she didn't come help me pack because she'd been exposed to covid, but we're all testing negative, so I got the very needed help unpacking. I can't stand up to hang things in the closet, so I'm very slow at putting clothes away, but I did wash them and dry them. It takes her a few minutes - and would wipe me out for the day. Irritating, but it's what I live with, and she straightened out all my pills for the next two months, too. Wish I didn't need one, but she's so sweet and makes it more pleasant. She's also graduating from college in two weeks, and her replacement can't come until September, so let's see how I do over the summer by myself!

I do have a place for everything - small apartment - or I'd never have a clear space to write.

[M.T.]

Hello everyone! Just dropped in to read everyone's news. I'm still alive! The kittens are gorgeous, Alicia, glad you got back alright and without too much hassle. Desley, sounds like it's all go - well done for hitting your step count. Kath, yep, me too. Extra tricky as we have a lot of non-flight ready fledglings in the garden so I have to keep the cat indoors. He's very upset and doesn't understand, poor chap, but he caught and ate something on Sunday and proceeded to throw it up in four separate places round the house. On the lino luckily.

Still doing the gym diet thing. Am now down to 13 stones 11. If I can keep this up, I may be the lightest I've been in about 5 years in a month or two. Fingers crossed. Target is 12 stones, then I'm going to stop and just try and maintain my weight as is. I hate dieting with a passion but I really have to do something. I want to be able to choose my clothes again, rather than just have to come away with the only thing I can get into.

Jim, tell me, have they changed the way they pasturise milk? I used to make a pot of coffee in the morning, drink two cups and then put the other two in a flask for later. Lately I've discovered that if the coffee has milk in and is in the flask for more than two hours, the milk goes off. It's not a phenomenon I've encountered before so I just wondered if they've changed something and thought that, if they have, you might know.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, nice peaceful day at work, so feel like I've pretty much caught up, which is good as at 4pm I got invited to a meeting in the morning, so much for no meetings this week, then I had to work late as something came in mins before hometime. I'm determined tomorrow I'm going to finish on time. Only consolation was it was raining, and by the time I'd finished it had stopped, so I got for my walk (didn't get out at lunch as it was raining, but did do my chores for the day), couldn't do the full canal walk as friend's cousin was dropping wax melts off, but that turned out to be a good thing as it started raining 5 mins after I got home, then dried up as she arrived, so I did a quick park walk after she left, only just over my step count though, so I'm going to have to do better at some point this week to increase my average. I saw another first on today's canal walk, a deer getting out of the canal, shaking itself off then walking through the trees - i was aware they could swim, but not seen it in person. It's been a few weeks since I last saw a deer.

Funnily enough Alicia, I seemed to be better when I was doing more stuff and didn't have a cleaner! Don't know if that means my mum was right when she told me I was lazy, or I'm just better under pressure. Fingers crossed you cope over the summer without an assistant. Glad the diet is going well MT, would be great if you can hit your target weight and maintain it.

[Alicia]

Lazy? LAZY! If anything, you're too busy and too committed.

Many of us are a little better under pressure, probably because we can't justify the little time-wasters then. Even I, ill, make a bit more effort when something just has to happen. I pay for it later.

Glad you're getting out and doing your walks. Keep reporting on the lovely wildlife.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Maybe I'm compensating to prove her wrong but I do feel like I have a lazy side, like walking past things that could be picked up. Yes, the walks are certainly helpful, seeing the young deer get out of the water was amazing.

[Jay-me (Janet)]

Good morning.
I was woken by a kitten headbutting me. Then mum struggling to get her legs going as she walked to the toilet.
My weekend starts today, Mum has her Garden Party tomorrow, then on Monday I am taking the kittens to the vet back at the Rescue we got them from. While they are there I am going to walk around Fairhaven Lake and the beach at St Annes. Fingers crossed for a dry day.
Yesterday we had someone come to arrange having a walk in shower and possibly add a downstairs toilet. Today someone is coming to look at possible kitchen changes.
Mum is making lists of places for days out so we have plenty to keep us busy.

[Alicia]

Best of luck to getting the house ready for more accessibility - the grab bars I have make such a difference! Better than bringing down a towel rack.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, that was a long day - woke up early, and my determination to finish work on time failed, people decided this morning to comment on something they were given on Fri, and the deadline was today! At least it meant I got to learn new things on the design software so now agree with my boss that I'm doing well on it, and I definitely deserve my long weekend. Downside was it was heavy going working stuff out, so I just did a quick park walk to hit my step count, as while I appreciated the fresh air, I was really tired, think I need to start appreciating I do have long term health conditions and should probably rest more than I do!!

Hope the garden party goes well Janet, and the kittens appointment on Monday. Good luck with the house alterations, it's good your mum is choosing places to go for days out.

[M.T.]

Jay-me (Janet) wrote: "Good morning.
I was woken by a kitten headbutting me. Then mum struggling to get her legs going as she walked to the toilet.
My weekend starts today, Mum has her Garden Party tomorrow, then on Mon..."

Totally agree with Alicia on this one. Grab rails are a new lease of life. Also a shower with no steps to get in. And yes a downstairs loo unless you have a Stannah Stairlift, in which case the upstairs is less of a hike.

[M.T.]

Did the Mum run today. Mum was on the floor when I got there. She'd fallen on her way back from the loo. I made her comfortable and rang the carer so she came straight to us instead of stopping at the chemists on the way. The two of us got her up pretty easily and popped her on her walker with the seat. Then she made her own way to the drawing room. My brother came down and we got the cousins together, which was lovely. Then it was a bit of a schlepp home. Three and a half hours instead of two and a half.

On the upside, there are only two mistakes in the whole audio book and one's a matter of semantics really. So that's grand.

[Jim]

M.T. wrote: "Jim, tell me, have they changed the way they pasturise milk? I used to make a pot of coffee in the morning, drink two cups and then put the other two in a flask for later. Lately I've discovered that if the coffee has milk in and is in the flask for more than two hours, the milk goes off. It's not a phenomenon I've encountered before so I just wondered if they've changed something and thought that, if they have, you might know.


- ..."

Technically they haven't changed pasteurisation but who do you get your milk off, they may have changed their supplier.

The farm gate milk price is going up. It's gone from 30p to 45p a litre in the last year. Given the price rises in feed, fertiliser and fuel it's barely keeping pace. But a lot of retailers have been changing suppliers trying to get milk cheaper to keep a margin, and this can mean they're getting milk that was pasteurised longer ago than usual. Or they're getting it from a different dairy that is cheaper but not so hot on cleanliness.
The problem the dairies have is that if the price doesn't go up, farmers are just abandoning milking as unviable. So they have to pay it.

I've forwarded you an email. It's more to give you a flavour of what's going on

[Jay-me (Janet)]

Thanks MT and Alicia for advice. We do have a stairlift and grab rails all over the house. We are going ahead with a walk in shower with a seat. The downstairs toilet is so we have two in the house.

My first question about the kittens. When we brought them home we borrowed a cat carrier, it was fine for then but we knew we would need our own - either two similar plastic ones or alternatively a larger foldable material one. Which would you advise please Desley?

Today while mum is at her Garden Party I'm hoping to have a nice walk.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

I personally would go for one each, just in case they aren't happy being in one, then they aren't going to hurt each other. I know they are only 20 weeks, but go for the biggest one you can, I've had a lot of carriers donated as people buy them for kittens and then realise they don't fit once the cats are adults. My preference is top opener cat carriers, as they can be easier to get cats in (especially Lucy cats who don't like being put in carriers), you can get dual opening ones which can also be handy. I've never trusted material carriers, especially if you don't clip claws, I'd be worried about them damaging the material. I'd line with newspaper if they aren't used to them, in case they have an accident - I use puppy pads, but not sure that's something you'd have

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, that was a typical start to the weekend, woke up at 3.30, got back to sleep at 4.30, then Lucy woke me up at 7! I fed the cats, had a cup of tea, then tried closing my eyes again, I didn't sleep, but I did rest for an hour and felt good enough to do a long canal walk, I walked the opposite direction as it's longer, but didn't see as much wildlife, a lot more geese that direction, fed 2 families of goslings, 8 each, but they got rather nasty with each other! The only things I saw that I don't normally was sheep/lambs (not many of them) and a horse, but I was surprised to see a horse as that field used to have chickens and goats in it. Had initially planned to go to coffee shop, but it was so warm I went to candle shop to try the limited edition strawberry and champagne sorbet, sat in the sun. Had clouded over by the time I got home, so I set an alarm for an hour, and did as much housework as I could (I'd initially planned a room a day), and the downstairs is pretty much done, so feel much better. And I finished my book. Am rather tired now, but have done 9.6k steps, so got my weekly average back up.

[Alicia]

I commend your commitment to the steps. And the geese. Wish I could do same!

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Thanks Alicia, I do feel better for walking more, partly because of all the nature about at this time of year, things like seeing a deer swimming are so special. Not sure how much Lucy agreed, think she thought we should spend the day cuddling, she has been quite clingy.

[Alicia]

Too bad Lucy won't go for a walk with you. Maybe in a carrier, for extra resistance/weight, to give you more exercise per step?

Not sure if I'm kidding or not.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, apart from 2 things, it's been a lovely day. Lucy woke me at 4.50 this morning growling at the closed door, and I don't think I got back to sleep again, gave up and got up for a cup of tea at 5.50 but felt too wide awake to even close my eyes like yesterday. Luckily as I did more housework than planned yesterday, I could just watch a film, then left a bit early to go in B & M on the way to meet friend at a nature reserve, although we both got lost as our sat navs tried taking us to the road that is closed for repairs, I got there first and one of my friends was there, I'd tried to get hold of her the other week to offer my services at a fundraiser, so got to chat about that and she helped my friend who was lost. We had a cream tea first, then a wander round, although we did get lost twice, the second time was because they'd had to close the footpath for repairs, so the map didn't work. Would go back again, it's such a peaceful place, although I was disappointed with the fairy chapel. Tyre looked a bit flat as we left, she thought I'd just parked in a dip, but I decided to call in Aldi on the way home and realised it was flat, so had to call in the petrol station round the corner to top it up and noticed a screw in it! Going to a garage in the morning who may be able to repair it. So have done 10.1k steps and read 34% of my book, as it was lovely and warm this pm, after raining this morning.

Not sure I'd be up for trying that Alicia, not only does she not like going in the carrier (although at least now we just play hide and seek rather than scratch and bite!), she weighs 5.2kg (11.4lb), plus the weight of the carrier, so I wouldn't get very far!

[Alicia]

I remember walking with a backpack that I slowly built up to carry 25 lbs. of sand in 1 lb. bags, adding them to the pack as the walking got easier (the other options was to walk longer and farther, and I didn't have the time for that). That might have been 'before children' so it's a long time ago.

[Jim]

Sounds like a good day Desley, A nice balance

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, had a rubbish night sleep last night, I told Lucy to wake me up at 8am, I woke her up at 7.30! Had a little potter till the tyre shop opened then went down, unfortunately the angle the screw had gone in at took it too close to the tyre wall, so they had to replace it, and only had a part worn tyre, which I don't like, but the alternative was putting the spare on and going back next week. Then did a short canal walk just to get a few k steps in in case, as I was going to watch an ABBA tribute band with friend, I wasn't looking forward to it, think it's because it was the most crowded place I've been to since Covid, but it was outdoor. Then I was dreading it even more when I got to her place and her friend was there with his dog, plus each child was bringing a friend, so there were 3 adults, 4 children and a dog, I got to drive with the dog on my knee, a cockapoo called Brian who was cuddlier than Lucy. We got there early, had a drink (it was chilly, so I had a malteaser hot choc), and a mooch round the shops, the concert was good, but it was really chilly outside, we got the train back and it was so sunny we sat in friend's garden having our tea and cake! Then nipped to Lidl for a specialbuy that was sold out, so have done nearly 10.6k steps today - unfortunately I didn't think we'd do that many, so I went in my pretty purple boots rather than functional walking ones, so my feet are sore now.

Yes it was thanks Jim

[Alicia]

Hope there are no undesirable repercussions from being chilly - and walking too much in the wrong footwear. I wouldn't be thrilled to have a strange puppy on my lap in a moving car!

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Raining today, so thought I'd catch up on posting some pics

First we have Brian the dog, who sat on my knee for the 30 min journey

https://www.goodreads.com/photo/group...

Chanel's new bed, no wonder I keep picking books up!

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Cow's having a drink in the canal

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Duck and ducklings, think this was the third time I'd seen them

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Nephew feeding goose creche

https://www.goodreads.com/photo/group...

Being greeted in car park

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Malteaser hot choc

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Waterfall at nature reserve

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[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening all, wet today, although not as heavy as expected and no thunderstorms. Finally got a decent night sleep, then a nap after I'd fed the cats. Quite glad though really, as was Lucy, who keeps making me sit on the sofa. Nearly had to go out, supposed to be catsitting for my sis from tomorrow, but her OH decided they were going 'when the rain stopped', so I said if it was earlier than planned, I needed to know as I had plans (kind of true, friend had asked if I wanted to go round this pm for afternoon tea, but then she changed her mind!)