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[Jim]

I'm with you on the craft fairs. I would expect them to be made by the people selling them, otherwise I could just buy them on line anyway :-)

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, wet and windy today, had forgotten to buy milk when I went to Aldi last night, but then didn't get out at lunch, so had to make do this pm! Finished at 4 as had to go and have my blood pressure taken, normally I'd walk, but was too bad to consider that, the nurse is another one of L's cousins, I play Wordle with her dad every day! Glad I had to go in co-op though, got some vegan pigs in blankets reduced, but freezable and got their mushroom wellington reduced - that said not to freeze, so had one for tea. C messaged today to say her dad died suddenly yesterday, feel so bad for her, hard enough to lose a parent, but so close to Christmas must be harder. Another frustrating day at work where I didn't feel like I got much done

[Alicia]

That's so hard for your friend. I'm sorry. Close to Christmas makes it worse.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, got woken up at 5.20 by a loud bang, I think I've lost a roof tile, luckily neighbour opposite came late afternoon with some chocs so have asked him to look in daylight and let me know how bad it looks. Had a 121 today, everything was very positive, and I'd just had a compliment from someone in a different department minutes beforehand, one of the things we go through is compliments from people, I've had so many this past week! Another day where everything we touch that should be simple just seems to escalate into something worse, so we don't get through as much as we should. Storm meant I haven't left the house, I had two parcels due, Amazon delivered theirs, but still not got the one from Royal Mail, which is from my brother, hopefully just delayed with weather and will come tomorrow.

[Jim]

I suspect there are a lot of roof tiles and slates that have been moved. It's not been a really bad storm, but each one does a bit

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

It was pretty wild here but everything that was going to blow off our roof already has, probably. At least it has been a lot less wet!

[Jim]

Yes, the only strange thing was the buffeting set the car alarm off on my lady wife's car, which hasn't happened before

[Alicia]

The car was alarmed - had to give a cry. Cars don't get to say much, usually.

[Alicia]

Best wishes and blessing of the season to men and women of good will. It's been a tough year - hope the next one works better.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, didn't get on yesterday, we had a mad Fri pm at work, then when I went to post, the laptop was dead! We certainly deserve our long weekend. Cleaner came yesterday, at one point I heard a loud bang, and thought I'd check a wheely bin hadn't damaged a car, before I got back upstairs, Royal Mail came with my parcel, apparently there hadn't been enough staff on Thu, so it didn't get delivered. Then just before cleaner left, got an e-mail to say my Amazon parcel had been delivered to resident - that appeared on my doorstep when I came down about 8pm tonight, no idea where that has been, no neighbours have messaged me. Just a good job I was proving to Lucy how bad the weather is, or I wouldn't have opened the door. Been very wet and windy the last two days, was going for lunch with G today, but she didn't want to go to local market town, so we went to the place she likes, and good job she was late, or we wouldn't have got a table! Then went to feed Mister, who was acting like he hadn't been fed since I last saw him, G saw him the other day wandering towards the candle shop, it's like he's twigged where his food comes from! Came home and got changed, was going to do 2 lots of decluttering, did the first one, attempted the second one and decided I wasn't in the mood! Maybe next year! Has been nice to have a chill though.

[Jim]

I have no doubt that Mister will work out where his food comes from.
It's probably one of the most important parts of his day and it isn't as if he's got a lot of other stuff to worry about :-)

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, another wet and windy day, we have had a bit of a reprieve from rain since about 4pm, but the wind ramped up instead! Was supposed to go for a walk with C, but we decided it just wasn't the right weather for it, so we went for breakfast instead, I was torn between somewhere I know does good breakfast, and somewhere I haven't tried, we decided to try the new place, as it was closer to my house, we got there just after 9 (they open at 8) and got the last table! Was a gorgeous breakfast, they did something I haven't seen before, cheesy scrambled eggs. Glad I had a sense that C had bought me a present, though my small gift and paying for her breakfast seemed too small compared to the large box she gave me! We went to feed Mister after, and popped in a shop she likes on the way, I came back with a lovely reduced top and some reduced wax melts, I was impressed she didn't tell me to walk away, she does normally! Didn't have any food on me to feed Mister, so had to go and buy another bag, they were running late though, so we had to wait for her to open the door! Someone had been and dumped a load of fresh sweetcorn on the canal bank, they weren't overly keen on that, I know there is dry corn in what I feed them, so guessing they can eat it, but we even saw geese pick it up and drop it back down. Did another half hearted attempt at today's chore, at least it looks better than it did this morning. I've just remembered it's Lucy's gotcha day, and she hasn't had anything special, better give her her toy today rather than tomorrow - didn't even remember it was Sun to give her her usual tea (though did when I fed the girls!!). Forgot to say, did an order on Fri about 5.30pm for Lucy's biscuits, in the hope they would come while I was WFH, they got delivered at 1pm today! And I ticked the box saying I was OK for slower delivery as it had environmental benefits!

I wish he wasn't trying to walk down to the shop though, I worry about people driving into their car park oblivious that there might be a duck walking through it!

[Jim]

Anyway Merry Christmas everybody ;-)

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, Merry Christmas everybody, hope you have all had a lovely time. My day started off a bit frustrating, first G said she'd be ready in 10 mins, 10 mins later she rang and said the kids wanted to come, but eldest would be 30 mins, if that was OK, they turned up an hour later!! Had a lovely walk though, bumped into one of the wildlife photographers in the bird hide, G wanted to see the swans, he told us where they are, so we walked round there, saw the cygnet (who is still grey, though pretty much as big as parents) and both swans, I had a bit of food, the cygnet came out of the water and walked up to us, so I held out my hand, it gobbled it, not so delicately, then pulled at my sleeve for more, so handfed the cygnet for a bit, till one of it's parents came out of the water, then we left! Drove back, called in to handfeed Mister. Peaceful afternoon, though the film I chose to watch was rubbish!

[Alicia]

Sounds lovely - a walk and feeding waterfowl. Too bad you had a wait first.

Finding out where the swans were was a nice bonus.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Yes, it ended up a nice walk, wasn't expecting a cygnet to want to be handfed though, it just walked up to me! It's nice to see that one of the three I saw as tiny cygnets back in the summer has survived, and it's been tagged

[Jim]

Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: "Peaceful afternoon, though the film I chose to watch was rubbish!"

That's why we read, the CGI and special effects are so much better :-)

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Yes, I read after watching a rubbish film, much more enjoyable!

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, hope everyone's boxing day went well. It was sunny, if cold, here, so suggested to my sis that we went to the lake, see if the swans were around, and maybe go to the playground. Candle shop was open, so popped in for some more food and to feed Mister, but he wasn't around (and A told me after that he wasn't there when they had gone out this morning). The swans and cygnet were there, but parents were quite close, so was a bit unsure about handfeeding it, but my sis had a go, mum didn't seem to mind, and then cygnet started putting its head near us like it was asking for more food, so I handfed it a bit, then at one point mum came and took some off my hand too! There was a family whose kids wanted to have a go, but had no food, so let them have some too. Very weird thinking about going to work so soon after Christmas, not done this for a long time!

Don't know who gets MT's blog posts, but she has done one today with some sad news about her mum.

[Alicia]

It's a beautiful post about her mum, though.

[Jim]

Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: "Very weird thinking about going to work so soon after Christmas, not done this for a long time!..."

My Dad always used to say that if you cannot get hold of an organisation between Christmas and New Year, you probably don't need them the rest of the year either :-)

Virtually all our suppliers go back to work on the 27th.

I agree with you about MTM's post, I shared it on facebook, it needs to be seen because it'll help so many people, if not now, then the memory will at some point in the future

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening all, was weird waking up this morning and having to log on, had some urgent stuff that for some reason couldn't have been dealt with by the out of hours company, so poor engineer who didn't get home till 7.30 on Fri had quite a bit on, and we just got through what came in over the weekend, never mind the stuff that we had hoped to catch up on! Got out at lunch, as it was dry, just windy and forecast to get worse, Mister wasn't around again. Was surprised by the lack of reductions in co-op, but pleasantly surprised by the lack of easter stuff. We have a skeleton staff of 3 this week, but big manager rang us individually to check we were OK, which is nice.

Ah well, the main reason the last place had a 2 week shut down is that people don't want workmen doing kitchens/bathrooms/windows around this time of year. There had been talks in recent years to reduce it to just a week, but then everyone would have to be given more holidays, like they did when the Easter week shut down was scrapped.

[Alicia]

Makes sense.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, had a rubbish night sleep, but at least nothing urgent came in, and we got chance to do some catching up, which is good as it is me and line manager in tomorrow, she has enough manager stuff to do, so it'll just be me doing the day to day stuff. Wet and windy again, so didn't leave the house, except to put the rubbish out.

[Jim]

It's distinctly blustery at the moment but is supposed to slacken off

Looking at the weather map, it's one of those days where we could stay dry as the weather passes us to the north, or we could get a deluge if it drifts ten miles further south :-)

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening all, that was quite a good day at work, was one of the Friday's where little urgent stuff came in, phone barely rang, so managed to blitz through loads of stuff. Went for milk at lunch and to check on Mister, who was around, took ages to convince him to come over, got harassed by geese, one of which was determined to take the food off my hand! I feel like there must be something in this food the candle shop sell, the amount of wild birds willing to take it from my hand! Started raining minutes after I got back in, and barely stopped since. Decided to use the car to go to Lidl after work, as it was dark, cold and wet, realised as I drove past that I needed to go to the chemist, so did that, then when I got back, thought I'd check Sainsbury's for bargains and realised I forgot something from Lidl!

Hope you stayed dry Jim.

[Alicia]

Glad to hear you found Mister again - he must be lonely as well as hungry.

Hope you didn't get too wet.

And a Happy New Year to all who celebrate!

[Jim]

Not a bad day to be honest. The rain was coming in a band from the west, but it passed just to the north of us and we got away with it.
Today on the other hand, it's just raining :-)

[Jim]

Yes all the best for the New Year everybody

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening, was having a lazy start to the day when A rang to ask if her dad could come and look at where I want a shelf putting up, I did say I wasn't dressed, but she said he's used to that! He thinks he has a drill that will work on my wall, if I buy what I want. Then realised it was dry, so might as well take advantage and get out before the rain came, so went to the canal, there were some people taking stuff out of their car, Mister was stood behind them thinking they had food, so I shouted him and shook my bag of food, so he ran behind me till I got close enough to the canal to feel comfortable feeding him, and he acted like he was starving, even though he had clearly eaten some grass, he had loads round his mouth, and I fed him yesterday. Decided to call in the place I went for breakfast with C last week, as they do takeaway coffee and had some nice sounding syrups, it was really busy, and I didn't want to push in front of the people waiting just to ask for a takeaway drink (they don't have a counter to approach), so I waited, then before I got chance to tell them what I wanted, the waitress had asked a bloke sat on a table by himself if I could join him, I appreciated the thought. Was a very nice drink, and that plus a flapjack was cheaper than my usual place. When I was nearly home, I bumped into the neighbour who shares my birthday, we share Christmas presents, so thanked each other and had a little chat, then saw Malachi and his owner leaving their flat, not seen them for months, despite living like 3 streets away from each other! So stopped and had a chat with them, and a fuss, said how great it is that when I bumped into them last Christmas, he was a lot more wary of people, and now he has a few of us that he loves seeing. Was supposed to be sorting out my bedroom today, but Lucy didn't get out of bed till 5, so I did the downstairs instead, I'll have to chuck her off tomorrow!

[Alicia]

Happy New Year - Mister missed you, and so did lots of other people.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Happy New Year's Eve! Hope you are all seeing it in the way you want to.
Not a bad day, another lazy start, managed to get Lucy out of bed early enough today to sort out bedroom, then realised it was trying to rain, so chucked some clothes on, posted some choc for a friend, then went to feed Mister but I'd come from the opposite direction. Couldn't see him on the canal, but noticed there was someone in the car park, so went towards them and spotted Mister, so shouted him over, and he came running over to me, so fed him, and had a couple of surprised people walking past watching him being handfed. Finished my last book of the year too. Not going to do any news years resolutions. though a bloke at work thinks I should make one to get a permanent job on my team! The year certainly hasn't turned out how I expected, but am actually happy with how things have worked out.

[M.T.]

So this is where everyone went! 🤣🤣 Happy new year everybody.

[M.T.]

Also thanks for the lovely comments about my blog post. 🙂🧡 Hope it'll help people.

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

Happy New Year all

[M.T.]

You too. Just home from Bonny Scotland. Melrose was looking lovely but my in laws had no hot water so I'm glad it was only 3 nights! :-)

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Happy New Year all, I pretty much slept through the fireworks this year! Had a nice lazy start to the day, it was looking lovely, so went for my walk, and within mins of leaving the house, it started raining (and I didn't have my rain coat or hat with me), could see blue skies, so decided to go and feed Mister and then work out from there. He came running up to greet me, and appreciated the food, had more conversations about me handfeeding a duck! Stopped raining as I ran out of food, so walked up to the lake, but only went to the bird hide, as I had no food left, and wasn't expecting to see anything, but got treated to what I think was the male swan on it's own, cleaning itself, then swam past the hide, hopefully to go and find the other two, who were apparently on the front. Here is a pic from Boxing Day of the swans.

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

Glad to see you back MT, and nice to see you too R.

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

Ah we were in Melrose last week :) We even had hot water!

[Alicia]

Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: "Happy New Year all, I pretty much slept through the fireworks this year! Had a nice lazy start to the day, it was looking lovely, so went for my walk, and within mins of leaving the house, it start..."

So the grey one is the full-grown 'baby', who hasn't gotten white plumage yet. Lovely to see them survive and thrive.

It was boringly quiet here - I didn't even notice midnight when it came - but here we are! Happy 2024, survivors of 2023 and before.

[M.T.]

I confess I went to bed before midnight came. Lovely pic Desley. Bless them.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Yes, the cygnets were born in the summer, and apparently take up to a year to lose their grey feathers. Not sure when they leave their parents though.

[Jim]

I've spent my lifetime in Hot water.
And even I have been to Melrose :-)
A nice place.

I did what I normally do on New Years Eve, went to bed at the usual time and left other people to make sure the New Year was delivered properly. Woke up next morning and was pleased to see they had managed that minor task :-)
And then to feed cattle who don't care :-)

[Alicia]

Jim wrote: "...And then to feed cattle who don't care :-)"

But DO care if their usual breakfast is not delivered.

Thank you for farming - I know I couldn't do it.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening all, not being used to working this week, I thought the world was back to normal, and being Tue, set off a bit earlier to avoid traffic, and got to work ridiculously early, it was still dark and I did actually check the clock! Pulled up at 8.08 and heard people setting fireworks off!! Not a bad day, only a couple of urgent stuff had come in, so we managed to catch up a bit. Did some shopping on the way home, got some nice new food to try. My year is starting very socially, I bumped into one of the dog walkers I saw quite a lot the other year and haven't seen for a while in the shop yesterday, at lunch my walking friend who works on my floor came and sat with me for a chat, haven't spoken to her since my birthday, then on the way home from checking bargains in Sainsbury's after work, bumped into a neighbour who I haven't seen for a while, so we had a chat!

[Alicia]

Tomorrow should feel more normal - it's bound to be awkward when you even have to change the year on your dates.

[Jim]

I've not had to use 2024 yet :-)

[Alicia]

I use a Scrivener shortcut, and date and time stamp every entry in my writing - makes it easier to find things later. It has an easy keyboard shortcut - SHFT OPT CMD D - so I don't skip that step.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening all, woke up at 3am wide awake and was at least 4.30 when I got back to sleep, so not feeling great today! Had to start the day doing some environmental training, then managed to do a bit of catching up as nothing urgent had come in. Had our first team meeting of the year, our team leader is off elsewhere for 7 weeks, so was partly reassurance of what we do if we need management decisions, wasn't a bad meeting actually. Weather has been rubbish again today, so have only left the house to put the rubbish and recycling out, but looking like it is due to change and some dry days ahead.

I've not done too badly at remembering the year, though some of our dates are done by shortcuts, can't get 't' or 'now' wrong!

[Alicia]

Seven weeks is a long time. Glad you have some guidance. And continuity.

I got a load of paperwork settled before New Year's - am slowly starting to breathe again, and even plan a bit.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Evening all, productive day, and a dry day. Went round to feed Mister, who didn't take much convincing to fly over, and had more people walking past commenting on it! Went to co-op for milk after, and there was a milk shortage, did bump into another neighbour on the way home that I haven't seen for a while, so had a quick chat. Then had to go to Sainsbury's after work for milk, and cheekily used neighbours paper bins to get all mine out (I still share a bin with neighbour, and she had filled it!)