A Varied Old Week!

Before Christmas, I spent a lot of time making extra special Christmas tree decorations for close family and friends and the Tiger was neglected. I really want to finish this during 2013 and here it is at the beginning of 2013 on 2nd January before I re-started it.

I'm also endeavouring to take more photos of Flossie. For some reason, over the last couple of years she disappears whenever I try to take photos. I don't know if she doesn't like the flash or the sound the camera makes when you operate the zoom. Either way, I've decided that this year I must try to take photos of her as often as I can to try and make her see that the camera isn't something to be frightened of.

She's actually very photogenic, so it's worth persevering with. I will be trying to take more photos of Minstrel ....... and I think his black and white colouring makes him a different sort of challenge!

On Friday evening, Mum and I visited my brother and he is much better. It turned out that he didn't have septicaemia and the clot in his vein has gone down. Rowena did find out one piece of information; apparently, during the original operation in November, his thoracic duct was nicked! Although it was grafted, there is a slight question as to whether all these 'infection like' symptoms and the swelling round the neck wound have been caused by leakages from the thoracic duct! The doctors at Queens are trying to get more definite information from Barts but it is annoying that Queens didn't originally have this information.

And on Thursday, I wrote a letter of complaint to a hospital. Not about Paul, but about my Mum. On the 4th-5th December, she was in our local hospital to have a die test on her bladder as her routine check had shown that her bladder looked a little inflamed. This routine check is because she is in remission from bladder cancer, originally diagnosed in 2005. However, within 4 days of coming out of hospital, Mum was covered in a red rash ...... and after a visit to her doctor, she was told she had scabies! She can only have got it in hospital! She was very upset about this, especially that she might have passed it onto us. Added to which, when Paul was initially ill, and very poorly, she didn't want to visit him whilst there was any possible chance of passing it onto him. In the end, she didn't feel able to see him until the Saturday before Christmas; all very distressing. It will be interesting to see the response to my letter. Mind you, Mum had her follow-up appointment on 2nd January and thankfully she's been given the all-clear. This is such a huge relief that I can't possibly begin to describe the relief.

Then Friday ....... I spent a frustrating morning going round and round the website of HMRC to complete setting up both myself and John as self-employed. I was trying to find out how to set up the payments for Class 2 NICS ..... but they certainly make it hard to find the information you need!

And finally, I spent a lot of time on Friday investigating the best approach to take in setting up a website for John's Candle making business as The Candle Cellar. So far, I've only set up a business page on Facebook but he does need a website as well. I will try and blog about how I get on, but by the end of Friday, I was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed by all the information I'd found :)

And after all that ...... perhaps another photo of Flossie is called for :) Unfortunately, it shows th main problem with flash; alien eyes :)

My Last Post Before Our Holiday

Here's a little 'something' I at long last finished the other day! A crochet kitten! I used a free pattern from Beth Webber.

Why did I make it? Well ..... my son left home to set up in a flat with his girlfriend in January, but he sorely misses our cats! Although they did entertain the idea of possibly having a cat in their flat, I think they have (thankfully!) decided that a flat is not really the right place for a cat. It wouldn't really be fair. So ..... I thought I'd crochet them one!

I was aiming to make him to look like Minstrel but, as a very novice crocheter, I couldn't quite work out how to do the white on the body to make the 'tuxedo' bib under the chin. I must actually say that I found the pattern a bit of a challenge and I'm sure I went wrong a couple of times.

I also haven't quite got the ears right ...... but try as I might, I couldn't make it appear more like the examples in the pattern. Also, for ages I pondered how I could give it whiskers as the pattern doesn't have any whiskers ...... and no whiskers just didn't seem right!!

For several weeks he wasn't finished whilst I wondered what to do! Then John had a good idea! We have a swift tag gun that shops use to attach labels to things. What if we put several tags into the whisker area and then cut off the square end of the tag? We tried it ...... and they make pretty effective whiskers. So ..... yesterday off he went to be an 'indoor cat' for James and Liz :)

Finally ...... we're off on holiday to Devon tomorrow! I have a horrible feeling that they are having even wetter weather than we are ..... but never mind! I always take a craft activity with me and I shall be taking my cross-stitch tiger. I know I haven't blogged about him for ages but I have been steadily doing a little bit most weeks even though I've been doing lots of other projects in between.

Here is how he looked the last time I blogged about him back in October last year (believe it or not!) .....

And here he is now ......

Let's see how he looks by the time we come back :)

In Sheds They Can't Hear You Scream!

.... although thankfully I could have also named this post 'The Prodigal Son Returns!'

On the evening of Thursday 6th June, Minstrel went missing. Now, much though I like cats, I also like birds and I always make sure our cats are in at night as cats catch most things at dusk and dawn. This is usually no problem, but if you mis-time the 'getting them in' bit, both our cats think that the growing darkness is very exciting and they're off!

Flossie came in quite easily when she heard the rustle of the 'Dreamies' cat treat bag, but there was no sign of Minstrel. Since this has happened before a couple of times, I wasn't unduly worried and we left our outside conservatory door open, thinking that in the morning he'd be there, curled up on the settee, waiting to come in for breakfast. However ...... no Minstrel ..... and as Thursday was a very wet and windy day here, I started to get increasingly worried.

On the whole, I don't think Minstrel goes far. If you call him when you go out into our garden, he comes back very quickly, often only appearing to jump over one fence to get home. He's also quite shy. When new people visit, he usually disappears upstairs, unlike inquisitive Flossie. Although once he knows someone, he quickly sits on their laps and likes a good fuss.

On Thursday morning, John and I walked all round our estate to see if we could find him, going far further than I really thought he would roam, but you never know! I must have sounded like a mad woman, calling his name and giving bushes and shrubs a good look but I really didn't care! I did attract the attention of at least two other cats ..... but no Minstrel.

By Thursday evening, I was very worried and contacted the database holders for his micro-chip to report him missing. What was worse ..... I was due to go to a conference for the Foresters Friendly Society from Friday morning to late Sunday afternoon, and I hated the thought that I wouldn't be at home to do things to help!

First thing Friday morning, with still no sign of Minstrel, I contacted our vets and they said they'd pass his details, plus a photo I sent them, to all their branches in the area, which I thought was nice of them. I then had to go off, although I left John with the task of doing a poster/leaflet to distribute round the houses immediately near to us to ask people to look inside their garages and sheds. It really was most likely that he'd got shut in a shed or garage. He can be very nosey! We have to be careful when we go inside our own garage to make sure he doesn't slip in without us noticing ....... and I have shut him in the cupboard under the stairs a couple of times as he can't resist a cupboard!

Over Friday and Saturday, I had to have my mobile phone off most of the time but at every available opportunity, I texted home for news. There was none! However, a nice lady did phone John on the Friday afternoon to say she'd seen a poster for a 'Found' little black and white cat on a road near us. Although this wasn't likely to be Minstrel, given the short time lapse and the fact that I don't think most people would call Minstrel 'little', John trudged up the road in the pouring rain but the poster wasn't there. However, it was so nice that someone cared enough to ring and let us know.

I must confess that by Saturday evening, I did send a frustrated text to John that just said 'Bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger ............. where has Minstrel gone!' It was so upsetting to think that he might be somewhere scared or, even worse, hurt and I couldn't bear the thought that we might not see him again.

By the way, John did say that all day Saturday, Flossie was wandering round the house from room to room meowing! He said he wasn't sure whether she was moping for Minstrel or for me ....... but he said the pair of them made a 'Moping Couple'!

However, at 4.30am on Sunday morning, I got the best ever early wake-up text from John. Minstrel was home! In the early hours, Flossie had started meowing loudly and John thought ...... OK ...... I'll go downstairs and look. So down he goes, without even putting on his glasses ...... so that there stretched up at the conservatory window was the black fuzzy outline of Minstrel!

He was obviously hungry and Flossie stood back to let him eat ....... and thirsty as well. But when I immediately phoned John, he said Minstrel hadn't stopped purring. That he felt rather skinny but was clean and not injured and seemed to be OK. I told John to update the poster on the lamp post outside our house to let people know he was home and to thank them for looking in their sheds and garages, which he did.

I can't express the relief I felt and it was the best home-coming ever for me! As to where he's been ..... who knows! Perhaps if whoever let him out sees the poster, they might let us know, but other than that, it will be a mystery!

However ..... Minstrel ...... please don't do that again! And stay away from garages and sheds!!

Hang Dog Cat!!

As cats go, Flossie seems quite a cheerful kind of girl :)

Normally, she spends all her time rushing around looking for things to play with or 'talking' to anyone who will listen!

But this morning, her get-up-and-go had got-up-and-gone!!

It's OK .... she's not ill! Just in case you were wondering! I think she was just having a 'resting day'.

Shush! I think she needs her beauty sleep! Well .... all that playing takes it out of a girl :P

A Bits & Pieces Kind Of Week

Yet again this past week I've been struggling with a cold/catarrh so it is an effort to do anything and I feel tired all the time. However, although I feel in the doll-drums, on reflection, I've got quite a lot done this week. I mentioned in my last post that John made some candles in memory of my Dad and here they are. We continued to burn them last Saturday. They are blue and white although the white looks rather golden here for some reason. You'll also have to take it from me that they have a wonderful vanilla smell. On second thoughts ....... I'll take it from John that they smell heavenly, since I can't really smell anything at all at the moment!!

What on earth is this? It was bread soaking in water! I was expecting my god-daughter, Hannah, to come over last Saturday. I love her coming over and I always like to do something special with her. Since I've been trying to loose weight, we seem to have a lot of unused bread around. To be honest, the birds are beginning to get fed up with bread, so I thought Hannah and I could make some bread pudding. Yes ...... I know ...... if I'm on a diet, do I really need bread pudding around? Probably not! However, it could always go in the freezer if it looks too tempting! So, since the bread was a bit hard, I started it soaking quite early.

In the end, Hannah didn't come round but I obviously had to go ahead and make the bread pudding. I have always used a simple recipe from my Mum. I have no idea where she got it from, but it is as follows:

Bread Pudding:
Ingredients:

4oz butter or margarine
4oz dark brown sugar
1lb bread that has been soaking in water
1lb mixed dried fruit
1tblsp mixed spice

However, because I thought it's a given that I'm going to try a piece (!) ...... I wondered if I could make it with slightly fewer calories and so I tried a little experiment.
I only used 3oz margarine and 2oz sugar and then worked out how many teaspoons in 2oz sugar and dissolved the appropriate number of sweeteners in a little bit of hot water to take the place of 2oz sugar.
I also decided to add 2 stem gingers and cut them up really small to add to the fruit. John likes ginger :)

1. So ..... how to make it! Set the oven to 200 degrees C.
2. Cream together the margarine and 2oz sugar until fluffy.
3. Squeeze out as much of the water as you can from the soaking bread and add the bread to the margarine and sugar mix. Squeezing out the water can be a bit messy! Don't worry if you think there's too much water; it just might increase the time required to cook.
4. Add the dissolved sweeteners, dried fruit, mixed spice and chopped up ginger and mix everything thoroughly.
5. Put mix in a lightly greased baking tray and cook in the oven for about 1.5 hours. Please note that the surface fruit can get easily burnt, so it is a good idea to cover the tray with foil.

And voila! Bread Pudding! Let it cool a bit before cutting out pieces to serve. If I wasn't on a diet, I would also lightly dust with caster sugar, but to be honest it doesn't really need it ...... and that extra sugar really isn't good for you :)

Yummy! It's probably best when it's warm but it keeps for about a week and pieces can be easily warmed up in the microwave. It rarely actually lasts a week :)

Did the alterations to the ingredients work? Well ..... both John and I (don't mention the diet ......... my bit was small) tried a piece and it was great! The change had no effect :)

Here's something else I managed to finish this week; a knitted scarf/shawl.

Excuse the awful photo of me ..... not feeling well and no makeup is not flattering!

Anyhow ...... the knitting ....... I'm not really a knitter to be honest! A friend's Mum did teach me basic knitting when I was about 7 years old but I've never got on with it and knitting patterns always look like advanced Russian to me! However, back in April last year, I won a lovely give-away on Joy's blog and it included some lovely but unusual yarn that I just didn't immediately know what to do with. You can see what it's like in the photo below:

It's more like string with fluffy bits every now and again! I did wonder if I could crochet with it (crochet I can do even if knitting escapes me), but it didn't look like it would be good for crochet. Then, back in November, I wondered if I could just try using 'knit' stitch to make a scarf using the biggest knitting needles I had. I am lucky in that an Aunt gave me loads of knitting needles when I was little and I've never thrown them out!!

So ...... I just cast on 60 stitches and started knitting! I found that this yarn is quite rough on the index finger of the right hand, so I had to wear a protector finger bandage to stop getting a blister! I have got into the habit of knitting whilst watching things on the TV! It's been quite a relaxing thing to do ........ unless Flossie has been anywhere near as she takes great delight in chasing the moving yarn or the knitting needles! Since I got 5 balls of wool, I decided to use 2.5 and see how long it was and this is the result! It makes a pretty good loose weave shawl or scarf. I'm going to use the other 2.5 balls to make another one :)

So thank you again Joy for the yarn. It's been fun to use :)

This week I've also managed to finish de-cluttering our smallest bed-room with a view to making it into a little office for myself. I don't have any 'before' photos! You'll just have to take it from me that it was a mess! It was a dumping ground for all sorts of stuff, including a lot (and I mean A LOT) of needlework materials I inherited when John's Mum passed away 2 years ago. I have actually been sorting things out since the beginning of January ..... and can't believe how long it's been taking!

Here it is, almost done! All of the needlework and crafting stuff has been carefully sorted and boxed in plastic storage boxes and put in the wardrobe in this room (you can't see it here) and the desk is all ready for use! But ...... those curtains! They were a make-shift that John's Mum gave us when we moved in ........ Too long for the window and a rather tacky crimplene-type material! Not nice but they have done for now!

However ..........

in our local Charity shop, I found some rather nice curtains that had clearly never been used! They only cost £7.50! They are not lined, as you can see, but perfectly adequate for what we need and actually look quite good in the room. In practice, they don't look quite as thin as this photo seems to suggest!  I actually bought them because the material caught my eye ...... but now I could see that keeping them as curtains was probably the best idea. Here I was hanging them just to work out how much material to cut off :)

I've never actually altered curtains before! I measured, measured and measured again and carefully noted how the original hem was done so I could copy it exactly! However, I found that my machine had a bit of trouble sewing through certain areas where there were several layers of fabric. Possibly it needs a new needle? The stitches kept jumping and creating a thread tangle underneath. In the end, I used the machine for the bits it could cope with and hand sewed through the thick bits ...... and it was thick!

All done and looking much nicer! One final thing I did this week to complete this room was to file away a lot of paperwork that had been accumulating over ...... well ...... I dread to think about it! But it was a few years! I then had LOADS of stuff for John to shred!

Here's Minstrel beside the bag of shredded paperwork to give it some scale! It will get gradually added to our compost bin!

Phew! A busy week!

And I must share this one final photo! Minstrel as a techno-cat :)

He does like to help :)

Under The Weather

No ... not Flossie but me! I've just used a photo of her from last year as having the cats around can help to raise my spirits! Firstly, I must say a very big 'Thank You' to Joy for her comment on my blog the other day in her efforts to make me feel better. I was particularly down in the dumps that day and I sounded it! .....

Firstly, the cold that started in the week before Christmas and turned into severe catarrh by Christmas day was still with me and, indeed, it still is today having added the insult of a lovely cold sore on my lip just to really top things off! I've never had a cold and catarrh hang on for quite so long, especially with it being so severe that it's affected my hearing on and off over the time since Christmas. It's really making me feel energyless and everything is such an effort! Including doing anything with the blog!

Secondly, I program my iPAQ to give me early warning when people's Birthdays are due and last week it reminded me that my Dad's Birthday would have been today, 20th January. This has made me feel an odd mixture of emotions. It set me to thinking about Dad's 80th Birthday last year when he was very confused and didn't really understand what was going on. I had to help him open his cards and he didn't really even comprehend what a card was as, once opened, he just wanted to give it back to me. I feel sad that he's not here and also well on his Birthday. However, I'm sitting here at the moment burning a blue and white candle that John made especially (Dad was a fervent Spurs supporter) and sending up a prayer in his memory; he's in a better place now.

I think that calls for another cat picture to try and raise my spirits :)

Minstrel looking slightly scruffy from last year :) If you look closely, he has bits of garden debris on his fur as he is a real boy, loving to roll around in the dust in the garden.

There! Perhaps just a little bit better :)

Welcome To Frank!

Here's Frank and he arrived on Thursday, all the way from the USA. He came courtesy of a giveaway run on  the While She Naps blog and was actually made by Wendy Gratz whose blog is called Shiny Happy World.

I have followed While She Naps for quite a while now and love all the crafting ideas she shares on her blog. It was only because of her that I found Wendy Gratz's blog and it is fantastic! As a new follower, I am still looking round all the marvellous 'how-to' videos on her site, but if you have an hour or ten(!) to spare, be sure to go and have a look yourself!

But back to Frank! He is superb! He is so well made and has such a cute expression! Thank you so much to Abby for running the giveaway and to Wendy for making him and sending him all the way from the States. As I found out I had won him just at the point when John and I were about to leave out jobs because of redundancy, Frank is going to be our Good Luck mascot for our new life.

Now, any new entry to the household has to be approved by the cats!

Flossie is the first to inspect the new arrival, sitting in the box he arrived in. Although Frank is doing his best to look scary, Flossie is made of stern stuff.......

..... and doesn't think he's scary at all.

On the other hand, Minstrel gives Frank a thorough examination .....

But, if truth be known, what Minstrel really wants is the box!

There, that's better :)

You are going to have to work much harder at being scary Frank! I think Minstrel is doing a much better job ..... look at those eyes :)
Welcome to the Maul household Frank and thanks once again to Abby and Wendy :)

Don't Mess With Me!!

This little lady looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, doesn't she?

However ........

Minstrel here would beg to differ :)

Although like many brothers and sisters, they can get along quite amicably and quite frequently they will wash one another. And as their human slave, I can vouch that they are the nicest natured cats I have ever known, and they never bite or scratch.

However, like many brothers and sisters, they do have their moments!! They do have the odd barney when you'd think they were trying to kill one another. Last night was one such occasion! We're not quite sure what happened but they were having an 'argument' and John then noticed Minstrel was working his mouth ...... and a tooth fell out! This resulted in a little bit of blood on the front of his white bib, although he didn't seem too bothered and a little while later he was actually chasing her again.

Flossie is actually a little bit smaller than Minstrel, so I don't know if she has enough punch in her paw to knock out a tooth. We can only assume that she whacked him one and his head knocked against a table and that was enough to knock out a tooth.

Still, clearly ....... not a sister to mess with :)

Photography - A New Year Resolution?

Although I frequently use John's camera to take photos, he always has his camera set on 'raw' so I have left it to him to process these raw images into something I can use on my blog.

This hasn't 'sat' well with me, so I asked him to buy me a camera as my Christmas present for 2010. It's a Canon PowerShot S95 and I've been using it over the last few days to take photos. Today, I have been learning how to process the 'raw' images ...... with lots of advice from John. When the original photos are in 'raw', you can adjust so much more regarding the exposure etc that I followed John's advice and set the camera in this way.

I'm really pleased with the photos the camera takes. The photo above is of Minstrel. He can be very difficult to take photos of as usually he doesn't like cameras and shoots off! He was sitting on the top of the cat activity centre, so I just snapped away quickly before he decided to disappear. Black and white cats can be a challenge, but the 'tweaking' I could do in the software that came with the camera is really impressive.

Here's another one of him. OK ...... I chopped off a bit of one of his ears! But remember, I was expecting him to disappear at any moment! However, I love it when he sits like this. You can see he has the tuxedo colouring and I love this pose ...... I think he looks like Sylvester the cartoon cat.

And, of course, we can't forget Flossie :)

Both cats are really intrigued by the noise the camera makes when I turn it on. The battery firing up noise reminds them of a cat toy they used to have, so when I turn it on, so far they tend to then try to get as close to me as they possibly can to investigate what I've got!

Makes taking photos of them a challenge!!

You Want Cute Cats ..... ?

A friend's son just became the new slave for a kitten and, as a result, he posted a 'cute cat' video on You Tube. Not to be outdone, my son's response was ...... if you want cute cats ....... we have TWO cute cats, so there!

This video is the result! It was only taken on James' mobile phone and his camera technique might induce sea-sickness if you're that way inclined :)

However, I love it as it shows off Flossie's temperament perfectly! For any ladies who, like me, struggle to keep their weight in check, she is living proof that exercise is the key to slimness! She is always on the go! She eats far more than Minstrel, yet there is nothing of her.

Hope you enjoy this :)

Birthday Boy!

And, of course, I couldn't forget Minstrel!

Taking photos of Minstrel can be a challenge, what with him being a black and white cat! So we don't have as many good ones of him as we do for Flossie. His eyes are the most vivid green which this doesn't really capture unfortunately.

Had we realised that he was a boy when we first had him, we would have called him Sylvester as he looks just like him! He has the Tuxedo colouring with white down his front and the white paws and if he sits looking at you, the long-haired fluffyiness around his mouth makes him look just like Sylvester. Truely a handsome chap!

My Birthday Has Come and Gone!

Saturday 19th June was my 51st Birthday and we spent the weekend away at a hotel near to Winchester in Hampshire. We had a great time.

OK .... John did take lots of photos but I don't have them to hand at the moment!

Still .... it's sometime around now that it's the 4th Birthdays for Flossie and Minstrel. We don't know their exact birth dates as their mother was discovered in someone's garden with a new litter of kittens in late June 2006. However, the lady in whose garden they were found obviously went to great lengths to socialise the kittens as they are both the friendliest cats ever!

So ..... another photo of Flossie instead of me! :)

On the specific day that this was taken, I had noticed Flossie was sitting still for once and the lighting was just right! I didn't dare to get up myself to get the camera as I knew she would move, so I called John to take the photo. Luckily, she stayed still and this is the result. I think it must be my favourite photo.

Did I Mention I Love Cats?

I think I did!

This gives you a better look at the two cats in my life. Flossie is the tortie on the left and Minstrel is the black and white on the right.

They are brother and sister and are long haired and are four years old. They are also the nicest natured cats I have ever known.

Flossie is the chatty one. Her little 'chirrups' and miaows are such that you can almost have conversations with her. Whilst Minstrel is the quiet, silent type. Most of the time they get on together, as you can see here, but from time to time they do have the odd fall out!

They always follow me about, so I am sure that if I were alive in the 15th century, I'd be branded as a witch!!