Not mentioning the T word at all

CRANKY40

Justamum wrote: »

I love cats

Me too. Well most of the time. I wasn't keen on the Borat for a while when it chewed a hole in the wooden blinds. My friend who bred her says she has another litter of Borats coming (Burmese/Korat cross) and did I know anyone that wanted one. I pointed out that most visitors to my house tend to say a version of "Oh my goodness me what is that cat doing" as they survey it's climbing antics and not "oh isn't she cute, where can I get one" :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Hobsons_Choice

Oooh Pic., that's wonderful! I wish I had your "courage", but after losing three cats (two to road accidents) I've vowed "never again".
And I just KNOW I couldn't give them back when the time came....like children really. So WELL DONE YOU.

bloomerang72

ifonlyitwaseasier wrote: »

GQ - 24 hours in the freezer is normally long enough to see off any critters

I thought you meant her antisocial neighbours then!!!:rotfl:

juliettet

katieowl wrote: »

Yes I can see your point about a foil blanket...but for a family who have lost everything, I'd have thought a few 'real' blankets, they could keep, might be a bit more of a comfort? And some spare clothes...

There's too many people making money out of these disasters. My friend overseas OH works for the Red Cross, and when one of their mates was going to be sent to Haiti, the rental for a flat for him in the area was a lot of money - I can't remember the exact amount, but it was something like £1000 a month (you will never convince me that is the usual going rate for a flat in Haiti!!!) They get all their expenses paid of course. Now I'd like to think if I was a property owner, fortunate enough to have property to rent (and still standing) in a part of the world like that, I'd be offering the guy a discount for coming to my country to help out my fellow countrymen in crisis, and not quadrupling the rent?

Kate

What a lovely thought Katieowl.

ifonlyitwaseasier

bloomerang72 wrote: »

I thought you meant her antisocial neighbours then!!!:rotfl:

LMFAO!!!!!



them too!

Mrs_Chip

Cue drumroll... cue fanfares.... Fireworks, dancing girls and tickertape....

We have an oiltank!!!!:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

However, it was not all plain sailing, and all credit is due to the briliant guys from KP Thomas, who would not be defeated!

The old tank was moved out with a minimum of fuss, which was quite astonishing bearing in mind how big and cumbersome it was.

The bu88eration factor was the new tank. They brought two, one of which would have gone through the house, but would not fit in the space it had. The other tank would fit the space but was too wide for the doorways, and the steps up the side of the cottages (it would have had to have been carried across the gardens and down into our yard). In the end they drove it up the hill and asked the owners of the field at the top if they could cart it across the field and down the hillside - ending up in the garden above our yard. No mean feat, lugging a blooming great oil tank all that way, then scrambling through brambles and undergrowth down a precipitous slope.

They were very appreciative of the ginger and coffee cakes, we were very appreciative of how hard they worked to get us plumbed in. Now we just need to get some oil and all will be well.

PIC - well done - our cat came from Cats Protection, and a setup like you describe, you will doing a great job!

House is freezing as the doors have been open all day, cat is not impressed!

rising_from_the_ashes

Justamum wrote: »

Re charity - I couldn't agree with everybody more. It annoys me when a charity sends a 'free gift' and hopes that your conscience will be pricked into sending them money. How much did it cost for those 'free gifts'? I'm sure most of the donations will go to cover those costs.

This annoys me too - I got one through the door not that long ago and there were 3 greetings cards, 2 book marks & a pen :mad: A bribe to encourage people to donate but how many people's donation have been used to pay for it .....

GreyQueen wrote: »

rising the 20 kg of flour came in 4 x 5kg paper sacks so is a lot easier to handle than one big sack. Not sure where the heck I could put one of those. Gonna try shoe-horning one 5 kg bag into the mini-freezer (inside a poly bag) for a week or so to discourage any critters but suspect even with a freezer-shuffle, there may be insufficient room.

Now that size of bag I could cope with!

More investigating will be done at the next market - not been for ages so may be worth a wee trip before winter really sets in.

Like you, I'd struggle to get in my freezer but sure I could do it in batches! (I've had problems with the pesky critters this year:eek:)

paidinchickens wrote: »

just popped back to say

Rising I hope your first day back at work wasn't too awful

Thanks PIC - it went OK but I am absolutely shattered:o (so just a very quick visit tonight). My boss let me away early and I've had a nap for an hour or so. Still tired but thought I'd better get up or I'll not sleep tonight.

Congratulations on the fostering - fantastic news & can't wait to hear about the first arrivals!:D


Mrs Chip congratulations on the new oil tank:j:j:j fantastic news and so glad you'll be able to get your oil in and warm before it gets really cold. Those guys deserve a medal!:T

CCP

Mrs Chip - that's fantastic news - very well done oil tank people! :T

PIC - you have my admiration for fostering cats: you're providing a very useful service. When I got my mog he had no fur on his back legs because he'd pulled it all out from the stress of living with a small baby: the local cat charity had no spare foster places so he just had to stay there until a new home (me) came along. Another cat in the same position will now have somewhere to go, thanks to you. :T (Having said that, I couldn't do - I'd end up keeping them all, I suspect. )

shelley_crow - what a shame about your curry. I picked up a recipe leaflet earlier which includes reduced fat coconut milk and says it can be made in a slow cooker: it looks like they're wrong.

I've just made my dinner - a pie made from leftover roast chicken - in the pie dish which I inherited from my grandmother. There's something particularly satisfying making a pie in such an old dish - I find myself wondering how many other pies it's had in it over the years, and how mine might compare.

On the subject of charities (sort of): I found out at work today that there's going to be a charity cake sale for CiN on Friday. (Usually I feel the same as you do about that sort of charity, Justamum, but I'm never one to resist the opportunity to make and eat cake. ) I thought I might make something savoury this time as we never have enough savoury stuff, and fancied having a go at the cheese nibbles from the first Hairy Bikers' Mums Know Best book. Has anyone tried them, by any chance, and can tell me whether they're worth doing?

lizzyb1812

CCP wrote: »

Mrs Chip - that's fantastic news - very well done oil tank people! :T

PIC - you have my admiration for fostering cats: you're providing a very useful service. When I got my mog he had no fur on his back legs because he'd pulled it all out from the stress of living with a small baby: the local cat charity had no spare foster places so he just had to stay there until a new home (me) came along. Another cat in the same position will now have somewhere to go, thanks to you. :T (Having said that, I couldn't do - I'd end up keeping them all, I suspect. )

shelley_crow - what a shame about your curry. I picked up a recipe leaflet earlier which includes reduced fat coconut milk and says it can be made in a slow cooker: it looks like they're wrong.


On the subject of charities (sort of): I found out at work today that there's going to be a charity cake sale for CiN on Friday. (Usually I feel the same as you do about that sort of charity, Justamum, but I'm never one to resist the opportunity to make and eat cake. ) I thought I might make something savoury this time as we never have enough savoury stuff,

CCP Sorry for pinching most of your post but you nicely summed up the comments I wanted to make myself :T By the way, I once gave up coffee and for 48 hours I had the worst headache I've ever had - hope that this didn't prove to be true in your case and I'm glad you're feeling better now.

Shelley - I've never had any real success using coconut milk, be it full fat or reduced so you're not alone

Justamum - I always did savouries for do's like that and they always went down very well but can't comment on the HB recipe

And now for my own news - I've cancelled Sky and saved £537 a year! The Freesat box has been installed and worked fine - eventually . I'll miss some stuff but I had to accept that I didn't use it much and it was costing the equivalent of either the gas or electricity or two times the water bill.

To help me get over the loss of Sky I've ordered a case of wine - for free :j It was the most attractive deal around when I changed energy suppliers a while ago and the voucher came last week. Delivery will be within a week - yippee!

shelley_crow

Mrs Chip, woo! congrats on your new tank, it must be a massive (tank sized) load off your mind that it's all done.

CCP - Thanks I'm annoyed with myself because it's so expensive. I'll give another one a go to use the last of the curry paste, will try it without slowcooking it.

Lizzy - I'm glad it's not just me! I cancelled Sky in September and we are £40 a month better off for it. I'm getting freeview through the dish still, o2 broadband and phone phone is £10 a month. Glad to be watching less telly and trying to talk OH into getting rid of the tv license and only using tv for dvds, might have to let him ponder that a while! Remember to space the free wine out, hic! Enjoy!

Took ds to the drs in the end, he has a virus that his little friend has too. They were playing together over the weekend and it seems that they have shared it. His temperature is shooting up to 38.8 and then coming down again. He's normally so happy, it's odd to see him grumpy