A few months and several questions

ZTD

RosaBernicia wrote: »

Mind you, a tiger would make sure nobody nicks my parking space again

"Hey you! Tiddles wants a word..."

RosaBernicia

I think I may be remarkably lucky and have found another sensible landlord... :j

One leylandii already dismembered and in car en route to recycling centre - I hacked it apart as soon as I got home :rotfl: and will be tackling the other one asap. The garden looks bigger already

And as 'all in your email sounds fine' I take to include the cat request... will be off to the local shelter on the weekend :j:j:j

(Still not quite sure if can believe this... was almost convinced he'd say no. Had got used to the idea I would have to buy a place before I could have pets. But may be no need )

Moneywise, have £22 left in budget til payday on Friday. Need lunch tomorrow but can take stuff from fridge, and will be doing takeaway or eating out tomorrow night with friend who just moved to the area


Rosa xx

Knitting_Nora

OOooooo - a puddy tat! We're gonna need pictures....

Nora.x

RosaBernicia

Weeell there are some celebrations to be had

I killed a credit card :j £179.50 has gone to the smallest card today, which will now be cleared. I haven't yet decided whether to close it immediately or keep the account for expenses - but as my expenses at the moment are minimal and I have to go into town tomorrow anyway, am thinking I might just march in there and tell them to close all my accounts tomorrow

I am also sub £11K on the total debts for the first time since, oooh, ages.

Total net status for the month remains a whisker away from sub £10K at £10,078 but that will definitely happen next payday - and of course if I have any extra cash come in this month that's where it will go. There are a couple of reasons for this... I went out for a meal with a friend who'd just moved to the area, and bought her some flowers for her new flat (both of these things are much nicer than making her find plates for takeaway, so I feel that expense is entirely justified), I may need extra cash for family weekend in the city, I want to finally sort out my dentist and optician appointments this month, and I may need extra petrol for trips to cat shelters. I could have made the payments and really slashed my budget for the month, but it would have made things miserable and I just don't see the point in being grumpy and stressed for the sake of 4 weeks. I have made that mistake so many times before and all that happens is I end up having to run the total back up then feel bad about it - so this time I'm going for the sustainable option.

Next month I shall be paying a big chunk off the smaller OD and that will be gone by end of July.

I am also beginning to eye up the fleabay pile with thoughts of the cash coming in, instead of the hassle of listing, so hopefully will get onto that fairly soon.

It's been an interesting process with the sub-£10K debate as I am so used to shuffling money around between credit lines for one reason or another... I was a bit taken aback to realise that there really was no way round this because I was talking about the total instead of shuffling from one card/ account/ spreadsheet line to another. Hopefully that's sunk in now :rotfl:


Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

Second leylandii butchered, and part of it bagged up already. Will sort another bag tomorrow night and it will eventually all get recycled. The garden looks bigger already and since it also looks a whole lot tidier I am thinking of having friends round one evening to kind of christen it.

Off to visit one cat shelter tomorrow and have been recommended another :T

Survived a stretch class at the pole studio yesterday as well as a short private lesson in the week - have made progress with sitting and my hamstrings aren't complaining as much as I expected. Also discovered that the Waitross where I am forced to park is now open til 9 which works out beautifully - I can do pole class and run through supermarket on way back, picking up reduced stuff which lessens the guilt of shopping there and also it saves me petrol to Sainsbugs. :j

So all good here at the moment

Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

Hmmmm what news.

Garden reshuffled due to space released by evil leylandii. Should be able to take some stuff to allotment next weekend which will finally make it tidier. As all the basics are now done I can get onto sorting pretty things in pots

House slightly reshuffled in order to make space for cat stuff (litter tray and dishes).

Am making some progress on removing stuff I don't wear, simply by chucking anything that isn't right when I try it on straight in the Ebay box. Still haven't swopped over winter stuff though and will have to do that soon as am getting fed up of the boot avalanche every time I open the wardrobe.


And in more important news, have been to cat shelter and now have to decide which should come and live with me. There are three I like, can't have all of them so need to figure out which one or two. Head says one, who is unflappable and would probably settle very easily, heart wants to give a home to a slightly more nervous and thoughtful one. The second one might be happier with company which only complicates things more. Will just sleep on it and see.


Rosa xx

kerri_gt

With regard to the cat Rosa, you need to do what is best for moggie, if you can't take the nervous one because she would be better with company then she's prob not for you. Saying that, our wee minx was virtually feral and as nervous as they come when we inhertited her as a stray - you honestly couldn't pick her up without her yowling (if you could catch her). She's gradually gained confidence, is still a little nippy if the mood suits but 18months ago she actually decided she likes lap cuddles - she's 7 now, so it took 5 1/2yrs for her to come to that decision in her own time.

RosaBernicia

You're right Kerri - and I could have two so they'd have company, but have only asked landlord about one and don't want to change that, in fact in some ways would feel better not doing it until I've met him. He's going to arrange to come round sometime this month.

Also realised that I have to be away for two nights twice in June, one for a family event and one for work, and they're both unavoidable now. I already have at least three willing cat sitters (two of them very willing) but it's not ideal for new moggie. Also, laugh if you want, I feel a bit uncomfortable making a decision straight away after having only met moggies for five minutes. I wasn't going cat shopping, I was kinda looking to see which of us got along, as we are liable to be stuck with each other for 15 years :rotfl:. This lot were kind of the opposite of the previous shelter, they basically said 'oh fine you can pick them up Saturday!'. I was so taken aback I just kind of said 'erk I'll think about it' while wondering when they were going to insist on the home visit and character references!

They were going to get the three I was interested in checked over and said to call later in the week, so I think what I might do is call and talk to them. I also have some time owing and could go out there on Thursday afternoon to spend a bit more time with moggies. It might work out easier to decide I'll actually take cat/s on in July when all trips are done, the house and garden will be more sorted, and I have a week off at home so would be here - plus work will be much quieter so can probably arrange to work from home for some of the week after. If the current moggies I liked are still there fine, if not then no bother as there's bound to be others - it's not like the world is going to run out of cats needing a home.

Of course this might all change again if I go on Thursday... and as one of the ladies at the shelter pointed out, currently the cats are penned up without human company for the majority of the day anyway, so maybe it's daft to worry about leaving them with a sitter for a couple of days if it means they get a long term home.

Just realised that was four paragraphs of dithering.


Rosa xx

Knitting_Nora

When I decided to get a rescue dog, I was stunned by the extremes of the rescue homes - Dogs Trust wouldn't even consider me (being single and, horrors, in full time employment - hacked me off something chronic as I worked flexi-time, lived 12 mins door to door from where I worked, and (in those days) could afford a dog walker twice a day while I was in the office. Heck of a lot more than some they allow to adopt!); whereas the place I eventually got Milly-the-dog couldn't wait to part with her (or any other dog) within seconds of me turning up on the doorstep. No references, home checks etc.

Not sure what the answer is, but I'm fairly sure than both extremes aren't always in the best interest of the animal concerned!

So all power to your elbow on being considerate in terms of the month ahead, and wanting to spend time with a cat before launching into a long-term relationship. That's not dithering - it's just thinking through your options.

RosaBernicia

Oh thank you Nora it's not just me then

I work 15 mins drive away, have quite a lot of flexibility and am hoping I'll be able to negotiate a half day working at home from July. So the worst that moggies would suffer is being on their own for a working day - and they are cats, after all, independent minded things. Also, one of my potential cat sitters lives literally across the road and works shifts, so would be able to pop in at other times. A catflap won't work here but I already know I will need to find somewhere next that I can have one.

I would love to have a dog too but would want to be somewhere with more garden and well, more room. Which is a pity as I would very happily have taken the little whippet mix at the shelter home with me .

Went to the local Pets At superstore this evening and was gobsmacked at the amount of carp people will buy for animals who can't appreciate it. Particularly the entire range of cat toys and stuff marketed as Baby X and all cream and pink - is it just me, or is that creepy??! And interestingly, a lot of the same stuff is rather cheaper in Wilkos


Rosa xx