OS Singlies - We Do It Our Way!

BookWorm

Just popped in to say hello. Feeling a bit 'blah' last couple of days...not really poorly but not quite right either iyswim

(no funny comments about not being right to start with either you lot..... )

x

mum2one

I have finally got my holiday sorted, going to Gambia for Easter, not the hotel I thought we were going to, as I wasn't being held ransom for hire of a fridge and air conditioning...as the hotel wanted about £400 for the both of these....

It has worked out better as staying at the hotel I stayed in 10 yrs ago, (been modernised since then) I know my bearings and that I can get around.

DD has now got a box ready to put odds and sods in, mini pack of crayons, mini toothpastes - shes really happy about going there and looking to mix in the culture

Hope everyone ok xxx

ellie99

How are you feeling today BookWorm, any less blah?

mum2one, you're very adventurous with your holiday destinations, I'm not sure I'd have the courage to travel like you do, I stick much closer to home


Finally made myself paint a kitchen cupboard tonight, so no going back now! It looks bleeding awful so far, fingers crossed the top coat looks better. Cupboard obviously didn't want to be painted...it fought back...I caught my arm on a sharp corner and now have a 4 inch cut up my arm (well okay, it's more of a scrape, but there was blood and it stings...and there's nobody to commiserate with me and bring me chocolate :rotfl:)

Pup has now had all her jags, so we went a little walk today and looked at some cows...*everything* is interesting when you're a puppy

JustKeepSwimming_2

LavenderBees wrote: »

Hah! EXACTLY...

Hold that thought, JKS, as clearly "The Mouth" thinks you are attractive and young enough to be getting some action resulting in pregnancy! So albeit 48 hrs too late, I'm starting to think she was paying you a compliment

Yer see, we were all so negative... :rotfl:

Treading through treacle is mainly what I do at work so I don't allow it in my home life....hate that feeling of not getting things done/ticking off my list. Having said that, the work at the weekend has resulted in me moving things forward last night, so I'm feeling better now :T

Nearly Wednesday already. Not quite as good as nearly Friday, but a lot better than nearly Monday.

Hope you're all having a good week!

LB xx

Well, aren't I the cats PJs then :rotfl:Amazingly desirable to all who meet me....

Thank goodness its almost Friday & the end of term :T. So looking forward to having a break from the routine & not having to nag 2 grumpy kids to do homework etc. I did write myself a long list of chores that need doing, but its depressing me too much, so I may just pick my top 3

Must get a quote for the flat roof that may not last another winter;

Must repair my broken window handle so I can shut it (friend was going to sort this, but it hasn't happened & I knew at the time I should have stood my ground & just done it myself in the first place )

Must implement a better system for food shopping/menu planning/sorting kitchen cupboards etc. (this one makes a regular appearance, but I often ignore it as I loathe anything to do with food & kitchens - apart from eating, obviously )

The last one is a priority now as after having lurked on the threads about benefits changes in the budget & trying various calculators I'm going to be at least £1094 worse off - some calculators have said I'll lose even more, but that's too scary to contemplate :eek:. I'm already just under the income tax threshold, so my income will drop by at least 10% (when my bills wont drop I guess), & coupled with exOH now being self employed means the kids maintenance will also take a massive dive from next month

mum2one wrote: »

I have finally got my holiday sorted, going to Gambia for Easter, not the hotel I thought we were going to, as I wasn't being held ransom for hire of a fridge and air conditioning...as the hotel wanted about £400 for the both of these....

It has worked out better as staying at the hotel I stayed in 10 yrs ago, (been modernised since then) I know my bearings and that I can get around.

DD has now got a box ready to put odds and sods in, mini pack of crayons, mini toothpastes - shes really happy about going there and looking to mix in the culture

Hope everyone ok xxx

Oh Mum2one, that sounds lovely :T How exciting.

ellie99 wrote: »

How are you feeling today BookWorm, any less blah?

mum2one, you're very adventurous with your holiday destinations, I'm not sure I'd have the courage to travel like you do, I stick much closer to home


Finally made myself paint a kitchen cupboard tonight, so no going back now! It looks bleeding awful so far, fingers crossed the top coat looks better. Cupboard obviously didn't want to be painted...it fought back...I caught my arm on a sharp corner and now have a 4 inch cut up my arm (well okay, it's more of a scrape, but there was blood and it stings...and there's nobody to commiserate with me and bring me chocolate :rotfl:)

Pup has now had all her jags, so we went a little walk today and looked at some cows...*everything* is interesting when you're a puppy

Hope the cupboard is behaving itself now Ellie. Ah at the puppy walk - like having a toddler again. I was amazed at how long it could take us to get anywhere when DD & DS were little, when you had to say hello to every plant, talk to all the snails, pat each car.....

Hope you're doing OK BW (& everyone else too).

CRANKY40

All of my cats have used covered litter trays without any problems. The secret to getting them to use it is to put some used litter in on top of the clean stuff. Cats like to over scent other cats (I'm sure you know this LB) so they will use the litter themselves to get rid of the other cats scent. We even managed to train my friend's new kitten that hadn't used a litter tray at all before using this method. You can work out for yourselves what was going on in the house that she got the kitten from :eek:

AS regards loving our pets, the boy and I only take short breaks these days as any more than a couple of days means we miss the purry monsters too much. I'm fairly sure I'm bringing my son up to be a caring, affectionate, responsible person. Some people have no idea do they? No wonder local councils are always advertising for foster carers. I'd fail for sure as we were sat making tie dye t-shirts on the kitchen floor earlier...the same room where shock! horror! the litter tray lives in a space under the stairs.

mothernerd

Years ago, DS2 and his friend were asked by their teacher to 'look after' a new boy who had just moved into the area. they all got along, so DS2 asked him round for tea. His mother came round to 'inspect' my house (never had it happen before or since) to see whether my house was suitable before allowing him to come :eek::o:(. Just turned up with some of her many offspring in tow and I was too bemused to be offended at the time.

The only negative comment I got (relayed via the son and DS2) was that she didn't like that I had the cat litter tray in the kitchen (we had recently acquired the three kittens - one per boy). I only have the two rooms downstairs, it was as near to the back door as it could be. Should I have kept it in the living room on the carpet?

DS3's gf's parents were foster parents for many years. They wanted to adopt the last child that was placed with them and the inspection team didn't like the dog (gf has rats and now chinchillas in her bedroom) or the wood burning stove - they thought it was 'dirty' not worried that child might burn his hand on it.

Byatt

Jks, I'm affected by the budget too, was so stunned and upset when I realised late on Monday night, I drank my body weight in whisky.:eek:

Still shell shocked, not exactly sure how much yet but will be in the region of £1500. I can't even find something funny to say.

I don't think a lot of people realise yet just how hard hit they will be.

Thanks for missing my humour guys...:o...:D

I'm sure I had a funny story to tell...Ah, yes...I've been pet sitting and woke up during the night wanting the bathroom...couldn't switch the lamp on, so got out of bed and walked straight into a wall...I thought I was at home, which doesn't have a wall straight in front of me...:rotfl:

LavenderBees

Well, at least it's Friday :j

This :j is too bouncy for me today, am knackered!

My pusses are happily using the larger of the covered trays although the cat flap part has been lifted. I've dropped it in place today so will see how they go with that. I had put the smaller covered tray in the bathroom, but my pusses prefer to toilet downstairs..why? who knows how cats think...:o. Over the weekend, I'll try putting that one at the bottom of the stairs and try to gradually work them up to the bathroom.

The bigger problem I have is that my anxious and over sensitive YBC MUST have a litter tray beside the TV in the living room. If one isn't there, he pees on the carpet where he psychologically (for whatever inexplicable reason his brain has conjured up) needs the litter tray to be. The fact there are litter trays elsewhere doesn't matter.

And, of course, that is the litter tray that the SW is objecting to.

So, the larger covered tray is in that space, and when I am sure he is 100% happy with the new tray, I will then have to think about how to start moving it...but I am not honestly hopeful of success. I never wanted a litter tray in the living room, but previous attempts to dissuade my wee boy have resulted in ..well, you can imagine, which to me and YBC is far worse than having a litter tray that is used and cleaned out immediately.

If the SW mentions it again, I think I will simply explain it can't be moved and they can go elsewhere to find their 100% perfect home for a child if they want to.

I fully understand that some children will have issues to address/work with...the sw needs to understand that some animals have issues to address/work with, too.

On the subject of the budget, and at the risk of being political, I was fully expecting that an unfettered tory party would start doing what they are best at - hitting people who can least afford it. The subject of working tax credits is a thorny one...I don't personally agree with my hard earned tax money being used to prop up the profits of large profit making businesses. Pay a reasonable living wage for staff, for goodness sake! But for smaller businesses, of course, it isn't quite that simple. It's a difficult one.

I hate platitudes so won't offer any - no point in me saying it will be ok, how do I know? It's going to be tough offsetting the shortfall, but hopefully we can all help with tips, and you couldn't be in a better place than MSE to learn how to live on a reduced income.

Take care all

LB xx

mum2one

It's the first day of the school hols here, not much planned today, car gone to garage re tyre, then got to pay elec bill, £160 .... It's just gone sky high since dad was ill, simple things like not being able to get washing out / increase in washing - then means tumble drier... We're get there eventually xx

ellie99

For all you English people who are now on school holidays...:j :j :j

JKS and Byatt, that's a lot of money to lose, I hope you can cope with it. I must admit that I don't really know much about tax credits (I'm assuming it's to do with tax credits) and hadn't realised that the changes would make such a difference.

I'm another one who is very tired, putting it down to lack of sleep, having very disturbed nights at the moment. Felt like I was in a fog at work this morning. Had intended to carry on doing stuff this evening, but can't really be bothered

Is it a bad thing that I've discovered a local chippy that also sells chocolate fudge cake and apple pie? That's not normal in my area :rotfl:
On a positive note, I didn't buy any!