Crazy Cat Lady Chapter 3 - A New Beginning

beanielou

Have to say I am another cat flap fan.
I have one in the door out to the conservatory & one to the outside.

crazy_cat_lady

I don't have a cat flap because we have a lot of cats and I can't afford a fancy one that reads the microchips and I don't want all the cats from the street coming into the house. As well as not knowing how to fit one. I haven't looked for a while so maybe I should investigate again - but it has always just felt like a massive job. I've just had a look, and it's not as expensive as I thought. Just a case of where I would put it and who I could get to fit it. Maybe will start saving for it - will need to go on the list though...
Anyway, it is PAYDAY!!! I have had a fairly busy day today - had an appointment with dd to get our brows and lashes done - worth every penny and then went with the kids to have lunch at a friend's house. She has £land near her place so I went in there too and stocked up on crafty bits to decorate December presents. Foxgloves, if you're reading they had some lovely Christmassy tins. I got ribbons and tags and boxes and tins. Anyway - while I was out (over an hour away from home) my phone rang. A broadband engineer. At my house. As per my appointment that was booked between 1-6 today? WTaF??? I repeated the conversation I'd had yesterday when I was told about the need to not be in the property. Engineer said he would do what he could outside the house and then rang me back to say he couldn't find a fault anywhere - so he's closed the fault. I actually cannot wait until tomorrow when I get my call back to find out if I'm satisfied with the service. :mad:
Popped in at the vet on the way home to buy some flea treatment on prescription - needs doing properly once in a while and I think we have a small problem happening in the house in spite of my best efforts - expensive but necessary I think.
Anyway, I'm home again now and relaxing while the kids deal with the trick-or-treat lot - we've been very busy indeed tonight and I'm not sure that we have enough sweets so I might have to start hiding soon.

beanielou

My cat flap going outside is not one that reads the chip.
(My mum had one & it dident work properly.)
It comes with lttle things that go on their collar & it is that that engages with the cat flap that makes it work.Infra red.
It is a Staywell. 4 way locking.
HTH

Pooky

Mine is just a bog standard one, we had an issue with a cat coming in for the first couple of weeks but I caught him one day and managed to soak him with a water squirter- he's not been back.

I'm not a fan of collars on cats after one of mine got horribly caught up. But a bog standard flap in a double glazed window cost us £120 (would have been over £400 in the patio door due to the daft size of the glass).

foxgloves

Oooh, thanks for the info re Christmassy tins, CCL. I'll remember those if I decide to do any home-baked biscuit gifts or raffle prizes. Nice tins can be silly money, can't they, but I'd be happy to pay a £.
How infuriating about the engineer.
F x

Buffythedebtslayer

Hey up Lovely XX

Animals are a mare You have my absolute sympathy. One of the dogs wees in the conservatory, and you never know where....well not till it is too late. And Engineers are also a pain in the bum too.

I look forward to your report back on the how satisfied you were

XXX

crazy_cat_lady

Hello :wave:
Well, BT don't know how satisfied I am because they didn't bother to ring up as promised. :mad: I'm not feeling so great today to be honest, bit run down and I'm full of cold again but I am going to ring up and have this out with them as soon as I can be bothered.
I'm not sure where today has gone to because it's already late afternoon and I don't feel as though I've gotten anything done.
Got up a little later than I would have liked this morning, fed my sister's cat and then went in person for the big monthly grocery shop. Did about half in Aldee (the basics - veggies, baking stuff etc) and half in Mr S (brands and stuff the kids insist on having). Also managed to pick up something for my niece that I think she will like for her birthday. I have plans for making stuff but I feel as though I really can't be bothered with any of it at the moment. Will still need to get on and do something though.
Just went upstairs to put the clean bedding away and I actually cannot get anything else in the cupboard. Must be time for me to sort through it. In fact I think I will do that soon because dd is watching something beyond dreadful on tv and I can't bear it. That will motivate me enough to then get on and do the jam.
Thanks again everyone for the advice about the cat flap people. I am going to bear it in mind and perhaps save for it. All the bills and dd have gone out so I'm now plodding on for another month. Ah well.

foxgloves

Jam, CCL? Actual JAM? Go you! Hope to hear it's been a success this time.
F x

f0xh0les

Maybe you could consider it a present to yourself, to be rid of litter trays (obv there would have to be one around the place in case of elderly incontinence/poor weather/ fussy b*ggers), and opening doors for cats?

Maybe one that you save your shrapnel for. The kids might even get involved. CCL's cat flap fund.

All you need is a jar and a sharpie.

crazy_cat_lady

Hello :hello:
I've had a productive weekend. Not spend free, but frugal and planned (I'm telling myself that anyway). So, I cleared out the cupboard where I keep the towels and bedding - I've gotten a massive bag of old stuff to send off to an animal charity as soon as I can bother myself. I also found a few more tops belonging to my ex which I've bunged into a charity bag as well.
After that I felt like I needed to get on with the jam. Indeed Foxgloves, I have made jam, and it has set :dance: It's blackberry, raspberry, apple and gin. Tastes zingy but ok I think - certainly nice enough for gifting. I just need to get round to bottling the gin now and my home made food goodies are good to go (but I am going to make biscuits nearer the time). If only the crochet went along as quickly.
Saturday I was up and out early with bestie. She was shopping, and me and dd were tagging along. I went into £land and spent on chocolate to put away as stocking fillers for the kids, plus one more tin for putting Christmas goodies into. We went to a lovely local coffee shop for nice coffees and muffins before heading home. While I was in there, ds rang me to let me know that our internet was off. Again. So I spent much of the journey home psyching myself up for ringing BT up. Again :mad::mad:
Got home and rang them. Waited 20 minutes in the queue only to be cut off less than 3 minutes into the actual conversation. Second queue was only 8 minutes and finally got through to someone. Explained the whole thing. Again. Was told that they could see at their end that I'd had 15 drop outs in the past 4 days in terms of my service and that there was a major fault into the property, and that I would need an engineer to visit. I explained that I had been off work all week but now could not take any weekday time off before Christmas. The earliest appointment they had for me is 2 weeks time on Saturday morning. Quite annoying - I made sure that they knew that I was annoyed with the way that I'd been treated so far. I've been given a £50 goodwill payment (on top of the £25 I got on Wednesday) but still don't have reliable broadband. Then to top it all off, someone from the India call centre rang me at 5pm, the call I was supposed to get Friday lunchtime. She ended up cutting me off because I suggested that she read the notes on her system before asking if I was satisfied. She didn't ring me back...
Anyway, I've been out again today, at dd's request. Shopping. :eek: Today I bought a jumper for my dad for Christmas, a hoodie for ds for Christmas and some socks for myself as I've put my foot through several pairs recently. As I say, spendy but not unnecessary spending (I don't think). I've made a big pan of chicken soup and dumplings for dinner tonight and have tidied round ready for my cleaner coming tomorrow. Also spent some time in the loft sorting through my non ending wool stash. I've almost made a whole blanket out of one tiny box of odds and ends. It has motivated me to keep going with the crochet. Also found a gorgeous scarf pattern which will make nice Christmas gifts if I can find the time.
Don't want to go back to work tomorrow though. I'd rather not be thinking about that short term...