So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

edinburgher

I hear you re. Cats and nice things. I can still smell the cat !!!!!! on our couch after the summer, even if nobody else can 🤢 I don't think we'll get any more cats

Suffolk_lass

I wondered if you had seen the grow your own thread on here over in green-fingered, as you are already ahead of me with ordering seeds. I have a basket running with Kings (local to me) in my account, and with T&M (also local) as a guest, but having finally tested negative today I plan a nursery and garden centre raid too!

themadvix

Morning all,

@edinburgher - I can't imagine life without my cats, and for the most part the damage isn't an issue - carpets, sofas etc. I miss being able to wear corduroy/velvet (they are long haired) and the worst bit is the p****y mess the B&W has made of the downstairs loo, which is absolutely awful at the moment and we don't really know what to do about it (lovely engineered wood floor absolutely soaked through with cat pee. 

@Suffolk_lass - Foxgloves and co were making me twitchy about having not done any preparation for the allotment, so I thought I'd better order some! Annoyingly, forgot the okra seeds which I fancied having a go at, but still need to order more asparagus (to replace that which was dug up last year) and some oca, so will get the okra with those, hopefully. Glad you've tested negative and can finally go out! I hope 2023 improves for you now!

Have just been doing a bit of work as tomorrow is beginning to look rather busy. Off to see family later to celebrate a little one's birthday, but planning on popping to allotment to collect some kale for our roast dinner (and need to excvate freezer to find suitable 'roast' for Mr MV (I know there's some veggie sausages, so they'll do for me. We need milk, so may cancel tomorrow's order as I'll just get 4 pints from the Coop. Bad for plastic, I know, but a lot better for my purse (and I've been checking on my income from SE this month and it's shocking... next month probably not much better (depending on how busy I am this week), but should substantially improve for a bit after that.)

Have a good day all!

Karmacat

Asparagus, oca and okra, that's quite a prospect!  And there's a lot going on, as per usual - birthday party sounds nice and relaxing, enjoy that ☕🍰

Suffolk_lass

Here's the link I mentioned https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6413897/2023-the-good-the-not-so-good-but-hopefully-not-ugly-of-growing-your-own/p1

newgirly

I can sympathise with the cat destruction Vix, our new pair have shredded the arm of one of our leather armchairs in the living room, it’s old but I love it and don’t want to replace the whole lot, plus even if I did it would just be a new challenge for them 😩   

themadvix

Morning all,

@Karmacat, at least two of those are perennials, so minimal effort once planted and got going! Birthday party was OK.... we'd been promised 'after the chaos of the 4-year-olds' but turned up to find most of them still there. Once the bouncy castle had departed and most of the screaming children with it, things improved!

@Suffolk_lass, thanks for the link - I did lurk last year, but didn't really have much to contribute. I'll check out this year's thread.

@newgirly - totally with you - our stair carpet and sofar are a mess, but they'd only become a mess again if we replaced them (although maybe not the sofa, generally they're pretty good now). I feel they add to the lived in feel... it's just the pee that's the issue really!

Am cracking on with my work this morning as a deadline is looming. I should be able to get this out of the way by this afternoon though, so an opportunity to get on with Cambridge stuff then. Am heading out to collect some bread (and call at the pharmacy) in about an hour - depending on how I get on with work, this may be my only walk today, but I'll walk to the cats if I have time.

Interest was paid on my savings account, so now only £5.12 to find to tip into next thousand - totally arbitrary of course! Mr MV has done some recalculating and reduced the amount he thinks I'll need to find to finish the mortgage by end of December, so that's good. And obviously, if we exceed that we'll have some money for something else - a celebratory trip away perhaps?! (or Christmas markets...). So the thriftiness continues.... hence the collection of Olio bread this morning. 

MS things:
* £16 interest on savings
* Clicks and HW done (nada today)
* Olio collection
* HG kale with our roast last night, plus leftover mushy peas, hm stuffing (a novelty - it usually comes from a packet) and we even remembered to use the mint sauce at the back of the fridge!
* Opted in for savings session this evening
* MM survey - should be participating in a product trial as a result
* Can't access my VB account - have emailed to ask why, but their ticket system requires you to log in to view responses... I'm hoping you get emails too!

Gratitudes:
* Saw family yesterday
* Mr MV got some niggly jobs done while I was out, which was great
* We can afford the heating, so not freezing.

Have a good day all!

Suffolk_lass

I meant to say we have had to put Stealth Cat on medication as she developed stress-caused Cystitis. We are using 2 capsules of Cyctease and a plug-in Feliway in two places to keep her calm an unstressed. Her chosen places (several) included the leather sofa. It featured several towels and a couple of sprays - the pet version of Febrese fabric, and another pet deodoriser (that 2nd one really did not work). We also put down another litter tray, under a chair, further away from the top of the stairs. I don't know which worked but between them, with lots of reassuring fusses and feeding her first (so our dog knows she is higher up in the pack) it is under control for the time-being. The vet says it is cumulative. There was a trace of blood in her urine before we took her. Poor old thing

themadvix

Thanks SL. We've been there, done that with B&W cat - he has the Royal Canin dry food for urinary tract issues, so it shouldn't be that - it has higher levels of whatever dissolves the crystals. I've taken him to the vets multiple times for this and there's nothing wrong - it's pyschological basically. It is a stress thing, but I think mainly caused by him not getting his own way when he wants it - i.e. us to get up and let him out (briefly)/feed him at the time he wants. He also knows what we want him to do, because if we follow him into the downstairs loo when we think he's about to wee he'll run out (and repeat) and then go in and use the tray - he doesn't always do it in the wrong place, even when unsupervised. We've tried another litter tray elsewhere but it was completely ignored by them both (and he stands up when he wees and with a front-opening one, doesn't fully go in, so there's a risk of him missing and ruining more floor coverings - and we can't put plastic sheeting down because the other one will eat it!). I'm open to any other suggestions though! Apart from Feliway - a) we tried that previously and didn't seem to make much difference and b) because I really don't like the idea of artificial pheromones in our living atmosphere. We did have a valerian diffuser for a while - maybe could try that (it only stinks when the smell first hits you! 🤣)

They're due their boosters soon, so will talk to vet about it then. (And I do keep an eye on the urine for blood - that was the indicator before he was put on the food.) I've looked at getting a behaviourist in, but it's at least £300 and most of them are dog not cat people.

themadvix

Nearly caught up on work, which is good as more is due tomorrow (and by caught up, I mean I'm waiting on responses from people, not that everything is finished - I really don't like this way of working!). I did push back this afternoon and say no when someone at Cambridge asked me to do another task that I really wasn't confident about. Felt terrible as it wasn't actually that person expecting me to do it (rather my boss/friend), but I have quite a bit expected in the next week or so and really didn't need something I would be likely to worry about.

We're ready for the Saving Session - mainly because the battery is 94% full - the sunny day has been great for the solar. No more tea or oven on though for the next hour. I roasted one of my homegrown squashes at lunchtime (the first we've tried) and we'll be having squash risotto for dinner. Not entirely convinced about it - it's an autumn crown, which is supposed to be very similar to a BNS but better suited to our climate. However, it's definitely not as sweet as a BNS. Also had a poor crop from it (only 1 fruit on each plant), but am inclined to forgive this given the very hot summer and the fact it was left to fend for itself while I had Covid. We'll see what we think of the flavour once it's in the risotto - but if it's not great, I might be tempted to get some BNS seeds instead.

In the meantime, I'm going to sit and read my book under a dimly lit LED!