Finally did some gardening

As usual I forgot to take any before pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was very reminiscent of a wild jungle! I kept expecting to find a small tribe as yet undiscovered by civilization lol. Sadly all I found is slugs, snails and about a dozen worms in weird and wacky places!

Considering that the garden had been ignored for about 18 months it could have been much worse. We (Mum and I) were out there for about four hours yesterday, and we got quite a lot done. I lopped down some of the huge cherry tree next door (before the rapidly falling blossom turned into cherries); pruned some roses, a forsythia, a Japanese maple (which I also repotted after sawing through the roots that had burst through the bottom of the plastic pot it was in! The pot is now a heap of plastic pieces as I had to smash it to bits to get the plant out lol), pulled up about a thousand weeds, planted a sad looking pink camellia in the ground, emptied the ashes out of the incinerator from the Beltane bonfire, top-dressed another Japanese maple, chopped down and fought with some suckers on the roses, swept the small patio and struggled with Mum to put up our gazebo. There is still a lot to do, but we both felt too tired to carry on. Mum was suffering with her back and dodgy shoulder and my right ankle became too painful to stand on for very long... all signs to go indoors and rest.

All told, though, I feel very happy with the progress we've made :0) Fingers crossed we both feel well enough to go out again later today and do some more.

My new hat

I got an answer to my question/Gem at the vets

It seems that because I've already switched the name back to the free host that my blog should be safe... I just hope that come March the person that answered wasn't wrong!



Has anyone else noticed that when you take an animal to the vet that you end up looking a complete liar? We had to take our old cat today as her claws on her front paws had grown so long that they were digging into her paw pads and making her feet bleed! It's a problem that should have been obvious earlier, but for the fact that Gem hates contact with people except on her terms... and even then it's just the odd head scratch. We all thought that her walking a bit stiff lately was due to her being 19 years old and having arthritis in her legs... well, it wasn't, it was because of her claws. Having a cat hiss and spit at you if you get too close has a way of making you keep your distance lol. It was only when Mum noticed that her right paw was bleeding slightly that we made an appointment for her at the vets yesterday (once our landline was fixed on Thursday, after we noticed the bleeding on Wednesday).

So we took her to the vets, with all the attendant moaning and meowing in the car on the way there, and the vet just picked her up out of the pet carrier (we have never been able to pick her up without a virtual fight... which we lose!) and the vet was stroking her and touching her back near her tail straight away... it took us about three years before Gem trusted us enough to let anyone stroke her properly (from head to end of tail!)

They tried to cut her claws whilst we were waiting outside, but because they were quite bad when they did the first couple and the pads on the right paw started to bleed quite heavily, poor Gem just got really distressed so they asked for permission to sedate her and carry on. I readily gave consent for that, even with the warning that it could carry the complication of her reacting badly and passing away. What could I do? I couldn't just let her have painful and possibly infected feet for the rest of her life... so we had no choice but to leave her there and come home again.

It was 2pm yesterday before we phoned and got the good news that Gem was fine and up and awake (although still wobbly from the sedation) and we could go back and get her :o)

She looked a bit of a state, bless her, with both paws done up in little feline boxing gloves and the fur on her back legs shaved (because it was matted where she's unable to wash herself properly because of her age... it has only been in the past few months that she has allowed me anywhere near her with a brush!)

Anyway, all is well now, and she has to go back on Monday to have her dressings looked at... although the sneaky moo has already pulled off the left paw one and Mum had to loosen the tape on the right one as Gem wouldn't settle with it and kept trying to get that one off, too. Seeing as that is the worse of the two feet we want to keep that one covered for as long as possible. Mum phoned and asked if it was ok for her to pull the dressing off and was told that as long as there is not very heavy bleeding it's fine and not to worry as cats heal really quickly. If the bleeding gets too bad we are to phone their switchboard and they will give us the address of the 24 hour emergency premises.

We have the lovely job of trying to get antibiotic tablets into Gem starting from Sunday, twice a day, just to make sure that her feet heal properly... but apart from that she should be fine. They were happy with her weight, and her teeth are in good condition for a cat her age (nothing rotting or needing treatment, which is good news). We have to pop out tomorrow and get a special grooming mitt so that we can brush her properly... but it's a small price to pay to have her with us for as long as possible.

Finally made an offering to Selene...

... as I promised I would last month.

I was feeling really sad last month and I asked Selene for help... and I started to feel better. I promised that at the next full moon I would leave an offering for Her, because She helped me when I needed Her. So tonight I left a small glass of white wine in my cauldron after saying a few words of thanks (I would have placed the wine directly into the belly of the cauldron, but the last time I did, where the wine is quite acidic, it had started to cause the cauldron to rust, which I don't want, so I put it in a small glass and then placed the glass in the cauldron. after taking a small sip as a sign of my thanks... yes it did make me feel dizzy, so offerings of wine, in the future, don't pass my lips, or I have to use fruit juice lol).

I didn't have time to shower, so I washed my hands, face and hair and as I washed I said this (at first in my head and then out loud): "Holy water that feeds the earth and makes all clean, cleanse me for my offering." Then I went in my room, lit my candles on my altar and made the offering. I only had the candles burning for a couple of minutes and then I snuffed them out, placed the lid on the cauldron and left.

I felt really happy afterwards. I keep my promise and in the past I've not done so and have felt really guilty afterwards.

Then, when I came into the front room a few hours later, I looked out the window and the Moon was right outside, shining into the room at me. I spoke to Her for a few minutes, saying thank you and that I had made my offering as I promised, and then I just sat watching Her for a little while. I felt so calm and content... really happy.

We are having lovely weather lately.

Perfect spring weather... it makes everything seem more positive somehow. It's warm, but not too hot (which is how I like it) and the sun is not so blinding as the summer sun can be. The clocks went forwards an hour last night, so that means that the nights will be lighter... which is great as it gives me more time to do things, like work in the garden or even get out with my camera, as the sun will go down after I finish work.

All in all, I love spring... especially seeing as we have had such a harsh and bitter winter.

We bought a new gazebo today... a pop-up one that we can take down if the weather turns nasty (and also at the end of the summer). Hopefully it will last longer than the normal ones we end up buying as we can store it away from the winter, and high winds, and not have to leave it up to fend for itself and just hope it makes it through to the spring without damage - because it is such a hassle to take down and put up (like we usually have to do).

I got a new netbook this evening...

... and so far all is going well.

I got it primarily because my big laptop is starting to become unreliable, it freezes and the internet browser crashes all the time. Sometimes just turning it on causes the silly thing to freeze and I have to wait for ages for it to come back to life. Also I love the small size of this one I have got now, and I can take it upstairs and update here without having to worry about overheating or freezing (like I have to with the big one).

Anyway... time will tell I suppose... fingers crossed I don't have to fling this one out of the window... which is how I feel about the other one LOL!

Whoever said the woods are quiet is a liar!

I was in the woods yesterday and I was amazed at how noisy they were! It is quieter indoors, LOL! Between the sounds of dogs barking and playing, people talking, children having fun and all of the birds singing, chirping and cooing I was glad to get home, hehe.

The birds were the loudest! I heard crows, magpies, wood pigeons and about six more that I couldn't identify. When I'd walked a few hundred yards into the trees, though, the sound of the birds was all I could hear... and it was beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, even though I was only there for about 30 minutes (I was killing time waiting for Dad to attend a hospital appointment, and rather than just sitting in the car park twiddling my thumbs, I took a five minute drive up the road with my camera and took far too many photos, LOL!)

The sunlight through the leafless trees was lovely, and it wasn't cold either, I was able to walk around with my light coat undone. I walked over the crunchy leaves from last year and I felt kind of re-energised, even after such a short time.

So glad I went when I did, as on the way out about 50-100 guys from the local Army barracks came jogging into the woods for their cross-country exercise... the shouting and "encouragement" they were shouting to each other (basically swearing at each other lol) would have totally spoilt my visit, but as I was leaving anyway I found it amusing rather than annoying.

Hopefully when I've had time to have a good look at the pictures I took I'll edit this post and add a couple in.


Edited to add: Picture link.

Flickr photos.

And here a few of the photos I took:

Just renewed my Greenpeace monthly donations...

... so today is much better than it started out.

I only had four hours sleep before I was rudely awoken by Sissy and my Dad (they are both so loud!)... but after having a shower, clearing out a lot of the plastic bottle from the bathroom (the ones with virtually nothing left in them thanks to other people always pilfering my products when theirs run out! They wouldn't buy what I use, but they don't mind using mine when they have none!!) and emptying the bin I feel in quite a good mood - which makes a change from my usual Princess Grumpypants impression.

Why is Thursday such a bad day with kids?!

As long as I've been working with kids they have always either been naughty, rude, moody, grumpy, whiny or miserable (mainly) on Thursdays! Just what it is about Thursday that should influence kids in such a negative way I have no idea.

G has been dreadful today... he wet himself, screamed in another girl's face, snatched a toy away from her and has done nothing but moan, whine and have temper flare ups all day! The sooner he goes home the better, as it sounds like he needs to go to bed!

Sissy and Pingu are due back anytime... can't say I'm looking forward to the increase in noise, but there we go.

Yay! Doorbell... bye G... come back later when you are in a better mood!

Yay!

Sissy and Pingu are away from the house until tomorrow afternoon! I know I shouldn't feel like doing the happy dance, but I do. The house feels so much lighter when they are gone (or should that be when he is gone).

At the moment he has a chest infection and a cough that always has him bringing stuff up from his lungs when he finishes. I know he can't help it, but just hearing him bringing up phlegm makes me want to throw up! He did it when he came in early today and I had just made myself a ham sandwich - as I went to bite it he finished coughing... I thought I was going to heave and I couldn't even start my sandwich until he had left the house. Had I been eating when he had finished coughing I just know that I would have been physically sick!! I'm determined to not get another cold, so am using Vicks First Defence nasal spray... weird stuff (and a bit stinging if you inhale it too deeply, which of course I did on my first attempt). It's a thin gel stuff that you spray up your nose - it traps the cold virus, then renders it inactivate and you either blow your nose to get rid of it or sniff up and swallow it... sounds gross, but it works, and if it lessens the length of the cold (or better yet, stops it in its tracks as the box says it can do) it will be worth it.

The weather has taken a turn for the worst here... the temperature is plummeting and the sky is turning a leaden grey colour, which is bad. I heard on the news last week that the north of the country is going to have snow from today, and that is could spread south until we might get it nearer the weekend. My right wrist has been aching for two days (my left upper arm, too), always a sign of bad/cold weather... and I'm hoping that it is not an omen of weather to come!

Finally, some good news regarding work

Just had our local childminding co-ordinator around (yet again, third visit) and we are finally meeting all of the daft requirements that Ofsted now demand that people meet. That means that there are no more scheduled visit from her this year... so happy. I get so stressed out when I think of her coming round as she has a habit of finding the smallest, trivial things to "action" us about (actioning means that she'll make a follow-up appointment and then come back again to make sure you've done the things she recommends and that you are "doing as you're told!")

We now have nothing planned, visit wise, until the new year... that means I can have a stress free xmas without the worry of people "making sure" I know how to do the job I've been doing for almost 18 years! It's all glorified paper wasting, but "it has to be seen to be done!"

Madness  *sigh*

Got my fruit box...

... and I'm very impressed. It was delivered before I woke up and Mum had to see it in (I got up a bit late at 8.20am).

The fruit looks lovely and the apple I ate actually made my taste buds tingle (never had that from an apple before). It also came with a welcome letter (that made me lol) a booklet containing lots of seasonal recipes and also a leaflet with details of other stuff they do (like the Re-Cycle campaign that they support).

I took some pictures (sad, I know).

Here is the box complete (I put the plums back in their cardboard punnet, and arranged it so that it could all be seen, it was a lovely fruity jumble before I did... the weird stuff by the plum punnet is the string that the box was wound in).

There are four apples (two now as two have been eaten, lol), four pears, six kiwis, six plums and five bananas... all organic and £10.50 plus 99p delievery. Not bad considering the cost of organic fruit that I've seen in the supermarkets. Even Dad commented on how "bloody beautiful and sweet" his apple was (and it must be good to get a reaction out of him... we don't call him Mr. Oblivious for nothing!)

There was only one tiny mark on one of the apples, and that is only where the stalk of one of the pears dug into it slightly (so I ate that apple first). The rest of the produce is perfect.

My only quibble is that there is not enough of it! I got the medium box and it is meant to feed 2-3 people... never would it stretch around that many people and still meet the five-a-day that we are all urged to consume. Anyway... I'm very happy with it so far, and I can't wait for the kiwis and plums to ripen (and nor can other people in the house... Dad has asked for a plum or two and I'm sure that Sissy has her eye on a couple of kiwis, LOL!)

I also got to choose a free gift to be added to my next order, either 6 medium organic free range eggs, a litre of organic semi-skimmed milk or a 400g loaf of organic wholemeal bread (I choose the bread as it looks like it'll go down well with soup or a casserole). It arrives with my next order on Tuesday.

All together I'm very impressed and would give them 9 1/2 out of ten stars (and the half star mark down is purely for there being not enough!! hehe)

Thank the Gods... the kids are going early tonight...

... and I now have a whole week off! Two weekends with five weekdays inbetween!! **does the happy dance**


Of course, after that week I have the two new kids for five days a week, 8am-6pm for the following FIVE WEEKS!! Not looking forward to that bit (urgh, summer holidays are only fun when you're a kid). Both are total whingers that cry and stamp their feet if they cannot get their own way... the little boy, G (2 1/2) weed all over our small sofa the other day, completely drenching one side of the sofa and also a cushion - and the girl, C (5) is really selfish and has tantrums if she doesn't get her own way. Neither of them is spoilt by their Mum, so I have no idea why they are like it. I assume that the family members that used to do my job are the ones to blame... so, yeah, thanks guys, sterling work there!! *sigh*


Here's hoping that time goes really slowly now... none of this flying malarky! LOL (at least for the next week anyway... after that, feel free to fly like the wind... I'm actually begging you to do that, time... if you're listening? PLEASE?! hahaha)

Finally got rid of the last of my dyed hair...

... I feel so much cooler now (which is great as I was baking my arse off before). Since I started dying my hair black in May 2009 I have gone about 25% white... not even grey, but white! From my temples on both sides of my head to way back past my ears in two inch sections, the hair is pure white! No wonder I was having to colour my hair black every three weeks! I walked past a mirror after I got out of the shower and was shocked to not see myself with black hair, hahaha!

I've learned my lesson with hair dye, though... if I ever were to dye it again, it would either be lighter than my original colour or as near to my own shade as possible. Never am I going darker, 100% never going black... EVER!! I also hated the way it made my hair thin and perpertually greasy (I have greasy hair anyway, but it would no sooner dry after washing and start to look lank).

I'm thinking of never cutting my hair again and seeing just how long I can get it before I completely get sick of it or totally make myself out to be a liar and reach for the dye, LOL! I would like long hair, it's something I always say, yet never achieve because I always do something to it and then cut it all off to within an inch of my head (as I've just done, hehe).

If I'm going to be a true Hippy Goth, then I need Hippy hair... oh well, as long as I'm alive it'll grow. On thing I can do quickly is grow hair (in the summer it can be as much as almost two inches a month! No joke of a lie, and if take sea kelp it's even faster).

So bloody hot today, and having electric fans blowing constantly is really drying out my eyes and making them red and sore... I hate summer, I'm more of a Spring and Autumn person. I like it so that you can sleep at night without waking up drenched in sweat (which is imcredibly nasty) if you turn the fans off, or freezing cold if you leave them on. No pleasing me, is there? LOL!

I had to laugh when we lost 4-1 to Germany in the World Cup... as I was watching the motorway just afterwards I saw not one single England flag adorning a car... now, if Andy Murray would just lose at Wimbledon we can go back to being the cheerful underdog, rather than the cocky, "never-shut-the-hell-up-about-it" winner! (That and I just really dislike his poxy attitude, the fact he can never even crack a grin when he's welcomed on court to thunderous applause... oh, and the fact that he reminds me of a rat-faced chump *sorry for insulting the rats, there*)

Just had a haircut

... I got Mum to lop four inches off the bottom... it's sort of shoulder length now (it's still wet, so it will raise up a bit once dry). It feels so much nicer... I hate the feeling of having hair everywhere (especially the stray ones that seem get inside your clothes and tickle your bloody back!)... and I also want to to stop dying it as I've noticed that it's getting really thin lately (and I seem to lose an awful lot when I wash my hair, which I have to do every day). I can still get it in a pony tail, so it's all good :)

I feel so tired again today, and my eyes are itchy and stingy and I have a stuffy nose (sure sign of hayfever, though I've taken my antihistamine today, so I've no idea why I still feel like that :( )... I'm still in my pj's, but I have to get dressed soon, for some reason I seem to be more tired when I stay in them than when I get dressed (probably psychological, as I associate pj's with bed or feeling unwell).

My stomach seems to be ok, it feels very "heavy" though, probably the leftover from the other day (though it feels as if it wouldn't take too much for it to react again :( )

Anyway, I'm enjoying my "unofficial" time off (not expecting any calls about work until May)... money is tight, but sorted (which is a relief) and I'm amazed just how little you actually need to survive on when you really try... I've had a closer look at my book collection and re-discovered some that I'd forgotten about and my local library is (hopefully) re-opening (after a major refit) this weekend, so I might have a wander up there and see if they have anything new :). I love not having the boys in here, peace and quiet have returned, and when we told the little girl we have (E) that the boys had left, her exact words were "Oh good!" LOL. With just her here it now means that until Noo comes in (Friday afternoons sometime after 2) we have Friday mornings off, and also work a half day Wednesdays. I could get used to it, I have to say. The last time I drove the car was Monday when we took Sissy back to Brighton and I haven't missed it, not really... it's lovely to know there is a car there, but I don't miss having to second guess some of the idiots that are on the roads these days! Better for the environment, too (I'm certainly driving five miles less a week now, lol).

Now, if I could just get my eyes to stop stinging and find some energy (as my "get up and go" seems to have "got up and gone" without me!) it would be perfect.

Selene connection re-connected?

I've just become so excited on finding out the there will be a full moon tonight... and I'm wondering if it means that my connection to Selene is deepening again.

I've felt differently for a while now regarding gods (more positive and not so agnostic, more of a very, very soft agnostic... sure that gods are real, just never having had proof for myself). I'm wondering if this means that She never cut our ties at all, just gave me some breathing space in order to see if it was right for me, after all. I really wish that tonight's sky was going to be clear, just so that I could see Her and see if that's the case.

I suddenly have this overwhelming urge to go and put on my little crescent moon pendant. So I'm going to do that now :)

At last I found the link for the background I deleted (idiot!)

I thought I'd never find the address of the artist that designed the background for this blog. I've been searching random blogs for days without success (and if I'd have had to see one more "Praising Jesus" blog, I think I would have gone barmy!!)... I was looking through my browser history, just killing time and then I wondered if it might have been in there, somewhere.

At the time I originally found the site of the artist that created them, I also downloaded a couple of header images (to go with the backgrounds), and by finding out the date I downloaded them to my computer, I was able to get a rough date for looking in the history. I checked for that date and "bingo!" there was the address that I'd been hunting high and low for... for days!!

I'm so happy that I managed to find the address and I've bookmarked it about a million times so that I don't lose it again, LOL!

On the off chance that I do, the address is: http://itkupilli-cutencool.blogspot.com/ very cool artwork, and all for use for free (which is by far my favourite price, hehe)

I feel so very happy

I don't know why and I don't care... I just have one of those feelings of complete and utter contentment.

I've heard it said that you feel that when you have learned one of the lessons that you chose to learn in this incarnation... not sure it that's true or not, but I'd like to believe it is.

It could also be because I am incredibly tired, but not an exhausted kind of tired, a good tired (I hope that makes sense? lol)

Bye-bye roadworks.

So glad to see you bugger off, lol! Wonderful to be able to park near my house, on either side of the road and not be too far away from home so that I can take my Dad the places he needs to go without having a mile hike to get to the car! There are still roadworks, but they are now at the bottom of the hill, not sure what they're doing, but I'm happy as long as they are doing it way over there.

We lost our appeal of the parking ticket, so we have to pay that soon (just one of those things you use as a life lesson, I suppose)... thieving bastards!!

I have got a very sensitive tooth at the moment... I'm hoping that it's just a touch of neuralgia and not a cavity! Don't have the money to go to the dentist and I did have sore teeth all over my mouth a few weeks ago. It doesn't hurt all the time, I can't bite down on it very hard and it is very "jabby" when I have stuff that's cold, but it doesn't hurt otherwise and doesn't hurt when I brush my teeth, so I'm a little confused. I do have fissures in my teeth, but the dentist said when I was younger that my mouth structure is too small for the large teeth I have, so to relieve the pressure it created fissures in my teeth. I also have a dodgy wisdom tooth on the same side (it grew at a strange angle, and sometimes makes all of the teeth on that side sensitive :( ) FIngers crossed that is all it is.

Anyway... I mustn't grumble, and we had a beautiful day here today... sunny and warm, and I cleaned the car (again) so I'm hoping it doesn't rain now (usually does when I clean the car, hehe).

I was in the garden and I've seen some of the things that I want to do this year... some plants I want to get in the ground and out of pots, and also I have an idea for growing some herbs and veg (must start off the seeds soon, need to get a little greenhouse, too). Exciting times are just around the corner in my little patch of heaven :)

I love google chrome!

It's the only web browser that I've used so far that actually works with the facebook games of Farmville and Cafeworld... all of the other browsers I have (Firefox, IE, Safari and Opera) just seem to get stuck whenever I try and do anything whilst playing the games! So annoying... but chrome works!!

Of course, now that I said that I've probably gone and jinxed it and it'll stop working for me... which would be typical, LOL!