Cats rule, ok!

I am watching Henry raiding my recycled paper box in the office, he is having great fun tearing everything to shreds. It's quite manic here at the moment, Henry gets very upset if I dont give him my undivided attention, omg, now he is eating the paper, just a minute while I remove it from his mouth. Bugsy cat is in his hideaway in the spare room, Lilly is asleep on my bed, and Freddie is glaring at Henry from the safe haven in the window sill.

Freddie gave Henry a hissy fit warning not long after he arrived, which was a good thing because Henry now knows who is top cat, and gives them all a wide berth. We all get up at 7am, and as soon as I have brushed my teeth and fed the cats, we go out for the first toilet walk, me being dragged down the road. It's only Wednesday and I am exhausted, my shoulders ache, in fact I ache all over. I am using his new halti collar on him now, he doesn't like it very much, but at least it reduces some of the pulling.

It isn't all hard work, well not quite. I keep reminding myself he is only a baby and he will be missing his mummy, he makes me laugh sometimes. We went to town yesterday, he loved sitting outside the library watching everyone walk by, a few came to stroke him. You are never alone with a dog.

Sorry this is a bit rushed, but everytime he is quite for a few minutes I have to get up and see what mischief he is up to. We are off to his house in a short while to spend the afternoon there. The cats will get a break, Henry can mooch round his own garden, and I can watch the tele.

Getting ready to camp out

It's countdown to Henry time, I'm going to pick him up shortly. Just letting you know because I'm not sure if he will allow me to switch the computer on while he is here :-( If this blog goes a bit quiet blame it on Henry, he will be demanding my attention no doubt, and we will be doing lots of walks.

I am knocking together a gate so that I can have the back door open for the cats, but he can't get out. I've found a pallet that just needs a bit sawing off it and a couple of slats adding. That should do the trick. In the meantime I have brought my camp bed into the living room, in case the cats take over the bedroom, I think it's best that I sleep downstairs with Henry, it will save a lot of upset trying to keep them seperate. Wish me luck.

A trucking tale

Slap my wrist, I haven't got a post prepared today, so I thought I'd pinch a little story from my trucking tales. I started gathering bits and pieces together for a book a while ago, but I seem to have come to a halt, sometimes the words just dont flow. This tale is from my time at Leicester Heavy Haulage, hope it makes you titter.

Whenever I hear the song ‘Three Wheels on my Wagon’, I think of the time when two of my trailer wheels decided they were going no further, and took a diversion into the woods on the side of the A75, while I was en route to Stranraer. Colin and myself had picked up a couple of heavy lumps of machinery, bound for Belfast, they were loaded on low step frame trailers. We were booked onto the 5pm boat and had timed the journey to the docks just right, only a few miles to go.

I felt a little jolt but thought I had maybe run over a pothole in the road. Suddenly my CB radio bursts into life, Colin, who had been behind me all the way, was yelling at me, “There’s something funny going on with your back wheels, pull over.” Luckily there was a layby just ahead so I swiftly steered into it. We got out to check my trailer, something was missing, there was a gaping hole where there should have been two wheels. The middle axle on the nearside of the trailer had dropped down to within an inch of the road surface because it now had no wheels to support it.

We looked up and down the road, no sign of the runaways. I dropped the trailer and we carried on to the docks, we needed to tell them of our delay, and to get some help. Colin discovered that he couldn’t board the boat because his load was too high, so we were both booked onto the next one due to leave the following morning. I rang Jim, the transport manager, and we were instructed to go back to my trailer and search for the missing wheels, in the meantime he would arrange for a tyre company to come out and put them back on for us.

It was getting dark by this time and I was beginning to see the funny side of the situation, singing ‘Three Wheels on my Wagon’, while staggering about in a pitch black wood, with a small flashlight. Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack. “I’ve found one,” I shouted excitedly as I pushed it up to the road, but we didn’t find the other. The tyre man turned up and said he couldn’t put just one wheel on, there had to be two, but he did have a plan to get me going, he asked me for a chain. He jacked the axle up so that it was raised off the ground, he attached the end of the chain, with a shackle, to a hook on the edge of the trailer on the opposite side. Then he took the chain across the bed of the trailer and underneath the lame axle, bringing it back across. Then, with a tensioner he attached the other end to an anchor point on the trailer and tightened it up. He lowered the jack, and hey presto, it worked. The dangly axle was supported by the chain, and I was able to complete the journey to the docks, get on the boat to Belfast, and drive for an hour to the destination.

When we finally delivered our loads we got the crane driver to lift my trailer onto the back of Colins, he took it piggy-back and I followed him in my tractor unit back to the depot. It's a good job I had a lot of wheels, when you start off with twenty you can afford to lose a couple, ha ha.

Show support for homemade

For saying I don't do much shopping, I sure do have a lot of shopping bags now! Here is the sixth one, just finished.

Think I'll start a competition, how many shopping bags can you make from a gazebo roof. I still have some material left so look out for number seven. I am rather proud to show my bags off now when I go through the checkouts, the till ladies show great interest in them. I thought I would make this one with bold lettering, to show my support for home made. I cut the letters out of a piece of fabric used for making blinds, it doesn't fray so it is ideal for stitching straight onto something without having to hem it first. I used red embroidery thread and deliberately made the stitches large to emphasise the home made look.

The size of this one is 13" x 11" x 7". I like the handy size box shape as I am very particular how I pack my shopping. Having bags of different sizes means you don't damage anything because they don't fall over in the car, if you pack properly they stay upright. Smaller heavier items can go in the smaller bags, and things like boxes of cereals can go in the bigger bags. The handles are strong and firmly attached and can easily cope with the weight. Much better than those floppy flimsy plastic bags that spew their contents all over the place. Best of all of course, it cost less than 1p to make.

More tyres and cheap food

Three snippets for today's post. Remember the 32 tyres I found dumped in a ditch? Well there are eleven more now, totalling 43. I rang the council again, third phone call, and the environmental health chappie said a contractor has been to inspect the site and has tendered a price to remove and dispose of them. They will do the job next week. I thought that was a bit strange and asked why one of their own vehicles could not be sent to pick them up. He said they would still have to pay for disposal at an authorised site, so it was cheaper if they paid an outside company to do it. I wonder how many other jobs they contract out?

A leaflet came through the door the other day advertising a new Cash and Carry which has recently opened. It's on the way to town so I stopped to have a look at what they are selling. It's a small warehouse full of food stuffs, pet food, household and toiletries. Some of the prices were really cheap, the catch is that a lot of the stock is out of date, or least popular flavours and varieties which haven't sold in the bigger shops. I filled my basket for £9.50 with packets and tins. Putting dates on food is the best thing they ever did, but the other week I read in the press that they were considering stopping the practice because people are throwing too much food away. I hope they dont because I dont mind eating out of date food, especially if I can get it cheaper.

In all my sixty years I have only ever spoken to one other Ilona on the phone, and met another in person. It was lovely to find people with the same name as me, and ask about their experiences of living with an unusual handle. I seem to have had more difficulties than they have with explaining the pronounciation of it. Their English version is much simpler than the German version my mother taught me. It is natural for me to say it with a German accent, but then no one can understand it.

This week I have spoken to another Ilona. I found her on the internet and she lives in Glasgow, but guess what, we also have the same surname, how cool is that! It was exciting, I rang the number and asked to speak to myself, ha ha. The woman replied, 'speaking,' and repeated her name. I said 'hello, I am also Ilona.' It was lovely chatting to her. I think that makes us rather exclusive, we could possibly be the only two in the whole wide world. Amazing!

Miss Simple

Many of the people I meet on a daily basis are a little perplexed when I chat about my lifestyle, they just can't fathom out where I am coming from. Some may even think I'm from another planet. My straight forward black and white ideas, and my simplistic solutions to everyday complications seem to baffle them. I am an ideal candidate to embrace a simple lifestyle.

For a long time now I have understood the concept of choice. Each one of us has the mechanics, the information, and the capacity to learn, to enable us to make informed choices on how to live our lives, yet many follow blindly the path taken by millions and ignore the junctions which veer off in another direction.

I am not a fan of making decisions, so I take the simplistic way out by eliminating everything that is not important to me. For example, my house could do with some new decoration, but I wouldn't know which wall paper to pick, so I simply live with what I have, it's not important. I simplify my food shopping by not going down half the aisles of the supermarket. I eat what is good for me, no need to go down cakes and biscuits.

I stay with the same insurance broker for my car insurance, because I know they will find me the best deal. I have tried looking myself but no one else came up with anything better. I don't flit around the utilities trying to get gas and electric a bit cheaper, because they are all as bad as each other. The simple solution for me is black and white, use less and you pay less.

I dumped the TV because I could see no usefull purpose for it except to take up too much of my valuable time. I will not be dictated to by a box, simple choice. I don't have to buy a TV programme magazine, don't have to scour through it to find something that is slightly interesting to watch, and don't have to organise the rest of my time around it. Simple.

I have no fear of receiving bills I cannot pay, because I simply don't buy what I cannot afford. The word 'overdraft', is alien to me, I have never asked for one so I would not know how to get one. Overdraft puts the fear of God in me, it is spending someone else's money, so why would I want to do that? I would have to pay it back. Black and white answer, earn more or spend less.

I build simplicity into every aspect of my life, I don't have to think about it, it comes naturally. Ask me a question and I will give you a simple answer. I am quite simply, very simple.

Stripey bag

I have just finished another bag for the Scrapstore, again it's another upholstery sample. I like the colours of this one, but it is getting more difficult to choose my favourite. I am reluctant to let them go, but eventually I may give some away as gifts. This one will be an example of what can be made out of scrap, and will be on display at the Scrapstore. I used a pillow case for the lining and the little fastening loop. The buttony thing is made out of the plastic case of a felt tip pen, cut it to the right length, then make two holes through the centre to sew it on. The back is plain aquamarine blue. It would benefit from an embellishment on the front, if I was keeping it for myself I would add a colourful motif in one corner. It's still very nice without.

Pushed out of bed

Well, Henry has been and gone, the last twentyfour hours have been a bit of a trial for the cats, but we managed. I thought it best to keep them upstairs while Henry had the run of the groundfloor, although he could see them if they ventured onto the top stair. He wagged his tail with glee and barked a few times, when Lilly peeped between the railings on the landing. It's a good job I put a barrier at the bottom of the stairs or he would have been up there like a shot to play with his new friend.

The fireworks last night were a bit of a pain, the cats hide because they are frightened, so I put the radio on loud, and the lights on. I took Henry for a walk at 4pm, and again at 9pm, when hopefully most of them had finished.

Henry is used to sleeping in the bedroom, I hadn't the heart to turf the cats out of there, so I decided to sleep on the settee, because I knew Henry would not settle on his own. All started ok, then Henry became restless, he kept changing his mind and alternating between the floor and the chair. The next thing, he launched himself onto me, we lay together for five minutes squashed onto the two seater settee. I finally gave up as my back was beginning to ache, and I made my bed on the floor, at last Henry is happy and I got to sleep.

Up at seven, out for a walk at quarter past, no time for a drink, Henry is whimpering. We had a long walk, and I had my breakfast when we got back. I was hoping to do a bit of sewing but Henry had other ideas, he loves his blue rubber ball and keeps bringing it back to throw again. There was no settling him, so we went another walk at 11am. My left shoulder feels like my arm has been pulled out of it's socket, hanging onto a big strong dog certainly tires you out. We went down a farm track where I could let him lose, and thankfully there were no other dog walkers about. He just loves water, and of course he managed to find a ditch with a foot of lovely muddy water in the bottom. He thought a good rub down with a towel when we got back was such good fun. At last he flaked out on the floor, and I managed to get back to my sewing.

Going to collect Henry

Just a quickie, I'm off to collect Henry for his weekend away, hope he's packed his overnight bag, ha ha. I've tidied the house, and picked everything up off the floor that he might consider to be a tasty morsel ! The cats food dishes are upstairs in the bedroom, this is the routine we have when we have a house guest. They will have a surprise as Henry comes bounding in, and I don't expect to see much of them over the next 24 hours, poor little loves. I feel a bit mean doing this to them, but if Henry can gain a little bit of knowledge about cats, he will turn into a more sociable dog. If it goes wrong I can always take him back to his house and stay there with him. Wish me luck.

Born again puss

I've got a new pussy cat, well an old one that I have revamped, a born again kitty. This is my idea for recycling ornaments that are past their best. This cat wasn't particularly old but it had a strange face with puffy cheeks, and some of the paint had come off. The shape was ideal, gently rounded, no bits sticking out.

Remember the beads and stone that I covered in crochet, why not try it with something bigger. It helps if the ornament is not too complicated though, it would be almost impossible to do a horse unless it's legs were tucked underneath it. This is puss approaching the halfway stage.

I started at the bottom, crochet a circle then add a few more stitches for the feet. Then go round and round, increasing and decreasing to fit the contours, no pattern just follow the curves. I drew a picture of it before I started, marking where the stitching should go. I thought a red cat would be nice. Four buttons for the eyes, and black wool for the markings. And hey diddly, introducing Oscar, isn't he cute? He is almost 10 inches tall, the photo doesn't do him justice as the flash has whiped out the detail in the stitches. He looks lovely in the flesh.

Teaching Henry

The car is back in it's usual place, on the drive, I've got lovely shiny new brakes, and it doesn't feel lumpy any more when I am using them.

I went for a dog walk with my friend Helen today, so she could teach me the commands she uses for Henry while she is training him. This is me and Henry

I have got him for the weekend while they go away. Henry is 10 months old and a big boy, he is so strong. I looked after him in June and it was a nightmare, he ate everything he could find. I am hoping he is going to behave himself in my house, I don't know what the cats will think, they will probably do a runner. If things don't work out I can always take him back to his house and stay there. This is going to be a trial, because I am looking after him again in a couple of weeks time, and it will be for six days. I think it would be good to take him out to places he hasn't been to before, treat it like a holiday for both of us.

He walked quite well today, not pulling too much, and he enjoyed romping across the fields. I shall probably be frazzled by Sunday night.

Saving up for my MOT

Today is a day of mourning, my car didn't get a clean bill of health at the MOT station :-( Oh dear, I have a sick car that needs some mechanical intervention. I hate taking it for test, it's too nerve wracking, will it wont it. I had a tyre changed on the back before I took it in, as it was on the borderline, then dropped the car off and went walkabout. Much too stressful to sit around waiting for it.

I took some books back to the library, and took the bag I made to the Scrapstore. They were very pleased with it, and I came away with another sample in several shades of blue, to make another one.

My poor little baby is spending a lonely night locked inside the Central Tyres garage, awaiting some new front discs and pads, which will be fitted tomorrow morning, then I will get the pass certificate. The lads at the garage look after me, I have been going there for years, they very kindly gave me a lift home.

On a lighter note, I did find a one pound coin plus a 5p and a 2p coin lying on the ground in the car park at Wickes, not that it will make much of a dent in the £294 I have got to pay out for my MOT. Then there's the tax and insurance coming up soon. Never mind, I have been saving up for it.

My pearly whites

I saved the planet today, I went to the dentist on the bus, four buses in fact, two there and two back. My dentist is not the nearest one to me, but I stay with them because they are very nice, I see a lovely young lady called Emma. It felt strange at first, having a lady dentist prod around in my mouth.

A few years ago I had to have a big tooth extracted, I thought, she'll never do it, she is not big enough, she hasn't got the strength. I had visions of her standing on top of me, using all her body weight to pull with both hands. I gripped the arms of the chair and pushed myself downwards so that my head wouldn't lift up as she pulled, I braced myself for the struggle. A couple of seconds later, as quick as a blink, she had my molar between the pliers in her hand. It came out as clean as a whistle, amazing.

What has happened to the free reading matter in the waiting room these days, something to browse while you wait your turn. They used to have The Times, a newspaper that I quite like but stopped buying years ago. On the low tables there were notices saying because of the spread of germs, and the swine flu epidemic, they no longer have papers and magazines. They might as well take the tables away then. I sat and twiddled my thumbs. Does this mean that all the public libraries are going to close, due to the risk of catching some dreaded lurgi?

Anyway, I came away with a smile on my face today, a clean bill of health and an appointment for nine months time. So it's onward and upward with the brushing and flossing, and no more eating nuts and chewing toffees. All food has to be sucked to death from now on, don't want to pull any fillings out. I would like to make it to the finishing post with at least some of my own gnashers still attached to my head.

Scrapstore bag

Not a day for going out today, blowing a gale, but no worries plenty to do indoors. I went to the Scrapstore yesterday and they have been given a lot of fabric samples from a furniture company, lovely patterns and colours. They're not the usual single piece of fabric, but have been made up into flat cushions with a piece of wadding between non matching front and back. They are about a foot square, and no one has come up with a good idea for them yet.

It was obvious to me......bags of course. One of the seams is machine stitched on the outside, so I unpicked it. Then I cut a two inch strip off the top, I separated the two pieces and cut the two inch wadding strip lengthways in half again. Now I have two handles, roll them into two sausages with the wadding in the centre and sew them down the length.

Next find a piece of pink fabric to match, for the lining, sew the sides together. The wadding in the bag has been removed, it can be used for something else. Then get a small piece of pink, make a small narrow sausage, in a similar way to the handles but a lot smaller. And finally you need a button, sew it into place putting a small piece of folded fabric on the inside to reinforce it.

Pin everything into place, the lining inside, sandwiching the handles and the button tie, between the outer and inner. Sew one neat seam around the top, I used the machine but you could hand sew it. Finished in a couple of hours, and almost free.

I'm going to take this to the Scrapstore next week so they can put it on display, in the hope that other people will be inspired to make one. If no one wants to have a go, I have got another 75 to make, ha ha.

Crochet fun

I have a book out of the library called Crochet Jewellery, 40 Beautiful and Unique Designs, it's a collection of projects from seven different designers. This is the link to the book, on Amazon....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/1844482545/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

I like the idea of completely enclosing a bead with crochet so I thought I would have a go. I bought 16 wooden beads for 20p from the car boot sale last week, they are the ideal size, 2cm in diameter. There is a pattern in the book, but I don't understand crochet patterns, they are like a foreign language to me, so I made it up as I went along. The end result was just as good as the book. If anyone wants to try this I found a free pattern here....

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3238/3144313837_538e55f889.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/made_by_beag/3144313837/&h=470&w=500&sz=142&tbnid=RjEMkhdLclwutM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcrochet%2Bbeads&usg=__O5pUE1oSvPZLbuVbUQgo-fIH7sY=&ei=fBrrSvJdoNuNB7rZxaAN&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=5&ct=image&ved=0CCMQ9QEwBA
Then I thought about covering something bigger using the same principal, start with 4 chain stitches, make into a circle, increasing and decreasing to fit the contours. I had a stone (6cm's across) in my drawer which I picked up off the beach when I visited Spurn Point a few months back, so I started in the same way, round and round. Finally got it covered, what do I do with it now? It needs some decoration, so I found a few pearl beads and stitched them on. Hey presto.....a paper weight.


I am going to cover more of the beads in different colours and string them together to make a necklace. This has set me thinking about covering all sorts of objects with crochet, because you can increase and decrease the stitches to fit, not like knitting, where you have to start with the right amount. When I get really profficient in it I might attempt to cover a damaged ornament of a sitting cat, I could stitch the markings on afterwards. Now there's a thought.