Bathroom

The bathroom turns out to be full of murky spidery little corners full of dust , cobwebs and another substance I can't quite place though it has a familiar air . Whatever it is it turns my fingernails to ragged limp things , my new bathroom cloth to a dirty shred , and my nerves in turn to tatters .
This morning's CatCall , two lovely cats named after a lager and a spirit involves a visit to a beautifully appointed house which makes me feel weak when I encounter my own bathroom corners , but stiffens my resolve with the polyfilla , though I begin to appreciate the enormity of the task and that new wood , sandpaper and a scrubbing brush may enhance the preparation stage . And that polyfilla alone ... well .... it was an idea .

Friday , just before the rain

Opposite Puffin Island , off the bikes for five minutes and a malteser break , clouds start gathering .

We dont quite make it back .

Above the wall , rainbow(s)

Above the wall , with rainbow(s).

27th June.

Wall from window with raindrop ...

... but missing the two rainbows .

View from the window last night , without the double rainbow .

This the wall the cats love to stare at , endlessly , in meditation .

Question ? Or Comment

1. D , looking over my shoulder as I post the exploding tv blog see complete with photo : " why does an article about an exploding tv feature a picture of a toilet ?"
   " A toilet ? "
   " What toilet ?"
   he points , impatient for me to finish so he can direct me to his latest attempt to restore the website to the spot on the ether where it needs to be .
   
   (The e mails are coming thick and fast from Fasthosts and seem now to start " Dear D , we are now sure that you have ..... "
   and sign off " We are now sure that once you ..... x, y and z you will be laughing all the way to your search engine ", or similar . )
   
   " That's the bidet "
   
   Silence .
   I hear the voice in his head which is saying , quietly , " I rest my case " .

Exploding tv

....run downstairs at the final hour to listen to the Archers at seven , having been trying to polyfilla the bathroom back together . Polyfilla was the plan but as always with these ideas , it transpires there are a mountain of preparatory tasks which cant be ignored . Scrubbing the skirting boards and the floor tiles and round the base of the lavvy and the bidet ( which doubles as the cat's fresh water bowl receptacle )...... consequently I run down in a hot sweat and all geared up for flat on the back on the sofa with Jennifer and Ruarhi and the spectre of Siobhan .....not best pleased when the tv refuses to yield Radio 4 and pant back up to the next level to lie on the bed instead and listen to an alternative device .

N comes home and wanders in wondering why I am up there and breaks the news that D is poring over the tv which looks like it is no more .

Silence reigns , no Big Brother .

N and I take off for Morrisons and Fox 's wholemeal bran biscuits which have temporarily taken over from Rachel's organic coconut bio yoghurt as the breakfast of choice ( with golden linseeds stirred in for extra effect ) where we acquire some cute post it notes ( 59 p) . Soon a note appears in N's handwriting

To :Shelagh

From: D: of Newcastle

tel no: 0800 -kiss- my -ass

Message : Shelagh Im sorry but IM GAY ( sic)

For some reason this strikes me as very funny and makes me very happy . I celebrate with maltesers ( small ) and decide polyfilla can wait . Further cause for celebration , an e mail pops up stating I have won another e bay bid ( addictive or what , never bought anything then three purchases in one week ) , a hardback book for 99 pence . ( fay Weldon :She may never leave , featured in an article in this morning's Times .Search Times Online )

The pound puppies ( mini ) arrived at 9am .

The cats were aghast when they tumbled out of the envelope and scattered for a few minutes , re appearing gingerly to check out whether they moved . 18 tiny dogs , kittens , three piggies , a purry , a furry and an elephant .

Jess and Toby begin footballing almost immediately with a brown pig and Kitty selects a long eared and rather tasteful beige basset hound for her very own . There are even some Birman style puppies with chocolate points .

All is well with the world .

Jessie , courgette for today

Jessie crept into bed with me in the early hours and when I woke my arms were wrapped round her as she slept . I dreamed I was growing a courgette and Jessie was the courgette and I was so proud of her being so smooth and shiny and lovely .

Today the great excitement , not having any cats to look after apart from my own , was discovering more features on site meter , including a map which seems to reveal that people are looking at the blog from Italy , Germany ( that's my friend Zita ), Canada , New York , California , oh and lots in London . And hopefully in time that will spread to lots of people locally to the north east of England who want someone to take care of their cats .....or like looking at photos of cats and houses and things you see when out on your bike .

Did I mention , I won the pound puppies ( minis ) on e bay . The previous batch of 8 went for £21 , shocking , but this batch of 18 I managed to get for £6 50 but that apart the excitement of bidding was tremendous . Spurred on , I then hunted down a copy of Mike Figgis' Timecode and managed to get that for £ 3 or thereabouts .

I saw Timecode a while back when I hired it from Blockbuster . I blanch now when I think of how I took the DVD back and informed the man at the desk ( I 'm not quite old enough to call him the Boy at the Desk though indeed that's what he was .....) that he had given me the " wrong version " of the fim and could I just have the " normal one " . His ears pricked up , wondering if I'd inadvertantly picked up a porno , possibly , but no , I was clearly mad , as I insisted on explaining the fim "had a man talking over it. ". When he asked what he was talking about and I explained it was about how he had made the film and could I just have a plain film , realisation dawned that I had clicked onto director's commentary . He patiently explained while I hooted with glee at my folly . How come he didn't laugh ? They have such self control , these people .