so hard to write

Its so hard to write on the days Im at the Day Job . Not that there isnt anything , in fact my fingers itch as I notice things , interactions between people , stuff I find funny that other people seem to take for granted as part and parcel of how people treat each other . Blah blah . I'm in danger of getting into it all . But Ive learned from the blogging giants who have gone before us and trying to write about what wont get me into trouble .....

So I 'll be back later todaywhen its all over , or for real tomorrrow , when I have my life back ....

weekend ....

..trying to hang onto the weekend .

A picture of the causeway , swallows on the sail ropes , and D searching for crinoids , or St Cuthberts Beads . We found a total of around twenty , now displayed in the bathroom

the excitement ....

... the perfect end to an amazing weekend , for the first time in ages , but ages , we booked a holiday ....a proper holiday with flights , sunshine , a beach and all that ... all organised for six weeks time so plenty of time to get even more excited .
And my sister will come and take care of everything here .

All of which made up for the fun of my car packing up this morning and an exciting hour parked up near a garage waiting for the AA to arrive and watching what was going on in the garage which had a sign up saying Sorry we are temporarily closed and bollards preventing cars getting onto the forecourt. ( There is a point to all this detail ) . It was truly fascinating to watch the responses of the cars arriving to drive in for petrol and realising they couldn't get beyond me . I was effectively blocking an entrance which was already blocked . The majority of people pulled up , glanced around , tried to work out what I was doing there , scratched their heads , glanced at their fuel guage then drove off , obviosly realising the smartest move was to find an alternative station . But the odd driver screamed up , shrieked to a halt then worked themselves ( himsef , really , in the main they were men who were cross ) into a silent frenzy , furious that things were not going their way . One woman was amazing . Very stylish , perhaps about seventy odd , small car . She was wearing one of those wonderful turban jobs on her head . Anyway after grinning at me , via several big gestures she indicated that she was bang out of petrol , that she had not a clue where the next garage would be , that she had to be somewhere quite necessary , but , and her smile said it all , What the Hell , life was for enjoying and laughing at and if she ran out of petrol , she'd cope and she trusted there would be people out there in the big world who would be happy to help her .
Sitting reflecting in my car about all this , how differently people react , I noticed a woman striding purposefully towards me . One of the women who worked in the garage to ask if everything was ok , if I needed help , or a lift anywhere , or a cup of tea whilst I waited for the AA ( after I explained my plight ) . This kind of thing makes my day .... unexpected kindness contrasted as it often is with " the workaday world " where we none of us have time to take care of stuff like that .
And now I have to sign off as my laptop is giving out and typing with one finger whilst holding the lid on with the other .....though of course I still have masses to say

yesterday...

....was one of those idyllic days when everything goes perfectly .

CatCall to start the day , and watering plants in the lovely yard there with two friendly cats for company .

It was D's birthday and his daughter and her partner and their little one ( two ) arrived bearing croissants for breakfast . These were no ordinary croissants though , they had been laid out to prove the night before and were now waiting on a tray to be baked , a variety of different fillings . Reminiscent for me of American conferences ( the Day Job) , where you arrive from your hotel at the conference to be served the most amazing danish pastries , croissants etc . Nowhere does it better ! But thanks to J and D our kitchen was a pretty close approximation . All the more appreciated as J was due to go back on night shift later ( she is a midwife not long qualified and if ever you want to watch in admiration as someone manages a really busy life at such a young age , take a look at her blog http://www.motherwifemidwife.blogspot.com/). Alina seemed to enjoy picking up tiny red hearts off the floor most of anything , but thats' how it is when youre two . The hearts had been added as sprinkles to D 's card and present , and there was a moment this morning when I spotted one sticking to his bare buttock which still makes me giggle now ....I dont quite know how it got into the bed but maybe Alina does !

Holy Island in the afternoon was magical . Very few cars there , so as we stood looking out to sea taking endless photos , all we could hear were birds and , when we walked around the headland heading for the beach , the eerie noise of the seals out on an outcrop of rocks , sounding like a cross between distant motorbikes and mermaids singing . Strange noise , which I managed to capture on the camera video function . The castle reflected in the sea perfectly for us in the sunshine for a few minutes and the same as we ate pear cake in a fairytale garden setting with a gang of birds watching us , starlings , thrushes and sparrows, squabbling over crumbs .

We sat on the beach searching for "St Cuthbert's beads ", or crinoids , the tiny fossilised remains which look like tiny beads crinoids st cuthberts beads - Google Image Search and which were spilled by St Cuthbert according to myth. Fossil folklore Incredibly satisfying to find , all different , all beautiful , and something which visitors to Lindisfarne have done over the years , and stil , with each turn of the tide , more of the beads are washed up . We left the island with plenty of time to spare , with the aim of returning at some later stage when the tide is close to covering the causeway , just for the fun of watching as the water closes in from both sides .

Holy Island

Wonderful day at Holy Island .... just a picture for now , though there may be more , I see from the camera that we took 81.

D's birthday , the nicest day I've had in ages . He seemed to enjoy it too !

help, please ?

Just wondering if any of you people out there can help me with a blog thing ?
You will see from the last post that BetteJo has asked me a question about subscription to the blog . This is something which has long puzzled me ... when I first started reading the Freddie blog I subscribed which meant that each time Tim posted , I received an email which told me there was a new post and took me there via a link .
I hoped to set the same thing up on mine but wasnt able to find the way . Though I went through what seemed to be the right motions , having read all the blurb , it just didnt work like that though I was able with other blogs to use google Reader myself to get updates . But it was never quite what I wanted , which was the e mail way .
Now that BetteJo has raised this it has set me wondering again ... and also wondering about my other readers, and how you operate .
I'm fascinated , now I look at my stats , to see that there are people coming back and back to read , and I wonder whether you all do what I do when I read blogs which is simply to save links and log on each time .Another source of satisfaction is why people keep coming back , is it the cat connection , the pictures , the other pictures , or the bits of writing ? I started writing to publicise the CatCalls website and as far as I know none of my latest enquiries have been connected to the sites though I do know some of my catcalls families do read the blog as they've told me they do . So it all remains a bit of a mystery to me why I get returners , though very gratifying it is too, as Im sure all of you bloggers out there will know . And oh the joy of a Comment !
What I really need is to know more about you people ! maybe I should invite everyone who reads to make a comment and just tell me something about you and why you read , what else you read ( great way to find new blogs ) and what you like and don't like . Now there's a challenge !
And if anyone knows anything about Subscribe and how to , please tell me ?!!

Mini Pound Puppies

None of my cats are keen on conventional cat toys .
Moving rats with feathers for tails do nothing for them ( or me either come to that ) .
But all four of them adore mini pound puppies 6 1995 MINI POUND PUPPIES FROM POUND PUPPY on eBay, Branded Soft Toys, Soft To,( wouldn't you just love that little caramel one in the front ?) see the latest (above) I've been offered on ebay just this very minute as I sit minding my own business . That's the problem with ebay . Its hard to stop .
Months ago , I realised Kitty would be a happier camper if she had her very own supply of pound puppies . Due to some malfunction on her brain's hard wiring she views any passing pound puppy as her very own kitten and likes to carry specimens around , move them from room to room , presumably to protect them from the Horrid Humans living here , or maybe those nasty Vicious Birmans that she doesn't trust too far either . I think its safe to say Kitty has Trust Issues . perhaps simpler just to say Kitty has Issues .
N and I spent the best part of a Saturday combing the shops for Pound Puppies and found them now unobtainable so I did what you do now... you go on ebay ... and there were pound puppies galore . After several false starts , losing my nerve a few times , and balking at the reach for the stars price of the first "batch" I bid for ... I finally dropped out of bidding at ten pounds and they later sold for an incredible £28 ( for about thre or four used puppies ) . Finally however I got the knack of the thing and got myself a great bag full of the little poppets for around a fiver , all in perfect condition and providing Kitty with that Birthdays all at once Feeling as they tumbled out of the padded envelope.
Said Pound Puppies are now stored in a compartmentalised box , colour and size sorted , all ready each day for the cats to line up neatly and select the puppy of their choice to play with ( I did mention D's Tidying Issues didnt I ? )
Problem ? that despite several attempts to cancel the interest on ebay for pound puppies , I still from time to time receive a note to tell me they have found New Pound Puppies which may be of interest ....ever tried to resist clicking that ebay button ?