Day to day musings of a cat minder/ sitter in North Tyneside and Newcastle upon Tyne . For details of services go to http://www.catminders.biz

Welcome to CatMinders

Welcome to CatMinders


Thursday, 13 January 2011

How the Sky Changes

Click on image to enlarge if you want to

.... in a matter of minutes ...
This morning's walk with the dog at the sea at nine am . One minute dark and stormy looking , the next a fabulous shimmer across the water. Red sky behind the lighthouses for a few seconds, black skies the next. Maybe the weather is menopausal?
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Sunday, 9 January 2011

Collages




I have today discovered a photo editing whatsit and Collages !!

So here we have one of our between Christmas and New Year Family GetTogether Dos .....

I am going to be collaging everything from now on . Thats me up in the top left hand corner in the middle if you want to know .....and the dog of course is between me and my sister.
Kitty is the big cat to the left , and one of the Birmans features centre right ish .

I wont say too much about the other characters lest I am not forgiven .
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Saturday, 8 January 2011

Christmas update in pictures :Snow: CatMinding

We spent Christmas Day here . Hair raising /exciting drive to get there

A quick walk before dinner



Chilly Sheep watch the silly greyhound skidding in the snow on Christmas Day

The week before Christmas. Alice checks who has been on her patch

Front of House

Close to Home

Warm View

Is it a Cat or What ?

The week before Christmas we had so much snow I was travelling to the Office on the metro. But CatMinding needs to be done either on foot ( best in this weather ) or if further afield by car .

I wondered whether I would manage to get to my cats with my car well and truly bogged down in snow drifts on occasion but the assistance of the shovel and plenty of de icer and sometimes finding nothing more helpful for scraping ice than my good old credit card ( will it ever be the same again) , all visits were managed though there were some interesting twirls on the ice .

Some of my longstanding families now have cats with special needs due to increasing age and I particularly enjoy these visits , seeing cats whom I've known for years still enjoying life and feeling part of that and glad that they are not having to be uprooted to a cattery at this time of their lives when they love nothing more than curling up in their favourite armchairs and coping in part  because of the familiarity of their surroundings .
I love the fact that I will receive lovely long notes which give me a sense of how the families do things so I can follow suit and keep things as normal as possible for the cats and I try to leave a note of reply which gives a feeling for how things have been in their absense.

As to that final photograph - I'd been Christmas shopping and returned to find the little picture on my car window . How I laughed!
I posted it on Twitter. My sister immediately suggested it was actually a Cat in keeping with my most obvious interest in life .
What do you think ?

Wednesday, 1 December 2010

Brown Scufflers

I took a packet of bread buns out this morning to make Nat's sandwich and found the name on the packet: Brown Scufflers. Sounded like a very good description of our TinyChums (Copywright@TheTiniestVole). I couldn't help smiling . At the minute everything seems to point to my complicity in the likely  demise of Mr Rat and his Gang .

RatWatch continued over the weekend while we waited the arrival of Envirolink .

I was begged by one friend to try a humane trap and I hoped that the council would assist us by humanely trapping our unwelcome visitors and letting them go in some neighbouring park . In my heart I knew that on a scale of one to ten of liklihood it was probably at a minus four.

Everyone seemed to have a view about RatWatch .

From initially being an OverBench Rat , Mr R soon made the transition to FloorRat , presumably after the FaceOff with Kitty . We had a feeling about this after Kitty changed into the Subdued Timid Mog who no longer wished to be first into the CatFood at breakfast time and  preferred to wait for us .

We began to think we had a gang after seeing the vast quantities of catfood that was polished off at one sitting . And the footprints. The footprints! Which RatMan informs us are in fact WhiskerMarks left by rats who are short sighted and have to woffle their way around . Our lovely china cat bowl was covered in whisker marks .

Anyway , as I write , things have moved on apace .
I myself have now met RatMan , who is called Russell . I dont know why that should strike me as so funny .
Russell was smartly dressed in council attire , workaday uniform of the navy army surplus wear variety but with a tie , and with wellies and a beanie hat due to the snowdrifts . He carried a tupperware box full of "the stuff" . I cannot bear to describe any of the information he gave me about what is happening and will happen .
I am too full of guilt .

Traps are not permitted in case the men nip their fingers " health and safety " .
Russell was not allowed to pull out the big fridge freezer " political correctness you know" he said somewhat enigmatically , asking me to do it .  No Russell I wanted to say . Political correctness is about not causing offence . The council are making sure they don't have to pay out if you hurt your back .I think he was embarrassed, at having to ask me to do it . I was after all marginally smaller than him , and  female to boot .
Anyway eventually the deed was re done .




Now we wait . Again .

I am expecting a Smell .

Sunday, 28 November 2010

Operation RatWatch

We have a KitchenRat.
This is not funny. I heard scufflings and scrapings whilst making Nat's sandwich midweek , and despite the fact that two of the cats were staring pointedly at the alley between the fridge freezer and the wall , assumed that they were looking for a spider . I think this is called Denial.

The cats sat there for most of the day , only leaving the RatWatch post for food or related activities ( littertray). The other two cats joined them at various points standing behind them ( in case the rat was large) watching carefully . Still I was too busy to think.
The following morning I came down first - rare for me but Alice had insisted on a Nocturnal Ablution session and D was recovering with a Late Start .

En Route to the cat feeding station I noted a moist guinea pig dropping on the bench and scooped it up with a piece of kitchen roll thinking to myself Honestly thats all I need , the Pigsters projecting their poo up out of their quarters and onto the food preparation areas . Pah and double pah! Wiping up and washing hands was the extent of the attention I paid to that . D appeared and peering at the bench further said "Where have all these all mucky marks come from " pointing at a run of large footprints leading from behind the fridge freezer to the kitchen sink . Hmm . "Ive just cleaned up a guinea pig poo" I offer helpfully .... which on reflection might have been a ratpoo... "

D fetches various disinfectants and other heavy duty cleansers and gets down to business inspecting the footprints as he goes . These could be bird prints , he says , in a weak voice . That , I say , is called Denial . Or wishful thinking . It doesnt work . Where , for example is the Bird now? Birds don't typically squeeze back down the hole they came in through. t
They bash about against the windows. We need to face it . Its a rat . Possibly Rats . Someone has to ring Environmental health . And the last time I rang them about the one in the Attic that that wimpy plumber said he saw , no one ever even rang back about .
I 'm onto it , he says . Later .

Later that day we have a torch and three of us are in the Kitchen mounting a search .It is widely believed that  the cats , or some of the cats have come face to face , and are not happy . Some of them are looking depressed and are facing the wall in D's office , as if meditatiing . They are no longer on RatWatch . That job has fallen to the Humans . The dog has no interest , though she is keen to eat the catfood as ever  , under the guise of catching a rat .

I climb onto the bench and train the torch behind the freezer . It is a narrow space , dark and there is an adjustment period for the eyes . I have to position and reposition my glasses . Nat has already tried and seen nothing . I move the torch up and down and decide my specs are better off , for long distance viewing . I am long sighted after all . It is still very dark , with a smallish circle lit . I move the circle and find what looks like a ball of something . I am not terribly squeamish but I am not wholly  at ease. It appears to be a ball of dust , cobwebby and grim . It is unpleasant . I move the torch , I am aware in the background that Nat is on the phone to the right of me . Beneath the ball of dust , a large greasy black rat shuffles across my line of vision and then disappears . I find myself shouting very loudly and I hear Nat saying Oh my mum has just seen the Rat  Oh My God . I seem to be shouting very loudly and D is shouting Which way is it going?  the over arching feeling is one of my legs weakening and failing .
Nat ends her call and comes to help me down from the bench . I am laughing helplessly .
We have a Rat . It is Official .

And , judging by the weather , snow snow and more snow , we may have a rat for a while longer .
Envirolink are scheduled to arrrive to deal on Monday afternoon . In the meantime , every time we leave the kitchen , a rat or rats appear to be skipping about on the benches . The cats are occasionally on RatWatch but mostly they are subdued and not themselves . Perhaps cats too  have that primal scared of rats feeling that I myself have experienced?

Monday, 22 November 2010

Visit to United World College Duino Trieste Italy

Plaque on the wall in the village , Duino

Plaque explaining what the colleges are about . Robin applied to various colleges in different countries, as do many students.

View from the Day Room in the college. Its a far cry from the view at my daughter's High School !

Another view from a different window of the Day Room . I took this by opening the shutters and leaning out . A steep cliff face is below leading straight down to the sea. Amazing .

The town square in Trieste .



Across the road from the college in Duino village .

Trieste



Trieste



This weekend one of my longstanding friends was making the trip via Stansted to Trieste and then on to the village of Duino in Italy to visit her son at boarding school at the United World College of the Adriatic , an international college for students aged sixteen to eighteen year olds who want a different experience of studying from A levels and who prefer to study away from home and to have the chance to study for the International Baccalaureat .
Robin heard about the college from a friend and applied and was accepted after an interview in Wales , and started in Italy in September . This was to be Liz's first trip to visit him .
The college is home for two years to around two hundred international students , and it felt like we met them all on Friday evening , being introduced to them shortly after our arrival ! Not really , it just felt like that ! What was fascinating was how intrigued they all were to meet Liz , Robin's mother  and I suppose that's how it works . Sixteen is very young to be leaving home and some of these young people are very far from home indeed, and must be desperate for contact with home and keen for any reminders of home and family . Indeed at our arrival everyone stopped what they were doing immediately ( watching a dvd on a huge plasma screen ) and came over to watch Robin making us a cup of tea) and chat to us about where we had come from , what our plans were , and whch countries each of them were from . East Timor , Bangldesh , Italy -of course-, Vietnam - Albania, Afghanistan , Bosnia , Pakistan , Venezuela, Poland, Brazil and Canada spring to mind . Mind blowing opportunities. International School UK,Boarding School WalesUWC AdriaticUnited World College of the Adriatic Duino in Trieste - Italy Community of stuUnited World College of the Adriatic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


It was a great adventure as ever to be able to travel and to think about things from a different viewpoint . Its easy to assume that after GCSE s you have to just follow the crowd and do A levels but Robin is proof that you can apply and live abroad and study in a whole different way and although the fees at the college are very high all the students at this college are supported by full scholarships so it isnt costing his parents any more than the flights to get him there and using the cheap flights which we used it really isnt that expensive .
Nat and I had the opportunity to take off to Trieste - we had planned to do a train journey to Venice but this wasnt possible- we were told that the sea had flooded St Marks Square so we had a lovely afternoon taking photographs and pottering around .

Today , Monday I'm back to CatMinding which is a lovely way back into the working week.....and a pile of paperwork to do ....

Saturday, 13 November 2010

Today I have been mostly fighting ...

.. with Pin Numbers...

which I know is a losers game . I might as well catch a flight to Atlantic City and stand and feed the machines there with all my worldy goods.
Its my sanity I've been losing these last few days though, but I am pleased to report that so far at least I have kept my cool with the call centre operators who keep ( politely ) giving me different pieces of advice thus leading me into this fine mess.

Initially I received a new credit card .
My last one lasted three years. Great . This one saw my through my recent trip to the States, thank goodness, and just as I landed back , it expired. No matter , the new one was in the bag , and the sticker attached advised that it was ready for use. Oh no hang on . It just needed to be "authorised". And thereby hangs the tale . Of woe. Mine . No one else seems remotely bothered.
I duly rang the number to be told someone had " already authorised the card" Er no . " Could I have authorised the card and forgotten ? Er no . I know I have senior moments etc but I didn't do this . For one thing I was in Another Country ....
I tell her I haven't authorised the card and this concerns me . Who has authorised the card and what does this mean? She says Oh not to worry and moves swiftly on -in her head to her next call , and tells me just to use my card with impunity . I hesitate but realise I am not getting any joy here . Also - who am I to worry if she doesnt want to .
I go off to live my life .

It is a few days before I have a chance to live my life according to the credit card. Petrol . I fill my little tank , thinking my thoughts, which are mundane and weary , place my card and apply my pin and bingo .... I am Reject. The boy smiles and says I can try again . He is used to ladies of a certain age making errors. I know there has been no such error and think immediately of the Imposter who has for Sure and  Certain Thing Fraudulently obtained my account and card and changed my pin with his Wicked Ways . I whip out another card as my card is rejected again and pay for my petrol and race home as fast as my C1 will carry me . I am into the house and screaming abuse and demanding assistance to catch these fraudsters . D hurries onto the internet recognising that any plans he had for the evening are up the spout until this is managed , and in minutes I am speaking to Fraud at NatWest .

Your Pin is now Unblocked says the young man patiently , as I babble about fraud . He does not think fraud is applicable here but does not explain why or why not .
Now , he says , I must go to a Nat West machine and change my pin number .
Phew I think . thats easy . Now I can get my old pin number back .

I promptly forget this and head off to a gruelling week of Other Commitments . Well , not so very gruelling but I need some excuse to explain how it was that I forgot to change the pin .

In fact next thing I did was try to use the card again .

Oh dear says the nice young woman with the lovely hair in the Christmas present shop .
Are you buying this for your daughter? She will love it? But I think there might be a problem with your card you know . Its saying the pin is blocked .

I stare at the machine and my hands feel cold .
I'll tell you what I say to her .
I'm just going to take this card out and give you another one.

I head straight to the bank and to the ATM at NatWest . In goes the card . Pin Services . I just know I've messed up . Pin Number ? It asks me . Now which pin number I think , since my pin number is blocked and then unblocked , but now reblocked . Hm. I try my pin number and follow the directions for unblocking .... Your Request is Denied .

I am very unhappy .

I head home .

At home , would you believe , a letter from the bank containing a new Pin Number . In my defense , as I know I shouldnt have used the card without trying to make the change first , the young man at Fraud never told me a new Pin would be sent out .

So , back I head to the Machine, feed in the card again , and this time , put in the new number , after applying my spectacles and stepping away from the queue to work out how to rub off the backing paper off the pin number . Finally I am back at the front of the queue . I change the pin number as desired , back to my old one . Request declined , contact your bank .

Argh .
I drive home , keening quietly to myself .
At home , as I speak to a young woman this time she explains that if I feed my card back into the machine again , she will talk me through the process . " I am back at home now " .... and explains its a two part thing . I have to Unblock the pin . Take the card out . Start again . Then change it .

OMG . I drive back to the machine .
Pay to park again .
Specs out .
Card in .
Old pin .
Unblock pin
Card out .
Card in
Change pin .

Sucess ??
Who knows  .
Now I have to buy something and we will find out .

Last night I thought I heard someone crying in my house ? I wonder now if was me ?

Migraine Days

Migraine Days

Flower and Bee on a Sunday

Flower and Bee on a Sunday

art on a sunday

art on a sunday