And the really exciting thing ? The site meter I put on the blog is now working . Well , one of them is and reports the correct figures ( such bliss , it is not after all just me reading it ) whilst the other sends a pompous report on a daily basis telling me I have had precisely nil hits . Even I know I look at it several times a day and I didn't dare exclude my own figures ......So something wrong there

websites etc

The excitement ! the website up and running and now including reference to the blog , and with some added words which might help us in the Search Engine Race ( is that how it works ?) .

It all seems to be going swimmingly for a few minutes then D , trying to improve matters even further , deletes the whole thing off the whole thing ( the website off the webspace ? Serious anyway .) What a blunder ! A series of e mails back and forwards from Fasthosts who are very helpful and who usually seem to start with
" I cant quite see what you have done but ....." and end
" So unless you have a back up copy locally you will need to start again from scratch .
And as the official webmasterperson or is it mistress , I have to forward all these e mails and am thus , again the harbinger of these unwelcome gems .

Not being particularly computer literate myself , I wonder later how it is that I find myself on the end of a phone later to my dad trying to explain " Cut and Paste " so that he can " click on the activation link " of something D put on his pc for him on our last visit . Anti virus software or something equally vital to his safety online which hasnt actually been activated since we were there , about a month , possibly .
" So Dad , do you know how to highlight something with your mouse ? "
"Yes " ( confidently)
"Ok so well get your mouse and click on that box in the corner saying Edit "
" Right " ( still confident . This can't be right)
" Then highlight the address line "
Silence
Silence
Dad ?
Yes
Have you done that ?
Silence
Very small voice " Well I have but nothing has happened . It hasnt copied anything .
No just hang on , now go to Edit again , down to Paste
Paste ?
( I picture him looking round the room for glue )
then ...
" What exactly are we trying to do now ?"

" Tell you what Dad , we'll come and have a look when youre back from your holidays "
Phew .
Now I know what the helpdesk feels like when I hang on the end of the phone tittering at my own incompetence and noting their extreme patience , not even an audible sigh . How do they do that then ?

The Archers

Great excitement as I realise from something said by a fellow blogger that it is possible to listen to the radio on the laptop. This is highy useful information for me as I get to listen to the Archers on the rare occasion only that I'm travelling somwhere at lunchtime or seven pm or ( more likely ) on a Sunday and even then I have to run the gauntlet of derision from the Teens in the car. BBC Radio Player
( Oh no, more thunder as I write , my head will explode but I am suffering Blog Withdrawal which is more upsetting than Life Withdrawal which I'm accustomed to , though not for a while having been until this weeks storms clear of migraine for several weeks , and amazingly , believing the problem was solved ) .
Having spent time in recent weeks looking at digital radios in John Lewis , under the impression that the main reason I don't listen at home is connected with lack of radios, I start fiddling with the laptop and then move into the realisation that I can also , wait for this , listen to broadcasts I have missed in the last seven days ....thus transforming my life .
Only last night I sat looking at the clock from 6pm , waiting patiently for seven , home alone and all prepared to listen at the right time and In the House for once , and suddenly , before I know it its precisely seven twenty and yes , again , Ive missed it ! I realise at that point that its nothing to do with having radios in only three rooms but much more to do with the fact that unless I were to set an alarm on my mobile phone , I am completely incapable of remembering anything that happens after six pm unless its work or CatCall related .
And it seems that it wasn't thundering again , just Colin's new diy project . Maybe my head will start to clear .....

CatCalling

Catcalling is building momentum as the weather worsens and people make good their escape .
Looking after two cats this week and after a minor panic on the first day when despite being told there were two cats but not having been introduced to them as they were both " upstairs " when I visited , I fretted when only one appeared near the feeding bowls and despite a cursory glance in the bedrooms , no sign of a second cat . More worryingly , there was a large black and white puss curled up asleep on the patio in the early evening sunshine . And the doors were locked and there was no way for cats to enter or leave .
I stared at this cat for a while , wondering if he/she had been left outside by accident , contemplating letting her in , or even opening the door to see if she seemed to wish to come in , but then thought of one of our cats who would happily wander into any open cat flap and have a poke around everywhere before collected by us .
A phone call to the grandmother , holidaying in Stratford , and she told me the second cat would be hiding somewhere and just to ignore her , and after leaving her to it and hoping for the best I finally decided to mount a search yesterday and there she was , a little face amongst the bags under the bed , hissing as she saw my upside down face appearing in her territory .
Cats are all so different .

migraine

The atmospherics , lightening and thunderstorms of yesterday are playing havoc in my head .

Will be back when it passes.

little boy rootling

Went to Alina's two year birthday party ( 2nd birthday party ? sorry , migraine issues ) and there were two little boys there who were so sweet . Reminded me of this day at the Art at Belsay Hall and the boy rootling in the cupboard looking at all the dresses all by himself and thinking " I 'll probably never have a little boy now " .
He looked so self sufficient and so completely absorbed .

furballs

So much for the furball remedy and associated trauma. We had two depositing episodes during the night .

I have had migraine of sorts for a couple of days . I went to bed at ten pm the night before last in an attempt to sleep it off , and when D came up to bed two hours later , I raised my head from sleep and said " Have you been to bed this day ? " .
Last night I slept a total of thirteen hours with some reading spells at 4 am and 5 , but was still bogged down this morning .

I do my CatCalls ( one call , two cats ) in slow motion to make sure I don't make any mistakes .