Cat Shaving
Posted: Fri 19 February, 2010 Filed under: Animals, Domestic 1 Comment »Recently we had the annual shaving of the cat.
He’s a Turkish Van, and we find that with the season change his winter coat starts coming out, only to clag up with the new fur underneath, leading to lumps of fur like dreadlocks. So every year, off he goes to the vets to get all the lumps cut out. And this is what he looks like today…
Yes, he is as furious as he looks
Longer Days, Shorter Nights
Posted: Sun 31 January, 2010 Filed under: Animals, Domestic Leave a comment »One of the things that’s been good about the end of January has been seeing the days lengthening again. I know, it’s something that happens every year, and every year I appreciate it.
Over the weekend I was able to go out and give corn to the chickens at 4.30. A couple of weeks previously it was already dark by then, and they were getting locked up for the night at that time. In the mornings when I go up to let them out before I leave for work I now don’t need to take the torch up with me in order to do so.
It’s now dark at about 5.30 or so, and getting better every day. Soon I’ll be able to see the house in daylight when I leave and when I come back. (Currently it’s OK when I leave, pitch-black when I get home)
This is A Very Good Thing.
Flat Cap
Posted: Sun 17 January, 2010 Filed under: Animals, Domestic 1 Comment »One of the jobs this weekend involved replacing the cat-flap in the back door.
During the cold-spell, the plastic of the cat-flap itself got brittle, and one part of it snapped off. Wedging it back in was fine until one of the cats went through it, at which point the sodding thing fell to the floor.
In the end we covered the gap with cardboard, just to stop the draught and preventing all the heat in the house escaping. This obviously caused some annoyance in Psycho Cat, which he demonstrated in his normal charming fashion.
We had tried a flap from another manufacturer, but that didn’t work at all. So on Saturday I went down to the local pet store, and found that they have flaps made by CatMate. They didn’t have just the spare doors (and even the online stores appear to be out of stock) so I ended up getting a complete new catflap, although we only needed the door itself.
It’s all sorted now, and the job’s complete – it’d just be nice for these things to not be such a complete faff all the time. Oh, and that flap is supposed to be unbreakable, too – so we’ll try sending it off to the manufacturers, and see what happens.
A Vindictive Shit
Posted: Wed 6 January, 2010 Filed under: Animals, Charm School, Domestic 2 Comments »This morning, Psycho Cat excelled himself, the little fucker.
I’ve written before about his penchant for a “vindictive shit”, that when he’s displeased about something. It’s usually done somewhere unpleasant – previous examples have included in the office’s paper-recycling bin, under one of the desks, on a four-plug extension lead, on the bed (while we weren’t in it) and a couple of other places too. And then people wonder why we have tiled floors now.
Because I get up a lot earlier than Herself, I normally leave my clothes in the bathroom for the next day, get dressed in there so she can continue to sleep.
You can see where this is going, can’t you?
Yes, last night the cat – unamused by (I assume) the weather and/or the fact he couldn’t get into the bedroom (we’d closed the door) – went into the bathroom and crapped all over my clothes for today. I knew as soon as I walked into the bathroom this morning – it fucking stank – but by then all you can do is handle the fallout.
So there ended up being a load in the washing machine before 7am, and I don’t want to see the cat at all for at least a week. If I do, he might just end up in the next washing load.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
Posted: Fri 1 January, 2010 Filed under: Animals, D4D™, Domestic, Thoughts Leave a comment »As is the tradition on years with a zero at the end, I’m taking this opportunity to look back over the last ten years.
It’s strange really – in some ways, the turn into 2000 seems like only yesterday, in others you count back and realise just how much has actually happened in that decade…
Ten years ago, I was up in Manchester, in a very different relationship, working on a contract at the Equal Opportunities Commission, living in a rented house in a grim bit of East Manchester, and beginning to realise I was nearly 30. (And as an aside, that must mean I’m heading towards 40 now. Fuck.) D4D™ didn’t exist, wasn’t even a glint in the eye.
In the last ten years I’ve
- made friends
- lost friends
- written a shocking amount of rubbish here
- changed relationships (including a couple of very quiet intervening years)
- moved four times (New place in Manchester, Bracknell, Attleborough, Here)
- bought a house with Herself
- had more jobs and contracts than I care to think about
- seen the world change in many ways – not least through the impact of terrorism
- Closed a business
- Opened a new business
- Been utterly stuffed by a fuckstick accountant
- Inherited insane animals
- moved on
- stayed the same
I wonder what the next ten will bring? Lots more changes, I suspect.
Sleeping Hound
Posted: Sat 26 December, 2009 Filed under: Animals, Domestic Leave a comment »This is a perfect example of why sometimes it can be really funny to have Hound around, despite how fucking annoying she can be on other occasions…
At this point she was fast asleep...
Yes, fast asleep, leaning out of the basket. No good reason.
And despite the reflection of the camera flash from her eye, she was asleep. Bizarre beast.
Christmas Cheer
Posted: Wed 9 December, 2009 Filed under: Animals, Creativity, Festering Season 1 Comment »(via FailBlog) This has to be one of the best (and darkest) uses of Christmas Lights yet seen…
Bambi in Lights
The work of a fantastically sick mind.
I Love it.