Mistys first day out

This was a big day for Misty. She has been wanting to go out for the last few days, but we wanted to be around to 'supervise' her.

Misty and I got up around 8am, she had a light breakfast and then .... she was allowed out into the big, wide world for the first time in about 5 weeks. First of all she looked warily out of the door, as to make sure she was really allowed to go out. Then she took a step outside and had a good sniff of fresh air.

She climbed all over the pots outside the kitchen door. I took this great picture of her sticking her head out of an acer.

She has explored everywhere. The garden, the flowerbeds, the potager, the decking by the pool and the wood pile. I worked in the garden all day to keep an eye on her, she was very good and when I couldn't see her, she came running when I called her.

I spent the day removing grass and weeds from a long stone path that goes down the garden. It had completely disappeared in some places, and has taken most of the day to dig out all the weeds and pressure wash it all.

Of course I took a break for an hour to watch the last hour of the Tour de France. This was the final day in the mountains, finishing at the top of Mount Ventoux in Provence. It was estimated there was between half and one million spectators lining the route up the mountain. It was the first time there had been a mountain stage before the final day of the Tour. Brad Wiggins retained 4th place overall. He gave the most awesome performance. He deserves the Maillot Jaune for being such an incredible rider and making the phenomenal trasition from track to road cycling. Our other British star Mark Cavendish won his 9th stage victory yesterday, the first British rider to do so. I will be glued to the sofa tomorrow as the Tour reaches Paris and the victor is crowned

Misty Mitten

Misty is now out of her cage and being let out of our bedroom. Actually, she hasn't been in her cage for a couple of weeks now. While we are in the house we leave our bedroom door open so that she can wander around the house, but not outside yet.

Her leg is still weak and I think that she knows it. She tried to jump onto the kitchen chair the other day and couldn't make it. It seemed to shock her and she ran back upstairs! We are making sure she gets lots of excercise by making her chase her toys and playing hide and seek with her - yes honestly, she loves hide and seek!! I am really wary of letting her outside, but we will have to let her go out soon. Maybe this weekend when we are here all day long and can supervise her excursions.

I met SITH!

Kim from Soft in the Head blog came over to France last week, and as her house is not too far from me we took the opportunity to meet up for lunch. She is lovely and had some wonderful photos of all the work being done on her house. It look great at the moment and when everything is finished - WOW!

It was great to meet up with someone with whom you have shared so much but only through blogging. We had a lovely lunch at La Maison Bleue in Le Dorat and a really good chat. Thanks for taking time out of your holiday to meet up Kim, I hope to see you again.

The weather here has been wonderful, although today which is Bastille Day here in France and a national holiday it has been raining on and off since late last night. Misty woke me at 5am but trying to dig to the centre of the earth in her litter tray, and it was raining then. Still it is great for the garden, the ground has been like concrete.

We are off to watch a stage of the Tour de France today with Juley and Paul. The Tour is going from Limoges to Issoudun. We have been following it avidly on the TV and there are a couple of fantastic British riders in it this year. Bradley Wiggins is an Olympic gold medallist and is currently lying 5th in the General Classification and Mark Cavendish who is a phenomenal sprinter and who has won 2 stages already. We are packing a picnic and hoping that the rain stops, not that it will spoil our enjoyment, it would just be nicer to be dry.

Ian and I went to the Journee Artisanale in Le Dorat on Sunday. What a great day out it was. Loads of local craftspeople open their studios or have stalls to display and sell things they have made. There were some wonderful things. Penny had a stall and I bought some wool and some coasters from her. Ian treated me to 2 of her bags as well. There were some fabulous jewellery stands and I was treated to a beautiful Limoges enamel pendant and some fabulous gold earrings. Limoges is famous for its enamelwork and it is a real speciality of the city. The earrings were made by a lady who takes leaves and dips them in gold or silver. They are so delicate and look great. There were also lots of food stands and lots of local fruit and veg. I bought a kilo of new season garlic (we use loads of it!) and some savoury tarts. We met up with some friends for a drink in one of the cafe/bars and sat people watching for a while. The brass band was playing and it was the most wonderful atmosphere.

Misty is really on the mend now. She is eating really well and walking around and climbing up onto the bed. Her bad leg is still very weak, but she is doing brilliantly. Another week and we will let her into the rest of the house, but not outside yet. Not until she regains some strength in her leg.

Separation anxiety

Well, we managed to leave Misty for a few hours yesterday and go to Maggie and Alans for the evening. She had sat on the bed with us all morning and had loads of cuddles and attention. We left the house at 3pm and she was asleep in her house when we left.

We had a brilliant time with our friends and had one of the nicest meals we've had in ages. We sat in their lovely garden putting the world to rights and drinking champagne and and then rose wine (only one glass for me as I was driving), eating toasted pitta bread and delicious dips. We went back into the house for the main meal which was gorgeous. Maggie had slow roasted a leg of lamb with rosemary and even though I do't eat meat, it smelt great. I had a filet of salmon cooked in lime juice, soy sauce and coriander - it was amazing, so simple but so tasty. We also had new potatoes, chard, garden carrots and green beans with lemon butter over them. Everything tasted incredible. It was all cooked to perfection, and even though we were all full, we just had to sit at pick at it all afterwards! Dessert was a cherry clafoutis, where the cherries had been soaked in cognac. Again, just gorgeous. Do you get the picture that the meal was wonderful?! Thank you for a fantastic time Maggie and Alan.

We had gone to some other friends Lyn and Fred earlier in the week for a meal. They have just moved into a house that they had built. After 18months of living in a caravan they are enjoying cooking in a real kitchen. We had the starter which was deep fried camembert, it was lovely and crispy on the outside and soft and molten inside. Lyn went back into the kitchen to do something to the main course, when she announced that the gas bottle had run out and did they have a spare. Living in the countryside there is no mains gas supply. France is a large and very rural country and I guess they don't want the expense of laying lots of pipelines. So for those of us that cook with gas we buy 25kg bottles of gas that are generally stored in the cupboard next to or underneath the oven or hob. We have an electric oven but a gas hob. We find that a bottle of gas lasts us 9 months and costs around 25 euros. Anyway, Lyn and Fred didn't have a spare bottle, so one of the other guests had a spare bottle and went to get it. Brings a new meaning to 'bring a bottle'.

Misty is doing well today. She had a long lie in with me and lots of cuddles. She doesn't seem to be in pain but she is a bit constipated. She was really struggling to 'go' all last night and has had some more laxative this morning. I'll keep you all updated.

Mistys House

This is Mistys house for the next 3 weeks. She has a cat box, litter tray, food and water. When we first put her in, she went straight into the cat box and slept. I was able to hold food and water for her, and she didn't come out for over 24 hours.Its a different story this morning though. She has been climbing over her cat box as you can see in the picture. Although she has had a sleep on the bed this morning, what she really wants is to walk around and play! We have taken the cat box out as she is not supposed to be walking and climbing. She has her bed on the floor of the cage now. We have carried her around the house so she can she what s going on, but she wants to walk.

We have just put her back in her house and she is yelling to come out. She doesn't seem to be in pain anymore, but she is very unsteady on her legs - not surprising as she has a broken hip. We can't let her out on her own as she could damage the healing bones.

This is going to be a long 3 weeks.

Poor little Misty

My gorgeous little Misty Mitten has had a bad accident and broken her hip. She came in a 2am on Monday screaming and yelling, climbed onto the bed and slept on me for a few hours, then got off and slept under the bed. She was very stiff in the morning and we found some grazes on one back leg, but she seemed to be able to walk, albeit very stiffly and awkwardly. She stayed in our room all day with food, water and a toilet, and seemed at bit more comfortable Monday evening and the next morning. We though she had maybe fallen out of a tree and had badly sprained or bruised herself.

However, when we got home from work on Tuesday afternoon she couldn't put any weight on her back legs and was dragging them behind her. We rushed her to the vets in Bellac, who I have to say are fantastic. He took one look at her and said that they needed to keep her overnight and do x-rays and tests. We got home 20 mins later and after another 10 minutes they phoned to say she had broken her hip, they couldn't put it in a cast and she would have to be kept in for a month.

I was able to collect her at 11am the next morning. She looked very sorry for herself and was in a lot of pain. We have been able to borrow a large cage from a friend's mum. It is large enough to contain her cat box, a litter tray and her food and water. She was uncomfortable yesterday afternoon and early evening. She didn't know where to put herself. It was quite wam as well and after a while she preferred to lie on the hard, plastic tray on the cage floor. We sat with her all evening last night, and that seemed to comfort her. We gave her her pain killers about 6pm and they seemed to help a bit. She slept all night and didn't wake at all.

We just feel so helpless. We can't explain to her that she needs to stay still or that it will get better. We can only comfort her and sit with her so that she knows she is not alone. I had to go out yesterday afternoon and my friend Juley came to cat sit. She was brilliant, and it was so nice to know that Misty wasn't alone on her first afternoon. Thanks Juley, you are a star.

Happy Birthday Misty

Misty Mitten is 2 years old today, but unfortunately we have had to cancel her birthday party and she won't be having any cake today as she is a poorly kitten.

Over the weekend she had a very tight tummy and really yowled and hissed when we touched her or tried to pick her up. She was very sleepy and slept most of the day on Sunday, and all of Sunday night. I took her to the vets on Monday, who were fantastic and gave her a thorough examination. After an x-ray they decided that she may have a kidney infection and be constipated. Poor little thing, no wonder she was yowling. She had got some laxative paste (which she loves eating) and a liquid anti-inflammatory. She is currently fast asleep on my pillow, as we have to keep her in for the rest of this week, and she is living in our bedroom. Of course this means that I get to cuddle her all night long, but this is no hardship!

Knit-a-long

The knitting group I go to have started a knit-a-long. This is where we all make the same thing. It was Penny's idea, she picked a really nice bag to do. Well, I have casted on 3 times now. The first time I was just finishing the first row and pulled the wrong needle and all the stitiches came off! The 2nd time I had done four rows and it was suggested that we do the larger of the two bags as the small one was very small, so I undid it and started again on the bigger size. Last night I casted on for the 3rd time, knitted 4 rows, started the pattern bit and found I was following the small bag pattern and had the wrong number of stitches left over!! So, today I will cast on again.

I am off to the UK tomorrow for 4 days as my dad is 70 on Friday. I am only taking hand luggage and can't take my knitting with me, but Penny suggested I start another bag over there andpost it back - good idea. I would feel very odd sitting there in the evening with no knitting to do.

More food!

Our Sunday lunch with friends last week was divine. They did a starter where you unwrap a Camembert cheese and put it in an ovenproof dish, crush a clove of garlic and rub it over the cheese, then pour honey over the cheese and put it in a pre-heated oven for 15 mins. OMG! It is delicious. You scoop it up with a spoon and smear it on lovelt fresh bread. They said that they often serve it as a combined cheese and dessert course, it would be great with some fresh fruit with it as well. Try it! Main course was a lovely Thai curry and rice and dessert was a chocolate fondant. We had a great afternoon putting the world to rights.

This week has been a bit 'off' due to me picking up a tummy bug from somewhere, we call it a 'gastro' in France. It couldn't have been the food at the weekend (other than it all being very rich) as nobody else has been ill. I spent all day Monday in bed, apart from the times I was rushing to the loo. Misty slept with me all day, which as you can imagine I loved! At least I have stopped being sick now, and just feel very tired. Mind you, it has made a good start to my new year diet, and I don't feel able to eat all those things I love - cheese, cheese and cheese!

Thank you all for your lovely birthday wishes, OH made sure I had a super time.

Addictions

On Soft in the Head's blog, she wrote about things she was addicted to and said that she would be interested in hearing about what others are addicted to. Well, here goes:

1. Misty. It may seem strange that I am addicted to my kitten, but she is so adorable and having rescued her when she was so ill and so tiny, I absolutely adore her. I love the fact that she sleeps next to me at night and that I can cuddle her like a baby while watching tv in front of a log fire; mind you, it sends us both to sleep. I love the fact that when we have been out all day she runs up to us with her tail arched over her back quivering in excitement at seeing us. I can't imagine being without her.

2. Cheese. Living in France it is very easy to be addicted to cheese. The cheese stalls at the markets and the cheese counters in the supermarkets look so wonderful it is easy to get carried away. I love goats cheese most of all. I don't mind whether it is chalky in texture or creamy, hot or cold, it is divine. Last time my friend Maggie was over here, we went shopping and I bought a goats cheese covered in snipped chives. I had a little taste when I got home, and within five minutes the whole thing had vanished!! The other most favourite of cheeses is good old mature Cheddar. When you want cheese on toast or cheese topping on something else nothing can beat Cheddar.

3. Bread and Potatoes. Is my Irish ancestry showing here? How can people give these up? A hot, floury jacket potato with butter and grated cheese, divine. Crispy roast potatoes or spicy potato wedges both with garlic mayo, help! I am making myself hungry!

4. Making things. I have recently learned to crochet and have also taken up knitting again after many years. I am really enjoying both of them. I now look for wool whenever I go shopping, but before I buy too much, I need to find some patterns. My friend Maggie who is moving to France this coming weekend has got some material for me to make a new dressing gown with. I can't wait to start it. I have got a super sewing machine that OH gave me for christmas a few years ago, and have got my mums super all singing, all dancing machine that I have yet to try out. I keep threatening to crochet him some underpants, but he is not too keen!

5. Eating and cooking. I love food. I love good home cooked food, not out of a tin stuff or ready meals. I love people coming round for a meal. I love to spend time planning it, preparing it and eating it!!! My favourite foods are Mexican and Indian. I love making several different dishes that you can help yourself to. One of my food addictions at the moment is kiwi fruit. Last new year I made a resolution to eat some fruit every day. I chose kiwi fruit as they have more vitamin C than oranges and are easy to eat. I have 2 every day with my breakfast and it has become part of my daily routing. So much so, that if I don't have fruit in the morning I don't feel right.

Winter wonderland

It started snowing last night much to Misty's delight - snowflake chasing is the 'in' kitten sport. We woke up this morning to a couple of inches of snow.

The geese don't really know what to make of it all, they have tried eating it and laying down in it. Only one of the chickens has come up to the house this morning, I have put out some leftovers for her and some chicken food. All the others either haven't bothered to get up yet or are in the coup.

OH hasn't gone to work today, our road hasn't been gritted and underneath the snow it is really icy. So, we have lit the log fires, made a pot of tea and opened a packet of biscuits!

Happy New Year

I hope that everyone had a good christmas and new year. I can't believe that it is 2009. I remember when I was a little girl, I asked my mum if we would be alive in the year 2000 as it seemed such a long way off. Where has that time gone?

Christmas at Chez us-in-France was very pleasant, and far better than I thought it would be. I got up early to let the chickens out and feed them, the geese and the cats. OH got up and lit the fire and we went back to bed with a cuppa to open presents. He gave me the Mama Mia DVD which we watched in bed. I thought it was wonderful, he said that it got better after the first 30 mins. He says he doesn't think he will watch it again, but I think that I will come home from work one day and catch him practising the dance moves!!

We had a lazy day, lit the fire in the lounge and spent the day together watching films. We like to have our dinner in the evening, we are just not hungry for a full roast dinner at 2pm, and I certainly don't want to spend all morning cooking a dinner I don't even like or want to eat at that time. Anyway, we had a lovely meal - roast duck for him and caramelised onion and goats cheese in filo pastry for me, and a nice evening. I had thought it would be very different; I though he would spend all day on the computer upstairs and that I would spend the day on my own watching TV and preparing the dinner. It turned out very well.

Boxing Day doesn't exist in France, alot of people go back to work and the shops are generally open as usual. However, the Brits here carry on the tradition and have people round for drinks. We went to 2 on Boxing Day. Some people fairly near us, David and Anita and then over to Penny's (Violet White blog) where we got to meet her grown up children and her gorgeous granddaughter. We spent a couple of hours there and had such a good time.

New Years Eve was fabulous. Since we have been here we have spent the evening with one set of friends, but this year went somewhere else. It was a party jointly hosted by 3 couple who all live in the same lane. It started at Dave and Pennie's, with the biggest buffet you have ever seen. All the food had been provided by the 2nd couple, Ken and Lyn. There was a great mix of English and French people, we knew almost everyone there and the atmosphere was wonderful. Ken and Lyn had organised games to play. There were 6 bags with elasticated tops filled with 10 random items which you had to guess by just feeling them. Then there was outlines of countries that you had to name, you had to list as many American presidents as you could and a few other games besides. It was great fun and the evening whizzed by. Just before midnight we walked across the lane where we had fireworks and sparklers in Mick and Sue's house. All the desserts were over here and we stayed here for another couple of hours. We left at 2.15 and couldn't believe how much time had passed. It was an absolutely superb evening.

Everything is now returning to normal. The tree which I normally take down on New Years Day will come down tomorrow. We are having friends for a meal tonight and the tree looks so pretty with all it lights on. Misty has loved it; it is her indoor playground. She has climbed in it, slept in it, chucked decorations off of it and hidden behind it. She is really going to miss it.

I hope that all of you in blogland had a lovely christmas, and wish you all health and happiness for 2009.

Relaxing sundays

Well, Misty certainly decided to relax. She is going through a very snuggly phase at the moment, and likes to be near us. I sat down to crochet some little christmas trees bags yesterday afternoon, and Misty decided that she would sit on my crochet bag right next to me. Doesn't she look comfortable?It was a glorious day yesterday, freezing cold in the morning with lots of frost and ice everywhere, but bright blue sky. As I went downt he garden to feed the chickens and geese the sky was turning the most stunning pink and I debated going back to the house for my camera, but I knew that by the time I had got it the pink would have gone.

The christmas craft market in Le Dorat was on yesterday. OH decided that he could resist going, so I went on my own. There were a lot more outside stalls this year, but then it was very wet last year. There was a wonderful cheese stall run a man called Adrian. He has mainly English handmade cheeses that are absolutely divine. There was a sausage stall, I bought Ian some Cumberland and Lincolnshire sausages. He had the Cumberland for dinner last night and said not to bother getting them again as he prefers the French Toulouse sausages - apparantly they have much more meat in them. Penny had a stall there which looked fabulous, lots of lovely treasures on it, her friend Sandra had a stall next door with some wonderful handmade cards.

When I got home I spent a lovely afternoon crocheting some little christmas tree bags. You put a Ferrero Rocher chocolate in them and hang them on the tree - if I bother with a tree this year, never have I felt so un-christmassy. The pattern is Pennys, and once you get into the swing of them they are suprisingly easy, I managed to make 2 of them during the afternoon.

These are my little bags. The 2 white ones are white wool with a silver thread running through it, the blue one are in a fine metallic yarn. I am really please with them.

I am blighted!

Well, all my gorgeous tomatoes and potatoes have got blight and have been dug up and dumped. I only had a handful of cherry toms and the huge Marmade ones had only just started going red when they all started rotting. I can't believe it, the second year running this has happened. St least the chili, peppers, aubergines and broad beans are still going strong.

On the plus side our menagerie of animals are keeping me amused. Misty is an absolute delight. I like to get up at 7am and feed the chooks, cats and geese and even if she is fast asleep she follows me down the garden, often with her eyes half shut. The geese have hard plastic paddling pools to bath in, and they need cleaning out every day. Misty likes to climb the magnolia tree next to the bath while I clean them. Once they are full, she likes to walk along the edges of them. Yes, she does fall in but it doesn't seem to bother her. I love our little morning routine together.

The geese have got a 'thing' about laundry. When I am hanging it on the line they like to come and investigate the laundry basket. The amount of times I have had to stop them nicking a sock or a pair of pants. Misty likes the laundry basket as well. She likes to sit in it and be carried up the garden in it. Oh course nothing is too much trouble for me where Misty Moo is concerned. She has been wrapped around her little finger.

I have been glued to the Olympics since they started. Team GB are doing brilliantly and I have screamed myself hoarse at the telly, and been in tears every time we have won a medal. Speaking of which I better get back to watching it. Thank goodness it is only every 4 years!

Ticks - yuck!!

Aren't ticks the most horrible things ever?

In the UK I had never seen one. Here I have seen more than my fair share of them on our cats. The 3 adults are really good a sitting still waiting for us to get the little hook and remove them. Not Misty though. She growls and hisses and wriggles like a growly, hissy, wriggly thing, and that is just when they are on her neck. So, you can imagine what she was like when we discovered she had one right on her bum-hole!!! Her tail become clamped to her arse like glue. She clenched her little bum so tight the bloody tick disappeared, she growled, hissed and wriggled and OH and I just collapsed laughing.

Two adults trying to prise up a tiny cats tail to get access to her bum must have looked hilarious. We tried waiting til she was asleep - no luck. We tried wrapping her in a towel - no luck. Someone had told us that if you dab the tick with nail polish remover it helped. So I dabbed a cotton bud in the liquid and applied it to the tick, waited til Misty was asleep and wonder of wonders it came of really easily.

Sorry!

Sorry for my absence everyone. I have been flying solo around the world and only just got back. I was the skipper on a round the world yacht where all the crew looked like Aragorn (from Lord of the Rings) - tough job but someone's got to do it! No really, I have just finished my astronaut training and am waiting for a date for the next shuttle mission. Actually you'll be surprised to hear that I haven't done any of those, but they sound much more interesting that day to day life in Us-in-Franceland.


We have been enjoying the good weather lately and had the chance to lie by the pool on our new 'treat to us' sunloungers. Gertie Goose loves them too, and sits with us whenever we are lying there. She likes to nibble the cushions, our toes, fingers, books, my ponytail - the list goes on. She is a real 'people' goose.

The two little goslings are growing fast. For a while they were called Gertie and the Shit-ettes as they produced mountains of poo on the patio. OH has now built a nice little gate and fence to keep them of the patio. They now poo everywhere else! They are actually called Merry and Pip after the hobbits in Lord of the Rings. They are really cute still, growing really fast and absolutely HATE being picked up. Gertie on the other hand loves it and will happily sit on my lap.


On the whole things are going great in Us-in-Franceland. We are both working, my hairdressing business is getting busier each month, the garden is looking good, the tomato plants have actually got fruit on them, as have the chilis. I may dig up some spuds this weekend as we have some friends coming over on Monday evening. I planted some new potatoes a few weeks ago - a little late I hear you say. Well, yes, you are right. Alain had given me some chitted La Rattes and some red skinned ones ages ago. I put them in the cellar to stay nice and cool, and there they stayed - yep, I forgot all about them, until one day something caught my eye down there and the shoots were a foot tall!! Hence the late planting.


Gertie, Misty and Primrose were all very helpful on planting day. There I was on my hands and knees digging around with a trowel clearing weeds and making little trenches. Misty was jumping all over my hands thinking it was all a game, Primrose the chicken was inspecting every bit of turned earth for worms and grubs, and Gertie was taking all the weeds and grass OUT of the bucket, and when she got bored with that she would pull at my bootlaces. All in all it was like being in a carry on film!

Watch your P's and Q's

Some days posts are like buses, nothing for ages then 2 at once!

I have just been watching Loose Women on tv, and they were talking about manners, and what gets them annoyed. It was really interesting hearing about things that gets them riled, and thought it would make a good blog subject. We can all have a get off our chests.

1. Please and Thank you. Last year one of my cousins came to stay with his mum (my auntie). He is in his late 40's, single and intelligent. He was good company except for the fact that he NEVER ONCE said please or thank you. I would ask him if he wanted a cup of tea, he would just say 'yeah'. I cooked dinner everynight, as soon as he finished his meal he would leave the table, leave his plate on the table, his chair pushed out and go and sit in the other room and read. No thank you that was lovely, no I'll do the washing up tonight, it drove me mad.

One afternoon he and OH were upstairs on the internet and Auntie and I put the kettle on for a cuppa. Cousin arrived downstairs and asked if we were making tea, I said yes and asked if he wanted one, 'yeah' was the reply. I thought sod it, I'm not making it. I made one for me and auntie and he looked at me as if to say where's mine. I told him that he hadn't said the magic word. He had no idea what I was talking about, and asked what magic word did I mean. He mum growled 'please' at him and then he just said 'oh. yeah. please'. I made him a cup but he never said please for the rest of his stay.

OH has got a bad habit of saying 'yeah, sure' when I ask if he would like a drink, dinner, eggs for breakfast, anything if fact where a please could be used. It drives me MENTAL. It is so rude. I told him this weekend that unless he said please, I wouldn't do it.

2. Punctuality. I have spent years as a hairdresser working to a strict appointment schedule. I can count of one hand the times I have kept a client waiting. I feel that it is rude and inconsiderate to be late for someone. To me it is like saying 'my time is more important than yours, and I don't care about your time'. I worked with a girl who was permanently late. She would arrive for work late, faff around putting her bag away and lunch in the fridge. Be late checking her appointmen list for the day and printing off client records. Her first client was 9am. She would finally get to see her at around 9.20, spend ten minutes discussing their hair, get them shampooed, and start them at 9.45 just as her second client was walking through the door. Her saving grace was that she was an excellent hairdresser and that everyone got their full 45 mins not matter how late she was.

3. Being ungracious. If I have given something to someone I appreciate a thank you. You don't have to go into raptures but It would be nice to have something more than a grunt, or a 'cheers', a word that I personally think should be kept for when you are drinking and clink your glasses together. Whenever I gave my dad a christmas/birthday present he would unwrap it and say 'oh, what did you buy this for?' or 'why did you spend your money on this?'. How ungracious can you get.

These are just 3 of my many things that get me mad. What gets on your nerves? I'd love to know.

On a lighter note, there are lots of ticks around this years. We check the cats several times a day, as they pick them up while they are walking through long grass in the fields. We have a little hook thingy that removes them safely and easily. Rosie and Jemima get them around their necks mainly, Josh doesn't often get them as he doesn't go far from home, and Misty gets them everywhere - including on her bum!

Yes, there was a tick at the base of her tail where it joins her bum. Trying to get it off was a major feat. We tried just lifting her tail, but she became a bundle of claws. We tried wrapping her in a sweatshirt and lifting her tail but she wriggled out of the sweatshirt. OH and I were giggling like idiots, Misty was hissing away and trying to bite and claw any part of us that went near her, to a passer-by it must have looked hilarious. Anyway, I finally pinned her down and OH got the tick off.

Thank you

Hi everyone. I just want to say a huge thank you for all your lovely messages and good wishes. I am feeling so much better now. I feel a bit of a fraud for being so down earlier in the week. I had been ill over the weekend and you know how that can magnify everything that happens into a major disaster. Having said that, I felt so bad when I blogged that I couldn't even bring myself to answer the phone when it rang. I did go out and do some gardening, well mowing the grass, and I have treated myself to some really pretty gladioli bulbs. Funny, I would have never bought them in the UK, but they have sych stunning varieties here that I can't resist them.

It didn't help that after I had responded to dnd's comments I couldn't connect to the internet at all, and couldn't even email anyone!! I am not very computer minded, and short of taking a hammer to the modem had no idea what to do.

I was going to write down everything that had wound me up, but when I actually looked at it all, they seemed so trivial that I sounded pathetic for moaning about it! It was just a combination of loads of small things, that became a big thing, that avalanched into a mega thing.

I just want you to know that I REALLY appreciated all your words, postive thoughts and virtual hugs, thank you Hazel for phoning and I have calmed down, feel happier and am not going to disappear with Misty into the sunset. You are all wonderful xxxxxx

Busy week

I don't feel like I've stopped this week. I took Misty to the vets on Monday to have her girdle and stitches removed, she was very good and is looks much better now. Unfortunately the bandage had stuck to her fur so not only has she got a little bald tummy, but a little bare patch on one side as well. She is still as cute as anything and still cuddly.

I had some new hairdressing clients this week. All really nice and a whole family living in the next village as well. We never even knew they were there!

The weather has been glorious so I have been gardening as well this week. I have dug out another barrow load of roots, these will be taken up to Breezy's place later today. I have moved plants around and feel very happy with it all. I can't wait for things to start sprouting.

I am going on my first French hairdressing course tomorrow. It is about specialist coloring techniques. I am really excited as I will get to meet other hairdressers and learn French hairdressing terminology. There is theory and a demo in the morning and then we work on models in the afternoon. I'll let you know how it goes.

I have a bridal trial to do on Friday afternoon. She is getting married in May and wants her hair put up. I love doing bridal hair, I get to be really creative and of course the photos are around for the rest of their lives, so my work gets to be seen for ages! It is a real honour to be such a big part of someones wedding day.

2nd update

Well, went to the vets this morning. Bandage and stitches are still in place, but they removed some padding from underneath her girdle! Back to the vets on the 18th for the stitches. At least she can go outside and play again now. Just as well as it has been a glorious day with 20 degrees of full sunshine. It was great to be able to open all the doors and windows and air the house.

Misty update

Well, Misty was spayed on Wednesday. We took her in at 8am and collected her at 5pm. She was very groggy from the anaesthetic and she has a huge bandage all around her middle, like a girdle. She looks really funny. We we got her home she laid on me for a hour or so a slept, then wanted to go downstairs and she slept in front of the fire for a couple of hours. After that there was no stopping her! I know that the vets always tell you to keep them quiet, but try telling that to a kitten!

We are going back to the vets this morning to have the bandage removed/changed and for them to check the wound and stitches. When we had Rosie and Tabitha done in the UK, Tab took her own stitches out!

She has been very cuddly all through the night and has been getting under the covers with us. We have had to keep her in our room with us during the night as we have not let her go outside yet. She woke me up this morning by trying to dig to the centre of the earth in her litter tray.