We have a dear little nine and a half year old fluffy female cat that never means any harm to anyone or any creature but recently she is being terrorised by cats from neighbouring homes.
I realise one can't keep cats behind fences as one can with most dogs but if people would only have their cats (especially male cats) neutered there would be far less problems with cats fighting.
There is a very large dark tabby and white cat that comes from 3 houses away and even if you shoo him away he stands his ground. I even threw a small rock not at him but near him and then he decided to jump on the fence and slowly make his way home. Talk about cheeky.
Next door (on the other side) is a neutered maie that for some reason seems to find our garden better than his!! He and the cat from up the road hate each other and choose our garden in which to do their caterwauling. Our poor little Precious runs and hides (inside the house) when she hears them.
There is also another tabby cat which is here occasionally but seems harmless so that is OK and a gorgeous black and white fluffy cat that is just so friendly and she and our cat seem to tolerate each other very well. Unfortunately it seems the little black and white cat may be scared of those other three big cats so she doesn't visit us as often which is a shame.
Our council even has a subsidy they pay people that have their cats neutered but I guess some are just too mean to pay the balance and so there will always be this cat problem caused by people that just don't care.
My daughter (Kakka) has been having the same problems over the years and it often means visits to vets to have wounds taken care of so an expense to cat owners through no fault of their own. Just so annoying.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
TODAY BEGAN WELL AND CONTINUED THAT WAY
After enjoying that delicious breakfast cooked by MOH we hurriedly got ready and set off to our daughter's home to meet up with her, her hubby and 3 of our granddaughters, the husband of one of them and our two great-granddaughters.
With a cooked breakfast not being part of our normal daily fare we then indulged in mini muffins, some delicious chocolate biscuits and even a small serve of mud cake. We also did the RIGHT thing and ate some fresh fruit which made us feel less guilty about all the forbidden things we'd eaten. Son-in-law served up a couple of really good cups of coffee to which topped it all off.
It was so nice to sit out in their back garden in the lovely sunshine and spend time with the family. Was sorry grandson couldn't be there but he works weekends more times than not so we don't see him often.
K&B have had reticulation installed in their garden recently and perhaps it is this that has helped but their back garden is really delightful this year and I only wish we could get ours to look even half as good. We are both a little too old (and I am just too decrepit) to do too much in the garden now but I feel inspired after seeing their garden today. Famiily gave me some Bunnings vouchers for Christmas which I haven't used so as soon as I feel I can walk for a short while I think we will be down there to buy some plants and hope that we eventually get more rain in Perth to help the garden recover from a long and very hot summer.
MOH and I decided we really didn't need lunch today but seems we both need a good solid meal tonight as we both did a glucose test and our readings were quite low. Of course all the food mentioned above is high GI so is absorbed much more quickly than our normal food so we now are a tad short of sugar.
For dinner tonight....a very enjoyable slow cooker meal that MOH made which is in the fridge so won't take long to serve up (I will boil up a small quantity of rice to go with it) and we will then be back to being good again (until the next time which will possibly be #2 granddaughter's birthday next month....no cooked breakfast that day though).
Thanks again to everyone who shared today with us......it was a good day.
With a cooked breakfast not being part of our normal daily fare we then indulged in mini muffins, some delicious chocolate biscuits and even a small serve of mud cake. We also did the RIGHT thing and ate some fresh fruit which made us feel less guilty about all the forbidden things we'd eaten. Son-in-law served up a couple of really good cups of coffee to which topped it all off.
It was so nice to sit out in their back garden in the lovely sunshine and spend time with the family. Was sorry grandson couldn't be there but he works weekends more times than not so we don't see him often.
K&B have had reticulation installed in their garden recently and perhaps it is this that has helped but their back garden is really delightful this year and I only wish we could get ours to look even half as good. We are both a little too old (and I am just too decrepit) to do too much in the garden now but I feel inspired after seeing their garden today. Famiily gave me some Bunnings vouchers for Christmas which I haven't used so as soon as I feel I can walk for a short while I think we will be down there to buy some plants and hope that we eventually get more rain in Perth to help the garden recover from a long and very hot summer.
MOH and I decided we really didn't need lunch today but seems we both need a good solid meal tonight as we both did a glucose test and our readings were quite low. Of course all the food mentioned above is high GI so is absorbed much more quickly than our normal food so we now are a tad short of sugar.
For dinner tonight....a very enjoyable slow cooker meal that MOH made which is in the fridge so won't take long to serve up (I will boil up a small quantity of rice to go with it) and we will then be back to being good again (until the next time which will possibly be #2 granddaughter's birthday next month....no cooked breakfast that day though).
Thanks again to everyone who shared today with us......it was a good day.
A DIFFERENT BEGINNING TO THE DAY
As we are both Type 2 diabetics MOH and I usually begin the day with a healthy breakfast of cereal and fruit followed by other also healthy meals throughout the day.
Today, being Mother's Day, MOH is cooking breafast and the smell coming from the kitchen is quite magical. I know there are sausages, bacon, tomato and egg and of course some toast to make up the carbs.
MOH has not done this before and it is a lovely surprise and I am really going to enjoy this meal.
Later today I will be spending time with some of my lovely family and that I am also looking forward to very much as, being very busy people, I don't see as much of them as I'd like. All time spent with them is so precious.
To anyone who may read my blog and is a mum I hope you too have a wonderful Mother's Day.
Today, being Mother's Day, MOH is cooking breafast and the smell coming from the kitchen is quite magical. I know there are sausages, bacon, tomato and egg and of course some toast to make up the carbs.
MOH has not done this before and it is a lovely surprise and I am really going to enjoy this meal.
Later today I will be spending time with some of my lovely family and that I am also looking forward to very much as, being very busy people, I don't see as much of them as I'd like. All time spent with them is so precious.
To anyone who may read my blog and is a mum I hope you too have a wonderful Mother's Day.
Friday, May 6, 2011
HOW MANY PEOPLE ACTUALLY READ MY BLOG?
I just realised that I have written 147 posts since I began blogging which I realise is a small number compared with many bloggers but I often wonder if more than 2 or 3 people ever read what I have written. I guess it's not all that interesting or perhaps I write things that puts people off. I just don't know the answer to that one. I seem to have (or did have) 4 followers, 3 of whom do occasionally make comment which I welcome with open arms so thank you for that.
Other bloggers seem to have numerous followers and I wonder how this comes about. Do bloggers perhaps recommend blogs to other bloggers or what? I know so little about the world of blogging that I feel I need some answers and wonder if anyone out there in blogger land can provide them for me. I feel that by now I should know much more than I do but I just don't.
If I knew how to put photos on my blog would that perhaps make it more interesting to people? I feel I certainly do need some help so how about a few hints to this lonely blogger...please, if you have the time.
Other bloggers seem to have numerous followers and I wonder how this comes about. Do bloggers perhaps recommend blogs to other bloggers or what? I know so little about the world of blogging that I feel I need some answers and wonder if anyone out there in blogger land can provide them for me. I feel that by now I should know much more than I do but I just don't.
If I knew how to put photos on my blog would that perhaps make it more interesting to people? I feel I certainly do need some help so how about a few hints to this lonely blogger...please, if you have the time.
SOME SAD THOUGHTS TODAY
Today my youngest granddaughter turns 25. I am glad for her and feel she is having a wonderful life but sad to realise she was only 15 when I saw her last.
Thanks to my son (her father) who decided back in January 2002 to have nothing furhter to do with any of his family we have not seen our two youngest grandchildren since they were school children.
I am fortunate that my daughter-in-law keeps in touch via email and sends the occasional photo of the family and news about each of them so I do know they are all doing well but I have not seen any of them at all or spoken to them on the telephone.
I keep thinking of this grandchild of mine who is now a grown woman with a partner of many years and would give anything if she would perhaps telephone me one day or even send me an email. She did send us a letter with a Christmas card back in 2009 but that has been the only communication. There has never been any response to gifts sent for birthdays or Christmas which has been somewhat disappointing.
What has my son told her to make her keep away from her grandparents, aunt and uncle and 4 cousins or is it perhaps that she just doesn't care anyway? After all she is now well and truly an adult and one would imagine if she had the inclination to see any of us she would make the decision to do so.
We sent her a card wishing her well for her birthday and can only hope that she had a happy day today. We can do no more than that.
Thanks to my son (her father) who decided back in January 2002 to have nothing furhter to do with any of his family we have not seen our two youngest grandchildren since they were school children.
I am fortunate that my daughter-in-law keeps in touch via email and sends the occasional photo of the family and news about each of them so I do know they are all doing well but I have not seen any of them at all or spoken to them on the telephone.
I keep thinking of this grandchild of mine who is now a grown woman with a partner of many years and would give anything if she would perhaps telephone me one day or even send me an email. She did send us a letter with a Christmas card back in 2009 but that has been the only communication. There has never been any response to gifts sent for birthdays or Christmas which has been somewhat disappointing.
What has my son told her to make her keep away from her grandparents, aunt and uncle and 4 cousins or is it perhaps that she just doesn't care anyway? After all she is now well and truly an adult and one would imagine if she had the inclination to see any of us she would make the decision to do so.
We sent her a card wishing her well for her birthday and can only hope that she had a happy day today. We can do no more than that.
AN AMUSING STORY OF TWO PARROTS
Way back then when we were living in Walcott Street we had a parrot. It was a little corella (those with the smaller beaks). I forget where he came from but he was a great little pet and never kept in a cage as we felt he deserved to be as free as possible. H#1 would clip his flight feathers annd he would wander around the yard during the day, sometimes spend time with us of an evening (he would perch on top of the door of the lounge room with a sheet of newspaper under the door, just in case). Of a night he had a perch in the large workshop in the back yard.
He said quite a few words and had a wonderful laugh. H#1 as told before, was a cabinetmaker and would spend quite a lot of time in his workshop of an evening. He had an old radio down there and in those days there would be loads of comedy programmes with of course the usual laughter. I think that is where cocky learned to laugh and he would often laugh along with the audience on the radio which was fun to see and hear. He really was quite a character.
One day I spotted a little corella on the footpath on the other side of Walcott Street and realised cocky had gone walkabout. I immediately called a young lad who lived next door and asked him to try and catch cocky for me. He came back some time later with the parrot sitting on his arm and put him on the outdoor table in the back garden for me. He was very friendly and I was glad to have him back until.....coming down the post from the upstairs back verandah was this little corella. Yes, our cocky had not gone walkabout so now we had two of them. The funniest thing of the lot was when the two of them were on the table together they began to talk to each other but not in cocky talk but in human talk. Words such "hullo cocky boy" said by each of them in turn or "cocky want a biscuit". It really was hilarious to watch them.
As I felt we couldn't really keep the two of them I asked the young lad who had caught the second cocky if he would like to have him. He delightly took him home but unfortunately it seemed he didn't stay long. I think he used to walk along the fence fronting Walcott Street and someone possible enticed him on their arm and took him away.
Came a time when H#1 forgot to clip the flight feathers of our cocky and he must have flown away and unlike pigeons they don't find their way home. We missed him and hoped that someone else had found him and given him a good home.
He said quite a few words and had a wonderful laugh. H#1 as told before, was a cabinetmaker and would spend quite a lot of time in his workshop of an evening. He had an old radio down there and in those days there would be loads of comedy programmes with of course the usual laughter. I think that is where cocky learned to laugh and he would often laugh along with the audience on the radio which was fun to see and hear. He really was quite a character.
One day I spotted a little corella on the footpath on the other side of Walcott Street and realised cocky had gone walkabout. I immediately called a young lad who lived next door and asked him to try and catch cocky for me. He came back some time later with the parrot sitting on his arm and put him on the outdoor table in the back garden for me. He was very friendly and I was glad to have him back until.....coming down the post from the upstairs back verandah was this little corella. Yes, our cocky had not gone walkabout so now we had two of them. The funniest thing of the lot was when the two of them were on the table together they began to talk to each other but not in cocky talk but in human talk. Words such "hullo cocky boy" said by each of them in turn or "cocky want a biscuit". It really was hilarious to watch them.
As I felt we couldn't really keep the two of them I asked the young lad who had caught the second cocky if he would like to have him. He delightly took him home but unfortunately it seemed he didn't stay long. I think he used to walk along the fence fronting Walcott Street and someone possible enticed him on their arm and took him away.
Came a time when H#1 forgot to clip the flight feathers of our cocky and he must have flown away and unlike pigeons they don't find their way home. We missed him and hoped that someone else had found him and given him a good home.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
LIFE IN THE 1950s/1960s ....part 4.
I've told about how we came to be living in the two storey house in Walcott Street and how we had to spend a great deal of time making it suitable for a family to live in and I now try to think back on some of the things that happened while my children were there from 1956 to 1966.
My daughter was one year old when we moved in in mid 1956 and as she was already very mobile it was quite a problem worrying about the stairs. Fortunately she didn't attempt to go up and down when unsupervised so nothing untoward happened. Was she always that obedient? No, but in this case I am so glad she was.
As it was such an old house with no conveniences upstairs at all (the toilet was outside the back door with a partition in front of it so it was sort of private). If you had to 'go' in the night it was quite an ordeal having to go downstairs and outside but there was no other way. Fortunately back then you felt quite safe going into your backyard during the night but I am not so sure I'd want to it today.
I also found the cleaning a bit of a trial as it meant hauling the vacuum cleaner and cleaning materials upstairs and then back downstairs and of course when you did the laundry you had to carry it upstairs to put it away. I often wonder at how popular double storey houses are these days and I am sure they do not all have lifts but of course they have amenities both down and upstairs. It would not be my choice.
There was one occasion that our daughter had what was thought to be German measles and as I didn't want her to be upstairs in bed on her own during the day (I was told to keep her in bed for a few days) it meant her safe cot (which M#1 had built and was able to be taken apart by removing a few large screws) had to be taken downstairs in the morning before he left for work and then collapsed and taken back upstairs of an evening in order to put the little one there to sleep.
Our son was born about 14 months after we moved into this house and he was also quite a good baby so we had few problems with him nor lack of sleep which was fortunate. He was quite thin when he was born but thrived through the next 12 months and by his first birthday he weighed 2 stone (28 lbs) and as he didn't walk until he was nearly 18 months it meant I had to carry him up and down the stairs all the time. I often wonder if some of my back problems have come from living in that house. When he was older he was a worry concerning the stairs and I insisted if we were to stay in that house M#! build doors at the top and bottom of the stairs so the lad couldn't climb over them. I was so thankful when these were finally finished and installed.
For quite a few years the two children shared the same bedroom but as they grew older we felt they needed their own space so we gave up our lovely large bedroom and moved into the smaller one although still quite a good size at 15' x 10'. We had two large wardrobes (also built of course by M#1) so these were placed back to back in the middle of the large bedroom and two folding doors placed diagonally across from the wardrobe to each side of the main door which fortunately was in the middle of that room.
We had an FE Holden sedan which M#! used for work and going away weekend fishing and hunting so I didn't have a car to use. A had a friend who lived just around the corner and she I would walk to the clinic with the little ones and even one day walked nearly into Perth for them to be immunised somewhere in Beaufort Street (I think it was the Salk vaccine against polio but not 100% sure of that). I feel it was one reason we kept reasonably slim and also quite fit as walking, as everyone knows, is a wonderful exercise for young and old if you can do it. I wish I still could.
After the children began attending North Perth Primary School I started to play 10 pin bowling and would walk down to the Rosemount Bowl (which used to be the Rosemount picture theatre when I was younger). It was a game I really enjoyed and I still have several trophies that I won. I met some lovely ladies during those few years and often wonder how they fared in their own lives.
We were fortunate in having a 'corner' shop only a few doors away in York Street and I'd write out a list of groceries I needed and Mr Woods would walk along with the things in a cardboard box and deliver them to my kitchen door. He and his wife were a lovely couple and I was very sad when she developed cancer and had to have a leg removed. In the other direction and only a short distance from the house there was a very good butcher too. You would ask for a cut of meat and he would say "come back in a couple of days and it will have been hanging long enough in the cold room". He wouldn't sell you very fresh meat but said it needed a few days to become tender and I must admit the meat we bught from him was exceptionally good and you can't buy any meat that good today.
I do so miss those small shops where they got to know their customers and what their customers liked and there was always service with a smile. There was also a delicatessen across the road from us on the other side of Walcott Street where we also shopped at times but as Walcott Street became busier it was sometimes a problem crossing the road although of course if we wanted to carch the trolley bus into Perth the road had to be carefully crossed. The trolley bus stop was right outside our side gate and I was always amazed at the collection of discarded tickets that would accumulate each day. People just threw them down as they alighted from te bus!! Today they call it littering!!
I could tell lots of other tales about that house but as they are probably more of interest to me than to other people I think I will leave it at that. It was quite an experience living in that house and I regret that the marriage didn't last but I think we grew apart and I place the blame at nobody's door even though others may do so. It had to end before something bad happened and I took the initiative and ended it quite dramatically and suddenly. If there had been any doubt that I would not have my two children with me I guess I would have had to try and make a go of it but fortunately I didn't have to make that decision.
Incidentally M#!'s uncle was willed that particular house when Grandpa died and it was eventually sold. Some years later more dwellings were built on the property and the original house modernised. It has been on the market several times and I think the last asking price was getting pretty close to one million dollars. I often smile when I think of what that placed looked like the first time we laid eyes on it.
My daughter was one year old when we moved in in mid 1956 and as she was already very mobile it was quite a problem worrying about the stairs. Fortunately she didn't attempt to go up and down when unsupervised so nothing untoward happened. Was she always that obedient? No, but in this case I am so glad she was.
As it was such an old house with no conveniences upstairs at all (the toilet was outside the back door with a partition in front of it so it was sort of private). If you had to 'go' in the night it was quite an ordeal having to go downstairs and outside but there was no other way. Fortunately back then you felt quite safe going into your backyard during the night but I am not so sure I'd want to it today.
I also found the cleaning a bit of a trial as it meant hauling the vacuum cleaner and cleaning materials upstairs and then back downstairs and of course when you did the laundry you had to carry it upstairs to put it away. I often wonder at how popular double storey houses are these days and I am sure they do not all have lifts but of course they have amenities both down and upstairs. It would not be my choice.
There was one occasion that our daughter had what was thought to be German measles and as I didn't want her to be upstairs in bed on her own during the day (I was told to keep her in bed for a few days) it meant her safe cot (which M#1 had built and was able to be taken apart by removing a few large screws) had to be taken downstairs in the morning before he left for work and then collapsed and taken back upstairs of an evening in order to put the little one there to sleep.
Our son was born about 14 months after we moved into this house and he was also quite a good baby so we had few problems with him nor lack of sleep which was fortunate. He was quite thin when he was born but thrived through the next 12 months and by his first birthday he weighed 2 stone (28 lbs) and as he didn't walk until he was nearly 18 months it meant I had to carry him up and down the stairs all the time. I often wonder if some of my back problems have come from living in that house. When he was older he was a worry concerning the stairs and I insisted if we were to stay in that house M#! build doors at the top and bottom of the stairs so the lad couldn't climb over them. I was so thankful when these were finally finished and installed.
For quite a few years the two children shared the same bedroom but as they grew older we felt they needed their own space so we gave up our lovely large bedroom and moved into the smaller one although still quite a good size at 15' x 10'. We had two large wardrobes (also built of course by M#1) so these were placed back to back in the middle of the large bedroom and two folding doors placed diagonally across from the wardrobe to each side of the main door which fortunately was in the middle of that room.
We had an FE Holden sedan which M#! used for work and going away weekend fishing and hunting so I didn't have a car to use. A had a friend who lived just around the corner and she I would walk to the clinic with the little ones and even one day walked nearly into Perth for them to be immunised somewhere in Beaufort Street (I think it was the Salk vaccine against polio but not 100% sure of that). I feel it was one reason we kept reasonably slim and also quite fit as walking, as everyone knows, is a wonderful exercise for young and old if you can do it. I wish I still could.
After the children began attending North Perth Primary School I started to play 10 pin bowling and would walk down to the Rosemount Bowl (which used to be the Rosemount picture theatre when I was younger). It was a game I really enjoyed and I still have several trophies that I won. I met some lovely ladies during those few years and often wonder how they fared in their own lives.
We were fortunate in having a 'corner' shop only a few doors away in York Street and I'd write out a list of groceries I needed and Mr Woods would walk along with the things in a cardboard box and deliver them to my kitchen door. He and his wife were a lovely couple and I was very sad when she developed cancer and had to have a leg removed. In the other direction and only a short distance from the house there was a very good butcher too. You would ask for a cut of meat and he would say "come back in a couple of days and it will have been hanging long enough in the cold room". He wouldn't sell you very fresh meat but said it needed a few days to become tender and I must admit the meat we bught from him was exceptionally good and you can't buy any meat that good today.
I do so miss those small shops where they got to know their customers and what their customers liked and there was always service with a smile. There was also a delicatessen across the road from us on the other side of Walcott Street where we also shopped at times but as Walcott Street became busier it was sometimes a problem crossing the road although of course if we wanted to carch the trolley bus into Perth the road had to be carefully crossed. The trolley bus stop was right outside our side gate and I was always amazed at the collection of discarded tickets that would accumulate each day. People just threw them down as they alighted from te bus!! Today they call it littering!!
I could tell lots of other tales about that house but as they are probably more of interest to me than to other people I think I will leave it at that. It was quite an experience living in that house and I regret that the marriage didn't last but I think we grew apart and I place the blame at nobody's door even though others may do so. It had to end before something bad happened and I took the initiative and ended it quite dramatically and suddenly. If there had been any doubt that I would not have my two children with me I guess I would have had to try and make a go of it but fortunately I didn't have to make that decision.
Incidentally M#!'s uncle was willed that particular house when Grandpa died and it was eventually sold. Some years later more dwellings were built on the property and the original house modernised. It has been on the market several times and I think the last asking price was getting pretty close to one million dollars. I often smile when I think of what that placed looked like the first time we laid eyes on it.
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