End of my tether

I softened after locking the two cats in the bathroom overnight, and allowed them to sleep on the sofa in the living room last night. First thing this morning, when I got up, Mr Naughty did a poo in the litter tray in the bathroom, and I'd accidentally left the bedroom door open, so he hopped straight onto the freshly-laundered bed clothes and did a huge wee.

That was the last straw for me. I opened the doors but he would not go out, even when I tried to chase him. Eventually, after about half an hour, he did go outside, then came straight back inside again. I put him out again and closed the doors, and he just lay there.

I put his breakfast outside the door, but he didn't come near.

Meanwhile, Mrs Polly Wolly was hiding in the storeroom and wouldn't come out for her breakfast. I went out, and when I came back, she had eaten it and gone back to disappear in the storeroom.

Mr Naughty has now disappeared and his breakfast remains untouched.

What a disaster!!!! I paid $250 for him, followed shortly by $100 for a vaccination, and $100 for her. Flea and worm tablets cost $55, and remain unused, as I can't catch either of them to administer them. Then there's the cost of food - probably about $3 to $4 per day, and litter. And, after two and a half months, not a single cuddle from either. What did I do to deserve such a problem?

Banished to the bathroom

Oh dear, what did I do to deserve such problem cats? After two and a half months, nary a cuddle from either.

And bed-wetting!!! Yesterday I got up early to wash the bed linen. I took the sheet, pillow slips and doona cover off the bed and put them in the washing machine. When I walked back into the bedroom, Mr Naughty had piddled on the electric blanket, and the wee had gone through that to the mattress cover. Fortunately, these days electric blankets are washable, so I threw these two into the machine.

The day was warm and windy, so everything on the line dried. When he got home from work, Philip came to help me make up the bed with the fresh linen. (In the morning, I had thrown a top cover that Mr Naughty has shredded, onto the floor, as it wouldn't fit into the machine. I always put it on the top so he doesn't get the chance of shredding any other doona covers.)

We'd put the mattress cover, the electric blanket, the  sheet and the doona back on the bed, and I leaned down to pick up the shredded top cover. Oh my god - it was soaking wet!!!!!!!!!!! There was no smell, and I hadn't noticed in the morning, so it had lain there all day. I had kept the bedroom door closed after discovering the wet electric blanket, so that naughty cat had obviously piddled in two places in the morning.

I was beside myself, and locked them both in the bathroom for the night. But they looked so forlorn (see photo) I knew that wouldn't last long. So, this morning I've allowed them into the living room but not the bedroom.

I really don't know what to do.

A little bit of good news - Tommy out till next court case

This is a great article by Douglas Murray, setting some of the facts about Tommy Robinson straight:

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/05/tommy-robinson-grooming-gangs-britain-persecutes-journalist/

I particularly like this section of the article:
"The problem — as I said in 2015 — is that any challenge Robinson presents is all a secondary issue. The primary issue is that for years the British state allowed gangs of men to rape thousands of young girls across Britain. For years the police, politicians, Crown Prosecution Service, and every other arm of the state ostensibly dedicated to protecting these girls failed them. As a number of government inquires have concluded, they turned their face away from these girls because they were terrified of the accusations of racism that would come their way if they did address them. They decided it wasn’t worth the aggravation."

This is a video by Andrew Norfolk, the Times journalist who first exposed the rapes and coverup by the Establishment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7P7ih1GuuQ

One of the comments following the above video:

Alex Busby

"Great work Andrew Norfolk and the Times. Proper journalism at its best. Those responsible for suppressing this scandal should hang their heads in shame, 'though it's pointless demanding those directly responsible hang their heads in shame, as they have none. The UK is in a dire mess with this particular type of 'enrichment', and it will get much worse before it gets better."

Channel 4 interview with two of the raped girls:

Published on Nov 9, 2017:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAvRj6BQ0AM

Thank goodness Tommy is getting a lot of support from decent people all round the world. Including me.

Busy day

I got up early and watched the end of the England v Croatia soccer match. Not that I'm really interested in any kind of sport, so this was an exception, and I really felt sorry for the England fans when they lost. I then showered and washed my hair and went food shopping (both of which I hate). Got back, hung out a couple of loads of washing, cleaned the litter tray (which I do at least 10 times a day) and made a cake in the Thermomix - see above. Lots of hand-washing along the way! And washing up. It's no wonder people buy ready-prepared meals. Cooking really is a lot of bother.

It's an almond and orange cake, and quite delicious, drizzled with orange juice and marmalade jam. Last night I made carrot and coriander soup and a chicken dish with couscous. Tonight I'll do apricot chicken for the family, and we'll have the cake for dessert. Philip seems to do most of the cooking. I find myself exhausted most of the time and do a lot of sleeping, in between yoga, pilates and aqua classes.

It's school holidays and Emma just took me upstairs to look at her bedroom. She's bought a new cover and cushions, to add to the many already there. 

Hugo has asked me to repair a purple dinosaur for him, so I'll get my sewing stuff out to do that.

Slight progress with Mrs Polly-Wolly-Doodle, who spent the other night cuddled up with Mr Naughty on my bed! He allows himself to be patted, but no chance of picking him up yet. Here he is now, on the bed beside me, growing like a house on fire:

I agree, Sandra, 'Parsley' is not the kind of name you want to call out! Maybe he was named that because he piddled in the parsley! Emma still rolls her eyes at "Mrs Polly-Wolly-Doodle" and says, 'Nanny, you can't call her that!'

Forms!

I absolutely detest filling forms in. Look what I had to take with me just now to register the two cats with the council. Had I known it was going to cost me $48, I certainly wouldn't have bothered! I'm very cross.

Mr Naughty sleeps with me now, and last night I felt another cat - Mrs Polly-Wolly - hop onto the bed, too. She only stayed five minutes, but that's a start. No chance of getting a pic of her.

While I was at the council chambers I picked up a local newspaper, with an article about feral cats and what a nuisance they are. I accept that, but you'd think the council would pay me for taking two of these creatures off their hands! Mr Naughty cost $250 + $85 for a booster vaccination and $55 for flea powder. Mrs Polly-Wolly was a bargain at $100 (because she has a mental health problem).

All that, and I don't even get a cuddle ;-((

Keeping fit

In theory, I go to the swimming and leisure centre three times a week, but in the middle of winter it is very hard to motivate myself to go in the outside pool for the aquarobics class and I sometimes give it a miss.

This morning, however, after dropping Hugo and Emma at school, I bravely went. The outside temperature was about 9 degrees and the water 26. We were 13 courageous souls, + the marvellous instructor. It poured rain a few times, and the drops were icy. It's always worth the effort, even though getting out of a wet swimming costume, into a track suit, then driving home to a hot shower, getting dressed again, and drying hair is a lot of bother!!!!! First world problem, I know...

For some months now, I've been watching Dr Phil at midday, while I have lunch and a glass of wine. You may well ask why. Even Dr Phil himself sometimes shakes his head in disbelief at the antics of the performers and says, 'You can't make it up!'  But he then laughs all the way to the bank. Can't say I blame him. If people are happy to make fools of themselves - and they are - somebody might as well profit from it.

Talk about from the sublime to the ridiculous - reading Steven Pinker, then watching Dr Phil. I've always wanted an opportunity to use the word 'bathos'  and this is it!

Mrs Polly-Wolly-Doodle (aka Jewel) and Mr Naughty (aka Storm)

Sorry for the quality of the photo, but it's very hard getting these two together, especially at dinner time. Having lived with them for several weeks now, I've got to know their personalities and have renamed them. 

Darling Mrs Polly-Wolly-Doodle (Polly for short) must have been absolutely traumatised in her former life and still cowers under the bed almost all day and night. I first thought of calling her Pudding, but that might have hurt her feelings a bit, so settled on Mrs Polly-Wolly-Doodle.

Mr Naughty needs no explanation at all.

When I came home from the shops just now, he was all curled up on my red coat, after having pulled it down from the hat stand. She was, as usual, under the bed.

Good luck with Steve Pinker's book, Sandra. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am. Haven't finished yet. It's not the sort of book you can get through quickly or easily. You need to think about it a lot.

Since the news is so depressing, read this:

For those of you who don't know, Steve Pinker is my hero! I first contacted him in 2000, after reading 'The Language Instinct', and we corresponded by email for years after that. He encouraged me while I developed my reading scheme, 'Sounds of Reading'.

Speaking of which, proud Philip came downstairs earlier this morning with a video of Hugo reading a Dr Seuss book. Fluent, expressive reading! Diagnosed with autism three years ago, Hugo has been two years behind academically, but is catching up fast! Both Philip and I have been taking him through my reading scheme and he is now on the final book. Wonderful!

Steve is the best writer I know. I love reading whatever he writes, even though it can be a challenge. I need to ask Google Home what almost every second word means. (That's a lot quicker than typing words into Google.) What an intellect this man has.

Double trouble under the bed

It's hard to tell where each cat begins and ends...That's Jewel's brown body on the left and her head at the back, and Storm's body on the right, with his head in the front, He's grey and white.

They've been here for 12 twelve days now and still neither will come near me, though Storm has started sleeping on the bed and has twice allowed me to stroke him. Jewel comes out from under the bed twice a day to eat in the bathroom and use the litter tray. From 7 to 9pm is playtime for Storm - he tears round the place causing havoc.

Yes, Sandra, I have thought of getting a covered litter tray. They have one upstairs for Poppy. But I'll persevere a bit longer with the pink high-side one.

Storm by name, storm by nature

The morning after...I heard Storm the other night having fun and games in his litter tray. This was the result in the morning!

Here he is that day - you'd think butter wouldn't melt in his mouth:

Jewel is still very nervous and stays under my bed all the time. I assume she comes out when I'm not looking, to eat and drink and use the litter tray, but I don't know for sure.

I think I've beaten Storm - I've put a high-side litter tray in the bathroom and not a crumb was tossed over this morning!

Late last night,when I was in bed watching TV on the iPad, Storm played happily near me for more than an hour. Then he hopped underneath and snuggled up to Jewel. He ate an enormous breakfast. I'm not sure which of the two ate the second helping I offered. I hope it was Jewel.