Better Today...

Thankfully, little Rusty is a changed cat today, much brighter and perkier and not running in and out today. So we seem to have caught it early thank goodness. Eee we do suffer us poor women, she must have wondered what on earth was wrong, so it was a good job we took her.
Today we went over to Dobbies mainly because we didn't want to do the Ormskirk journey again, and Vin wanted to get some more hardwood logs. They have oproved to be the hit of this winter, burn beautifully and don't spit.A great find.
We had a good look round, they have bits of Christmas stuff but it is very tacky stuff and not what we go for. Vin spotted some garders soap that he fancied and i had a look round the food hall but no bargains there. However Vin did spot a box of crackers for cheese that were half price so got those for the weekend. Had our free coffees, Vin had a caramel latte today and I had an Americano. Very very quiet in there today, the cafe area was nearly empty and the tea room section where they have comfortable sofas and chairs was empty. Total waste of space that is. I think they should loet people who are just having a coffee go in there, at least it would make it look busier.
Came home via the terrible Tesco's which is on our way home. I wanted a loaf and a couple of other bits so we got them and home for lunch.
very mild today, not as cold as yesterday, but they are predicting snow for the end of the week. Noticed loads of snow shovels in Dobbies, they are going to be stuck with them this year., and it looks like our show grippers aren't going to be used!.
Tonight we are having:
Pasta Bake with butternut squash and mushrooms.
A bit of garlic bread.

Change of Plans..

Today was going to be a stay in day, for one reason that it was cold and frosty and for another we had bits and pieces to do.
i wanted to get the bedding ironed out of the way, and vin had stuff to do.
Then little Rusty changed thaat. Vin took the bin round to the front as he usually does on a Tuesday, green bin this week! and little rusty normally follows him round. today he noticed that she wasn't following hom, and was trying to have a wee a couple of times. he came back in quite quickly because it was cold and there was no sign of the errant cat, so he went looking for her. We tend to get over worried about her since she was the one who went missing about six years ago now, and that was n a Tuesday! He spotted her on the big patch of ground at the back of the house that everyone calls "The Plot" still trying to have a wee. So, alarm bells rang, and we kept an eye on her. definitely something wrong, she was running in and out of the house like a yoyo, so he said we'd better call the Vet. We got an appointment for 3.10 this afternoon, so we had our lunch then it was off to Ormskirk.Got there a bit early but soon got seen. very nice vet..Vin thinks his name is Steve, and he had a really good look at her and wxamined her all over..took her temperature which wasn't raised and decided it was Cystitis. Poor little thing..it's a women thing I said in the car on the way home. He suspected it anyway because he had looked on the Internet. So he gave her two injections of anti inflammatory drugs and said she should start to be better within an hour or so.
Got her home, and she actually does seem to have settled down somewhat. She'll probably sleep all afternoon now.Good job we took her, she is well worth the £32 it cost..she is such a sweetheart that you don't want them being in trouble.
terrible news yesterday on the news, that peacocks who own Bon Marche are going into receivership.!! Can't believe that Bon Marche are in peril.. i love that shop. Where will I get my gear if they close down? Report in the Daily Mail today though suggests that Bon Marche are close to finding a buyer. God, I hope so. Ormskirk won't be worth going to if there isn't a Bon Marche...and Vin said, "Where will I park you if that shop closes" Big fingers crossed that it doesn't.
Today we are having:
Sausage rolls Linda McCartney
Something tomatoey
Sliced and sauteed potatoes

Another weekend Gone By...

Main news at the weekend full of the large cruise liner The Costa Concordia which ran aground off the coast of Tuscany on Friday night. 4000 people on board the majority of whom got off safely, just six dead and some injuries. The captain seems to be blamed for going off course and also for leaving the sinking ship before the passengers. Quite a lot about that on the news and in the weekend papers.
Saturday and Sunday relatively normal for us with Vin making his usual trips out, and crosswords etc., passing a pleasant afternoon yesterday.
Today Monday the 16th is the anniversary of our ex neighbour's death in Chichester where they had been for Christmas. it hardly seems a year since that, and what a year that poor woman had. not only losing her husband at such a young age, but also losing her home, moving into a flat and then having to let her cat go too. Thinking of her today, it must be a difficult day for her.
We nipped out to Waitrose today to get our weekly veggies etc., and vin bumped into a colleague from where he used to work. They come a long way to this Waitrose because they like the store and the quality of the goods. i suppose we are really lucky to have all the major stores within easy travelling distance. They travel a total of 40 miles to this one.
I must admit they do have a good selection of veggies which is quite important to us since we don't buy meat or fish like most other shoppers. Didn't get a huge number of extras so the bill today wasn't bad. We had to then go to tesco because we needed some chicken for the cats!! spoilt little pussies they are! but they're worth it.

Bobby is looking very smart at the moment because she has a brand new collar. She has been without a collar for the last few weeks becaus it had made her neck really sore for some reason. it's ok now though so she has a nice new reflective collar to show off in.
Saturday night we had:
Chinese..spring rolls and dippers, fried rice and stir fryu vegetables.
Sunday we had:
A beautiful pizza Vin created.
Portobello mushrooms on a pesto base with crumbled blue cheese on them
Egg and potato salad with avocado, potato salad for me and a pasta salad for Vin.

Tonight we are having:
Cheese and leek escalope
mushrooms in a white sauce
mixed vegetables and baby baked potatoes.

Quick Trip..

Quick out this morning. Last night when we were deciding where to go we thought we would just go to Waitrose to get a few things on the list that we wanted for the weekend. Ha! As usual, we didn't have that much in the trolley but still spent £57 !! Fatal shop to go into though, you never come out of there withoutspending more than you planned. Got some nice things though.
Quite quiet today, and parked right outside which is always a bonus.
Watched anew programme the other night on Sky Atlantic called Cloudstreet. Looks really good and very watchable. Set in Australia in the forties fifties and sixties, it portrays two families who share a house at Number 1 Cloudstreet in perth, and how they develop. Excellently done and very good acting. Six in the series so going to be a must see for the next few weeks.Funny John and Ann haven't mentioned it.
Vin got his Marmite rice cakes returned in the post today marked addressee gone away!!! hello... this is Unilever and he used the address on the pack. Anyway, there was a telephone number on the pack so he rang them and got through to a very nice chap, who said it was a misprint, and he would send abag to return them so we shall see what happens next. Watch this sace!!
Typed most of this with little Rusty perched on my knee Bless her..she is such a sweetie. Just stands there purring away fit to beat the band as they say.

This is how she sits on Vin's chest at night just perching there while he reads his book. Aaah.
Tonight we are having:
Chees3e and onion pasties from Waitrose
Baked tomatoes and a few green beans.
Rice puddings.

Your M&S...

No I don't think so really. It was a nice day today so we decided to go over and have a look at the M&S in Aintree. We haven't been near the sales so wanted to have a mooch and see what they have.
Vin went off to look at Halfords and spend his £2.50 voucher. he actually got a large bottle of screen wash for that. I had a bit of a look round n my own in the M&S. The women's clothes were very mixed up on the many sales racks so couldn't be bothered looking at them much. Wandered over to the handbags which were huge!! what is this thing for having massive handbags? jewellery has moved and nothing shouted out at me there either. Went upstairs to the kitchen and home dept and and spotted a table with oddments on it. Picked up a really really cute little monkey soft toy which we will send to Jane. She likes monkeys.Should have been £15 and it was reduced to £3 so that was a huge bargain.Vin wandered over to the men's dept and had a look there and then we went for coffee. he had a card for a free one. No biscuits!!!! what sort of shop doesn't have biscuits. i found a table one of a very few it was extremely busy, and discovered it was under one of those fan thingies that blow out cold air!! typical. Vin came with the coffees. massive great cups, more like a soup bowl!! i could only drink about half of mine and he finished the rest off.
had another look at the mens section again, and he bought two shirts. onelong sleeved one for £6 and a short sleeved one for £5. Good bargains there. I picked up a double cotton fitted sheet for £9 so we did quite well really. Food hall then and we got some bits there, then off home. Went via maplins and Curry's because he wanted a new memory card for his netbook to make it quicker, but no joy.
In this afternoon. The cats seem very quiet today, sleep all afternoon..what a great life.
Tonight we are having:
pastawith a tomato sauce
A bit of garlic bread
Butternut squash to go with.

Drizzly and grey

So we stopped in today. i had a lovely morning getting the ironing done, and then i caught up with a letter to John and Ann. Felt a bit guilty because one from them had arrived thanking us for the Christmas presents, and i haven't done the same yet.So i've written three pages, mostly just chatter.
Vin nipped out in the back garden in between drizzles, and got the outside Christmas lights in, the white ones that were on the fence outside the back window. They have been lovely, twinkling away all Christmas. He also planted the primroses that we bought yesterday at the garden centre, and they are so pretty against the back garden wall that he painted last year

He made a terrific job of that wall and it looks really good now.Especially with the Spring flowers against it.
I think the nights are getting a weeny bit lighter these night, it is now twenty to five and it isn't completely dark yet., even though it is drizzly again. The little cats are on the bed behind me both all curled up and fast asleep. that's the life!!
Tonight we are having:
No idea whatsoever. probably something from the freezer. we'll see what Vin fancies.

Hair-Do at Last!!

This one went on my pillow as soon as I got up this morning and didn't move till we came back from the garden centre!!
Up earlyish this morning because I had an appointment at the hairdressers in Formby at 10 O'Clock.Since little Rusty had been doing her balancing act on my hip since very early and dark..I was dozing anyway. But Vin had set the alarms anyway so we got up in time.
got a nice hair-do this time, she just did a bob with a bit of a feathery fringe which was just what I wanted.The last time she did it she layered it a bit much so it went straggly when it grew out, but this time will be ok. So I'm £30 poorer and a lot of hair lighter. lasts quite a number of weeks anyway, so worth it. jane has just rung up on her way to work, and she said she pays £5 at the students hairdresser, but she gives them £5 extra becuse it's too cheap.She says she is properly grey too..don't know where she gets that from, i'm not very grey yet apart from my roots, and Vin didn't go grey till just a few years ago. george Clooney is grey anyway and it suits him fine.
While I was getting my hair done Vin went to waitrose and got our pasties for friday, and then on to Homebase to get a flourescent tube for the kitchen, so he did well in that time.
From there we went to the Garden centre in Ince to get our cvoffee for the month and see what they had in the sales. Answer was..not much really. The gift section didn't have anything in the sales at all really, and the Christmas decorations were half price but we didn't buy much. I bought a Noel sign and a box of Christmas cards and Vin bought some very pretty primroses in a lovely buttery yellow colour for the hanging baskets outside the kitchen window.Funny thing was, when we were having our coffee we were trying to decide how many hanging baskets there were on the back wall and we settled on two. When we got home there were three!! Funny how the mind plays tricks.
Quiet afternoon and will possibly stop in tomorrow, don't like getting up early!!
Tonight we are having:
Sausage Rolls, Linda McCartney ones
Small tin of something tomatoey and some sauteed mushrooms
Sliced potatoes done in fry light.