Sunday, December 25, 2011

The ghost of Christmas present

Yesterday was Christmas Day so that is done for another year.

D1 arrived last Sunday and was sweating on a tender she had put in for an apartment. She won and was able to do most of the business part of the transaction online and at the CBA Claremont Branch so she is very excited. It is about three minutes walk from the apartment which she has been renting for the last 20-or-so years so it just where she wants to live - a walking distance from the CBD and her workplace.

My kittens have had their innoculations and I can have them next week; unsterilised, so the breeder must have been given a good report by my vet as she is happy to let me organise that part of things. I have bought all that they will need when they come home and I'm turning the powder room over to them as the door swings so close to the vanity that it is not easy for an actual person to actually squeeze in and it will be perfect for them with the loo to flush their flushing litter down, space for three litter boxes and a hand basin for me to wash my hands when I have done the litter things.

I went to Christmas lunch at the Ex's place and the kids and GBs came here in the evening for a sausage sizzle and trifle. The GBs wanted to do the sausage pricking business and we had to create enough rubbish so that they could put it down the chute. The joys of childhood; to be allowed to throw rubbish down a rubbish chute.

Next year the kids are all coming here for Christmas lunch which will be much quieter than lunch yesterday where there were about 20 people, kids and noise. Roll on next Christmas ...

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

I am all enmeshed


Yesterday the cat mesh company installed the cat mesh on my balcony so all I have to do now is to block off the bottom gap to make the kittens safe from unexpected descents. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

I had lunch with D2 yesterday and we went shopping afterwards and bought the bare bones of the kittens trousseaux. Today I went back and checked that the local pet emporium sells flushing litter and while I was there I bought two carry boxes. I will inspect the litter trays which I already have with a view to upgrading if necessary and will wait to see how they take to being harnessed before I get a big pet pusher so that I can take them to the park. It may be that they will be better off not knowing that there is a great big world outside of the apartment. I'll see ...

The leaky windows have been sealed - I hope! We are unlikely to get many storms like the ones we have had over the last week so it may have to wait until wintertime to test the seals.

The Selfs are back in town; they arrived a couple of days ago and Himself has picked up his car. The Welsh contingent is arriving tonight.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The windows of Heaven were opened

We have just weathered about 12 hours of continuous thunder, lightning and rain culminating in a southerly gale which drove torrential rain horizontally.

Unfortunately for me, my apartment faces south and my balcony and everything on it was thoroughly rained on.

... and my windows leaked.

I started off with hand towels but had to resort to bath towels in the end. It wasn't the windows themselves but the frames; the water came in underneath them. We may never have another storm like that one but the maintenance man was around within 40 minutes of my phone call and will have the leaks fixed as soon as things dry out, although with the weather we have been having, that could be months away.

I suggested that it might be an opportune time to check the other south-facing apartments. He said that he intended to ...

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Kittens - at last



This morning i went to visit my new kittens at Canning Vale. It took me almost an hour to get there but at least I didn't get lost. It is a whole new world over that way; huge shopping complexes and the cattery was in an area designated at a "Kennel Area".

I had a choice between two boys and as they both looked alike I just pointed and took one of them. he turned out to be a really cuddly little boy and went to sleep on my lap, purring like a buzz-saw. The little girl wasn't quite so settled and would have liked to explore rather than be restrained. The Burmese girls tend to be pushy and I suspect that the Bombays are the same, considering that they are almost pure Burmese with a but of common cat introduced to get the black gene.

I could have had them before Christmas but I opted to take them in the New Year so I can introduce them during a quieter period and it will give the breeder time to have the boy neutered a little bit later. Not as late as I would like but better than nothing; even a couple of weeks will help his little urethra to grow a bit.

I still have to wait for the screening mesh to be installed and until then I will not feel totally comfortable about the whole kitten business but they are coming next week to install it, after which I can breath a bit easier.

I took some photos ... I can't upload them due to a technical fault but will keep on trying.