What have you been doing today?

[Harry Bloomfield]

Just washed our dog down with special doggy oatmeal shampoo. It’s a case of wash and run indoors and shut the doors otherwise she'd soak everything! She always has a mad half hour when she’s been washed.

We gave our collie a bath, last week. I picked up a new fold-away dog bath in a charity shop a few years ago - a tubular frame, with a heavy waterproof plastic for the bath, open at one end, via a sort of drawbridge sealing side. A spray hose, fits on the downstairs toilet washbasin, which has a TMV controlling the water temperature, to just nice, so we can do her outside on the drive.

Today, we've been testing the electric rotovator/tiller thingummy, on the triangle of waste land we have at the back of the garden. For all the years I have been here, it has just been a dumping ground, and a place to burn off garden rubbish. It's an absolutely wonderful device, for finding buried bricks, concrete and tree roots, but by lunchtime, it was all done cleared and reasonably level. Along the way, we found a Charles and Diana crown, and a 193? penny coin. The next trick, is to decide what to do with the land?

It's bounded on the west, a long side of the triangle, by several silver birch trees, which have been trimmed back to allow more light through, on the east by the railway fence, also a long side, with a sea of bramble the other side of the fence. The narrow end, 15 feet wide, faces south.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

When I see how labour intensive friends' dogs are, I'm glad I'm a cat person. Tabby is self cleaning, self walking and self feeding if left to his own devices.

Only downside is the occasional mouse presented live at 3 am - for me to chase around the bedroom.

 

[securespark]

I've spent the last three hours cleaning my car inside and out but, mainly the inside.
I had a friend's labrador in it yesterday and this must be the dirtiest, hairiest, unruliest, barkiest thing in the world.
We did go to the beach at North Berwick, though.
Still, it won't be in my car again.

I washed the lads' Space Star and did a quick polish up inside.

Matt came home in it tonight.

"Dad?"
"Yes, love?"
"The car's covered in bird shoite again..."

 

[securespark]

When I see how labour intensive friends' dogs are, I'm glad I'm a cat person. Tabby is self cleaning, self walking and self feeding if left to his own devices.

Only downside is the occasional mouse presented live at 3 am - for me to chase around the bedroom.

Yeah, ours brings them in all the time. I wonder how many carcasses we'll find when we move out....

 

[Mottie]

One year, my Sister was packing up her artificial Christmas tree in January and she came across two dead crispy mice draped across the branches. The only explanation she could come up with was that her cat had caught, killed and brought them in the house and her 2 year old daughter, thinking they were tree decorations that had fallen off and had put them back on the tree.

 

[Mottie]

Starting my absolute last term of work tomorrow - Friday afternoons up to Christmas only. Chucked all my work trousers away in July and I usually relegate my oldest Levi's to work duty but I had a wardrobe malfunction on Tuesday so I needed a set of work trousers. I popped up B&Q and bought some but they were the ones for site workers/chippies with a couple of flappy pouches on them that I didn’t like and I thought I could remove them along with the hammer holder loop. Mrs Mottie said she'd do them later but I couldn’t wait so I said I’ll do them myself. "Okay" she said "I’ll just wait for the temper tantrum". She wasn’t wrong! In my haste, I cut halfway through the f'cking belt loop. She's going to repair them for me. Later.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Yeah, ours brings them in all the time. I wonder how many carcasses we'll find when we move out....

It's a definite plus for the rodents themselves that Reggie only wants to play with them, but live mice running around in the early hours presents all kinds of potential problems. With a previous tabby this meant partially dismantling a gas fire on one occasion. Reggie has only had me taking the plinth off kitchen cabinets and dismantling a divan bed.

Getting very few these days because I think he's exhausted the supply in his territory. I release the mice in the garden over the road out the front because he only goes out the back of the house. Reckon whoever owns house across the road must be suffering a mouse population explosion.

 

[Mottie]

Popped over the allotment early this morning. Considering we don’t usually use them and have given half a dozen plants away already, I still have plenty of chilli's left.

Right, that’s it, off to the workshop in a minute. Going to give it a good tidy up before the students arrive. Only 13 more Friday afternoons until Christmas!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I managed to combine two separate blood tests last week, into one appointment, one for the pharmacist, one for the kidney department at the hospital. That appointment was followed by a phone appointment from urology in regards to my prostate - they subsequently requested a PSA blood test, so I've just been to have that one this morning. Why oh why - can they not all get their blood at the same time, to avoid me having so many holes in my arms?

 

[securespark]

I too have had many needles in hospital.

One night there were 2 nurses, an Junior Doc and a consultant all trying simultaneously to get cannulas in.
FYI, ankles and wrists are more sensitive to pain from needles.

 

[Mottie]

First day back at the fun factory. 3 returning students. Two suspended from school already - one for fighting, one for throwing a shovel through a computer screen. Despite not being allowed on school premises, both were told to attend my centre and they did, on time and ready to work. The other one has just returned to the PRU after going on the lam for just over a month last year. No problem whatsoever and it makes my job easier when I get one of them who has completed an assessment to show the others how to do it. I also like to think it’s because they know that they can’t get away with that sort of behaviour in the workshop. Two teachers sent down to 'control' them but I sent them back to school as not needed. Thing is, these kids are as nice as pie at my place and on the whole, they are a joy to teach. Why they are such ****s in school is a bloody mystery.

 

[fillyboy]

I also like to think it’s because they know that they can’t get away with that sort of behaviour in the workshop. Two teachers sent down to 'control' them but I sent them back to school as not needed. Thing is, these kids are as nice as pie at my place and on the whole, they are a joy to teach. Why they are such ****s in school is a bloody mystery.

Probably seen that viral video of you with the scaffold pole.

 

[Mottie]

Probably seen that viral video of you with the scaffold pole.

I could have done with it an hour ago!

When is this going to stop?

Instead of an outright ban, which is very difficult to police, why not class certain breeds / cross breeds as dangerous animals & up the requirements on any owner who keeps them? I'm OK with requiring the owners of some breeds to ensure they're muzzled at all times in a public place, but to...

www.diynot.com

 

[securespark]

Why they are such ****s in school is a bloody mystery.

Because they have a short attention span with academic stuff.

I have long believed that there are some who just don't click with learning by reading, writing etc. But they do great when learning by doing practical skills.

I class myself as somewhere in the middle. I didn't set the world on fire with my exam results, and I knew I'd rather a career in something practical rather than something office based around paper and screens.

These kids kicked off partly because they were bored to tears, but also they probably knew they'd get carted off to you and end up doing something they really enjoy doing, where they get a sense of pride doing their work.

 

[Mottie]

These kids kicked off partly because they were bored to tears, but also they probably knew they'd get carted off to you and end up doing something they really enjoy doing, where they get a sense of pride doing their work.

They were continuing students anyway. Even when the school suspends them, they still let them come to me on their scheduled days.