Soop's lovely warm and friendly kitchen

anno that is my fear because 5 months is the minimum for cats from abusive homes. I also fear the fostered cat will get a lot more care and attention than before and it a) may not want to go back and b) it may not settle on return.

Grandmafrench fostering is not for life and the CPL is actually responsible for providing everything but I would not have that because they are a charity.

Adoption is for life with me taking full responsibility as long as I or the cat is on this planet. I would not want the cat to outlive me and I could not repeat this process having been through it x2 before Tara.

soop give it a few months and Fern will be choosing a bed or a chair for the night. I do not mean a cat bed, I mean yours!

Hello again kitcheners and I wish you all a very Happy New Year and hope you had a lovely Christmas.

I have new technology at long last so I am learning how to use it.
Nothing much has changed for any of us has it with a new lockdown and many restrictions and normal things that need doing are not easy in the current situation.
We had our loft insulation updated just before the latest lockdown and, by way of preparation, had our joiner come and lift some of the loft boarding in accordance with instructions from the company surveyor. It would appear that there is not much agreement or communication between office and men on the ground (or in the loft in this case) as there was no way they were going to put insulation anywhere other than on the top of the floorboards. We let them do what they wanted to do which was to put the floorboards back and then lay their insulation on top. Looked very odd! We got our joiner to sort it all out as we need the boarded part of the loft to store things.
The men also decided that they were not going to do the underfloor insulation at all so we are in the process of trying to get that done in another way, To be fair, I would not be wanting to go under the floor either but then I am an old and creaky granny who is nowhere near as slim as they are! We think we are going to need to do each room from above, one at a time, renewing the rubbish floorboards as we go. Joy unbounded! Have any of you kitcheners had to do that?

I rather enjoyed the Toy Story series too. I saw them all with my two youngest DSs. The younger of the two (now 13) is a massive cinema enthusiast and watches lots of old films on his computer. When he was little, in the cinema, he was transfixed and hardly moved a muscle.
Charley, it's a lovely idea to foster a cat. If I did, I know I would be reluctant to hand it over after the fostering period.
Soop, Fern's napping in the utility room is a step in the right direction. One day she will be creeping silently into your living room and taking over the sofa.

Good Afternoon Soop Fans. Beautiful day here with glorious sunshine, cloudless blue skies and little buds and bulbs showing everywhere....but it remains cold. Hoping that the forecast for the middle of the week (15) will come about.

Amazing that the Outer Hopeless sub-sub branch of the Bloody Terrible Telecomms company are still able to do nothing to rescue you, soop. Hoping that you will bear a grudge - a big one. You'll get your chance, I'm sure!

How lovely to hear that little Fern moves ever closer. You are very patient. (i.e. more sensible than me!). Maybe you will get your chance when she is trapped and taken to the Vet. Her return could be to a cage in the house. Who knows?

I have news, it is good and bad news. I have heard from dear Izabella with warm wishes for everyone and a brief explanation of why she hasn't been posting.

I am told that she has suffered a lot of loss and bad news and disappointment in recent times. The Izabellas have been struggling because of that. However, the final straw came when she suddenly suffered the loss of her favourite Eventer. Although not a rider now, her horse was very dear to her. I have no details - she will tell you herself eventually, I'm sure - but whilst the Vet was dealing with her horse, her Nephew collapsed. This was clearly very serious since it involved Paramedics, the Air Ambulance AND the Vet! No one deals with drama after drama - without being affected in lots of ways. Not surprisingly, Izabella has felt low in spirits and unable to post. But, better news is that her dear man has had his Eye surgery. A small light in the darkness, perhaps.

Don't get too exhausted Grandmas, Batty and Gravy. How we love them, but how they tire us! Charley, I've always wondered why anyone rehoming or fostering can't just speak to the Vet of the potential foster family.We always reckoned that if someone looked at our Vet's notes in the UK, it would show that we spent fortunes in time and emotion on veterinary treatment and care and advice for every (rescue) animal we so dearly loved. A CRB check? Hilarious.

Everyone please pay 110% attention to staying safe. We need to stick together.

Thanks Soop the migraine has gone now thank goodness.

Charleygirl those cats would be very lucky to have a foster home with you in the future.

Grandmabatty I remember watching Toy Story with my eldest dds it was his favourite! Enjoy those moments they are so precious.

Stay safe everyone.

Soop that is very kind of you to say. The attempt at a nap was unsuccessful so the boy is watching Toy Story with his head drooping as he is tired but fighting it. He is partial to a peanut butter cookie and has had one now in the vain hope he'll go for a nap soon.

Grandmabatty You are a star.

Afternoon greetings to our dear kitcheners from a soggy Kintyre.

Thank you Baggs for the link that you have kindly brought to our attention.

Fennel When super fast broadband was introduced to our area some time ago, we completely lost our connection. It appears that we are just outside the range for the upgrade to operate. An engineer had to reconnect us to the previous slower speed. At the moment the speed is a super sonic 0.02

Grandmabatty The last time we were in a similar situation, we were given a greatly reduced quarterly charge for 18 months. We've been promised a visit from another engineer. No word thus far.

Grannygravy and Nannytopsy I admire your spirit.

Urms Plockton is indeed a very attractive village. We would love to revisit it when life returns to normal.

BladeAnnie I am a tad envious. Right now, I would be overjoyed if a certain black feral cat happened to be purring away on my lap. Fern is on the utility room mat. She will remain there for as long as the door stays ajar. Perhaps one day...

Charleyg When you are ready, I'm sure that there will be a dear wee cat who would welcome being fostered by such a kind and caring lady.

Yiayia I hope that the migraine has long gone. Mr Soop suffers from such things occasionally. He becomes very disorientated. Thankfully it isn't a regular occurrence.

LauraNorder We all need the promise of new beginnings. Springtime is special.

dustyangel I hope that you now have the passport photo in readiness for better times.

Afternoon kitcheners. A busy morning for us. That is dgs and me. I made him pancakes for breakfast and he devoured three plus a barrow load of blueberries. Puddle splashing next but he's just a wee thing (23 months) and the wind was fierce so only half an hour outside. Then lots of playing and singing and dancing. Him and me again. Lunch was leek and potato soup and a buttered roll. I've now put him down for a nap but I'm not hopeful he'll stay down. I can hear noises off.

Not much comfort soop but where you live on ?Kintyre sounds like where we lived in France - out in the wilds.
Our internet/ phone was from Orange and connection broke down every few weeks. Orange said it was due to us being so far from the nearest central connection. And the weather.
Then our isolated dept. became the first dept in France to have the cables laid for a more reliable kind of connection. No breakdowns after that.

GrannyGravy it sounds that a lie down in a darkened room will be in order sooner rather than later.

N&G I will need a criminal records check before I am accepted to foster a cat. God forbid I will be on my own with the cat and you all know how Tara was treated! It will be for a minimum of 5 months and the cat will not be allowed outside unless under special circumstances and with the approval of CPL. Anyway that is in the future.

Morning kitcheners, DD (we are bubbled) has come here to homeschool the 5 yr old we are minding the 1 yr old. Chaos is the order of the day
DD is at work tomorrow so we will be doing it all again, oh dear

It really is absolutely scandalous that you are not reconnected soop

Spotted some info that might be useful to the Soops (and possibly others). There is someone called Catriona Macauley who is apparently the contact for the Scottish Government's "No One Left Behind Digital Scotland: Covid-19 Emergency" project.

She can be contacted by email: [email protected]
or phone: 01382 578677
That code looks like a Dundee number.

Morning all !

Its a bright , frosty one here this morning.

Funny you should mention lady pheasants Soop as Norbert has brought Gertie with him this morning. She's so well camouflaged that Sam , out on patrol trotted right past her without noticing her.

You're right about not having much to say . The days flow past drifting one into another and yet Ive done nothing of note .

Charleygirl I read that report too and what a good and worthy cause to 'foster' from that type of scenario. I can see that working very well for you.

Wishing everyone a day with a little happiness in it x

A late visit just to say hello. Childcare and teaching tomorrow- science and geography.
It may not feel like Spring yet, but the collared doves and the great tits have noticed the longer days and have started calling. Not long now until we feel the warmth of the sun again. ?

Good evening soops kitcheners. Jolly cold this evening, should have lit the fire in the sitting room really but spent so much time on zoom in the warm kitchen it didn’t seem worth it. Will finish watching chasers on tv then will go and tuck in to bed with a Netflix film. I got up so late today the bed may still be warm!
Hope everyone is safe and warm. Another day nearer to spring. Lovely thought.
Thinking of travelsafar and all the families who have lost a loved one to this horrid virus.

I’m enjoying nature as much as I can in this cold weather, a mixed red and black cloud sky tonight probably means a very cold start to the day tomorrow when I have to be out early for an appointment for a digital passport photo to be taken. Not that I’m thinking of going anywhere but I found that I was feeling panicky about the idea of my passport running out in February.

‘Evening All’.
?

We’ve had a lovely afternoon sharing a late lunch with my stepfather. He is going to join us every Sunday until we all get the respite we sorely crave.

He doesn’t have internet at home and he greatly enjoyed the experience of seeing his beloved village, Plockton this afternoon on a live webcam. He saw his house (now sold to his second cousin) which has been owned and lived in since 1910 - firstly by his own uncle after whom he was named.

It was a real trip down memory lane for him and set him off telling us stories from the olden days. Such a pleasant afternoon all round.

Wishing you all a peaceful and anxiety free night. x

‘Goodnight All’.

N&G and soop when the time is right I intend contacting the local CPL and take in rescue cats who will not be here permanently- I really could not go through this again and anyway I do not want the cat to outlive me and find itself in a new home.

A friend and neighbour who is a JP said that many women cannot leave an abusive home because of their pets but they
may do if they knew their pet was being cared for and loved.

It will not be happening anytime soon.

Just popping in to say hello whilst Mr BA concocts a lovely seafood risotto. I've got a happy purring ginger boy on my lap as I write - is it maybe possible he can smell something in the air???

Quick visit to wish you all a pleasant evening.
Just getting over a bad migraine so it’s been a quiet day.
Take care everyone and stay safe.

I've made peanut butter cookies and scones today so I'll leave them with the lemon drizzle cake and leek and potato soup. Charliegirl a house without a pet feels empty, doesn't it? I'm resuming babysitting duties tomorrow but had an extra visit from DD and dgs this afternoon. Soop I'm with the others. Demand compensation!

Our posts coincided, N&G. Like you, we also have a visiting cock pheasant. Last year, he invited two hens to rummage beside him. So far, there hasn't been much activity.

Naturally you stuck your legs out - it's what we do when being wheeled around. Reminds me...I would have loved a go-cart as a child. In fact, I'd still like one.

It's been a quiet day in our kitchen. I struggle to find something interesting to share with you. It's been so long since I left the house to do anything other than stroll through our empty village. I miss my ironing job and the banter shared with our pals. I miss the visits to the care home. However, we are all in this buggeration together. So, together we shall remain supportive in whatsoever way that we can.

I do think of you all, especially those of our lot who have had additional problems to cope with. Wishing you a peaceful evening. Hoping to be back with you again tomorrow.

Evening all !

It wad like a farce Soop.

Sam was running around like a crazy thing as I stuck my legs out and Grampy huffed and puffed behind me.... We had a good laugh once we made it back to the car where the darn scooter conked our totally !! Don't ask why I stuck my legs out --I was hoping to freewheel down the little hill but we never got up enough steam lol

Id love a woodpecker in the garden. Norbert our resident pheasant was visiting the garden this morning. He squeeze's in through the hedgehog gap in the fence and pecks up everything the fat pigeons throw off the bird table ( terribly messy eaters!). Then he stands underneath looking up hopefully for any extras.

Hope everyone else is doing ok, its been quiet in here today.