Odds & Ends

I just had to post a picture of this stew.

This is a delicious cannellini bean, 3 tomato (canned, fresh and sun-dried) and pepper stew.

It's 340 calories and on a 5:2 fasting day that was cold and wet, it was the perfect warming dinner.  The portion looks huge, tastes great (yes even Jean-Luc likes it!) and is full of healthy veggies and beans.

The 5:2 is going well, I've lost a stone, despite over a month off when we were on holiday and I was ill with bronchitis.  I feel healthier, some clothes which didn't fit me now do and I'm not finding it difficult to stick to it at all.  I love the fact that although I normally fast on Monday and Thursday I can change the days I fast around to fit in with the rest of my life; this week I'm meeting a friend for dinner on Thursday so have changed my days.  I love the fact that if I choose to eat a muffin on a non fast day I haven't 'broken' my diet, if I eat pizza or chocolate (in moderation), that's ok.   I love the fact I don't have to say I can't eat that, I say I can't eat that - today.  I don't worry about 'sins' or 'points' or whether I can eat carbs, fats or drink a glass of wine.

 I love the fact I can establish a healthy relationship with food and lose weight. 

On a completely different topic, we received some post today.....

.....and yes the Nu has more economic cachet that we do.  She was sent two free food sachets and two vouchers for cat food; obviously someone at Tesco had spotted her food purchases and sought to curry favour with the most influential person in this household.  Unfortunately, they hadn't done all their homework as she doesn't eat this food; I did offer it to her but she wasn't convinced.  I rang Tesco clubcard customer services on her behalf - her suggestion was that a local cat charity might benefit from any future presents; I had a laughter filled conversation with a charming man (I think he was relieved it was such a trivial issue) and he quickly said he would make sure her food preferences record was corrected and that any future bribes should meet her standards.  

I find it incredibly creepy and intrusive that a supermarket is monitoring our purchases but hilarious that when they use that information they get it so wrong.
We certainly won't be shopping at Tesco's any more frequently than we do already and we certainly won't be 'faithful' to that supermarket.
The Nu prefers to keep her food preferences private.

A Quiet Night In

Bird Watching

The bird table has been a great success for the birds.

We have had starlings, blackbirds, thrushes, wood pigeons, collared dove, blue tits, great tits, longtailed tits, robins, house sparrows, dunnocks, chaffinches, gold finches, green finches, pheasants and moorhens.

It has also been a great success with the Nu, who has taken up bird watching as a hobby.  The blue tits seem completely unfazed by her presence and continue to flit to and fro, assuring her rapt attention.

A Nu Look at Beds

I was walking around the house the other day and suddenly realised just how many places the Nu has to rest in.

She has allowed me to photograph her places and generously agreed to comment on them.

This is where I like to sit in the evenings.  It is acceptable -the gel base is very soft and perfect for pugging  on.  As you can see it is quite correctly placed next to the radiator.

On very cold evenings I like to sit here on the side table in the dining table.  It is also next to the radiator and if it is very cold I can lie on the radiator.  If you look very carefully you can see the comb which they torture me with in the name of 'grooming'.  Pfeh! what do they think my tongue is for!

Here is where I watch the cat buffet from; sometimes I also nap here.

So far the cat buffet has offered blackbird, starling, wood pigeon, collared dove, blue tit, long tailed tit, robin, thrush, pheasant, moorhen, hedge sparrow; but strangely no condiments.  

Where are my condiments?  The service is appalling, a person could starve here; in desperation I snack at the dried food, it tastes like ashes compared to the possible feast I could be enjoying.

I do not sleep here, I store the pitiful toys they try to make me play with.  Why then, do they complain when I bring mice in at night for the same purpose?  

They remain a mystery to me.

During the day I sleep here.  If the Tom is home it is very warm as the computer heats the room nicely.  Also he does not try to stroke when I sleep.  Sleep is important and should be taken seriously.

This is where I sleep at night.  I have been too generous in sharing this with my humans and sometimes there is barely half a bed for me to sleep on.

You can see my glass of water on the floor by the bed.  I always drink out of a glass at night and now that they know they give me a glass of my own.

You can also see my blanket.  I have many blankets, unfortunately as soon as I get them smelling right they take them away and wash them.  They do this while I am sleeping somewhere else.

They did it again yesterday, I was so incensed I had to cough up a furball under the office desk; sadly the Tom noticed before he sat down.

I am exhausted now.  I must rest.

A Nu Look

We're finally getting round to painting the house.  We moved in 11 months ago and decided not to decorate straight away as we had a few things we wanted to do first (the built in bookcases for a start); and a whole load of making good on some issues we found (i.e. a thermostat on the heating boiler).  We also had to wait for the plaster  to dry on the walls of our bedrooom (not the front bedroom but the back bedroom which has better views across the fields and is quieter - if you don't count owls, donkeys, foxes and chickens - and we don't).  On top of this we wanted to live in the house a while in different seasons to see what the light was like.

So having let the plaster mature, sorted out our major and 'making good' jobs (boy were there a lot of making good jobs the previous owners had left for us to do) having  seen the seasons through; it's time to dive into paint charts and start daubing the walls with test pots (what? oh sorry! Jean-Luc says no test pot squares - whoops too late!).

Anyway we popped into the local DIY place and bought home some swatch samples.  We were quite enamoured of the surround of one of the pictures that Jean-Luc painted of the Nu over two years ago.  Obviously with such an important aesthetic decision to make and with it based on her elegance and beauty; the Nu felt she had to approve it.

Do I not look beautiful?  See how the colours compliment my luscious pelt?
I will let them proceed!

ps for anyone still interested we're going for the second green on the right tucked into the picture frame for one and bit (above the bookshelves) walls and the rest will probably be magnolia to add a bit of light and warmth.  Fingers crossed the Nu approves of it. 

pps Autumn must be here as the Nu is now spending part of the evening on the sofa as opposed to laying waste to the local rodent population.  If you listen carefully you can hear a collective mouse sigh of relief.  Death of Rats is also glad to be able to take a break.

A Nu Home

I thought it was time to give an update on the Nu. Over the last seven months she has gone from a city cat who had never known grass under her paws, only tarmac and cobbles and a tiny territory, whose borders had to be constantly patrolled to repel invaders and which were constantly threatened by dogs and cars. 

 
 The 'Evil One' - the Nu's arch nemesis at the old house.

Now she is a relaxed country cat with a core territory of 1800 square feet, as well as several adjacent gardens and the cattle field out the back.  It's been a delight to watch her discover her new home and she has really blossomed. 

We put her in a cattery for a week while we physically moved and got a few really disruptive jobs done, like the built in bookcases and bedroom furniture constructed.  She was obviously a bit nervous and scared at being in a completely new place but it helped having furniture and things out that smelt of her and the fact that I took a couple of days off to settle her in.

The big interest for her was the garden and for the first couple of days she kept to the confines of the yard by the house. However, things really changed for her when after a couple of weeks we got the cat flap put in.  It was a bit of a specialised job as it was put into double glazed French windows so we got an expert in to put it in - under her supervision of course!

What is this thing?

Did you say this was for the larger cat?  How very dare you!

Soon the Nu was happy exploring the garden and we became accustomed to the clitter-clatter of the catflap as she went in and out and she soon laid claim to conifer as her outside den.  The thick branches mean it keeps dry in winter and cool in summer - perfect for a cat to rest under.
And perfect to ambush your humans from as they walk down the garden.

Her next big step was discovering the field at the bottom of the garden, which has a handy gate in it for cats to climb through.

The barbed wire is to stop the inhabitants of the field - something the Nu has never come across before - cows.

Her first view of them sent her racing up the garden with her fur on end and a very fluffy tail, but she's used to them now and has explored right up to the pond on the right hand side of the field.

She's made friends with the locals.

Had her own path put in the garden - gravel is no fun for delicate paws


Supervised building works

 

And explored the neighbours roofs.

We think she's happy.