Today I've mostly bin...

[Bunnylump]

Giraffe, you are incorrigible. From what I've heard it's pretty unlikely that the other person in the picture has anything much about him that's small.

EDIT That sounded bad. I meant as in the 6 foot ridiculous inches tall.

[MBH]

From what I've heard it's pretty unlikely that the other person in the picture has anything much about him that's small.

EDIT That sounded bad. I meant as in the 6 foot ridiculous inches tall.

Girl Talk?


Yesterday we bin.... looking at possibly taking on a dog again after almost 18 months 'animal free'. We have a small wooden heart that says "A home's not a home without a dog" and Jennie has been such a miss

After much research we're being drawn toward greyhounds (as a pet - nothing more). It turns out there are lots of retired racing hounds that are desperate for caring homes.

So yesterday we went about 20 miles to the local area centre and ended up walking 3 or 4 of the dogs. Since we always go for females (sounds better than 'bitches' ) it cut the choices down,but there were two that really stood out. Oddly enough the names have significance

Izzy was lovely and very alert, but on balance she looked lively and full of fun. She would have been my choice, but there are other factors to take into account:

http://northumberland.retiredgreyhounds ... -greyhound

So that brings us to Maisie who was equally lovely but somehow gentler and more caring. When we learned her history that made sense - her past owner was blind, but with a carer took Maisie racing. She seemed very 'illness aware'.

http://northumberland.retiredgreyhounds ... -greyhound


I'm hoping the links work, but if not:

Izzy is a small gentle girl who is little dog friendly.

Maisie is a Very friendly pretty black girl. She has beautiful eyes and looks adorable.

I'll let you know how things progress, but this is just a first step in an adoption.

[eirian]

MBH - that sounds really good (haven't followed the links). I've a friend who's got a greyhound as a pet and she adores him. The main problems she finds is that (1) once he starts running, he won't stop and (2) he takes up all the bed


Oh, and Bunny, yes, Sigur is tall (6'8" for those who don't know), but his 16 year old cousin is already the same height....

[clvrlad]

grayhounds are great pets (always had greyhounds/whippets as pets as a kid)
id advise buying some new walking boots though
and finding some big open flat grass area you can let them run around in (and a ball throwing aid...)

[MBH]

From all we've heard, they need as little as 20 minutes walk twice a day and spend a lot of time sleeping [Sounds SO much like ME!!!] Not planning to let her off lead anyway - I would have thought about an extender lead but they are serious discouraged. [0-40mph in very little time]

I'm just hoping she will settle into the rhythms of our life and not fret being alone. A little gentle training will be in order whatever we find when we get her back home.

[giraffe]

They look huge! Are you sure you won't keep tripping over her after having little Jenny?
(Nice names though! )

[MBH]

They look big, but they curl up quite small. Very giraffe-like in their own way - long legs. Apparently they can go upstairs but can't safely come downstairs because of the length of their legs and centre of gravity So I think the old child-gate at the bottom of the stairs will come back into play. [They need raised feeding and drinking bowls as well so they're not stretching down to the floor and eating 'uphill'].

[giraffe]

Golly, there's more to dog ownership than meets the eye!

[tricia]

they look adorable MBH ... especially Izzy

Don't tell Olyy I said that


tricia

[giraffe]

....cross with the postman. Still no magazine. I wonder which of the neighbours has it!

edit: Incompetent postman has just returned to post something else through the door. I got all excited, only to find it was an advert. Why would he bother returning in his van, across the snow to deliver something that was an advert, not even in an envelope? What has he done with my magazine?

[Bunnylump]

Aw, the dogs look lovely, MBH, and I think that you having a dog again is a great plan. What a lucky doggy to have such a great owner to take her on and to love her. The thought of you with a new pet made me smile after a very long day at work.

[Bunnylump]

.

[tricia]

At home today - waiting o the postman to bring my magazine

Actually waiting on a new suite to arrive. Hopefully it arives this morning. Last night my friends husband and my Godson got the two chairs out, which leaves the old sofa. As I live in an upper cottage flat it is awkward, so I am going to ask the delivery men to take it downdtairs, so the refuse dept can take them away.

As you can imagine I have a very confused cat!

Tricia

New suite arrived at 3.30. Olly has been shut in the bedroom whilst the furniture is brought it....He is not very sure about it


Just in case does anyone know hw to stop him scratcheng the furniture

Tricia

[Cenwulf]

A saga has been taking place here. It started before Christmas, when we decided we needed a new roof: the old tiles were letting water in and the felt was tatty.

We got in touch with a company we've used before, got a quote and heard nothing for a while.

In early January, we got a call that they would be doing the job. We had requested that the scaffolding was not put up weeks prior to the job, and they agreed with this.

On 20th January, the scaffolders came and erected scaffolding both fore and aft.

On the 22nd, we emptied the loft.

On the 23rd, the roofers arrived. They went up the scaffolding... and then came promptly back down again. They got in touch with the Boss and he came round to look.
The reason the roofers didn't start was because the chimney wasn't stable - there was a hole in one course and other courses had slumped. If the roofers had started banging it could have toppled. So we then needed the chimney rebuilding before the roofers could start.

So on the 25th, the scaffolders were back to extend the scaffolding so that the builders could do the chimney.

The builders were meant to come on the 30th, but as it was raining that day they delayed it to the 31st. The chimney was in such a poor state that the bricks didn't even need to be chipped out. They rebuilt the chimney and put new pots on it.

On the 2nd February, the scaffolders came back and removed the extension.

On the 3rd, the roofers returned; someone was supposed to ring up to say they would be coming, but we never got the call. As a result we had a rather sudden awakening. THey reemoved the old tiles, battens and underfelt, and laid the new stuff. They did most of the work on that day - and returned on the 6th to finish it off.

Today the scaffolders returned yet again and removed the scaffolding.

All that remains is to put the stuff back in the loft!

[Bunnylump]

It would take me a month to clear my loft out, there is so much junk in it...

It's a good job they realised about the chimney (assuming that wasn't a scam). My attached neighbour's high side chimney collapsed right through his roof in high winds 22* years ago (when I was looking after the cat because they were on holiday!) It was completely terrifying and caused a massive amount of damage.

* know it was that long ago because I was heavily pregnant at the time!!

[Cenwulf]

It definitely wasn't a scam - it was visible through binoculars (the roofers wanted someone to go up, but we declined). The Boss took pics on his phone and showed us the state of the brickwork. And one of the roofers said that he pushed it slightly and it moved!

[Bunnylump]

Oh, goodness! That was lucky then. I only mentioned the scam because my Mum got caught out with that by dodgy builders who took advantage of the fact that she was an old lady on her own who couldn't check.

[gill216]

Succeeding in getting overpaid tax back for my mum (79). Not an insignificant amount either.

She is a taxpayer because she has state pension, private pension, savings, and investments in bonds. Apart from her state pension all tax is deducted at source. Over deducted because of this.

What she hasn't done for years is filled in a tax return- because they didn't send her one to fill in. My mum isn't stupid but she is elderly and has lost track of things she needs to do. If any of you have elderly relatives in a similar position please check them out. My mum signed a form allowing me to act on her behalf and was willing to let me go through all her paperwork. Not all elderly may be so willing.
At the moment you can go back to yr end 2007. Worth doing if you can persuade them to let you do it.

I can save you time if you need it. I have the rates and tax allowances readily at hand back to 2006.

Mums tax office accepted my spread as opposed to an official form but if you need the relevant form its an R40 and it can be downloaded from HMRC site. You will need one for every year you want to go back.

[LAT]

....coming home again. Well most of the coming home was yesterday but we arrived this morning - about half an hour early.
I had locked the case I checked in and it had a wide luggage strap around it but when the case appeared both lock and strap had gone. The contents had obviously been rifled through but I think the only things missing are the lock and strap!
I'm exhausted but we managed to do/see virtually everything we had hoped to.
And the weather was amazing. Not a cloud in the sky the last 2 days and dry with sunny interals the first two. A bit of a shock to the system to get home to snow!

[Bunnylump]

Glad you had a good time.