General Chat

I didnt catch anything last night, but another flea on my leg this morning as soon as I came into the room. I have now applied the insect repellant.

A neighbour wants to come up to visit later in the morning. I told her the place was plagued by fleas but she still wants to come. I am not going to sweep up the flea powder, why waste it? Hopefully it is still killing some of the blighters.

I have now received Christmas cards from Gloucestershire, Kent, Nederland, France (the woman I helped Marilyn), plus the newsletter from Marie in Oz and an ecard from Jean. I wonder what today will bring. I must be better prepared for sending cards next year.

Huia.

Oooh Huia, my blood has run cold, talking of rats and mice.
I think you will have to be very careful, if you did get the poison Huia. Cats can be very nosey little things, and it would only take for the cat to lick her paws,after treading in it,and it would be bye bye puss.
When our rat got caught in the trap, we phoned the environmental health people to ask what we should do, to get rid of the rat, and were shocked when they told us to put it out with the normal rubbish.
Now rats are vermin,and should be treated as such. It was of our opinion
that the environmental rat man, who came to put the rat bait out in the first place, should have come back and removed it.
So it's warm over there is it, no wonder the Flea's have been biting. It will be the heat that has helped to hatch them out.

Well girls, I got my teams mixed up last night, we had not got the bad reputation team, but a very nice local team.
And, our Jean will be chuffed for me, we won 4-2 and 3-0.
It's bitterly cold here again today,and more snow is forecast for Thursday.

I hope you are all well,and that Sylvia is now enjoying her great train journey.
Bye for now girls. Love Mo xxx

I didnt buy any rat poison. The corpses have to be collected and either burnt or buried. I dont want to play 'hunt the needle' (corpse). I bought 2 more traps which are now set in the kitchen. I also bought some insect repellant and since putting it on my feet and half way up to my knees I havent noticed any more fleas getting on me. It doesnt mention fleas on the tube, but I am hoping that it works, or that the flea powder has killed them all, which I doubt. Flea eggs can remain dormant for a while and then hatch when you walk around.

I didnt move things to look for the means of entry, I was just feeling too weary with the heat.

Huia.

Hi Mo and all.

I think I need to go to town to get more rat traps, or see if there is a rat poison that wont affect the cat if she eats any dead rats. Something set off a mouse trap I had set in the dining room last night, and has also tried to chew its way through the lid of a plastic container in which I keep the cat biscuits. When we first got the cat she was great at catching rats and mice, but she hasnt been doing it for about a year now. I guess like me she is getting old. Or perhaps there are far too many rats and they gang up on her, so she keeps her distance now.

I have finished my breakfast now, so must get moving. I might go to town after doing the dishes to investigate rat poisons or get more traps. Then I am going to be moving lots of things around trying to find where they are getting in.

Have fun girls, and dont do anything I wouldnt.

Huia.

Good evening girls.

Huia, well done on catching the dreaded rat. If it's only a baby one, check that it's parents are not still hanging around, after all it's got to have adults for it to be born, ( not meaning to sound condescending when I say that love.)
I hope that it didn't P in your basket, you have to be careful of wields (sp)disease, from rats urine. oooh yuk.

Hi Ann how was your weekend away.?
I agree with you over my grandaughters boyfriend, I would like to kick his backside for him, but that would not solve the problem.
My daughter is in a state with worry about what he's going to do next time.

Marie, I didn't get the photo's that the others have spoken about, ahhh poor me. I did get your Christmas message though, thank you for it.

Well girls I have to go, I have to get my bath ready for darts tonight.
Jean save your money honey, we may call a halt to the game,as the team we are playing tonight,have got a bit of a reputation for talking on their mobiles during the game,and also for going outside for a smoke, other teams have made complaints about them, and if they play up to much we may cease the game.
I will let you know what happens tomorrow.
Love to you all. Mo xxx

Marie have a look at your e-mails, I have tried to send again and up to now they havent been returned, so hun, fingers x, let me know please.


love Jean xxx

Good morning, hope all are feeling well or better than they were this morning. foggy here at the moment but OH has gone to golf for the first time in 2 weeks.

Marie, many thanks for your letter, I was away all weekend which is why I had not said anything before. Your family are lovely and the 2 little girls so pretty.

Huia Ugh, I don't envy you one bit having to deal with the rat, but I suppose if you didn't nobody would.

Sylvia, I said farewell and good wishes on another thread. I do hope all goes well with your trip.

Mo, I don't know what to say about your granddaughter. It is difficult we love them and hurt for them, but can't live their lives for them. All you can do is be there for her if she needs you. Hopefully he will get his come uppance at some stage.

Jean, I had an e mail bounced back from Marie but when I checked I had put one n instead of nn in the address. have you re-checked that you have the correct address in your address book?

Morning All
Have a lovely time with your daughter and family Sylvia. My hubby would love to do your train trip. We have only been to Toronto and a little of Ontario so far as my reklatives are all around there.
Huia I hope you sort the rodent problem soon. It must be hard as there is only you to deal with it.
Mo I didn't get the paperwork sorted, but I did get a lot of books moved around, from one bookshelf to another. No news on Dad so will see what today brings.

Have a good day everyone

Linda :o) XxX

Have a nice trip, Sylvia. Do you put your external backup hard drive in the safe too, in case of burglars? Or fire? When I went to Rotorua for a few days I took mine with me, 'just in case'!

Mo, it was still alive, caught by one foot. I think it was a small rat. It was inside an aluminium carry basket that Phil made years ago for me to take all my food/drink stuff with me when I went to town for the day, so I took most of the stuff out then carried it outside and got a heavy woodsplitter to try to kill the beast. I eventually succeeded, but not before breaking a bit off the trap. Now I just have to find how they are getting into the house.

Huia.

Hi all


am making short visits to GR at the moment, in between doing things like getting wash bag set up

.................. I only use soap, underarm stuff, toothpaste, and a moisturizer



so why does it take me 2 hours to set it up?????????????????


......... getting ready also includes getting stuff ready to put in the safe we have in the basement ........ things like all the bmd certs I've bought, any bits of good jewelry, etc!

......... and backing up the hard drive onto an external one "just in case"



Plus helping OH when he comes in asking "where is .....", "what shall I do with ....."



Several of you have asked for my email ........ Marie, Sallie (I think) ......... I will get around to it, but probbaly not until after we return in January


I'm spinning in little circles at the moment



Tomorrow, I have physio, and we also have to pick the last couple of items to take away ....... some very special "cooking" chocolate for making extra special desserts and some chocolates only made in Vancouver for J&M ..................... wich means I'll be out of the house most of the day.


On Tuesday, we want to get the 6 pieces of baggage to be checked down to the station by noon. Then come back, have bath/shower, finish packing the carry-on bags, etc.

Train check-in is about 6:30 - 7:00 pm, and there is no dinner served, just snackies with a glass of champagne as we leave Vancouver. I can't eat the snackies ........ they always have cream or cheese in them!

so we have to eat something beforehand.

We think we'll go to our local coffee shop (where we go most afternoons) at about 4:30pm, and have an early "dinner" .......... they have just started making what is said to be a very nice chili. Then back home to get ready for the taxi which we'll order for about 6 pm



Just in case I don't get back on here after tonight



MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL
xxxxxx




sylvia
xxx

Oh my word Huia, I don't envy you having to face those beady eyes again.
Let me know how you get on, If I hear a scream coming over the air waves,I will know it's not dead. Love Mo xxx

Mo, the flea bomb is an aerosol can, but I have decided I will use it only in one of the bedrooms if I need to. Too much hassle elsewhere.

I woke at 1.30 am and couldnt get back to sleep so decided to have another cup of horlicks. As I came down the passage I heard a noise in the kitchen. One of the mouse traps was missing. I had had it tied to something with a piece of string. The string was still there but not the trap. I couldnt find it so decided to wait for morning, but a couple of hours later I woke again and came out and heard the noise again and by listening carefully I tracked it down. It was in a picnic basket that Phil made me years ago, along with the thermos and box of tspoons etc and various things I have thrown in out of the way. I moved a plastic bag and there was a face looking up at me. I wasnt sure what to do at that time of morning, but I grabbed a fly aerosol and squirted it in liberally, hoping it would kill the rat (?). When I have finished my breakfast I will have to deal with it, and then try to find how it is getting in as I had blocked off the gap at the bottom of the door from the basement. I doubt if it would be nesting in the house.

I am reluctant to lay poison as the cat might eat the dead bodies and get poisoned. We used to lay poison when we had a few years without a dog or cat.

Just a quick look at other threads before I tackle the rat. Hope it is dead now, I dont want to have to bash it on the head.

Huia.

Good evening all.

You will not believe it, my grandaughter has decided to stay with her boyfriend.
She does not want to be a one parent family.
But we have already told her, she will still be a one parent family, he does not work, he spits in her face, throws her out of the house, even though it's his mums house.
She works and pays for everything at the moment. But when she has to give up for a while,after the baby arrives, he is still going to be wanting to be treated as her baby.
I can't understand her reasoning, but we have told her, that if it doesn't work, she can still come here.
I'm afraid I have very dim views of bullies.

Huia, our cat was scared stiff of the rat we had, so it does not surprise me that your cat did not want to come in the house.
I do hope that it is only one that has somehow got trapped in the house,and not a nest of them.
I have never heard of flea bombs. But they sound like a lot of hard work.
The trouble is, when you have pets, you have to be very careful, if you lay rat poison down.
Our pest controller, laid the poison traps where he knew that our cat would not be able to get to them.
The last thing we wanted was to poison our cat, just to get rid of the rat.
In the end it was the rat traps we bought that did the trick. Not a pretty sight
seeing a dead rat,caught in a trap is it.

Linda did you sort out the paper work,and books. The trouble is,we never know if we are ever going to need something we might throw away,do we.

I hope you are all o.k. Sending special ((((((((HUGS))))))) for Jean, Joyce and Caz.

Take care girls love Mo xxx

Marie
Thank you for you Christmas letter
It is so nice to see who we are talking to, and nice to figure out who your family are too.

Linda :O) XxX

Morning everyone
I have sent you my e-mail Marie and thank you for including me in your letter.

I hope to sort out my bureau today. I have moved it downstairs from the upper hall. Bit I doubt I will get rid of much paperwork, it always seems like I might need that later !!!! And I neeed to go through the books that are stored in the open shelves underneath. But how do I decide what I won't need again or never want to read again.
I think I have hoarding tendances, maybe as being the eldest of 6 childen we had what we needed but never spare. Plus everything was shared........... not much was personally my own?

Have a good day everyone.

Linda :o) XxX

Sallie, the last pm I had from you was 6 Dec when you said you were going to post a card to me.

Huia.

Last night I caught a rat in the trap downstairs. At least, I think it was a rat judging by the length of the tail that was on the floor, and the remains of the head in the jaws of the trap. I dont know whether other rats ate the body, or whether it was our cat (I doubt that) or possibly we have a stray. Our cat has been reluctant to come indoors lately, she looks over her shoulder all the time, so I suspect that a stray might have come in one night and frightened her.

My mats and floor are covered in flea powder, looks even more messy than usual but I hope it does the trick. I did buy a flea bomb today but looking at the instructions I think I probably need about 4 of them, and it is quite a business to prepare for using them. Turn off all electrical appliances including lights and fridge (and computer?) and cover all food and crockery and pots and pans and benches used for preparing food. Leave the room/house for a couple of hours then open windows and leave the place to air for a while before re-entering. I think I will wait until I have used all the powder then decide what I want to do.

I bought another rat trap and 3 more mouse traps as there was sign a of mouse visiting last night.

At least it all keeps me busy!

Huia.

Hi Sallie,.did you get my Xmas Letter?

Linda I am sorry I forgot to ask you for Your email addy, may I have it please. I hope you are well.

Sallie so sorry to hear you are not feeling well I hope it passes quickly.I am up to my neck in Letters and cards that I still have to do,as well as the research I am undertaking for the reunion.

Mo I also received your card I am not sure if I let you know .I also received a photo from Sallie or maybe it was from Ann I will have to make a list of who has sent me their Photos, so sad when you cant remember tut tut.

Mo I am sure your granddaughter will be better off without the boyfriend if he is so fickle, I hope her stay wont be too long Mo, as we dont cope very well with young people at our age.It is sad when Parents throw their children out on the street, but in saying that I am sure they must have reached the end of their patience with her.

Sylvia I also forgot to ask for your email addy if you are willing to share, as I would like to send you my Xmas Email.
I hope your trip goes well and you have a wonderful time with your family.

Hello Ann, did you get my letter? if not let me know and I will send it again.

June I am so pleased you got the Letter the photos are all very recent . Did you check my email address? as I would love to get one of your handmade cards I got one from Joyce and it is lovely .

We have nice sunshine to day ,however the forcast is for more rain.
I have lost a lot of plants as they have died from too much water
.
I do hope I have mentioned everyone !!!! The lights just went on ,
Dear Liz I hope you are well, and how is the baby I will send you my Xmas Letter later to-day , I would love to have a Photo of you Please.

I must close as I have much to do
((((((Hugs to you all))))))) ******* The Xmas Snow Fairy******* Marie

Hi Mo,

Alun had two parts of his layout on their end on the floor, because he was working on the wiring, but luckily they were far enough back from the burst pipe, so only the wood got a bit wet. the rest of the layout is up off the floor so that was okay.

Sorry to hear about your granddaughter, but as you say it sounds as though she will be better off without her boyfriend. Hope all will go well with the move to you.

Thanks for asking, my brother's feet are a lot better, he's back to working normal now, which he's pleased about. He has to go for a MRI scan on the 30th of December, and then depending on the result of that, he has to have an operation for his gall stones.

I'll speak to you tomorrow, so bye for now.

Love and best wishes. Sallie.xxx

Hello one and all.
Oh boy what a day. Our grandaughter is moving in with us tomorrow, till the middle of January.
She and her boyfriend have split up,and she has had to move out of his mums house.
This is the grandaughter who is pregnant.
She had seen him on face book, draped over other women,and was not very happy about it. This caused lots of arguments between them,and to be honest, I am pleased she has finished with him.
She does not need someone like him in her life, she needs to think of herself and the baby now.
Unfortunately she cannot move into her new house till the middle of January,and as his mum had thrown her out of the house,we could not see her pregnant and out on the street.
So watch this space girls, I will probably be pulling my hair out in a weeks time, but she's my grandaughter,and I love her.

Sallie, I can't believe your bad luck recently, lets hope the new year brings
good news for a change.
How is your brother's foot now. I am sorry I meant to ask you about him before now.
Was Aluns train layout ruined by the burst pipe, I do hope not.

Love to Jean, Joyce and Caz.(((((((((HUGS FOR YOU ALL ))))))))

Marie thank you for the Christmas letter. You must be really proud of your family, they sound a wonderful lot.

Sylvia, just in case I miss you, Have a lovely christmas. (((((HUGS FOR MJ)))))

Bye for now girls, love to you all Mo xxx