Free For All on Friday

Good morning everyone,

It's Friday again and although I am still on the outside looking in, let's have our usual Friday catch-up!

On behalf of the whole group, a warm welcome to any of you who have found us this week, and I hope you'll find what you need here. And if you don't see what you are looking for, please ask a question and we'll try to find you an answer.

On behalf of us all I'd just like to send a united 'get well soon' message to our lovely long time member Jennymary, who, as many of you will have read, has had a nasty accident, and at her time of writing was in hospital. Wishing you all the best Jennymary and our warmest best wishes for a speedy recovery!

I had a stressful day this week as it was time for Kasar the cat's annual health check and vaccination. There are still restrictions in place at our vet surgery so only one of us could accompany him inside. My husband was the chosen one as there are issues for me with possible bleeding if he scratches or bites me, as I take a blood thinner.

All looked hopeful as they vanished into the building, and I entertained myself with a round of 'Candy Crush' on my phone.

The vet came out to the car once to ask me a question (I'm not sure why she didn't just call me), and eventually my husband emerged with a quiet cat but grumbling about the cost of some eye drops that were recommended for Kasar.

However, apparently the health check never was! Kasar had elected to growl and hiss for the whole consultation and apart from giving him a quick jab in the derriere the vet had retreated.

That's only half the story of course. We still had to administer the eye drops at home. Let's just say we did narrowly manage to avoid a visit to A&E by giving up before too much damage was done. Thank goodness we only have to go through these ordeals once a year!

I hope you all had a much pleasanter week, and wishing you all a good weekend.

[Hidden]

The responsibility of pet ownership can never be underestimated. We have a lovely rescue dog, Jack Russell terrier cross called Betsy. The owners just abandoned her when they moved house and the RSPCA was called in. She is such a blessing to us. She is like an additional child (we have 5 grown up children and 3 beautiful granddaughters). We also have a bearded dragon called Woody by our youngest who was a big Toy Story fan at the time.

Very sad to hear about JennyMary. Praying for healing in Jesus name 🛐✝️🕊️🙏🙌

Have a blessed weekend everyone. Martin.

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Betsy sounds delightful Martin. Pets can be such a consolation to us all and usually are really loving companions. Is it challenging to look after a Bearded Dragon? I don't know much about them but they do look like fascinating pets!

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He is surprisingly easy to look after. He has gotten lazy and likes being fed his bugs so he doesn't have to hunt for them. In a funny sort of way, Woody is quite loving as well. My wife and I sort of adopted him when our son lost interest. I wonder how many parents on here have had the same experience?

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Probably just about all of us!

[sassy59 in reply to Hidden]

Betsy sounds like a lovely dog Martin and my grandsons would love Woody. They have a beautiful cat called Sybil but it’s mum who really looks after her. We miss our old cat (19) Tessa but won’t have another pet now. We have enough going on. Xx

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

At a previous job a colleague there had a ginger tabby called Woody after the one from Toy Story!

[sassy59]

Good morning Callendersgal, Not much has happened this week apart from Pete’s back being very bad. We’ve not really gone out anywhere as it’s easier to stay home.

We did manage to go out for dinner last Friday but I won’t be doing that again in a hurry. Not enough people wearing masks and started to get busy. I felt uncomfortable. A bridge too far I feel but maybe on a much quieter evening things would be ok.

Kazar is a terror isn’t he. Such a beautiful cat but not too happy at the Vets it seems. As you say, thank goodness it’s just once a year.

Wishing dear Jennymary all the best for a speedy recovery.

Have a great weekend all. Xxx❤️😘🤗🌻🌹🌞

[Hidden in reply to sassy59]

Pedigree cats generally are bossy and kasar makes Baby look well behaved!

Baby is fine and had her check up at the vets back in May and you had to wait outside the vets and hand your pets over to them there and when they had finished they would return them to you outside.

[Hidden in reply to sassy59]

Hi sassy59, Oh I know what you mean about the mask situation when dining out and in fact the whole thing feels more like an ordeal than pleasure to me at the moment. I hope there'll be some improvement for Pete's back in the coming week. It's so debilitating when your back hurts.

Oh don't even mention Kasar. I don't know what to say about his rude bad manners! 😳. The funny thing is though, that when he goes through something he finds really unpleasant it calms him right down for a week or two. He's always the same when he comes home from the cattery, once he stops yowling (a long process). I think it just reminds him that actually it's the humans who are in charge!

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Last year some of my friends decided on a visit to their local pub for dinner out and they said it felt more like eating in an operating theatre than eating at the pub and hadn't enjoyed it there.

If you don't enjoy it there's no point going!

[sassy59 in reply to Hidden]

Kasar is such a lovely cat but very different to any I’ve ever had😱

Have a good weekend. Xxx💕

[Hidden]

Busy week here making up ready meals and doing lots of cooking and a trip to Newport on Wednesday for a 9.40 interview and a nice workout in the park there before my interview as I got there early.

Today I had an early walk to the shop to get some bread and had an early breakfast.

Tomorrow it's a trip out to the lido for their 3pm swimming session and Sunday we are going out for brunch in town to a place where we had booked for back in March 2020 but decided to shelve it as it was when everything shut down and myself and my sister in law had decided before we were told officially we would cancel it as the way things had been going we had felt cancelling was the best thing to do as we felt it was best to save ourselves the disappointment and heartbreak and not bother and it was the right decision.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

How did the interview go?

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Didn't get the job but I wasn't heartbroken over it as I wouldn't have liked it there but I tried my best which is all that matters.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

They clearly aren't good enough for you - there is an employer out there that would appreciate your talents. Keep going, don't give up.

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It was at the St woolos hospital in Newport was that interview which used to be an old workhouse years ago before it became a hospital.

A few weeks back myself and my friends were arranging to go out and I had suggested meeting up in Newport and one of them had said how you have to be sick in the head to want to meet up there as he thinks the town is a dump!

Newport reminds me of Scunthorpe in how its laid out and also Widnes as well.

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In Bristol, we had Manor Park Hospital that, in it's history, was a workhouse. I remember my Nan refusing to be admitted because she thought it still was a workhouse. I was working as a nurse on a stroke ward (Churchill South Ward) and visited her on my break with my white coat on - she thought I was a doctor. She passed away in 1988, I still miss her. It's all been knocked down now and a housing estate has been build on there, the same as 2 other hospitals I have worked at (Purdown Hospital and Hanham Hall Hospital).

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Sounds like a nice upcoming weekend Catgirl1976. I hope you enjoy your swim and your Sunday brunch. It will be all the nicer for having waited so long for it! Enjoy!

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It's nice at present to have things in the diary like the lido and trips out to Barry Island in the diary that were snatched away back in March 2020 when the virus swept in and ruined everything in its path!

Saturday 14 March 2020 I had been due to have gone to the Saatchi gallery to see the tutkanhamun exhibition which sadly was cancelled and I did ring up to see if they were going to rearrange but sadly they weren't so I had ended up watching it on video instead to take the sting out of the disappointment.

The lesson in how everything was taken away is about how nothing is guaranteed to anyone in life and how life can change at the drop of a hat at any time like it did when the virus swept in and destroyed everything in its path when exams got cancelled overnight and the schools shut down as well and the usual activities stopped which was a right blow.

[Hidden]

Hi Sue sorry about the vet ordeal well as you know I took pixie last week to avoid another car ordeal in the shopping trolly and you won't believe a lady few doors down thank goodness she's moving gave me her vets bill accusing pixie of attacking her cat well say no more I did shut door in her face 4oo pound I never gave her my bill 73 pound Bengal types never loose a fight well no proof anyway there's anothee one down here now she said she's reported him to RSPCA and said not been neutered he has she said he's very agressive, well pixies still very tired with his low heart rate so I don't think he was looking for trouble here the photo incase you never saw it, my mam's on blood thinners so you can imagine how hard it was for her when we lived there as he kept grabbing her when she came up stairs through the bars to get his own back when she chastised him 😺cats will be cats hope you have good weekend and kesers ok I did the eye drops thing with pixie when he a baby for about 3 month's on off, a piece of salmon treat waiting helped him get used to it bless them it's not there fault it's there nature wild briugh domesticated 🤗😺💐

😺

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi Mandy, I can't say we aren't used to Kasar's shenanigans but I do feel sorry for the trail of vets who are terrified of him! You're absolutely right that we shouldn't expect Bengals to be anything other than what they are. They are very recently related to the wild and we can't expect them to be too domesticated. Glad that Pixie is OK, and of course you aren't liable for damage caused by any cat fights as cats are still, legally speaking, considered as feral animals in the UK.

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Hi Sue yes pixie Bob is named after his recent ancestor the pixiebob cat the breeder said a small but large wild cat pixie still instinctively Nipa but licks me if I annoy him or in kitchen ankles lol he does go mad on the licks now more than nips he's more laid back now been so tired and doesn't get up and trip me up everytime I go in kitchen, good news I have been asked to attend a interview at my old job I never said is worked there before like did couple months ago when I applied as I got turned down never got interview I'd explained why I walked out on the job as caring for mam and couldn't risk it when found out the child couldn't wear mask on long journey and had row with driver who pretended he couldn't if you remember the manager did tell him to tho and he said he would but I was in melt down flight or fight mode and I jumped out the car lol, the ones that interviewed me before are on sick let's hope there not back at interview 🙄have good weekend my builders knocking wall down I feel better about the downstairs lately as love my garden and got sofa and old carpet up was looking forward to changes needed but in dilemma how to arrange kitchen long story I never thought I'd want open plan but as decided to leave my lounge big when put sofa in middle bla bla and today was speaking to elderly gent few doors down more away from road said he's been looking for a bungalow for a while ,oh well fate is fate I just wish could had the new house start I needed I still have issues here, maby I'm paying Khama back

Cosy

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thats great news getting invited to interview for your old job!

Best of luck with it!

Make sure you have some questions to ask them as well as they always ask at the end any questions for us?

I have got some interviews next week nice and early which is nice as once they are done the rest of the day is mine!

Baby is well and sends her best to Pixie and is still getting spoilt!

Have you been swimming this week as we are going to the lido tomorrow for their 3pm session and also the 3pm session for next Friday as well.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi thanks cat no swimming this week good luck with your interviews and pixie sends his love to baby I nearly didn't apply for job as couldn't stand thought of rejection but with a different manager on there's hope pixies asleep in the settee even tho got covers on for builder no coushions bless 😺

😁

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thing is there's nothing to lose by trying.

That happened to one of my friends first time she went for a job she didn't get it because the manager didn't like her and then second time she tried she got the job as there was a different manager on the panel instead of the one that didn't like her.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

It’ll all work out for you one day Mandy. Keep the faith!

[Jennymary]

Hi Hidden thank you for the get well messages, bruising is now coming out in my arm, knee slightly easier but still haven't stood up unaided, have managed a trip to the toilet instead of using a, bed pan. I'm now at the point the hospital can't really do much more for me, so they're looking for a rehab unit for me, but I've been told that some units need patients to have a 14 day isolation period, so I'm OK with that, I'm in a room on my own anyway, hope everyone has a good weekend 😊❤️

[Hidden in reply to Jennymary]

Thanks so much for the update Jennymary and I'm glad to hear that you've made a little progress. I'm sure it's best to sit back and just let it all unfold at this stage. As you say, it will make little difference if you have to isolate for 14 days to be in the rehab unit. Take it easy and please do let us know how you are progressing! x

[thara9643]

hello

[Hidden in reply to thara9643]

Hello thara9643, I hope you are doing OK!

[thara9643 in reply to Hidden]

yh