Not going to Plan - again.

I have just received my annual private pension statement and it does not make for joyful reading. Although I have had the pension for over 20 years, based on current figures, I may get a pension of £600 a year. Anyone get the feeling that I won't be retiring any time this side of the new millennium?

So, short of winning the lottery, what to do? I need to make my businesses start to work for me. Easier said than done in this economic climate, although oddly last year, in the middle of what we were told was a recession, the pet sitting business did well. This year, despite new clients, it is slow going. I wonder if people are not going away because of all the summer events in the UK in 2012. The Queen's Jubilee, The Olympics preceded by all the television adverts suggesting stay-cations (where on earth has that hideous word come from?) have perhaps persuaded people to stay at home. This may be fine for the overall British economy, but not for those of us with businesses which rely on people going away.

My other business needs a kick-start, and hopefully the event I am attending next weekend will be a good beginning to that. It promises to be busy, so I will have to see how it pans out.

Operation Repel Flea

Operation Repel Flea is currently underway in my house. I hate the little buggers, especially when they are chomping on my feet, and despite what it does to my karma I will get rid of them. I will.

I wondered how, for the first time in 14 years of having cats, we had suddenly got a house full of nasty biting insects. Then, last night, I went into the garden to wrangle the cats and came back in with four or five fleas on my feet. They would appear to have taken up residence in the garden.

Because this is a multi-cat household, traditional topical flea treatments are not an option so I opted for a spray which is suitable for cats and for soft furnishings.

Yesterday, was spent spraying and hoovering (the hoover has not seen this much action in a long time) changing bedding; washing bedding, cushion covers and throws; then spraying and hoovering again. Towels and bath mats have gone in this morning and the washing machine does not know what has hit it.

The trouble is that the fleas are in the garden and so are the cats, and as I said earlier when I go out, I bring then in with me. So a plan of action is required.

Step 1.
Research. I hit the internet to see what natural flea repellents are available and what plants might help. I went out and bought a couple of lavender plants to stand by the back door. I also could do with marigold and chrysanthemum plants as they are said to kill fleas.

Step 2.
Make a room spray. I have a house full of essential oils and cedar, lemongrass and lavender are natural flea repellents. I wanted to play with room sprays anyway, so this is a good excuse to do that.

Step 3.
See if any of the above works, and if not, have a rethink.

Step 4.
Once the house is flea free work out how to keep it like that.

It probably goes without saying that I could do without all this. I have better things to do with my time. Good job I like a challenge!

Finally......

I hope you are sitting down for this, but we have sunshine. Yes, real honest to goodness sunshine. The skies are blue, with fluffy white clouds being chased by a light breeze, a breeze which is also making the branches of the trees dance. The cats are outside asleep on various chairs, shelves (long story, don't ask) and in plant pots, Harry Belafonte is on the CD player, and I have a steaming mug of stong coffee beside me on the table. The day could not be more perfect. Unless I win the lottery of course.

I need to get some work done on the car, although an awfully nice man from the AA effected a temporary fix for me during the week. Then there is the work that needs doing on the house - I won't list it it would take too long. I have been in this house for about 16 years and I don't think that it has ever been finished. There has always been at least one room which has needed something doing to it, be it tiling in the bathroom or kitchen, bare plaster walls in the hall or something else which I either can't do or don't have the money for. Add to that that the fact that the whole of the outside needs to be re-rendered, the windows and doors painted and you get the picture. Not pretty is it?

So if the lottery gods are watching would you mind very much picking my numbers tonight?

A summer of sport

I have, so far, managed to studiously avoid all sport related televison over the last few weeks. Currently it is football, shortly Wimbledon starts and then the Olympics. Now, I am not adverse to watching sport, but the relentlessness of what is to come is enough to drive me to distraction. Television companies are labouring under the assumption that we all want to watch various sporting events ad nauseum, and are shuffling the schedules so that we will have no idea where our favourites tv shows will be. As a license payer, it would be nice to be consulted, but large corporations never consult their customers.

I blame all this sporting activity for the wonderful weather we are experiencing at the moment. I know that the British have a weather obsession (or perhaps it is a fetish), but really this year the summer, so far, has been a complete wash out. By that I mean wet, windy, cool and did I mention wet? There have been floods in parts of the country with more on the way, which have followed hard on the heels of hosepipe bans. Definately crazy!

Summer or not

It has been a nice, mainly, sunny day today and the cats have loved it. They have been in the garden since early morning, and I just know I am going to have fun trying to get them in this evening. It is worth the hassle though to know they have enjoyed themselves.
They spend all day lolling in plantpots or chattering at the birds in the trees. From time to time they come in to make sure I am behaving myself, and then potter out again, content that all is as it should be.
The laburnum trees in the garden bordering the alley at the back of the house are shedding their petals, and they all end up in my yard. With the recent rain, they have firmly fixed themselves to the floor and are refusing to give way. It is a problem I have every year, and every year I have my work cut out trying to rid myself of them. They stick to the souls of my shoes, the cats are decorated with them and I find them trampled throughout the house. On the trees, they are cheerful and lovely to look at but once they fall they are a complete nuisance.

It is June and technically summer, although I think someone needs to tell the weather gods. A week or so ago, we had lovely hot weather, although it was a little humid, but now it has cooled considerably and yesterday we had heavy rain.

When the days are longer, and I am not muffled against the cold, everything seems easier and less stressful; food tastes better and I don't get the munchies quite so often; energy levels rise and my get up and go has not got up and gone. I can think straight, my head is clear and I feel like I am able to function.

Summer?

Today, has been glorious with beautiful, clear blue skies, hot sunshine and a cooling breeze. Summer seems to have been a long time coming, and now it is here, I hope it lasts.

I have not been in the best of moods this week. Various things have served to annoy the living daylights out of me. Top of the list, was discovering the full cost of the minor prang I had last year. The cost of repairs to the other parties car was under £1000, which I understand and can rationalise, but the total cost of the claim including personal injury and solicitors fees was the best part of £10,000. This is something which I find completely unacceptable. In almost 30 years of driving (and I am now showing my age) this is the only accident I have had which I have been held responsible for. This week, I received my insurance renewal and it has risen by 200% which would mean that the insurance is more than the value of the car.

This cannot possibly be right. There are two points here I find disturbing. The first is that as there is no way of proving whiplash injuries, and therefore no way of disproving them, insurance companies have their hands tied and pay out on claims whether they are spurious or real, then they pass on the costs to drivers like me. Which brings me to point two. How on earth can my insurance go up so high when I am not a careless driver and have had only one accident, and I have a protected no claims discount? I can understand that it might rise a little, but this is ridiculous.

The Government has talked about cracking down on sharp practices like this, and it won't come soon enough.

Lengthening Days

The days are getting longer, and today has been bright and sunny. Sitting here, and looking out of the window, it looks warmer than it is, and I would be happier if the temperature picked up a bit.

With sunny evenings, I get chance to let the cats into the garden for a while, which makes them happy. They do enjoy sitting on the shed and chattering at the birds taunting them from the trees. What they would do if they were able to get their paws on them is anyone's guess.

The weekend is here and although it was a four day week, it dragged. Of course, these two days will fly by and I won't know where the time has gone. I should be busy with the housework, but I have decided that today will be a day for relaxing and recharging batteries.

It is the Aintree Grand National today, but I can never bring myself to watch the race. I really do find it a horrible spectacle and I hope that there are no casualties this year. Ladies Day brings out some sights. Young women put on their glad rags, but usually look as though they dressed in the dark. Clones of each other, big hair, heavy make-up, tottering on heels on which no woman should walk, not an ounce of individuality among them. It will be the same next year!

Footnote: Sadly, like last year, two horses died today at Aintree.  Should time now be called on this race which costs the lives of so many horses? If it continues, then there needs to be some serious thought given to making it safer.