A Good Weekend
It's been a bit wet. 108mm at our nearest station in Mitcham, most of that over Friday night. Naturally the workshop is flooded again, so we'll have to try and find some pro advice. Otherwise we have survived unscathed. The backyard looks... washed. With tide marks. So I guess we had a lot of surface water running by to the creek.
Saturday at fencing was fairly dead, only one of my students made it. I know one person was having fun with flooding so hopefully we'll be back to normal next week. On the upside, the one who arrived was the new person who needed some extra attention in order to catch up, so she got it.
Got the shopping done in the afternoon, then made a lemon sorbet for David. Apparently it meets with his approval. We stayed up late playing three games of Carcassonne.
Today we got a bit of a sleep-in before the combination of kittens and chainsawing somewhere in the street convinced me it was time to move. Emerged to find sunshine... although it was also raining fairly steadily at the same time.
Got the kitchen cleaned up. Weather was mostly grey, damp and cool, which had me thinking about similar weather in various picturesque spots in the UK, and hiding out in B&Bs from it. Which is probably why I decided I wanted to light the fire.
Inspection showed I had left it half-laid, but required some more larger sticks before it would be ready for lighting. No problem, we have plenty put aside for just that purpose. Problem, they're in the workshop, which was flooded. Some bailing followed, until I had visible stepping stones to get across to the wood. Triumphant, fire was lit, and kittens introduced. Completed the theme with salmon and cream cheese on oatcakes for lunch.
In the afternoon the sun stayed out and conditions outside were actually pleasant. Even got some washing dry. So we pottered in the garden, put out the hard rubbish, and generally cleaned up around the outside of the house as the first phase in preparing for render. Place now looks tidier than it has in a long time.
Let the cats out for a bit, they ended up next door saying hello to the neighbours elderly cat. We said hello to the human neighbours, and then also met the next neighbour along whose daughter is apparently very allergic to cats.
Collected the kittens and decided it was time for them to return indoors. They disagreed, but were out-voted.
The evening has been spent enjoying the fire and company of the cats, and watching Castle with a mug of hot chocolate. Not sure it gets much better.
Less pleasant, we noticed a bad smell developing in the general store room. Initially thought it was a combination of the previous damp damage and recent warm weather, possibly sweaty old fencing kit. But by the end of the week it was getting stronger and distinctly catty. So Friday night I cleared stuff out of the room, sniffing as I went to try and locate the source. Thought I found it in the plastic bag of plastic bags, which had been moved in there precisely to keep it away from them.
In theory that room is banned to cats, but in practice it is a dream kitty playground and they're always trying to get in there. They are now big enough to push doors open if they're not closed properly, and like most of our doors it doesn't reliably close properly.
Saturday conditions were still smelly, further investigation revealed that the corner behind the shelves had become their secret litter tray.
I'm not sure why, I've seen both of them using their real litter tray and there have been no complaints since I got them the new bigger one.
Anyway, today David cleaned up the debris, and we have some cleaning/deodorising stuff to use on it. Meanwhile I've ensured everything should be in order with their proper facilities. We shall be careful with keeping that door closed for a while, hopefully there will be no further incidents. Also considering shutting them into the laundry/kitchen area during nights again, but I'll feel mean doing that.
Saturday at fencing was fairly dead, only one of my students made it. I know one person was having fun with flooding so hopefully we'll be back to normal next week. On the upside, the one who arrived was the new person who needed some extra attention in order to catch up, so she got it.
Got the shopping done in the afternoon, then made a lemon sorbet for David. Apparently it meets with his approval. We stayed up late playing three games of Carcassonne.
Today we got a bit of a sleep-in before the combination of kittens and chainsawing somewhere in the street convinced me it was time to move. Emerged to find sunshine... although it was also raining fairly steadily at the same time.
Got the kitchen cleaned up. Weather was mostly grey, damp and cool, which had me thinking about similar weather in various picturesque spots in the UK, and hiding out in B&Bs from it. Which is probably why I decided I wanted to light the fire.
Inspection showed I had left it half-laid, but required some more larger sticks before it would be ready for lighting. No problem, we have plenty put aside for just that purpose. Problem, they're in the workshop, which was flooded. Some bailing followed, until I had visible stepping stones to get across to the wood. Triumphant, fire was lit, and kittens introduced. Completed the theme with salmon and cream cheese on oatcakes for lunch.
In the afternoon the sun stayed out and conditions outside were actually pleasant. Even got some washing dry. So we pottered in the garden, put out the hard rubbish, and generally cleaned up around the outside of the house as the first phase in preparing for render. Place now looks tidier than it has in a long time.
Let the cats out for a bit, they ended up next door saying hello to the neighbours elderly cat. We said hello to the human neighbours, and then also met the next neighbour along whose daughter is apparently very allergic to cats.
Collected the kittens and decided it was time for them to return indoors. They disagreed, but were out-voted.
The evening has been spent enjoying the fire and company of the cats, and watching Castle with a mug of hot chocolate. Not sure it gets much better.
Less pleasant, we noticed a bad smell developing in the general store room. Initially thought it was a combination of the previous damp damage and recent warm weather, possibly sweaty old fencing kit. But by the end of the week it was getting stronger and distinctly catty. So Friday night I cleared stuff out of the room, sniffing as I went to try and locate the source. Thought I found it in the plastic bag of plastic bags, which had been moved in there precisely to keep it away from them.
In theory that room is banned to cats, but in practice it is a dream kitty playground and they're always trying to get in there. They are now big enough to push doors open if they're not closed properly, and like most of our doors it doesn't reliably close properly.
Saturday conditions were still smelly, further investigation revealed that the corner behind the shelves had become their secret litter tray.
I'm not sure why, I've seen both of them using their real litter tray and there have been no complaints since I got them the new bigger one.
Anyway, today David cleaned up the debris, and we have some cleaning/deodorising stuff to use on it. Meanwhile I've ensured everything should be in order with their proper facilities. We shall be careful with keeping that door closed for a while, hopefully there will be no further incidents. Also considering shutting them into the laundry/kitchen area during nights again, but I'll feel mean doing that.