TheWitchofThornbury @ TheWitchofThornbury @aussie.zone

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Joined

12 mo. ago

As essential as a lemon tree imo

Legit. My granny would pin her smalls out on the lavender bushes to dry, not the line. And made lavender bags every year to deter moths.

Thank you very kindly chef. It's much appreciated.

Looks like a dry day today with brisk northerly wind. Time to tackle Mt Washmore.

Full english breakfast please. Gotta lotta work to do today and need the calories. Plus some of your inimitable coffee too please chef.

That's hard news. Take care of yourself. Hugs if needed/wanted.

I loved that series. That and Janet Sandison's series called Jean In The Morning, Jean Towards another Day, Jean at Noon and Jean In the Twilight. We don't remember the depression, but it marked our parents/grandparents with huge trauma.

Oh my! Pig out time. And freeze some for later ...

I was referring to the glue that holds the cardstock together to the picture - not the glue that people use to frame a jigsaw.

My sister's cat does this. And about half the pieces end up with little tooth mark deckles around the edges. Has been known to stash random pieces in his bed.

Agreed! I am almost tempted to microwave the bunch whole - like it was a cauliflower. And put a nice cheesy sauce on it.

Speaking of nice sauces, for dins tonight I did the water 'fried' chicken wings things again. Oh wow! Oh wow! This is definitely going on high rotation. Used 500g of wings, barely covered with water. Put a couple of generous teaspoons of crushed ginger/garlic paste in the water to start with. When half the water had evaporated put in a slug of soy sauce, some crushed chilli (from a jar) with some dijon mustard and some worcestershire sauce and a tablespoon of honey. When the rest of the water had evaporated put in the juice of half a lemon and turned it all out on a platter. Yummmmmmmm. Ate half the wings over rice but I reckon crusty bread would work too. The other half of the wings is for tomorrow reheated. The sauce was magically good. Worked out as richly flavoured, a bit sweet, a bit hot, a bit tangy and deliciously sticky. Finger licking obligatory. Took about an hour all up but def worth it. I wonder if adding tomato sauce would be interesting .... next time.

Just got home after leaving work at 5pm. Given that I live in the inner north ... The tram I was in was t-boned by a car on St Georges Road just shy of my stop. Stuck there for quite a while. Everyone is OK tg. Just some very spectacular scars on the tram's paintwork and the car's front end is pretty much cactus. I would like to know how someone could not notice a tram directly in front of them with all it's lights on and pinging its bell etc.

Yes. I'll be hard, specially after your last experience. But there is an end date. Get a cheap calendar and mark off the days. Even just a few weeks of salary will build up an emergency fund and give you some (financial) peace of mind. Something else that might be useful in your situation - short term/casual cleaning contracts. My sister did this for a bit to cover a financial gap. Basically picking up rubbish after events. She got lucky and got a contract to do Flemington after race days. Good money for very flexible work. And the head contractor provides all safety equipment etc. Given that you're close to public transport and venues this might be worth looking into.

Soup please chef. And some freshly baked crusty rolls.

I have just discovered Don McMillan's stand up. It is gold. Engineer jokes by the bucketful.

Example : ebay - the internet = garage sale.

Example : a physicist, a biologist and a chemist go to spend a day at the beach. The biologist goes out snorkelling, gets entranced by the underwater plant and animal biota, forgets to check his air flow and drowns. The physicist sees that the biologist has not returned and goes out to check his last known location. He gets entranced by the pressure gradients, wave effects etc., forgets to check his air flow and drowns. The chemist looks around, can't see either of them, gets out his notebook and writes "biologists and physicists are both soluble in water".

Creative use of venn diagrams is a bonus. Love the guy.

Thank you, I feel much warmer now.

Hot tea, hot toast and hot cross buns please chef.

They'll be fine there as long as they are dry and its not too drafty. Being able to cuddle up to each other for warmth and reassurance would be a good extra. You might like to give them each a litter pan with earth in it so they can start to housetrain themselves. Earth or potting mix might be easier for them to use rather than bought kitty litter - and the earth can go back into the garden once used. A cover/towel over part of each cage will help stop drafts.

Largish cage sanitised with dish soap to get rid of any possum/other cat smell lingering from the last use. Especially important that bit as fear/stress smell lingers and will warn them not to enter the cage. Bait the cage with tuna or sardines right at the back. Let them eat in there for a few nights without trapping them. Regular dry food outside for the nervous. Tuna etc. inside the cage is the reward for the bold. When they get confident going in for the delicious, and they're all in there together, gently close the trap. Also, draping a towel over the top of the cage will help you to close the trap without them getting alarmed by sudden arm movements. A bit depends on the type of trap, so practicing beforehand with the cage would be a good idea.

From the photos it seems they let you get pretty close, so sitting beside the trap might be a good way to be in position to close the door when a suitable opportunity arises. Unless the camera was zoomed I guess. The backpack so close to them is really good sign that they are not scared of your smell.

Then drape towel fully over the cage and transport them to the vet/refuge etc. Put thick towel over cardboard under the cage in the car in case they wee or stress poop through the base of the cage.

Be aware that you can catch almost any cat in almost any trap - ONCE. So you've got to get it right the first time as they won't let you trap them twice.

If you miss one or two, you might be able to set the cage with tuna out again the following day so see if they'll approach it. The smell of the rest of the family on the cage might actually help with this.

Item : They have fur coats on. Item : They will be fine if they can find a dry smallish space to curl up in especially if all together. Under a house or shed would probably be fine. It's very likely they have such a space available in order to survive yesterday without getting soaked. I'm still interested in the little dark tabby if you succeed in trapping them.