Thatsit in today's weekend Herald

    

Pete Wedderburn (Pete the Vet / Brayvet) wrote about Thatsit, in today's "Pete's Pets" column. Of course, I just had to buy a few copies (one for me, one for Thatsit's Finnish grandparents - LOL - and maybe one for scrapbooking or something..) =D



Thatsit didn't love the photo session, the other day - above, what she did to my wrist and arm.. But it's understandable as she's always hated being picked up in general, hates posing, and isn't overly fond of veterinarians, either.. So, to combine all those in one moment, who wouldn't get all stressed out?! (Also, she'd been to the vets, the day and night before, so she was probably afraid of having to go there again..)

Below, some pictures by Pete - used with permission;



The article explains the sores =/ My weekend craft plan will be to experiment with padding.. I'll try and make some more protective socks for Thatsit, with added padding under the sore parts. The problem is trying to put them on her, though.. She can be fierce! But hopefully she'll understand the protection idea, when she walks and feels a bit more comfortable.

Another issue is that those socks get wet and dirty, when she goes out or uses the litter tray.. I've only brought the litter tray back after her injury. Thatsit and (late) Oimo were using litter trays when they were kittens, but never since, and instead of cat litter, I've used ripped newspaper, which is cheap and easy, and doesn't smell, either. But now I've started using cat litter on the tray as it soaks the moisture sooner than the newspaper, and hopefully less will end up wetting the socks.. (Thatsit didn't understand the cat litter at first, so I put some newspaper bits on top, and THEN she got it.. Now there's no need to add newspaper anymore.)

    



I'm so surprised that she looks so "calm" in these pictures! It was like trying to hold a tropical storm.. LOL

Google AdSense ads finally working..

I mentioned in October, that my Google ads weren't working, but as I verified my address and all, earlier on today, I thought I'd tinker with them again, and now they're like I want them to be - at least for me.

Above and below, the big red arrow is pointing at where my ads should be, and what size they should be. (If anyone sees something different, please let me know! You can either leave a comment to this entry, or email me - my email address is on the contact info page.)

So, there should be a small horizontal banner after the top 1-2 entries, and a vertical banner on the right side bar, below other links and widgets..

I think I've blocked certain types of ads (like adult stuff, dating, and whatever I find über-annoying or offensive in general), so I'd also like to hear about it, if such ads somehow end up being displayed here - I really don't want them on my sites.

"There's something in my eye.."

Google Search: Reunion

So, SO beautiful..

Killing time, yesterday

I had an extra day with not much to do.. =)

    

The best €20 ever spent..

LIDL (SilverCrest) ceramic fan heater, €20 (which I mentioned here already).

I am in love with my HotBot! =)

This is just.. epic.. =D

IRELAND The Musical | Republic of Telly

Christmas shopping (OMG - in November!)

I'm not a Christmas person, really.. I hate how they seem to start with the Christmas adverts and decorations earlier and earlier, year after year.. I think there should be a law against Christmas marketing before December (or the First Advent, which may be in the end of November, at times).

However.. I was doing my weekly shopping at LIDL, yesterday, and just happened to see these wooden Christmas trees (above), which looked like something I could use for decorating presents.. (Oh dear..)

I ended up buying all kinds of Christmas wrapping materials.. :o

Well, at least it's all stuff that I'd have to buy, anyway, so now I'll have spread the cost a little bit.. (And I already bought the Christmas cards, before..)

    

    

I can blog the pics already as these are just wrapping materials - no actual pressies.

They also had lots of other stuff I'd had on my shopping list for months/years - like a €20 ceramic fan heater for the attic (enjoying the warm air right now, mmmm..) I've been freezing in the unheated & half-insulated attic for over six years, so it's about time I got some heating! Also, I got some useful car stuff, etc. So, I spent a week and a half's budget in one go, but it was all necessary stuff.

Eyesores mail =D

My Eyesores arrived, yesterday! =D

I actually got the post in the morning, but as I was on my way to LIDL, I decided to open it later - I wanted to really enjoy it.. =)

There was a lovely message as well, from the artist!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Psst, if you are not familiar with Eyesores, check them out!

Roasted noms

Not sure if it's possible to embed more than one pins from Pinterest, these days.. (I've always hated the "new", widget-like tags they give - I much preferred the old tags where you could choose the picture size, and it would appear as a normal photo, with the Pinterest links below it.)



Anyway, the other day, I was looking for the simplest recipe for roasting broccoli and cauliflower. Well, not that there's much to it, but I wasn't sure of the oven temperatures and roasting times. Also, eventually, I didn't even have any broccoli left (forgot I'd already used it..), so I ended up roasting cauliflower and potato wedges - separately.



Below, my versions - not that pretty, but totally gorgeous =)

Cauliflower..

Potato wedges

I cut my hair and got married..

Hehehe.. No, I didn't really..



At work, earlier on today.. And that's all I'll say about that!

Royal Orchard blackcurrant high juice - glögg plans..

Above, a screenshot of my public post on Facebook.

So, get your Royal Orchard blackcurrant high juice (€1.45 @ LIDL), and enjoy a quick and easy winter drink, mmmmm..

I won't be trying the glögg version just yet as it's a Christmassy drink for me, but I'll be blogging about it in December - I just hope that LIDL Ireland will keep this stuff in their selection! =)

(PS, this is NOT a sponsored entry or anything like that! LOL ... I just really like the stuff!)

Ringo bit me

    

Thatsit was in the garden, yesterday, wanting to come in, but Ringo was at the kitchen door, between Thatsit and the house. Ringo is a lovely cat, but he fights with the other cats (as does Oscar), so Thatsit was afraid of him - especially now that she can't walk properly or defend herself.

I was shooing Ringo away, and he bit me on the foot! (Not the first time he's done that - once, I was petting him and he was loving it, but then he got a fright and bit me on my finger.)

Just a tiny hole on the skin, but I got a little bruise from the bite. As he's an outdoor cat (like all/most cats in the area), I cleaned the bite and put a plaster on it, just in case.

Noms

I had an early morning cooking session, to make yet another version of the spaghetti dish (a.k.a. penne dish, just replacing the penne with spaghetti, lol).. Meant to take more pictures, but D needed to make some toast while I was cooking, so I had no room to take pictures of it all;



More or less the same as usual - beef mince, onions, broccoli, vine tomatoes, flat mushrooms.. Really, really nice.



On Thursday (I think..), I made cured salmon again. I made some gourmet sambos (lol..) with Finnish rye bread and mixed lettuce (just enough for decoration, haha..) =D



This doesn't really look very pleasing, but it was a nice quick meal.. LIDL "seafood mix" (which kind of promised more than it was - "fish mix" would have desribed it better.. OK, fish is seafood, but when it says seafood, you kind of expect there to be something else as well..), mixed lettuce, white bread, and wholegrain mustard. I just nuked the fish bits for about 90 seconds, and that was it. Thatsit had several pieces of salmon =)

Another apple tRat

I made another "apple tRat", the other day.. (Recipe here)

As it's so very sweet, I had it with Greek yogurt. Oh, and cinnamon coffee..

Winter is coming..

My hedgehog friend, fattening up for the winter hibernation..

This is (at least) a second generation hedgehog, in the back garden, being clearly smaller than the previous one/s, yet this one knows the commands as well! If there's no food in the outdoor cat bowls, hedgie will clonk the empties against the cement; "Bring food, bitch!" =D And then s/he'll wait for me to bring food =)

Gorgeous cat's eye by Jean

My Facebook friend, Jean Wilcox (who made the lovely surprise sketch of me) gave me permission to share more of her work - admire the cat's eye! =D

She also shared a making-of picture, below;



I've linked her name to her personal profile, but you can also find her art on her Facebook page; Jeans Pencil Art.

If you're looking for Christmas present ideas, how about some pencil art of your family? Pet? Car? Garden? She's good, and her pricing is affordable! (It would be a good idea to contact her soonish, to make sure that she'll have the time to get your stuff ready for Christmas - also, she lives in the USA, so allow enough time for shipping as well, and if you want to get the piece framed, you'll have to get that done separately.)

My GoClever TAB R70 tablet froze again..

GoClever TAB R70 tablet occasionally freezing

03112013 ... My cheapo tablet occasionally freezes, and won't reset / shut off, until the battery dies. The right side of it (as in, the side with the buttons and all) also gets very warm (but not hot) when it happens. Just thought I'd show it on video - I wonder if it's happening to others who have this same tablet? Other than this, it's been very good for that price - better than I expected.

See my original post about this tablet;
I bought a LIDL tablet - GoClever TAB R70

Video blogging in the attic

Video blogging (just yapping, blah blah..)

I'd get much better quality with my camera, but I wanted to try the laptop webcam, and I'd be too lazy to set up the tripod and all for the camera, anyway..

Still IMPOSSIBLE to set up a seller account on eBay.ie

I ranted about this same issue, over two years ago;

eBay.ie / eBay Ireland - does it even exist, really?

Please, read that old entry first, because I will not describe it with as many details now - nothing has changed.

I logged in to eBay.ie - no problem with that.

Seller tools were not available for me, until I'd set up a seller account.

Whenever I followed the link to set up a seller account, eBay.ie threw me to the login screen of eBay.com

I logged in with the same account info - no problem with that.

I continued with the set up process, during which I was asked to enter my phone number.

I entered my phone number;

My phone number with the country code, was not accepted.

My phone number without the country code, was not accepted.

If you can't enter a valid American phone number here, you can't continue with the set up process.

I am not American, I do not live in the USA, I have never visited the USA, and I never will visit the USA. Why would I have an American phone number?

I never wanted anything to do with the American eBay (as in, eBay.com) - I started my set up process from the Irish eBay (eBay.ie). Why does their seller account set up link always throw me to the American login screen?!? (I am in Ireland, connected with an Irish IP address, all my regional settings on the laptop are for Ireland.)

As I know for a fact, that several Irish people are selling stuff on eBay.ie, I would REALLY like to know how they managed to set up a seller account!

eBay.ie - I'm expecting you to sort this. I want to sell something on your site.

(My eBay.ie handle is stello71 - I don't want to open another account as I have this one with my main email address, and I've linked my PayPal account to it. Besides, if I opened a new account, eBay.ie could give me the same shyte with that.)

Little monsters..

I had to borrow some nicer backgrounds as R & H's costumes deserved better than the horrible kitchen.. My friend R made that witch costume for her daughter (also R), and I really think that she should start selling the stuff she makes.. Beautiful! Little H (the skeleton) is my godson =)

Done with October

October, in my ShutterCal.

October briefly;
I got used to Windows 8 (and later, 8.1).. I transferred my files from the old laptop hard drive to the new laptop & external hard drive.. I cooked spaghetti dish (being out of penne).. I cleaned and organised my handbag.. I got a postcard from North Korea.. I made cured salmon, mmm.. There's a new washing machine in the house.. I took some beard snaps.. I survived colonoscopy, lol.. I took more beard snaps.. I got older.. I made apple jam-like stuff, and an apple tRat.. I trimmed my nails.. I bought a ukulele.. I had scary little visitors (a witch and a skeleton)..