Thursday 19 May 2011

Domestic Dramas at the Double

As I have mentioned before my next door neighbours moved out but could not find the cat. I had text messages from them yesterday asking me had I seen him. I shouted him all of yesterday but didn't see any sign of him. I don't know what prompted me to go around the back of the empty house and tap on the window but I did. To my intense surprise Oscar jumped up on the window sill. He was trapped inside the house. He must have sneaked in as they were moving out. I rang my neighbours and they said that they had posted their keys back through the letterbox but offered me the landlord's phone number.

Eventually he came and was surprised to find that they had moved. Apparently they didn't tell him. I don't blame them though as he hasn't been the best of landlords.

Oscar was so overjoyed to see me that he gouged pieces out of my hands and arms and bit me! I took him into my house to feed and give him a drink and he proceeded to spray all over the house. Talk about ungrateful! Anyway after much chasing around the house and another set of bites I managed to get him into a cat box and my neighbour came and picked him up. Poor little mite. He was distressed and probably thought that they had left him behind. Today I have all the doors and windows open to blow away his presence. Nest door's house absolutely stank but that is not my problem. It is up to the landlord now to clean up the house before he rents it out again. I do hope that I get nice meighbours again.

Drama number two was this morning when I put the washer on. Luckily I was in the kitchen doing some chores as the machine decided to spin the water contents all over my kitchen floor. I am on standby now with the mop and bucket until the cycle finished. Something else that requires my attention (and money)


The postman has just brought me another of my second hand bargains via Amazon. I haven't looked inside it yet but there seems to be plenty patterns in it as it is a very thick book. This was a gamble as it was advertised without any photos of the front cover but at £2.81 including postage I thought that it was worth taking a chance. I won't mind if there are only a couple of patterns that I like at that price.


I have finished off my niece's September Morn by Doris Chan. I haven't blocked as you can see as I don't want to make it any larger than it is. It has taken almost 7 x 50 gram balls of Sirdar Silky Look Double knit that I bought from Kemps in the sale.


This photo  is actually nearer to the colour in real life. It is called Chalky Pink. This is the back view as I am trying to show off the yoke pattern.


The jacket is worked from the top down and the yoke is very pretty. I think that it will look even prettier once the yoke pattern has opened up a bit. I found it to be quite an easy pattern to follow.


I have laid it over a blue bag so that the yoke pattern shows up better. My niece is calling to collect it on Saturday so I hope that I can get a photo of it in wear. I can't try it on as she is several sizes smaller than I am.  I will definitely make this pattern again as it has turned out so well.

I have just had another little furry visitor. Poppy, the little dog from next door, has just paid me a visit. She is so funny. She comes for a pat and a tummy tickle and then she goes to Buster's treat drawer and barks like mad until I give her one of his treats! She is a canny one.

My washer has just stopped and hasn't pumped any more water over the floor. I don't know what happened. Perhaps a valve got stuck on the rinse cycle and pumped too much water into the machine. It is making a rather loud noise on the spin cycle so I still think that I need to call a repair man before I use it again. Fortunately I have finished the washing for the day and it will be a few more days before I need it again. I wait until I have enough washing to split into a coloured load and a whites load.

The sun is trying to make up it's mind whether to stay out or not. I do hope that it doesn't rain until my washing dries.

Not sure what I am going to start next. I will have a coffee and a little think. I need to do some shopping today as I am running out of basics.

4 comments:

Laura said...

Very Lovely jacket! I may have to spring for that pattern myself! BTW, in the States, we have a website "repairclinic.com" that we often use to help determine the source of problems on appliances. You tell it what appliance you have, the model, and the noises it makes, etc., and the website iagnoses the problem. We can order parts right from them. Maybe there's something like that for UK appliances? Good luck with the washer issue! How's the new mop?

Anonymous said...

Oh Jan, I'm so glad you checked next door. Poor kitty. I'm not surprised he was so upset.

The jacket is beautiful. I'm sure she is going to love it and wear it a lot. I think your pattern book purchase looks like it will hold a lot of lovely things to make.

jan1637 said...

Really lovely jacket,very pretty and will look so sweet on the little girl. Your neighbours are very lucky that you lived next door - and so is Oscar.

marg41 said...

Oscar is a very lucky pussy cat. He must have been out of his mind with fear. Poor thing. I hope he settles down once the family get sorted out. Love the jacket such a beautiful pattern and a lovely soft pink. Hope your washing machine is just having a bit of a hickup.