The Way of the Wombat

Gosh - I haven't posted anything in almost a week. The house is noticeably quiet still, without Shaka, but we all feel that we do not want to replace him, at least just yet. I do have some Shaka pictures to post - I'll sort them out and do it soon.

We had him cremated, and I asked that the ashes be left in an open container for scattering. So I kind of expected a small version of the plastic jar my father's ashes came in. I have to say Shaka's came in a much nicer container - it is a small carved wooden box with his name n a plaque on it.

This led to one of those silly conversations sometimes associated with death and mourning; D-d arrived home for work and saw the box where I had left it - mainly so that she could see it. "I can't eat my tea with Shaka sitting on the table staring at me like that...!" So she moved the box to the shelf that has family photos on. Then says "It's a very posh box." I agreed, and said to her that I had expected something like the plastic jar my father's ashes were in.

She considers for a moment. It is worth noting here that my mother insists she wants no money wasted on her funeral - it is to be as simple as possible. "If people usually come in Tupperware boxes, Granny would be really miffed if they were to put her in a posh box like Shaka," says D-d.

"Granny'd probably supply her own Tupperware box, just to be on the safe side..." I suggest.

"Actually," D-d goes on, "Granny might think Tupperware a bit extravagant. What's the betting she's got a plastic sandwich bag somewhere with a note on it telling us to have her ashes put in that to save money?"

We both ended up laughing hysterically, I fear.

Today we visited Mum and told her about the conversation - she ended up laughing, too.

Talking of D-d - she's gone to a Halloween party tonight. The theme was 'Famous People - as zombies'. It was both real life and fictional people. She said "It's hard to come up with something because the shops are already full of Christmas stuff." Then a short pause whilst you could see her brain working.

Yes - you've guessed it. She went off dressed as a Zombie Father Christmas. Pity I didn't get the camera out in time.

Oh, and she went bearing cakes - she had made fairy cakes into small ghosts and owls - and again, by the time she'd finished them she was in such a rush that they were in a box and ready to go before I could get the camera out - but they were fun.

Firstly a cat update. Shake is a little stronger and the vet is pleased with his progress. However his lifespan may be seriously curtailed if he continues to consider my handbag as a suitable alternative to outdoors or a litter tray... Fortunately I noticed in time!

Now some silliness - S2C has been deep in a place where Éomer is to be coronated, Eldarion is known as dead, and poor Merry suffers a setback as he recoups from the Black Breath. Yes - he is perusing the summaries in the Lord of the Rings section of Fanfic.net.

We have just been considering which is the most expendable letter in the word Legolas. The letter most likely to be missed out in a summary is the 'o'.

We feel there should, perhaps, be a whole genre devoted to 'Leglas' the elf - whose brother or sister is doubtless called 'Wide-eyed'. If the doyens of the new genre can spell that, of course.

However all these oddities pale into insignificance beside the one he has mentioned on his own journal...

I am copying his entry here for my LotR friends who aren't also his LJ friends.

Alyssa jumped up wide awake her dagger, which she had placed under her pillow, drawn when she heard it; The Screeching whale of the Nazgul...

This is, presumably, from the version of Lord of the Rings where the Council of Elrond decides that the Fellowship shall include Legolas, representing the Elves, Gimli son of Glóin, representing the Dwarves, and Queequeg, representing the Harpooners.

Call me Ishmael Baggins...

It is worth also going over to his journal for some of the comments.

I've just spent 15 minutes getting more and more desperate as I tried to work out where I must have put my mouse whilst I got paper out of the cupboard and put it into the printer. I looked all around where I'd put the laptop on the floor, then around the cupboard, all around the printer... Then I looked under the settee, on the table, through the rest of the room, before going out to the kitchen in case I'd taken it there when I went to pour myself some coffee.

If only I'd looked under the cat in the first place...

It's almost the end of my week off work - and my cold is, finally, lifting... figures!

I had meant to have a good sort out in the garden yesterday or today, but the weather has been meh - cold, grey, and wet.

The cat is being awkward. He has decided he doesn't eat this cat food - it is clear that someone (that would be me, then) is trying to poison him by getting him to eat... whatever this is! I keep pointing out that 'this' is actually Waitrose's cat food - not something cheap or nasty - but to no avail.

Each time either D-d or I went out to the kitchen today the cat has followed, then looked pointedly at the food in his dish, and mewed piteously. By mid-afternoon he had started to not only mew piteously, but also to eat some of his dried cat food, looking at us sadly after each mouthful - clearly saying "See what I have been reduced to by your cruelty."

But he finally had me clutching my sides laughing as I waited for my second day chilli to reheat - he came out, looked piteously at the abomination someone had left in his dish, then at his dry stuff, then went pointedly to the small bin, containing food scraps for composting, and nudged it as if trying to open the lid... Poor, starving cat...

D-d was at her friend's on Thursday night. Before she went she asked "Do you think Dad will mind if I borrow some of his Buffy DVDs?" Fair makes you proud - a real chip off the old block...

Shaka is Home!




It appears that he spent most of the last 5 days in the plumbers' workshop behind our house - even though the doors were open every day, and the plumber had been keeping an eye open for him!

The plumber (Mr K) is our neighbour - and said to me this morning that he presumed the cat was home as he'd seen him yesterday...

I came back, sent S2C off to Mr. K's workshop - and, after much calling - there was the familiar duck-like quack which is Shaka's greeting - and there he was!

Now he is demanding food and a fuss - just as we had hoped.

I've told him that if he's taken up gallivanting (or as Deinin said - having a late midlife crisis!) we won't be worried next time he doesn't come home for days!

Firstly a big thank you for cards and the LJ gifts to brighten up my info page.

I don't expect many people have been waiting with baited breath for a picture of this year's Christmas Cake - but if you have been, it is under the cut! Along with a couple of snow pictures and the cat caught out playing when he didn't think anyone would notice...

( click for the pics )

So - now, I have still got presents to wrap, and other bits and bobs to do, but first D-d and I are going to head north, do Mum's shopping, eat tea with her and then go to the evening candle-lit service at her little parish church.

I'll probably be around over sometime over the next day or two but I think it is the right time to wish you all-



(That's Happy Christmas in Manx!)

It is Where I Live Weekend - my post is over at the community. I'll post it here tomorrow or next week sometime for anyone who might be interested but not part of the community.

In the meantime shirebound suggested that it might be fun to post pictures of sleeping pets - and many of you know that sleeping is ( what Shakas do best )

It is a calm still evening, but the forecast is for it to be blowing a hoolie by the morning. D-d was due to sail on the boat tomorrow morning to go back to York. I noticed by mid-day today that they had already cancelled Sunday's sailings, and pointed it out to her.

She kept an eye on the website, and sure enough, about 1pm they announced that tomorrow's sailings would also be cancelled - but they were squeezing in an extra sailing at 5pm this evening. So she rang the Steam Packet and got onto that sailing, dashed out for lunch with friends, home and got packed, and made it in time for this extra sailing.

She rang to say that it had been a lovely calm crossing, the boat was not busy, and her train connections work so well that she will be in York by about 11.15pm. She wonders if they could run a fastcraft sailing to Heysham every Friday...

Remember the bathroom project? Well I've just been up and taken a few pictures, so that you can see that there is nice white and silver paper, not red, blue and/or purple, with or without spiky bits...

( click for pics )

And under ( this cut )

Is a picture showing why it took a while to put the Christmas decorations away - the usual assistant!

Beckyzoole asked me how the garden had survived the wet summer and the storms we have had most days of the last week or more, and I went out a couple of days ago, when it wasn't actually raining, and took a few pictures,

( which are under the cut )

And finally, on a different subject altogether - here is proof positive of who really rules the roost in this household - see who is in charge of the telly-zapper -



Finally, for those who are reading it, the next chapter of 'Return of the Key' should be beta'd and ready to post tomorrow evening my time.

I have been doing the sort of things you do with a few days off work - like airing daughter-dear's tent before we pack it away for the winter. After being used for 6 days at the Leeds Music Festival it smells heavily of barbequed bacon! In fact the whole garden smells of it at the moment. So, anyway, I put both the fly-sheet and the ground-sheet/inner tent on the clothes line, but the breeze flipped the ground sheet off again before I had put enough pegs in.

By the time I turned around to rehang it - well look under the cut and see where I spotted the cat!

( tent and a cat. )

The Red Panda - we have a baby orphaned red panda at our wildlife park - and if you click here you can see a video of her with her keeper - not embedded as it isn't You-tube!

Big Ships? My daughter gave me her full permission to share the following press release with you, in fact she suggested that you might be interested to know that

Döhle (IOM) Ltd has signed a 1.36 billion (USD) contract with Samsung Heavy Industries in Korea – the largest of its kind in the company’s history.

It allows for the construction of four 12,600 TEU container vessels with an option to build another four.

A subsidiary of Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG, Hamburg, the contract signing ceremony took place in the Boardroom of Fort Anne, the premises of Döhle (IOM) Ltd in Douglas.

The delivery of the 366 meter long Megacarriers will be in 2011.

Why should she want to share this with you - well not only did she help do all the copies of the contracts, but she was a witness to some of the signatures - so as the office junior temp her name will be there on $1.36 billion worth of contracts for the life-time of the mega-carriers! This pleases her greatly!