Laxie through the Looking Glass

[Laxie]

With the kids gone, I said I'd do a proper clean around the house.  The serious, 'every nook and cranny & clear out the clutter while yer at it' type.  So despite my original intentions of a standard whip round, I went about the serious clean.  And got as far as the kitchen.  Sigh.  

It started out harmless enough.  I was giving one wee section of back splash tiles a wipe.  That's when you notice the wee marks and grime on the few tiles next to it.  And the ones next to them.  And so it went on around the entire kitchen.  One old toothbrush and copious amounts of elbow grease later, the tiles look brand new...as do the grout lines.  Not to mention every appliance and movable object in the kitchen.  Right down to the spice rack and the spice jars on it.  Nothing was safe.  But nothing else in the house was done.  

Ah well, never mind.  There's always tomorrow.  Only I'd seriously want to consider getting up a bit earlier.  A 2pm start time is never good when you've a full day of things to do.  And I've just seen the true state of the kid's rooms.  It ain't pretty.  

[GreekStein]

Must be enjoying the kids being away then!

[Laxie]

Must be enjoying the kids being away then!

Sure am.     Sigh.

I really am taking the cleaning and tidying a bit too far if truth be told.  Even Lily got a wash.  Granted, she asked for it.  Stuck her head in the fire again, the lil' darlin'.  Have since cleared out all ash and mess from the kitchen fireplace and loaded it with dry fire logs just for effect.  Death to anyone who throws even the tiniest of scraps into that fireplace now.  Until winter when it's actually lit again, obviously. 

Cassie is getting on better than anyone ever imagined!  The vet is well pleased with her and the rest of the village is just in shock.  She's bopping around the place without a care in the world again as if nothing ever happened.  I'm still a bit careful with her, but she's taken it upon herself to instigate our play time now.  It's great fun to see her so happy again.   Her hair is growing back and unless you know about the injury, you'd be hard pressed to notice the marks on her leg.

Rookie, true to his word, sent half the vet bill via Stars a few weeks ago.  However, Stars weren't inclined to let me withdraw it.  They said I must play a goodly bit with it first.  I'm not a cash player.  And frankly, even my tournament play had gone to pieces with a while.  So I was more likely to lose the lot before it would ever see the vet.  Roll in local Stars player...who doesn't have a credit card as it happens.  He hands over the cash, I transfer the dosh on Stars, the vet gets his final payment and we're all happy.  Wiiiiiiiiiiii. 

Really must get more pictures up.  I've a few from earlier when her wrap was removed as well as others from after the stitches were out.  Will add pictures to the 'to do' list over the next couple of days.  Promise. 

'To do' lists.  Amazing how they grow when you're a woman on a mission.  If you're a woman on a few missions simultaneously, the lists can get a bit manic.  Well - that's me at the minute.  Gone a bit manic, but trying to keep focused.  All sorts kicking off all at once.  Good job I work better under pressure. 

Hope you all have a great week-end.  xx

[Laxie]

Brian has the tiniest bedroom ever.  He's got the bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers and 2 night stands in it and there's still just about enough room to spin around between the lot.  Just a wee box room.  But it does him grand. 

It also looked like a bomb hit it, so yesterday I decided to tackle his room.  Sweet Jesus!  How can one small room be filled with so much crap?!  7 frickin hours later...it's now spotless.  I don't like to invade their space, but after what I went through yesterday - afraid it's getting regular spot checks from now on.   

The girl's room is a whole other animal.  Was my intention to tackle theirs today.  I walked in this morning, had a look around and walked out again...closing the door behind me.  It can wait until tomorrow.  Maybe even Tuesday as tomorrow there's threats of sunshine.  Been pissing rain in my part of the world with the past week or more.  Not half jealous of you lot with sunshine and 30 degree heat.  MBN.

[Laxie]

Say a cricket did in fact escape from the feeding box.  Surely they starve to death eventually?  Please tell me they do.  K thnx.

[boldie]

Say a cricket did in fact escape from the feeding box.  Surely they starve to death eventually?  Please tell me they do.  K thnx.

[gatso]

Say a cricket did in fact escape from the feeding box.  Surely they starve to death eventually?  Please tell me they do.  K thnx.

yeah, gl with that

we had crickets in our student house, escaped from a guy up the road who kept snakes, and they certainly didn't die. bloody noisy though

on the plus side the landlord's refusal to do anything about it was matched by our refusal to pay him any rent until he did resulting in lots of extra beer money

[Rod Paradise]

Say a cricket did in fact escape from the feeding box.  Surely they starve to death eventually?  Please tell me they do.  K thnx.

DON'T let one of the crickets escape - I've a friends whose brother let one escape & her familly ended up removing all the carpets and most of the floorboards before they managed to kill the little fecker - 1 week of no sleep at all.

GG Dawn - next stop, a shop for these

[Laxie]

So explain to me this.  Why is it the lil darlins in the storage box all kick it eventually, despite being fed regularly?  Meanwhile one random lone cricket runs free and unfed and just won't die!!!  On the plus side, it's reminding me of camping as a kid - which helps me get to sleep.  So I suppose it's not really a complaint as such.  More a query. 

[Rod Paradise]

So explain to me this.  Why is it the lil darlins in the storage box all kick it eventually, despite being fed regularly?  Meanwhile one random lone cricket runs free and unfed and just won't die!!!  On the plus side, it's reminding me of camping as a kid - which helps me get to sleep.  So I suppose it's not really a complaint as such.  More a query. 

Crickets are omnivores and scavengers feeding on organic materials, as well as decaying plant material, fungi, and some seedling plants. Crickets also have been known to eat their own dead when there is no other source of food available, and even exhibit predatorial behavior on other weakened or dead crickets. Crickets have relatively powerful jaws, and have been known to bite humans, mostly without breaking the skin. The bite can, however, be painful when inflicted on sensitive skin such as the webbing between fingers.

Living off dead skin, bits of food dropped etc etc.

[gatso]

So explain to me this.  Why is it the lil darlins in the storage box all kick it eventually, despite being fed regularly? 

because you're feeding them to a bloody great lizard would be my guess

[Claw75]

So explain to me this.  Why is it the lil darlins in the storage box all kick it eventually, despite being fed regularly? 

because you're feeding them to a bloody great lizard would be my guess

[kinboshi]

So explain to me this.  Why is it the lil darlins in the storage box all kick it eventually, despite being fed regularly? 

because you're feeding them to a bloody great lizard would be my guess

x2

[Laxie]

The kids are due back on Wednesday morning.  Looking forward to it now.  The house has been soooooo quiet without them - which is a good thing in a way.  Nice to know I can't be blamed for ALL the madness around here.  lol  

Had planned not to tell the kids about poor old Rocky until they got home, but they asked last week so I had no choice.  I'm the type of person that says it like it is and they know that.  Some people say I'm harsh in that regard.  Not everything has to be said.  But my kids never wonder where they stand in this house and they know I'm always there to back them up if needed.  The downside is I don't hide sad news either.  To be fair, they handled it well.  

Cassie and Lily are doing fab as usual.  Lizard and turtle still alive too, which is a bonus.  It's been raining for most of the past couple of weeks here, so I've not been able to have proper fun with the dogs outside.  We get the walks in and get home.  End of.  They hate the rain as much as I do.  Ireland is a great country...if only you could roof it.

Cassie still tears road out the back door in hopes of spotting Rocky for the chase.  She obviously hasn't received the memo yet.  Luckily she's found something new to bark at in Rocky's absence.  For the longest time I couldn't figure out what had her so worked up.  But the other day I spotted a cow through the trees grazing in the field behind us.  Sure enough...that's what she's giving out about.  We take no notice of them so it didn't occur to me before.  That's one added bonus of having Cassie here.  She points out things we tend to forget about.

Accomplished a lot while the kids were gone.  Didn't manage the more important tasks on my list though.  Sigh.  Almost bitter sweet really.  To accomplish so much yet feel like you've done nothing.  To be fair, not all on the list was down to me.  I was counting on others to follow through and they haven't yet.  Eventually it'll be down to me to do their jobs for them too.  That sure will be fun.  Ah well.  Getting there slowly but surely all the time.

Today I will mostly be tackling the girl's room.  Been putting it off long enough.  If you saw the state of it, you'd understand why.  Might even take some 'before' and 'after' shots so you can see.  Oh man - it's bad.  Sarah suggested I wait until they get home so they can help.  I know she means well, but I want it done right the first time.  They can 'help' by keeping it that way after.  Odds on it being the same way by end of summer?  lol  Cover me - I'm going in.    

[Laxie]

So explain to me this.  Why is it the lil darlins in the storage box all kick it eventually, despite being fed regularly? 

because you're feeding them to a bloody great lizard would be my guess

x2

 

Ya goose!  What I meant was - some of them die before the lizard ever gets a chance to eat the damn things.