On Friday the 13th we found a stray kitten at the neighbours. He was there in the morning and still there in the afternoon. We asked around the houses in the street and no-one knew whose he was. I rang the pound and they said I could drop him off that afternoon, they’d try and find him a home.

And all this while, Dian is pleading to keep the kitten. Eddie said no. Dian emailed him an impassioned email with eight reasons she needed to keep the kitten. She spoke to him on the phone. I took photo’s of Dian and the kitten asleep together, and emailed them after he had said no, so they wouldn’t sway his decision. And in the end he changed his mind.

As I write this, the kitten – now called Friday – is asleep on my lap. He has a purr to rival Suzy’s, which was always one of the loudest I had ever heard! The two cats get on reasonably. Suzy is learning to share her space and Friday is learning that she doesn’t like him jumping on her. He chases the chooks (chickens) and gets squirted with water. Sleeps on Dian’s bed. And is the sweetest, friendliest cat I’ve ever met!

So our pet count is now at eight. Four chickens, two cats and two guinea pigs.  Full house!

And did I mention it’s only 38 days until Eddie comes home?

He’s lost his tail, and you can tell it was fairly recently as it hasn’t grown back yet, and I’m really, really hoping that it wasn’t my cat who did that to it!  So until I can get a fence around the vegie gardens, which I need to do before the chooks arrive anyway, she will be an inside cat, or very closely supervised outside.

After Dian arrived home from school I showed her the lizard and then we fed him/her some banana and apple.  Obviously it liked them, ate them all up!  He’s a most welcome visitor in our garden as Blue Tongues eat snails and slugs.

Isn’t he beautiful!

The move….. yes, well…. here’s a quick run-down of the highlights of the last two weeks;

Tue 1 Jan, back home after holidays at the in-laws. Trying to clean Dian’s room, and her comment when told the removalists are coming tomorrow? “Nobody told me!” Argh!!!! Also I managed to flood the laundry, including everything inside the laundry cupboards! It was then the cleanest room in the house.

Wed 2 Jan, Removalists come in and pack up the house into boxes. Discovered my car is leaking petrol. Luckily Eddie found the leak, a loose clamp, and was able to fix it.

Thurs 3 Jan, everything went on the truck. Real Estate Agent rings in the morning to say that our final inspection, which I had booked a month ago for 3.00pm friday 4th Jan, was being rescheduled to the next monday because the Landlord wanted to have it then. I almost had a meltdown, it wasn’t even his appointment! Got nowhere, so now we have to leave the house and have the final inspection (with an extremely grumpy, picky landlord) without being present. Then the Real Estate agents says “Oh, you’re still in the house? I’ve got people coming through this afternoon to look at it!” Well, we’re moving, they can come and look but it’s messy!

Fri 4 Jan, Cleaned the house. Had in interim/unofficial inspection. Took photo’s of all the venetian blinds as the landlord had blamed us for bending the ends a few weeks earlier. Took the guinea pigs to the hotel with us for the night and sneaked them in to the room.

Sat 5 Jan, picked the cat up from the cattery at 7.30am. Drove to Canberra in convoy with Eddie. Stinking hot day. About an hour out of Canberra I rang the Cattery there to confirm when we would be there to drop Suzy off. Got their answering service! Major panic as I didn’t have their address, and if they weren’t there I had a cat and nowhere for her to go! Rang my friend who was going to look after the guinea pigs and went to drop them off first. The cattery rang back, everything ok, so was able to leave the cat there. Went and picked up Eddie from the other side of Canberra, drove all the way back and went to a hotel for the night.

Sun 6 Jan, drove 3 1/2 hours up to my mums.

Tues 8 Jan, received a phone call from the Real Estate Agent, the Landlord wants us to replace all the blinds because ten slats are bent slightly at the ends. She told him that was unreasonable, but he could ask us to pay for the damaged slats. I said I thought that was unreasonable, it should be considered fair wear and tear, and since the blind cords were damaged when we moved in no-one could say that they were in perfect condition. Back to negotiate…

Thurs 10 Jan, drove back to Canberra and picked up the keys to the house. It seems to be the only house in this suburb that doesn’t have air-conditioning or a dishwasher! Yikes!!!!

Fri 11 Jan, the removal truck turned up and 7.30am, unloaded everything and was gone by 9.45am!!!!! So far the damages are: a hole through the back of my china cabinet, broken crystal vase (all the cheap glass vases are ok, why did it have to be one of my crystal ones???) the top of the microwave is seriously dented, marks and scratches on most wooden and metal furniture, and our bed’s footpiece broken. It’s solid wood, how the heck did they manage that??????
Had my first decent nights sleep in over two weeks, which means that I managed to get more than five hours!

Mon 14 Jan, discovered that in this very high rent, McMansion, upmarket suburb only ten minutes from the nations capital, you can’t get adsl broadband. I actually cried, it was the last straw!!!!!! Found out a cheap wireless deal from the neighbour who is also very unimpressed! The Real Estate Agent rang to say that the landlord wasn’t happy, would we consider offering some compensation for the blinds? I said no, it was fair wear and tear, and if he wished he could take it to the Tenancy Tribunal. I’m expecting to hear from them soon.

Wed 16 Jan, Dian’s grandmother who we haven’t seen for over a year drove over three hours to take her out for the day! What a champion woman!!!!! She and Dian had a great day and then she drove the more than three hours back home!

Thurs 17 Jan, (today) Dian’s 10th birthday. I took her out shopping, had a great time. Had a car accident. I was coming up to a give way sign, and a car cut the corner in front of me. I was still moving and we connected. My front bumper and number plate are cactus, his driver side rear door and wheel hub are dented. Far out!!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently I swore when we hit, although I don’t remember it! Picked up our wireless modems, yay!

We’re still surrounded by boxes, I have a client next monday or tuesday and I can’t find my files that tell me what day or time. I have a horrible feeling that I have double booked him with Dian’s birthday party on monday…

I can’t say I’m sorry that he’s gone. The girls (hens) didn’t really get on with him too well, and I think that affected how I felt about him too! It’s nice to be back to just the two girls, they’re sweet.

He has to go, for the same reasons as the first rooster! Our neighbours haven’t complained yet, however I’m not waiting until they do!

If no one rings, then I guess we have three hens… Blondie will lay white eggs too, being a White Leghorn!

She laid the first one the day after she arrived here, then about two days later laid a shell-less egg and then nothing for the last several days. Which is quite normal both for a young layer and for a chook who has been moved and stressed.

Then today I found another, it’s only little, but it was nice! And how fresh does it look in the pic! The egg never even got the chance to cool down, it was cooked while it was still warm. The yolk isn’t all that yellow yet, Boo Two is still learning to eat greens, and just this morning I noticed that she is now scratching at the ground, another new skill for her! So proud of my girl!

It was fertile too, so Boo the rooster has obviously figured out how to do his job! If only he would stop crowing from 4.30 am onwards….