Thank you... and Secondhand scores...

Firstly, Freddy and I would like to thank you all for your kind comments. He's doing MUCH better, still walking with a limp but he seems much happier. He's no longer hiding in a darkened room when his pain relief wears off. We let him out of his collar under strict supervision so he can wash himself. (He STINKS!) He's stopped sleeping on my bed, his choice, and a good thing too as he wanted to be nose to nose with me and a smelly cat is not something I want under my nose as I sleep.

Freddy doesn't kiss. Whereas Bad Bobby will knock a person over with his violent bulldozing kisses, Freddy is more timid. He'll cautiously get really really close as though he wants to kiss you but he really only does air kisses. We've had a few special air kiss moments and I think he's appreciated the TLC. If not the collar.

Here's the man himself with a message of thanks in his own words...

Bad Bobby is still freaked out by Freddy. He spends as much time as he can outside. He sometimes walks in slow motion past Freddy which is quite comical. He's also been nervous of coming downstairs if he thinks he might run into Freddy...

We would be finding his antics hilarious if it weren't for this; the vet says he has a psychiatric disorder. He's been pulling the hair out of his tail which we thought was just a bit stupid. The vet calls it 'self harm' and makes it sound deadly serious.
Apparently, despite sleeping for 16 hours a day, and not having to actually do anything, cats get stressed.

He's going to look like a poodle before long. So we have to be sensitive to Bobby and allow him to escape from Freddy. I do wonder what Freddy thinks about Bobby treating him like a leper though.

Anyhow, this is not a blog about cats and their health issues, psychiatric or otherwise. Let's get on to the fun stuff...

I painted my pantry door so it's gone from this...

to this...

Still need to add the new architrave.

Onto recent secondhand finds... (Warning - C word coming up...)

A lovely carpet bag...

Some unused pieces of tweed. God, I love tweed. I want to make a long flowy tweed skirt. I shall live in a make-believe world of misty highland scenery as I swish along the high street in my tweed maxi skirt. I will look like an ethereal tweed clad goddess from a Brora catalogue.

Skirts can totally do that.

A beautiful Aynsley bon bon dish for £1.50...

I can put that to use over Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, I found this in my favourite junk shop...

A small wooden sledge painted a horrific pink. Apparently, these were for Nexts Xmas shop window last year. The junk shop was full of them, all painted in un-Christmassy pastel colours. Badly painted. The shop owner must have got them at auction. The one I chose was smaller than the rest. I thought I could rectify the paint job and use it as a Christmas decoration. Watch this space...

On a day out to Stevenage with my daughter, I found these...

and she found this...

This was actually new from H&M but she's had a rough time at school the last few weeks and I wanted to treat her.
Eight year olds like a sequin or two.

She's getting so fussy about clothes now, I find it harder to shop secondhand for her. She's entirely comfort driven. No trousers, hoods, 3/4 sleeves, high necks etc...

Also bought new was this from Poundland...

So as you can see, we're well ahead in our Christmas planning!

The day that Freddy got knocked down, I went to my local hardware store and stacked in with the 'Oops' paints were these...

A lifetimes supply of varnish reduced to £1 a can for no reason whatsoever other than they had a new delivery in. I was delirious with joy. I think the larger cans sell for £20.

Last of all, I want a new sofa. Badly. I've looked on ebay and can't find the right thing. They go for quite a lot and it's not often practical to test drive them before you buy so you could make an expensive, smelly and uncomfortable mistake. I've decided to buy a NEW one. The only new things we have are 3 mattresses and one bed. I don't choose new without serious consideration. I don't want my husband to pay because he doesn't think we need a new sofa. (We do!)
So, in keeping with my shopping code of practise, I've decided I will raise the money through selling some of my treasures. Once the money is there, I'll order the sofa.
And hopefully, the sofa will last for ever and ever.

It's going well. We've done a few car boot sales and I've sold things on ebay that I really love.
But I love the new sofa more. If I have that sofa, I'll never need to shop again.

I sold my two best eiderdowns and it made me a little sad. But the other day, as I was mourning their loss, I realised that there was a good chance that I'd come across another one some day. I mean, I go to every car boot sale, flea market and charity shop I possibly can, so the chances are good right?

Well, no sooner than I'd had this thought, I popped into a charity shop and found this eiderdown...

...for £3! I think I need to read about Cosmic Ordering... I think I'm doing it unwittingly.

Thanks once again, you lovely bunch. xxx