High rise cat homes.

May have to build one of these in one of the rooms.....

Our three cats are to be tested for FIV in three weeks time. If any test positive and there are other cats in the area one is advised to keep them inside. If there are no other cats close by then you can carry on as normal. Where we are now there are no other cats around. But wherever we move to (if and when) I would have to check out the cat population. Can you imagine? I will make you an offer on your property but that is subject to survey - on the local cat population!

Our house viewers today were very non- committal. "I just want space, " said the bloke. Well theres plenty of that here. The woman only commented once, when seeing the cooker she asked, "Oh, do you cook for your guests?" Well, yes, it is a bed and BREAKFAST.

I sometimes wonder, is it me? Or is everyone else really strange.

Gotcha!

Here is the trouble maker of the last few weeks. The trap sprang about 6.30a.m. Later Mike put it in the boot of the car, covered over the cage and took it off to the Cats Protection Vets.

There it was to be tested for nasties, if okay it would then be wormed, castrated, and eventually re-homed.

When Mike got to the town centre vets he parked in front and opened the boot. A man walking past with a dog said, "You've got a cat there. I can smell it from here. You take the dog and I will take the cat round the back, they wont want that in the reception stinking it out."

So Mike enters the vets and introduces himself, saying, "Yes I have dog with me but I have brought the cat I phoned up about." The receptionist leaned over the counter, looked at the dog, and said, "Oh thats Cedric, nae bother."

There is always a laugh somewhere in everything we do.

I am now finding it difficult to laugh.

The vet phoned us to say that the cat had FIV and he was putting it to sleep. Oh, and we needed to get our cats checked out to see if they had been infected. I am off tomorrow morning to discuss the options with our vet. Its the feline AIDS. Passed on through bites. Well, we had a fair few of them. No cure. But cats can carry on with the disease and live a full life, so saith the internet. I bloody well hope so.

At least we stopped it infecting anymore cats

On other fronts. We had the viewing yesterday evening. Another lot who have castles in the air. An hour and a half of listening to someone dream on and you slowly realise they will never actually do it/anything leading to you selling your house.....For goodness sake, this bloke who was going to do b&b while his partner carried on working outside the home was actually getting really twitchy about whether or not he could cook bacon and eggs. "I'm sure I can do it." Didnt sound at all confident. So we dare not show him our menu which has poached eggs, scrambled eggs, tattie scones, smoked salmon, kippers etc.etc. Although we perhaps should have done and finished him off altogether.

Tomorrow at noon another viewing. And I am very, very near to losing the plot. I am so tired and weary of showing people round the house and answering their inane questions and they havent even got their property on the market. Apparently the couple tomorrow, their house is about to go on the market. A step further? Or another made up story. Another silly dream.

I know there will be a laugh in this somewhere, I am just finding it particulary hard to find it.

Strawberry fields forever.

This is the view from my patio at the moment. These are polytunnels. Inside are the strawberry plants. The farm supplies one of the major supermarkets but the locals get a different named variety. Far more tasty! But then we don't insist on uniformity, in colour and size.

We have just had a night off, another tonight. I had far too much of the fermented grape fruit last night. Will I ever learn. Not at my age.

Although no paying guests we have had quite a few visitors. Our ace bird watcher of the area called as we have had a quail calling, which are VERY rare. Needless to say, it had shut up by the time he came, though he has kept dropping in just in case.

Then we had two cars jammed with people sweep up the drive. I went into a panic thinking we had forgotten about a booking, but it was a chap who has dropped in before as this is his ancestral home - way back - and brought his family to have a look. Why didnt he phone first? I would have had the kettle on. As it was Mike and I were off out to collect a trap for the feral cat that is attacking hens, ducks, and our cats, (and I am only little!) Scary.

And tomorrow we have a viewing...............

My hero!

Puzzle cat. In the early hours of the morning he went into battle. Quite something for a cat that is leg length challenged (they are very short legs - think Ernie Wise and Eric Morecambe.) And with a little intervention from me - he came out on top!
His combatant is a feral stray that appeared some weeks back. We suspect that was the cause of the headless chicken, as it has had a go at a duck, which has a somewhat stronger neck and quite hefty in the wing department. Also had a few dust ups with Sith and now poor Puzzle.

I am to collect a trap from the Cat Protection League and once trapped transport it to a nearby vets. Not sure what happens then. They do do a blood test (hope they tell us the result - do not want a duck and two cats getting something dreadful.) Presumably they then neuter it and try and tame it. Well I aint having it back here.

Its exciting int it?

Wedding Anniversary, nay Pearl wedding anniversary even, now past. Doubt I will live long enough for the others of note/precious gems and metals. Being on a Monday it didnt feel that special anyway!

Hotel Inspector came yesterday. Think I managed to hang on to my three stars. I lost the plot half way through the discussion after he had inspected. It was my wallpaper seams. Now its my poor quality laminate, I hope my home bakes gave him indigestion.

Summer at last.

So I had me hair cut. Oh - and just a tad of blonde streaks.

Hotel Inspector came today. Still got three stars. No further comment.

In Sickness and in Health.

This morning, at breakfast, our two couples had a 'competition.'

Who had had the worst, biggest,, most horrific operation?
Who had been told they only had days, months, years to live?
AND IS STILL HERE!

As I tottered in and out with plates full of bacon, eggs, fried bread, tomato, mushroom, haggis, black pudding and beans. Not forgetting the toast. I just could not fathom how they were going to eat it after detailing where the knife cut, what came out, what was left in, what had been missed.

Just thought I was pretty damn lucky that the only time I was under a surgeon's knife a baby came out.

Sith and Puzzle

inspect the new wall. In reality Puzzle is watching Sith's every move..... But the wall gets my approval. Matches all the other ones around the patio.
Dreadful weather the last few days. Howling wind. Not really cold but the wind chill was significant, so much so that on the 19th June 2010 I have got the central heating on......

The house is full. Three couples. One up for a funeral are with is for two nights, one couple visiting their son and with us for four nights and a German couple in for one night.

We had thought we were to have a house viewing today but yet another nutter. What is it about us that draws them in? This woman was desperate to view last night, but with all these guests arriving we said, "No, tomorrow at 2p.m." Solicitor tried to contact her just got the answering machine. So this morning I phoned the woman ( only lives in our village) and said are you coming or not? (Before I start rushing around shoving stuff in wardrobes.) and she just said, "Oh no we cant make it." And put the phone down. Weird. As if I had invited her.....

Other news - had my blood pressure check, all well. Sith was coughing again so got some more lung worm stuff. This is in a syringe and goes straight down his throat. He is now adept at sicking it back up. Didnt want to know that did you? Just more problems.

Midsummers day on Monday and our 30th wedding anniversary. I shall think about that and being Titania while I iron.

Weird weather.

Very hot, very still, no wind. Lots of cloud slowly moving across the sky.

This is the right hand edge of the courtyard garden being transformed byMike. Loads of weeds removed. But he has retained some thistles. Yes,they are Scottish thistles and they also are loved by the goldfinches, once they go to seed. That's why they are still there....

The middle part of the courtyard garden. One of the two buddhas that live there. The bushy bit is a Rowan tree we have been trying to get rid of for some years. One is always reluctant with Rowans as they are magical, they deter witches, native to Scotland and are a very nice tree. In the right place. Puzzle cat can be seen on the left waiting for a mouse to come out of the wall and -well, I am never sure whether he eats them or just gives them a good suck and lets them go.

Tarting up the garden.

I have three of these and a table to do.

One chair with its first coat.

Mike is doing a magnificent job in the courtyard. Weeding, cutting back, trimming and gravelling. Even building a wall. More photographs to follow. I bought him ten solar lights as a reward!

While the rest of the UK basked in hot sunshine we were overcast for most of the day.

But still conducive to being outside.

Presentation, presentation. The house has been reduced in price. Now 25k under valuation.

Am now off to do some presentation on myself. Off out tonight.

Peace and calm.

After a day of ironing, washing, drying, cleaning, mopping floors, I sat outside and watched a duck nod off.

This was amongst the drone of helicopters going back and forth with off shore oil workers, the tractors going up and down, when up, loaded with silage. when down, empty and rattling, and hundreds of starling babies, all around, screeching for food. In the middle of the countryside....not so peaceful. But very calm.

This morning I spoke to our solicitor and we have reduced the asking price of the house. It is now £25000 below the valuation.

World Cup on the tele. Mike watching with the sound turned down due to the horrendous noise of the trumpet things they insist on blowing. Give me a brass band anyday. At least theres a tune then. Me up the other end of the house and finding theres not much on other than football that isnt even worse.

But all in all its more peaceful without the tele. Tho I do not feel very calm.

Early Summer I believe.

This picture above was taken a few weeks ago. The one below, today.

Nice to see things grow! The rhodedendrons you can see in the first picture are the white ones, then the second of the three bushes has pink, and the third, nearest the house a deeper pink. One after the other, scrummy. My Rogersii the phallic effort, is almost at its peak. Rather boring flowers, but still some plant. I must try and take some of it to wherever we go to as I am so proud of it. Purchased from the dead and dying area at the Garden Centre and with warnings it wouldn't survive up here - well it did.

I was warned I wouldn't survive up here, I remember. But I am still surviving, though you may find me on the TLC stand at the garden centre.

I have recently been honoured to be invited to join Peterhead Photographers. Down to all the sky pictures I put on facebook! So watchout, anything that stands still for any length of time will be snapped by moi. Do you think anyone would like to see a picture of my steam press?

Reflections on a week in my life.

Mike has had, has a bad cold. He has been sleeping in a spare bed so I dont get disturbed or infected, while he coughs sneezes and wanders around in the middle of the night looking for paracetemol. I could get used to this! Him in in a spare bed I mean.

He still managed the marathon of cooking breakfasts for four golfers and the man who is with us for sometime, having started a new job and looking for somewhere to live permanently. All 5 had something different for breakfast. All I am allowed to do is prepare the baked beans, the only time we use a microwave.

I am struggling with all the cleaning, washing and ironing. They all departed this morning and we have two couples in tomorrow night, so ok a night off, but the days are still spent ironing etc. All three rooms to strip and re-set up. Also as there were 5 for breakfast I have had to get up and serve it. Mrs Overall has nothing on me.

Yesterday we had a visit from a lady who is considering offering b&b. I did consider charging a fee for my advice as it took two hours and a tour round the establishment here and an offer to tour round her establishment (mainly as I am nosy.) When I described her as a lady, she really was, and name dropped like nobody's business. Related to half the aristocracy of Scotland, including the ones who owned the house in which I was told not to drop red wine on the carpet, you may remember, back in December.

Halfway through this session a chap turned up on the doorstep - from New Zealand - who was convinced his ancestors were born here. When we checked the dates the house hadn't even been built when his ancestors left for New Zealand. But he still took up a good deal of my time and took a lot of photographs of the house. All the time I am telling him where the house is that he is looking for. He kept saying that he had been here before, years ago, and was sure this was it as it had a conservatory......well no, it has a small porch, which no-one would describe as a conservatory and the house I believed he was actually looking for did have two conservatories and was called Mill Croft, which was what he was looking for, and was just up the road. Hope he eventually got there. Some people will NOT be told. At least he wasnt bearing the ashes of the ancestors to scatter in the garden, which has happened before.........

You may remember all my angst about being inundated with cats. Seems to have been sorted and I do hope there is a happy ending.

Well, you cant win can you. This strange cat has suddenly appeared. From the shape of its head it is an unneutered male, black and white. Observed all over the garden, face to face with one or the other of our cats. Who are not all that careful at shutting the cat door behind them. So when we found the chocolate muffins on the table half eaten and then a clatter of cat dishes and then a crash as it shot out of the cat door we knew we were about to be invaded - again. Bit of an explanation, you can only come into the house if you have a magnet on your collar. If you slide through the opening very gently you can leave the door not - quite - locked up again. So in can come an intruder. Going out is easy as you dont need a magnet.

So as the sun sets on another mad week at Greenbrae I sip my wine and watch the sun set.

Mmmm.

Escaped this morning for a large one of these and an enormous scone. So enormous I have missed lunch. Met up with a lovely friend of mine and sorted out the world.

The down side was that on my return I had to then set about cleaning three guest rooms, stripping beds in two of the rooms and setting them all up for guests. Four golfers arriving today.

Gloomy day, very wet, very grey and very misty. Hope it improves tomorrow or they will never find their balls.

The humble hawthorn.

Isnt it beautiful. Masses of these blooms to the rear of Greenbrae.

It is also very noisy to the rear as the starlings bring their babies and park them in the trees and then scavenge our duck and hen food for them. Where people get the idea from that the country side is peaceful - well!

And the weather today was fantastic well over 20 degrees and no wind. Right up to the time I had finished all my work and sat down outside on my patio, beer in hand. Within minutes it went black and up in the sky there were rumblings.....Then it rained. Somebody somewhere had obviously lit the barbecue.

Wish I was up there.

This was the sky yesterday evening after a very hot day. Today was quite overcast until now when the sun has broken through (about the same time as the picture above was taken.)

Terrible things happened in Cumbria. I sometimes think I am depressed, but even if I had a gun I don't think I could do what that chap did. One tries to limit one's down feelings to oneself and not spread it around. I think, if it was true, that the most worrying thing was that he went to the hospital and asked for help and they turned him away. Despite our increasing knowledge of mental problems there is still this ignorance/fear/disregard of a soul in torment.

Back to the mundane. Morning ironing, stripping beds, washing, drying, cleaning, supermarket in the afternoon. What fun.

Wednesday we went to view a house. Well, apart from the infra red sauna in one of the bedrooms and the black glossy fitted units to one wall in the dining room, housing beer coolers, wine cabinets, fridge freezer, and 'display shelves' lit up with blue lights it did tick quite a lot of boxes. In fact if they get rid of the sauna, the dining room display cabinets and we sell this house we will put in an offer. Dream on.

Good Gracious its June!

This was the sky last night, after a day of hot sunshine. The sky looked as if on fire. The darker clouds were scudding across like a veil being whisked across.
I dont think I could ever live anywhere else than here in the North East of Scotland, such fantastic skies, it really calms my soul.

Which has been needed, the calmness, as its not around much.

Last night we had a 'no show'. This was after taking a booking at 3p.m. in the afternoon, for two nights, twin room, and "They will arrive with cash to pay."

I had to completely re-do a room which was set up as a double to do the twin beds. Also some last minute biscuit baking as there were not enough for all three rooms.
And then they never appeared.

We can only assume they pocketed the cash and slept in the van. But if that was their plan I scuppered it and phoned the company to say I wanted the money for last night. "Didnt they arrive?" "No." Later an extremely apologetic man phoned and said there was a cheque in the post.

Then a man appeared at the door saying he was from Aberdeenshire Council Environmental Health and was there to sell us a 'Trade Waste Bin'.
After explaining to him we didnt have any trade waste, we compost everything the birds, hens and ducks dont clear. We recycle everything we can. And our refuse bin could go two months before its full, probably longer.

"Ah but recycling costs the council - and if some of that is from your b&b guests then its trade waste."

When I asked for it in black and white what law/regulation said that this was so he rambled off in another direction about the water board would charge having to process extra waste from our sewage! I said we had a septic tank. (Also our guests dont use as much water as our four daughters did.)

After about an hour Mike said we were not going to buy a trade waste bin, he would rather burn anything that couldn't be recycled.
"Ah, now you just might have got me there"

Apparently you get a certificate from Sepa at NO cost to burn rubbish and they provide you with a drum to burn it in at NO cost. Ha.

In amongst all this I am to-ing and fro-ing with another man come to fix the Watchman thingy which is supposed to tell the oil company how much is in our tank - and wasnt. It works by some computer ringing the phone and picking up the message from the Watchman. With me so far?
I had found out it wasnt working as we were down to nearly empty and had had no delivery.

It was of course our fault for having put it near the router for the broadband. The fact that they put it there was greeted with a nodding head and a silent removal of the watchman paraphernalia and it being installed elsewhere. We checked the phone still worked and off he went.
I then realised the internet was not working and had to phone the oil company to get him back. Back he came and removed something he had attached to 'filter the broadband' after establishing there already was a 'filter for the broadband, " installed.............

Back in to try and get rid of Environmental Health chap, who by this time was droning on about some hairdresser who despite taking all her hairsprays home and putting them in her own house bin still had to pay the trade waste charge. Of course she couldn't burn the aerosols or Aberdeenshire would probably be in orbit by now.

THEN I still had all the rooms to clean set up.

I love doing this blog, just writing it all down I am having hysterics.

As the headline says its now June. Mike and I will be awarding ourselves with long service medals having managed to stay married for 30 years. That will coincide with the longest day.

All my horoscopes promise that this month things will happen big time. Well, you can read that either way. Could be I end up on a murder charge having completely lost the plot at the next person to cross my path.. I have heard that Visit Scotland are around doing our annual inspections. .......................