House guest

It’s strange isn’t it, how an additional person in the home can change the whole dynamic of the household? And in this household we have two additional personalities at the moment…. Pippi Long Stocking (the kitten’s screen name) and Milly (Mother-in-Law’s pseudonym)

Pippi is climbing curtains/ investigating everything/ catching mouse wires / being totally endearing and Milly is being Milly, advising, in her own specific way on how we should be dealing with these and various other issues /helping to decide on the viewing schedules and various other aspects of household management. And like any good daughter-in-law/ wife / mother/ etc I’m doing my best to keep the balance in the household by accommodating what I can and only standing up to what I feel it is necessary to stand up to.

So it is, we have had to have Eastenders on for the last few nights.

Eastenders, for the uninitiated, is a soap opera of the lowest order. And as Milly is a woman of the highest order, I simply can not understand how she could be so addicted to this violent program where no one is nice to anyone else, everyone has a foul, loud mouth and the relationships are fickle and adulterous. I can’t bear it.

Last night was OK. I found things to do in the kitchen. Any minute now I may have to find more things to do in the kitchen… having missed it on TV she’s watching it on her laptop!!!

I have, however found a good treatment for the curtain climbing cat. I have filled a hand held sprayer with water. Scout has been very anxious to use it, but Pippi avoided the curtains until just now, and just now he’s gone up to his room, so when Pippi climbed the curtains – it was up to me….. and let me tell you, the water spray had just the right effect.
Very satisfying.

I have decided on tomorrow’s evening meal (gingered beef) and I plan to put it in the new slow cooker in the morning. But perhaps I can save morning time by a little judicious preparation now? At least until Eastenders is over?