Tag Archives: home

cooking with gas

22 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by in change, home

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I have been waiting for this moment for over nine years, ever since I moved into the previous “casa az” from the place next door. I was lucky enough in the first two apartments I had in Sevilla to have kitchens equipped with gas cookers, but the last two came with those awful electric ceramic top ones that are not only electric but a bugger to keep in good condition because everything stains or scratches them. But it’s really cooking electric that drives me bonkers.

So when I realised a couple of weeks ago that I could no longer live with the crappy taps in my bathroom I decided to approach the landlords about helping me with a couple of home improvements. To my surprise they agreed to spit the cost of both the new taps and the new cooker! And as I have a five-year contract with the option to continue living here after that, it seemed like a good investment on my part too. I think the landlords like that I am interested in not just maintaining the place well but also in improving it. Though of course they are cautious about how much more they want to spend at the moment, after having just redone the whole place before I moved in (last tenant left it a mess). But these two things (taps and cooker) were a constant annoyance and so quality of life at home is now greatly improved.

I still haven’t tried the cooker as it was just installed yesterday evening. It was the cheapest on display at the store so I hope it’s okay. Will let you know…

mira la luna!

18 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, change, home, hope

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Say hello to my beautiful girl. It’s so weird to think that a week ago getting a third cat was something I was considering – maybe! – for some time during the winter. Closed balcony doors, less chance of kitten dropping off balconies, etc. Though it had been on my mind for awhile to look for a playmate for Loki. And then I saw that poster last Monday…

Then after much back and forthing I made the Big Decision on Friday that I would take this kitteh, even though it means having to keep her “in quarantine” for a month until she can be retested for feline leukemia, as the test she had on Friday wasn’t “negative enough” for Yolanda to say with confidence that it’s safe for her to be in contact with Azar and Loki. But she has plenty of space to sleep and play, and she is never left alone for long. Plus Nog sleeps with her at night.

I picked her up yesterday after going out to get some proper kitten food and a small litter box. So she is set up quite nicely in Nog’s room with the cushion of my ex-comfy chair as a cat bed, her food and water dishes and a couple of toys. Litter box is out in the hallway. And she also seems to like the “safe hiding place” I left for her – the cat carrier with the door taken off – as well as crawling in behind the big square “reading pillow” on Nog’s bed.

[click on collages to enlarge]

The best part is that she is so affectionate and loves purring away on my lap. And she is also very playful. Yesterday afternoon I settled down to watch a film on tv after lunch and, since the boys were napping elsewhere, decided to risk bringing her out to sit with me. And she was happy as anything on my lap getting lots of snibbles. Azar came over after awhile and didn’t seem to notice her at all, but after the film was over I put her back in her room.

I’ve decided to call her Luna. It just sounds right and it’s a bit in memory of Lua, as she was also a very pretty girl and a siamese mix, and of course both names mean “moon”. I just hope Luna turns out to be less *ahem* cranky than dear old Lua was.

One thing’s for sure – Luna sure is photogenic.

decision time…

16 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, change, home

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by Thurston Arnold

Today I had to make the Big Decision about taking in this little darling. Fani took the kitteh to see Yolanda this afternoon and there were a couple of surprises. First, she is a girl. Second, she is approximately four months old, which really surprised me because she is so tiny. But apparently all the milk teeth have been replaced by permanent ones and, despite her size, she isn’t as young as we all thought.

The good news is that she seems relatively healthy. She was deloused inside and out when Fani took her to a different vet a few weeks ago, and I’m told she has a good appetite. The only possible bad news is that the test they did for feline leukemia was inconclusive. Yolanda said there was a small “blip” in the test results that meant she couldn’t say for sure that it was 100% negative, and she recommends redoing the test in a month’s time. Meanwhile, the kitten shouldn’t have contact with the other two cats as it’s very contagious and can be transmitted by saliva. Also, although both Azar and Loki have been vaccinated now, this doesn’t offer total protection against the virus.

So, this was all going through my head after Yolanda called me this afternoon. I had already half-decided that keeping the kitten “in quarantine” for a month wouldn’t be too much of a hassle, when I thought it would be a case of waiting for it to be old enough to have the test accurately done. But now it will be a case of retesting because there is a suspicion of disease. Also, I was kind of wanting a male cat that would grow into a robust playmate for Loki. This tiny thing looks like she’ll never weight more than a couple of kilos at most. So I called Fani to tell her about my doubts and she was understandably upset, as the only other option for the kitten at this point is to take her to Greece on Monday, which will be a long 7-day journey by car.

And so… I’ll be picking her up tomorrow morning. What the heck. Worst case scenario is that she has feline leukemia and I have to find another home for her where she would be the only cat. But after getting this involved I couldn’t just walk away.

I’m thinking of calling her Luna.

busted!

15 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by in home

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A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the back of my comfy chair (inherited from Agustín a few years ago) had gone a bit wobbly. Then it started sinking on one side, getting worse and more wobbly by the day. And so I thought the best thing to do would be to cut it open and see what the problem was. This is what I saw.

See that white elastic with the double line running across it? Well, that and the piece of wood it’s attached to, should be attached to the other side of the chair. My theory is that it got bashed about during the move last February and then Loki – doing his Jungle Gym routine climbing up back of chair and then hanging there – didn’t help. Damn. The wood slats on the left-hand side have snapped in two places.

Thing is, that old comfy chair has seen me through some very hard times. After all the cancer ops I would never have been able to sit comfortably on – or even get up from – the IKEA sofa/bed, which has to be one of the worst-designed sofas ever. I needed something with sturdy arms so I could settle into and push myself out of the chair without having to use too much “gut power” with stitches going from here to there.

I don’t know what to do now. Repairing the old comfy chair is beyond my capacity, and I’m not sure it’s worth getting it restored by a professional. In the meanwhile, I have brought the IKEA reading chair down from upstairs. It’s a bit low-slung to be comfortable getting in and out of, and it also leans back too much. I need a more upright chair.

This afternoon I’m going to wander over to a small neighbourhood upholstery place I pass all the time. They will either solve my problem or cost ten times more than buying something new.