Starlight 7

50 Word Stories - Mixed

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:49:03 GMT

The Countryside

“Isn’t this beautiful?” he enthused. “Look at the play of light and shadow through the eucalypts.”

She looked about doubtfully as she swatted another mosquito. “Is it much further?” she asked.

He wasn’t listening. Once we’re there she’ll love it. This is much better than the city….

“SNAKE!!” she screeched.

Childhood - 3

As usual Dad stayed under the shower too long. Soon the circuit breaker would ‘click’ as the water unit overheated. It clicked. We stood outside the bathroom grinning. The shriek came as piping hot water suddenly turned frigid. Giggling, we scattered. Not surprisingly, Dad didn’t find it quite as funny.

Censorship - 1

The movie was advertised on TV with the usual overblown waffle. Of course it starred the current male heart-throb and a glamorous looking actress. In accordance with the current Australian censorship regulations it also came with a warning (which I’m sure we ALL appreciated). Rated PG : Contains Course Language.

Freedom (aka Wishful Thinking)

It was cold, showery and windy. It was also Monday morning. The radio came on at 6am as usual. The weather forecast was bad and the traffic report was worse. I grinned as I switched off the radio and snuggled back under the covers. I am going to enjoy retirement.

50 Word Stories : Nostalgia

Sat, 23 May 2009 01:12:24 GMT

Childhood – Early Years

“It’s your new bicycle!” said Dad. I gazed in wonder at the chain-driven three wheeler. Painted red with its own boot, the crest decal on the shaft proclaimed it was a ‘Gresham Flyer’. The delivery man smiled but I was much too shy to speak. Overwhelmed, I burst into tears.

Time Travel

Puzzled, I gazed at my surroundings. Everything looked so different. How had I ended up in 14th century Switzerland holding a crossbow? No matter. It was growing dark and soon I would have to find shelter for the night. Magic happens when you watch old ‘William Tell’ episodes on DVD.

Weekends

Weekends once rang with the sound of families; children playing, mothers chatting and harassed fathers pushing lawnmowers – if they weren’t planting, weeding or mending a fence or two. Now gardening happens during the week from vehicles proudly emblazoned with the name of the local franchise. Weekends are very quiet nowadays.

Childhood – Age 11

Black and white TV, riding my bike anywhere I liked as long as I was home by teatime, playing my father’s old 78rpm records, summer holidays at the beach, buying TV21 comics every week, piano lessons, meeting friends at the Squashbowl….and freezing Canberra winters. Life was easy at age 11.

Childhood - Cats

They arrived one day – mum cat and her three kittens. She was wild and wouldn’t be tamed. One kitten was like her – in colouring and temperment. Another was a classic tabby with white socks. The third was a torbie – friendly and outgoing. We adopted her. Or did she adopt us?

Vale Honey

Sat, 23 May 2009 00:52:16 GMT

A little over a month ago I had to say goodbye to a much loved and treasured feline companion.

A bacterial infection was the cause, but the true reason behind the illness was her failing kidneys. They meant she had little resistence to fight the illness - despite weeks of antibiotics and four other types of medicine. We tried everything but the time came when nothing worked and I had to let her go.

I have one cat left. She's 12, bossy, talkative and (I hate to admit it) probably relishing being the Top Cat, who at last has my undivided attention. As the weeks have gone by she has become even more affectionate which is a surprise. I'm glad she is around to keep me company.

Facebook blah

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 04:25:53 GMT

I have a Facebook account which I only joined because a group I belong to opened a discussion forum with them. I'm now hoping the group eventually comes to their senses and I can quit the whole thing, but alas it hasn't happened yet.

That's been the extent of my involvement because I have to say, I loathe Facebook. Maybe it's a age thing but not being a teenager (I'm not even close) I find the whole 'inviting friends' process rather creepy. It would be fair to say I quite liked being listed as having no friends.

Now I've received two invitations from friends to be added to their Facebook site...or I add them to mine...or whatever the stupid process is. The dilemma is...

People who send me such invites and I don't know them from a bar of soap, I instantly delete. No problem. But this time I've received invites from people I actually know...and think are OK. Ignoing the messages would be seen rude I suppose, refusing the offer might be considered even worse. Sigh.

Drat it - will I finally have to give up my prized 'no friends' status?

All good things must come to an end

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:56:04 GMT

Another week to go and it's back to the slave pit, sorry, work.

I've got a lot done over the past few weeks. I've spent a lot of money on essential household tasks and I've even managed to do some housework, a task I loathe. Mind you it's not finished yet! I wish there was such as thing as a self dusting and vacuuming house.

The felines have enjoyed having me home. Basically it means that they could hassle me for their dinner HOURS earlier than usual, and they are also allowed to sleep on my bed during the day when I am home. They've had a very comfortable time! Lucky cats - they don't have to go back to work.

One thing I've discovered this holiday. With only limited internet access most of the time I thought it would be great to access eBay almost every day for a change. It isn't. It's actually quite boring as nothing much changes on a daily basis. That goes for some other favourite sites as well. As much as I wouldn't mind having the internet at home, this holiday has shown me I don't need it full time (so to speak) just yet.

Work Woes

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 23:06:57 GMT

I haven't posted anything here for ages because I just haven't had the time.

The pressures of of my job are really getting to me at the moment. It's not a particularly important job and I can handle the responsibilities that come with it, which is something I guess. No, the problem is the sheer volume of tasks to do and the distinct lack of time to complete them. In past I've had to take work home to complete (with no overtime paid) and I really hoped I wouldn't need to do that again. Faint hope.

All new procedures have come in which have created more work to do. Not just for me admittedly, but I've certainly got more labour intensive parts to get done. Blasted paperwork.

I've brought work home this weekend. Fingers crossed I can get motivated to do it!

Trying to Decide Journal Stuff

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:39:24 GMT

Last week I changed this journal's theme. I'm happy with the choice but that's partly because I didn't have enough time to look at all the options available. I like blue so the decision was made easier by scanning mostly blue designs. My hat goes off to all the artistic people on LJ who made these themes available.

Then yesterday I changed Starlight Dreams to Starlight 7's Dreams and Ponderings. Meh. I'm still not happy with it but I suppose it sounds better than Occasional Waffle or Boring Posts, either of which would be closer to the truth. I don't seem to have got the knack to a) think of interesting stuff to write, and b) put something on LJ that doesn't bore me as well. It's really tragic when even the poster is not pleased with what's written but there it is...sigh.

Ivory Cats - Updated

Sat, 31 May 2008 00:41:52 GMT

Lesley Anne Ivory ones to be precise. I love her artwork and have some of her postcards, scrap images and tins.

My favourite cat of hers is the tortie and white female, 'Motley' and I've decieded to collecte some more of her stuff - specialising in images of her. There's something about torties....

I hope eventually to get some of the china plates, mugs etc. There's probably lots of stuff out there....which is why it is probably a good idea to stick to collecting pics or whatever, of just one of her cats. That's Motley in the accompanying userpic BTW.

UPDATE - I've got the plate Motley in the Nasturtiums. Utterly gorgeous!

If anyone out there would like to let me know what other Lesley Anne Ivory items feature Motley (by herself or with other cats) I'd really appreciate it.

Completing Collections

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 23:17:59 GMT

I've been collecting TV21 comics (first series).

When I started I thought there would be no way I could get the first issues. I was wrong - I've got them.

The trouble is I'm still missing two. How frustrating! If I'd known they were going to be so hard to get I'd have bid more on eBay when I did come across them the first time. Oh well, you live and learn!

UPDATE : I found the missing issues! Not on eBay though. Now I've got one issue that needs replacing (it's a bit battered) and - even more difficult - there are two special extra editions from 1965 that I'd like to track down.

Proper Reading

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:29:37 GMT

I've just won a book on eBay, which has got me thinking.

When is the last time I actually read a real book? Not a magazine, a reference book, a catalogue...or what I am usually reading...fan fiction on the net. I mean an honest-to-goodness real paperback fiction book!

I hate to say it but I can't remember. If the book turns out to be worth reading I'll post a review.

Life's Little Lessons

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:28:48 GMT

I struck a less than ethical seller on eBay recently.
I suspect that because I won the item with a low bid (which was hardly my fault!) that’s why I was stung with high postage and insurance (which he didn’t use) and the items I bought weren’t all up to standard.
I suppose it had to happen one day but what a pain! Thankfully, in my experience this incident has been the exception rather than the rule.

The good times end all too soon

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 05:40:54 GMT

The holidays are nearly over and I'm already taking stock of all the things I should have got done while I had the time (once the Christmas shopping was over). Oh well - at least there are some things I can cross off my 'must do' list.

I have enjoying spending more time with my cats though. Well one cat. The other one quickly got used to my presence during the day, and once she discovered it was not going to result in extra snacks she continued with most of her usual routine as though I wasn't there. The other puss could barely leave me alone which meant I am fairly covered in cat fur at the moment. Never mind - she's been wonderful company.

Is there such a thing as a holiday that didn't come with a list of tasks to do?? If there is I'd love to know how it is done.

Christmas Holidays

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:13:47 GMT

I'm on holidays at last!

So far I've spent too much money but at least it's all in cash. It's just as well I don't have any credit cards. I haven't finished my Christmas shopping either and time is running out!

Still - it's nice to be able to sleep in instead of getting up at the crack of dawn. If I could only stop waking up at that time though I'd really feel in a holiday mood.

I can't sleep in for too long though - my cats start demanding their breakfast if I dawdle too much!

Favourite Instrumentals II

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:39:31 GMT

It's been on my list for years and I've finally bought a copy! And what is it?

It's (drum roll)....

'Gazackstahagen' by the Keymen.

Recorded in 1959 so it's vinyl of course. (Go vinyl!) Best of all, it wasn't expensive (thankfully). I can hardly wait for it to arrive!

UPDATE It's here - and I've probably driven the neighbours crazy playing it. I was relieved to find the description of the record's condition was very accurate - it is in very good nick just as was promised. How many times have you bought a record described as Mint or Near Mint only to find it waas no such thing? It's very frustrating!

The Collecting Bug - things I like!

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 05:59:47 GMT

Don't you just love it when you buy something and the seller adds a couple of extra items just for the fun of it? Of course it also might be just because they want to get rid of some junk...but I'm not complaining!

Thank you all who make opening parcels an even more pleasant surprise.

The Collecting Bug - Some things DO bug me!

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 05:17:32 GMT

I'm still buying stuff, but am I the only one irritated by the time some sellers take to post the items out?

What's the protocol after weeks have elapsed - a gentle reminder, an annoyed e-mail, hello I'm still waiting...what?

I've no complaints if they warn me posting will be delayed but as I've even struck a few where they'd forgotten about my purchase completely.

The Collecting Bug

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 01:20:17 GMT

Once upon a time I was happy with the treasured items I'd kept from my childhood. Of course I had some regrets - about the things I'd lost or thrown out (or my mother threw out). But by and large, for decades I managed to live with only what I'd acquired all those years ago.

Then I signed on to eBay.

Since then I've compiled a list - of those items I've bid on, the ones I've won, the things I'm still looking for...and so it goes on. Every few weeks I seem to add a new category to 'Favourites' and my 'frivolous spending allowance' is ballooning out to a substantial amount. There's always something new (or rather old) to look for.

Help! How do I get off this merry-go-round of collecting?

Favourite Instrumentals

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 05:59:59 GMT

I love instrumental pop music - especially from the late 1950s and early 1960s.

My favourite group is The Shadows and I can still remember the thrill of hearing Hank Marvin's guitar when I bought 'Apache'. I've got most of The Shadows' recordings and have seen them in concert many times.

I also like The Ventures' hit 'Walk Don't Run'.

But there was one particular instrumental that actually brought tears to my eyes the first time I really listened to it. It was Joe Meek's classic composition 'Telstar' by The Tornados. It began just fine and I thought it was very catchy - but once that soaring chorus hit me I was overwhelmed. The record belonged to a neighbour so it was some time before I got my own copy. I saved up the money and it was mine at last - the first LP I bought. Now I have the definitive Tornados music on CD - but there's nothing quite like listening to 'Telstar' on vinyl!

Clouds

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 04:52:46 GMT

When I was a child my father used to travel quite a bit with his job, and for any place he went to that included getting there by plane, all the photos he took would start with views of clouds from the aircraft window. We used to find them boring.

Apparently I am turning into my father (probably not a great option as I am female!) because these days I find clouds quite fascinating - especially storm clouds. I even wish my father still had the photos. The Bureau of Meteorology once sent a calendar featuring weather scenes to the CEO of the office where I worked and in it was one of the most beautiful photos of a cloud formation that I had ever seen. It was an ominous grey curved mass, rolling in across the countryside. I would have loved to have kept that photo. As it was, this was in the era before every desk had a computer and a scanner wasn’t to be seen in the whole building. Sigh. I don’t know what kind of clouds they were and a search of the net has so far not resulted in my finding anything remotely like it. A pity really as I quite fancied that pic as a wallpaper. The formation had quite a distinctive rim - rounded like the half circle edge of a grey laminated kitchen bench top. I wish I’d thought to make a note of the caption (and photographer) of that old photo!

I also like high wispy clouds and those odd lone clouds that float all by themselves in a sea of blue sky. And of course I love lightning! Give me a storm in the dead of night and I’ll be wide awake counting the seconds between the thunder and the flashes (actually that should be the other way around!) Add rain (preferably beating against the window) and I’m in heaven. Unfortunately there’s a drought here at the moment. I would not be the only person praying for rain, I’m sure. The scientists talk about the end of El Nino and how the drought should end soon but so far it seems to be taking its time.

And lastly, I defy anyone not to like rainbows. One memorable evening I saw a very bright clear rainbow that not only had a secondary mirrored one, but I swear there was also the faint outline of a possible third. I wish I’d had a camera handy!

One thing I’ve never seen but would like to, is the Southern Lights. I guess I just don’t live far south enough for that. I’ve been lucky to see a total solar eclipse though, and that was marvellous. When the day became ‘night’ crickets and frogs started to sing. It’s amazing how little light the sun needed to send to Earth for that false night to end. The merest fraction, in fact. It’s hard not to be impressed by such natural wonders.

My Favourite Song

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 01:50:24 GMT

I like old music - 40s, 50s and 60s mostly. I like instrumental music like The Shadows, Glenn Miller, The Tornados, The Ventures etc. I guess I listen to more instrumental pop tunes than vocal music - and certainly more than most classical music though Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and Mozart's Einer Kleiner Nachtmusik do get a look in.

But my favourite song of all time isn't an instrumental. It is the (three verse version) of the TV theme for Gerry Anderson's Fireball XL5. I will NEVER tire of listening to this song. I have it on vinyl, on CD and it's included in just about every compilation CD and tape I've made. Barry Gray is probably my favourite composer and while I now have a few versions of Fireball, my favourite remains the original by Oz singer Don Spencer.

Ever had a song that you could listen to 100 times in a row and still not get tired of it? Fireball is mine. It's catchy, it's pure early 60s in style, it's scifi and it brings back some great childhood memories - who could ask for more?

Still alive????

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 05:11:36 GMT

Well I might be but I have some doubts about how this computer can handle LJ. It seems every time I start working on something up comes a message about 'MS encountering a problem'. Then LJ shuts down. Darn darn darn.

Anyone else with this problem? Mind you I'm working from a public computer at the moment (which probably has a lot to do with it). So far so good - maybe I'd better quit while I'm ahead!

School Days are the Happiest Days of Your Life - Part One

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 23:34:11 GMT

I heard it quoted on the TV recently and it made me think. Firstly, what did that mean exactly? If it meant when you were a child you were happier then than as an adult, that might be true - or it might not. But suppose that oft-quoted hackneyed phrase referred specifically to attending school - specifically high school - itself? My answer to that it: forget it!

As a bit of background, I can say I was brought up in a stable happy family with two great parents. I also made friends at school and they are friends still. But as for attending school itself - my working life has been far happier. In this case, high school as defined among those of my generation (the baby-boomers) may probably now be quite an archaic term. In America (if I understand TV programs correctly) it may only refer to secondary school from what I knew as forms 1 to 4 (or years 7 to 10 in later parlance). But when I was at school it meant forms 1 to 6, (I don’t think I need to translate that here. Oh what the hell, years 7 to 12), taking in the final two years often referred to as ‘college’. I gather the concept of college as a separate entity may be the case now even in Oz. But it wasn’t when I was there.
What constitutes happiness at school? My memories of it are mostly of the drudgery of homework, the pettiness of rules that in the real world didn’t matter, the nastiness of some teachers and most of all the sheer volume of facts and figures we had to learn but have never needed since.

Take the facts and figures. There are some things that I am forever grateful for learning such as a reasonable grasp of English including all the bits and pieces that go with learning it - grammar, spelling, punctuation, expression and goodness knows what else. I know what the subject and predicate are and I can discuss the subjunctive if pressed, but I can’t say knowing them has exactly enriched my life. In fact knowing the rules about The Use of The Apostrophe has only enraged me at the stupidity of the advertising world - and their equally ignorant clients.
The basics of mathematics can’t be ignored either - to be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide has been very useful. Especially when I can’t find a calculator. Even the odd bit of extremely basic algebra has been utilised on occasions. Mind you I can’t honestly say I’ve needed to draw a parabola since high school but at least I can recognise one if I see it. Basic geometry has been handy on occasions too - especially how to divide a line into equal parts when it’s not going to be something dead easy like dividing a 10cm line into 1cm bits. But there was much more I had to learn that hasn’t been needed since! I spent years learning imperial measurements - 12 inches equals one foot, 3 feet = I yard, 51/2 yards = one rod, pole or perch … and so it goes on. Too bad Oz eventually went metric, wasn’t it?
Of history I find dates something of a blur. In fact I’ve learned far more since the advent of TV documentaries than I’ve ever retained from ploughing through some very dull textbooks with mostly black and white illustrations.

I liked science when I was at school - well parts of it. I loved astronomy - and when I had a science teacher who organised a star gazing night I thought it was marvellous. Mind you the amount of moons Jupiter had ‘in my day’ is not the figure taught now, also Saturn was the only planet with rings and Pluto was considered a real planet, not a whatever-it-is-called at the moment. I’ll admit I wasn’t quite so keen on chemistry. I always seemed to get the combinations of oxygen, hydrogen and the rest of them all wrong. I wasn’t so hot at learning the abbreviations for each element either. However, I still remember what H2SO4 is if anyone is interested - and very useful that detail will be if anyone suggests I drink it. The funny thing is, I re-learned many of the abbreviations as an adult and the second time around chemistry started to make a kind of sense. I can barely remember botany and the day I had to dissect an (already dead) frog will stay in my mind forever as an extremely low point. With the publicity on the marked decrease in frogs around the world I can only assume that barbaric practice has now ceased.

I also ‘studied’ French and German in the sense that I started to learn them, but the nightly grind of new vocabulary to memorise soon killed my enthusiasm. I was not a diligent student - I was in fact, at times a rather lazy one. I gave up geography for German because the geography teacher set more homework than I thought was reasonable. Of course it turned out there was plenty of homework in studying German too, but looking back, I still think I made the right decision. I haven’t needed German since and my knowledge of countries and their capital cities is probably pathetic but at least I somehow passed the German exams at the time - I wouldn’t have done the same for geography! In any case lots of countries have changed names and boundaries since those days so it’s probably just as well I didn’t make geography my specialist subject. I have an old atlas somewhere that still says ‘Indo China’.

So did learning all this make me ‘happy’? I can’t say it did. It was just something you had to do.

And what about the teachers? I had them all - the good, the bad and the indifferent. They were a mixture of nuns and lay teachers. None of them were male. High school was an all-girls school BTW. A few teachers I think were just plain crazy. I’m not going to name them - they might be still around, and for all I know the rest of my classmates might have thought they walked on water. The crazy ones lost their tempers a lot and sometimes I think we were even a bit scared of them. There were some good ones too - some of them managed to be nice, to make the subject interesting and yet still retain control of the class - the measure of a really good teacher in my book. The indifferent ones were very easy to spot. They made everything they taught seem deadly dull. It was hard to stay awake in their classes and apathy gradually covered every student like a dusty shroud. One teacher really stays in my mind - she taught science and had a reptile collection which she once brought to the school. I was even allowed to hold a carpet python which I considered a real highlight - especially when I sang out, “Look what I’ve got!” - and a whole heap of girls ran screaming from the room. Very gratifying!

One thing that really makes a mockery of saying school days are the best in you life was… The Rules. There were lots of them - particularly about the wearing of uniforms. We had uniforms designed to be as uncomfortable as possible, to be as unflattering as possible (if you had the looks to start with that is), and they were (according to the parents) quite probably as expensive as possible as well. They made the skinniest student look overweight, and if you were already overweight (as I was) the effect was gruesome. From forms 1 to 4 a fawn short sleeved dress was worn in summer, complete with gathers across the bust and pleats in the skirt part. Add an uncomfortable plain maroon tie and, a just to complete the look, a maroon felt hat with a grosgrain band and brown school shoes and there you have it. The same shoes, tie and hat featured in winter but the crowning look was a fawn long sleeved undershirt with a maroon pinafore-style tunic over - complete with three huge box pleats at the front and three at the back as well. Both uniforms had matching belts of course. If you were cold then you could wear a maroon jumper and/or a maroon blazer with the school crest on it. I liked the blazer though - I had the pockets so full of junk (none of it school-related) that they were pushed out of shape.
The biggest rule about uniforms was Not To Wear The Skirt Too Short. This obsessed the nuns and students alike and was probably the chief cause of Detention and Letters Sent to Parents. There were rules about jewellery as well - you could wear a watch of course, and plain sleepers if your ears were pierced (but no earrings at all if they weren’t). Other items like friendship rings were frowned upon but religious jewellery like crosses and crucifixes were OK provided they were worn underneath the clothes and out of view. This was also the era before body piercing went berserk, thankfully, so that problem never arose.

The sports uniform (ha!) was a bright yellow short sleeved heavy cotton shirt worn under a blue (heavy) cotton tunic made in exactly the same style as the winter uniform - big box pleats and all. Under that you were supposed to wear matching yellow bloomers. I don’t think too many did and my mother made me a pair of yellow cotton shorts instead which I thought was a fraction better than bloomers, plus that deviation still earned the ire of the nuns. The sports uniform belt was a silky chord affair with tassels on the ends and you wore whatever colour your school house was - red, blue, green or yellow. These school team colours were apparently decided in form 1 and I for one never could remember which house I belonged to. Still, if you thought the sports uniform was bad….

The crowning glory in school uniform awfulness was the version worn by forms 5 and 6. There was a new slightly smaller version of the hat - not too wide but still made of maroon fabric, and the brown shoes remained as well, but the tie was changed to a dinky little thing, kind of like a longer thinner floppier version of the bow tie. It was still a plain maroon too of course. Actually that’s probably not a good description of the tie but frankly, words fail me. What replaced the fawn summer dress and maroon winter pinafore had to be seen to be believed. There was a maroon skirt - with two huge ugly pleats front and back and a matching thin maroon coloured belt. It was uncomfortable to wear and used to slide around all the time so you’d spend ages trying to get those pleats in the right position. Above the skirt you wore a plain mauve shirt. It was a shade that flattered no-one and as you had to tuck it into the shirt you then looked liked a sack of potatoes tied much too tightly in the middle. If you were blessed (or hampered) by a large bust (as I was) the effect was ghastly as the shirt never stayed in place and would balloon out making you look more than three times top heavier. The different uniform was designed to let the rest of the school know we were the ‘seniors’ so we had to stand out. It did the trick. We certainly stood out. In fact we looked ridiculous.

Phew. I'm surprised I had so much to say. I think I’ve whinged enough for the moment and should really take a break. There’s probably more to come though. If you’ve read this far then I hope I’ve jogged a few memories - particular among those of us ‘of a certain age’.

Fussy Felines

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 05:13:16 GMT

The time has come to buy a new cat litter tray. Sigh. I have a choice - in fact I have too much of a choice! I also have one very fussy cat. Actually there are two cats but one takes changes in her stride. The other one, however, regards everything new with suspicion.

So I'm at the pet shop checking out litter trays...
There's the plain shallow tray, the deeper version, the kind with a hood, the kind with a hood and 'odour filter' - and so it goes on.

Ever notice how all these trays come in brightly coloured plastic? I wish they came in a less odour retaining material like stainless steel or something. (Roll up! Roll up! Buy the tray that will long outlive your pet!) OK, I guess that's one reason you don't see anything but plastic ones.

So after mulling over the range of products I bought....nothing. I'll have to think about it, as none of the trays resemble the current one in size and height. It gets like this when you're owned by fussy felines. Especially when you're buying litter trays - because it's not as though you can take it back for a refund if your cat doesn't like it.

Making a Start

Sat, 03 Feb 2007 01:31:10 GMT

Here goes nothing! Well I've chosen a layout and some colours and what I hope are cute icons I can live with. There's probably a hell of a lot more I can do but I think I'll take a softly softly approach.

Now what do I write??

It's amazing how, when confronted with a blank page and the possibility of anyone being able to read what I say, the mind goes blank and what (eventually) hits the page is daft ramblings. To anyone who might read this - my apologies!

Well - that's all I want to stay for starters. Think I'll stop and see what this page looks like.