Val's Cafe

Skinny Keef

Hey Reshmi, loved the onions, forwarded to Anda 👍

thanks.

feeling much better today. Managed a bit of guitar. I wonder how long i have had this bacteria in my system as i am feeing better than for a long time. Pain is still there but underneath that I feel better, hard to explain, maybe someone here will understand what I mean. Like someone has just given me an unexpected hand up. Nice.

bosh

Hi toady

don’t worry I was only joking about the grumbling I grumble a lot but not necessarily in the Cafe, the grumbling of mine that you read is just the tip of the grumbling iceberg lol

i hope the unscheduled phone call goes ok

it sounds a bit daunting

i think you were right about stress - related fatigue catching up with me

i don’t think I’m fully over it yet, but I did manage to get some rest thanks 👍

I made a little mistake by trying one of those “healthy sweet snacks”, namely a chocolate, cacao bean and date - covered oat and nut ball from the health food shop, it wasn’t a full “adulk” portion thankfully, but I think it made me bloated and tired so basically I was as tired as a vampire nurse after running from the sunlight or a toady after her postbox walk, pick the image which suits haha - don’t worry that’s me just having another harmless joke there.

but I’ve had to relocate and am completely wiped as they say

so good night toady Keef and everyone tc xx

Skinny Keef

Keef Richards says in his biography that he’s probably lived 2 lifetimes because of his insomnia. I know how he feels now. I used to enjoy his choice of drink too. I think I almost fell asleep at one point actually, I must have done coz I was almost having a very strange dream about annoying little creatures but alas it’s 1 am and I’m about to explore my vast music collection again with headphones on.

frogmorton

Morning!

New Year's Eve already.

Morning Joan so your cousin who lived with you was he older or younger than you? Thanks for the information about your statins. I'll let you know what the Dr says on the 3rd. How is your cold now? Take care ((())) xxx

Morning Keef yes resting in the bunker was my prescription for yesterday.

I bet you were upset for shouting at Sucré especially as he only wanted his beloved Daddad. To be fair it is very difficult to be patient when you feel ill isn't it? I hope by today you feel a good bit better though.

Aha skinny keefs do like marmalade I'm sure you can have some of Toady's winter warmer. Small cats are happy to share😉

Love Sucré's please and thank you lessons😁 to be fair you are actually doing really well with him. Much better than those who don't even try. He'll get there. I expect you two are constantly saying please and thank you to each other in an OTT kind of way.

Coffee?

Morning Reshmi

How are you doing? It's chillier out there but not raining so going for an early walk.

I often start the day with a sore back too a sit, tablets, hot drink and hot shower before I do anything usually sorts it. Hope yours is ok.

Your Dad is ahead in good deeds? Already done 2024's🤣 I believe that too! Well done your Mum threatening to drive there herself. Honestly though I am so glad BR is ok that's all that matters and hopefully he won't be fed quite so much in future. I can imagine him politely eating what even he's given except....shicken. Sorry if I spelt that wrong!

Good your Mum's 'tac' is better and her bs stable. She is pretty amazing.

We walk in Kari's nearby park too but the dogs there are all either friendly or o their leads luckily. (Also fortunately no nice coffee shops!). The Forest is amazing especially on a hoar frost day (not yesterday sadly) when the sun evaporates the ice?

a bit like that. I'll take a photo if it happens this year oh next year! I forgot!

Saw the foster babies last night. Gosh they are doing well. One is a year now one 17 months. Adorable.

Take care and I love the Tibetan prayer wheels beautiful. ((())) and the spring onion art brilliant!

Morning Toady

hope you're ok today? Did the phone call go ok? I think I will need to make one or two tomorrow myself to my Mum's half sisters. Not looking forward to it but I will do it. Might do it from Kari's then we can share the 'burden'.

Blimey that was close with your parcels! At least you were ready. I am struggling with the days of the week too atm it's all out of synch.🙄

The new ickle house is in situ the old one still in place too so Sleek can decide......

So far she has been in and out of both. Have a chat and see what she says will you? Is the new one 'suitable' for a small cat? If so I can book her a (take your time reading this one) 'remo-fur-ball' van for next week.

old house spectacular but battered and tea stained.

New house boring but immaculate... Put together by Charley and Annie yesterday for me.

Mean old Nosegay, but as you say best of a bad job probably.

Have a good day take care. Love the marmalade BTW as does Keef!

Skinny Keef

I think there is maybe need of a spin off thread here. The Amazing Adventures of Sleek the Wondercat. Bought to you from the Cat Lair or the Ickle House, depending on your target audience

Episode One, Sleek visits Toady to help solve the eBay mystery shopper mystery.

I tell you lot, Enid Blight On the Landscape got nuffink on us lot. I could do the theme tune. Reshmi could right the rhyming script, Toni obviously would be the celebrity cat owner/agent, Toady would be Sleeks sidekick. Dachshund’s hounds could play some evil arch enemies, have I forgotten anyone??? I can see it going all the way to Broadway as a musical. We’d all be millionaires by next Christmas.

I would like the credits to mention Based on idea by Skinny Keef after many many nights of no sleep. Lol

mind you I’m not doing the promo tour. All the endless interviews and that green room hospitality stuff was just too much last time darlings!

Skinny Keef

Episode Two; The Mystery of the missing Piggie

Skinny Keef

i’ll stop now 🤪

Skinny Keef

Obviously can’t spell when I’m tired.

dachshund

Good morning everyone

Kitty (()) It will be nice when it’s a bit warmer. Have a good day.

Toady (()) I hope you have a good day. Keep warm. I hope your phone call went alright.

Barbara (()) love to you and Mr B (()) and your son (()) and Niamh (()) and your niece (()) and her fiancé (())

Toni (()) Have a good day. We lived with our gran our mum worked our cousin was 10 when we were born he was pleased going to school telling children his sister was expecting twins. He died of Cancer when he was 50. Life can be hard at times. Thank you for asking about my cold not too bad now. Sorry you have to do a difficult phone call (()) love to Paul (()) and Charley (()) and Annie (()) and Lucy (()) and Tia (()) and Kari (()) and your friend (()) and your lovely neighbours (())

Reshmi (()) love to you and your mum (()) take care

Keef (()) you are bringing your son up to have manners (()) love to Sucr’e (()) and Loanda (())

bosh

Good morning everyone wppl xx

happy new year’s eve

bosh

Hi Toni toady Joan and Keef

how are you all this afternoon?

mum went mad with the thermostat this morning

so I had a really long sleep

but maybe I needed it

it did disorientate me a bit though

I did some of the VA FB physio routine though which helped

it didn’t just make me feel that I’d achieved a small thing and stretched of course,

it felt like a bit human social interaction even though I was a staring at a screen lol

because there’s no worse for me than the days when I can’t go outside at all and just speak the the Vesuvius members

Keef that was sweet when Sucre said “ please” and “you’re welcome” lol

LA’s Spider-Man backpack arrived here today I may appropriate it and use it as a bargaining tool so LA can tame the tarantula, it’s a natural predator I know, but as Toni said, whoever heard of a giant wriggling spider toy being put on a mima’s leg? My goodness, highly irregular 😂

Mums bs is ok today thanks, she’s cooking chicken biryani right now, I wasn’t allowed to help her or stop her but at least she’s happy 👍

toady even I heard the rain last night, which is unusual here in The Tropics lol

was the wind still howling?

how did you sleep?

Toni I saw a sitcom where a woman said she knew she was aging (well she was 35 - bosh snorts derisively - but that’s another topic) because she had to moisturise her arms before she went to bed to keep her skin looking good- I almost said “welcome to psoriasis” 😂

👋Joan are you and Sue doing anything nice today?

or just relaxing?

BR is good thanks everyone 🙏

he’s only committed a minor misdemeanour by telling granny that he hadn’t been given any breakfast in the hope he could sneakily get some more Blearios, bless him

but he must he hungry after not eating properly for so long

ok I’ll stop there for now getting a bleary eyed- in the sleepy manner I mean, not obsessing about sugary cereal, not yet lol.

have a nice NYE afternoon everyone take care xx

toady

Hi all 🎉

The phone calls did not go well entirely, one down one to go, will save the grisly details for tomorrow 🤨 all I'll say is you have my heartfelt sympathy for having had 2 to make yourself frog and I hope they went better than mine 😬. Going to bed early myself, in true 'anti- fun and celebrations' toad style 😄 so proper post tomorrow just to wish everyone a Happy New Year for tomorrow 🎆 (but not too many fireworks, for small cats, and all village life)🤞have a good night :) xx

Happy New Year's Eve Joan & Sue, hope not too noisy for the dogs :) one phone call was fine the other I was hanging about for & didn't happen 🙄 xx

Hi bosh, see you tomorrow, hope the long rest did you good & you'll sleep ok tonight too, mine was mixed but not too windy/rainy thanks, just not nice weather though is it 😕. Wishing you a good New Year in advance, I'm not staying up unless unintentionally and I'm up joining keef in midnight tea ☕️ :) xx

V glad to hear you feel better on an underneath level I do know what you mean 👍️ hope the sleep improves though. Love the outline for the grand Sleek &c broadway musical 😂 I feel you're going to be one of those highly-strung directors insisting everything is just so 😄. Toady and the mystery shopper, it's the missing shoppers that are the trouble, the ones not putting their hands in their wallets 🤔. Hope you have a good night and every good wish for twentytwenty whatever it is 😬 xx

Love to everyone 😘 xx

bosh

Hi Keef

how are you feeling this evening/ night?

I think that’s a great idea, combining everyone’s talents to make a feline musical!

would we be allowed to keep the money? that’s the question,

maybe Sleek and Joan and Sue’s dogs will suddenly get a taste for the high life, solid gold feeding bowls, caviar in the cat food etc lol

toady can do the interviews haha

I”ll placate toady’s new neighbours who didn’t “sign up” for living next door to a celebrity, with bowls of chicken / vegan nuggets and Blearios

Then we all go back to the bunker to partake of apple crumble or antacids, in my case probably the latter to be honest

have as good a NYE night as poss, bye for now take care x

bosh

Good night toady and everyone

I just wanted to say this is a very simple but imaginative dessert my mum created for LA during his time here at Reading On The Riviera or whatever lol, just jelly and custard but it bears more than a passing resemblance to a volcano! Mamma Mia!

xx

frogmorton

Happy New Year everyone!!! To our 'regulars' and anyone who pops by.

Oh I'm first footing dark wig on coal in hand......

Morning Joan how lovely having a cousin 10 years older to look after you. You must have been well-looked after you girls😊 Cancer is truly vile the way it takes people too young.😕 Still at least your cold is going. Any resolutions for you and Sue? ((())) xxx

Morning Keef!

Brilliant! One overtired Skinny Keef (much preferred to a skinny latte) is rather creative methinks! We all have roles in the new production and books. Enid Blight On the Landscape!! That did make me laugh😂

Those were the days eh? Wouldn't dream of reading those books to kids these days would we? Way to much smacking going on. If it hadn't been for the famous five I'd never have run away from school (junior), in search of a disused bothy, armed only with a makeup bag. To look older to get a job you understand. Not to eat as my sister said some time later when we'd given ourselves (my best friend and me) to a Rozzer with an Alsatian dog. Were you going to eat a lipstick? She said.

Eeeeh! Them were t'days!

I have checked and Piggie is back - phew, but where did he go? The mystery of the missing pig continues......

Sleek is 100% up for it.

What medication have they put you on?😃

Coffee? but better make it decaf

Morning Reshmi

How are you? Not so tired I hope if your Mum hasn't gone mad with the thermostat again. To be fair you probably did need the rest.

I hope she is ok too? Blood sugar ok? Chicken biryani oooh lovely. Don't tell BR it has his dreaded chicken in it though will you?

I do love the VA exercise videos too they are great for rainy/snowy/icy days when you just can't get out to exercise aren't they? I bet it feels better hearing a nice calm encouraging voice instead of vesuvius

Although I rather liked your Mum's jelly and custard it does rather resemble Vesuvius.

Good idea to use the back pack to 'encourage' a certain LA to treat his beloved Auntie Mima as befits a person of her fine sensibilities. Toy sp***rs should never be placed upon such genteel personages knees😮

Yup these facial moisturiser adverts always make me laugh! As if anyone needs the stuff they are lathering on at their ages?! Agreed they would never cope with proper emollients would they? Then there are the women who are older who have had surgery or are airbrushed to look about 30. Sigh....no hope for us real women.

It is extremely windy outside here. Hat on hood up methinks!

Take care ((())) xxx

Morning Toady

Happy new year to you too. I was in bed for 9 as per usual. I find a) I can't stay awake anyway and b) those New Year programs on TV so depressing! Who needs to start a new year off with that - not me for sure.

Erm confession I did not make my calls. Kari and I are going to do them together and she was a bit busy yesterday. She intended to stay awake playing scrabble with her son and DIL so will be exhausted today

We will make the calls tomorrow. Sorry yours weren't great ((()))

No fireworks here to disturb small cats thank goodness.

She is off to yours now in my wig with my piece of coal in paw. That catsi wasn't cheap on New Years' day😮

Take care.

naughty breakfast 😋

bosh

Good morning everyone wppl xx

dachshund

Happy new year everyone and the moderators

Why do people have to fight and row why can’t people just be satisfied with what they have.

Kitty (()) I hope all is well there love to your carers (())

Toady (()) have a good day. I hope you have a good year with out too many problems. Happy new year to Mr Blackbird and little mice.

Barbara (()) Happy new year to you and Mr B (()) love to your son (()) and Niamh (()) and your niece (()) and her fiancé (())

Toni (()) Happy new year to you and your big family and dogs and cats and others. Good luck with your appointment on the 3’rd. love to Paul (()) and Charley (()) and Annie (()) and Lucy (()) and Tia (()) and Kari (()) and your friend (()) and your lovely neighbours (())

Reshmi (()) I hope you have a good day and your mum (()) I hope you have a good new year with not too many problems.

Keef (()) have a good day. I hope the Doctor can say why you have so much pain this year. Love to Sucr’e (()) and Loanda (()) I wish them all the best this year.

happy new year to Mig Sticky wicket and DD Julie and any one else I’ve missed.

bosh

Hi Toni

How are you this afternoon?

are doing anything nice to celebrate today?

im ok thanks

mums bs is ok 🙏

she was in a bit of a bad mood this morning, but seems better now thanks

chicken biryani was very delicious. Thanks for asking, mum went to a lot of trouble and used a special new recipe that involved less rich ingredients, in fact so different from the dreaded chicken nuggets that I’m wondering if BR would’ve enjoyed it after all? Aww, too many peppercorns etc for a tiny littley of course though unfortunately

yes, thanks, I agree, a lovely looking dessert, but it looks like a lava flow situation- oh dear - have all the rooms been bugged? I am of course not talking about ladybugs 🐞

or tarantulas, in this instance

the hoar frost sounds lovely by the way

a bit of neck pain I’ll stop for now

bye for now Toni tc xx

ps this is a bad mood chair according to the Internet lol xx

bosh

Hi again Toni

you were right about the weather again 👍

hats and hoods day indeed

LA wanted to stay up yesterday to see in the new year but he fell asleep in front of the tv at 9 pm bless him

when he woke up he asked my sis if he’d stayed awake past midnight. I’m not sure what her reply was, maybe it all depended on how many monstrous sp*der toys were crawling around on her person lol.

Yes you’re right the delicate sensibilities of a mima should indeed be respected, but how to enforce, how about no Paw Patrol watching until after supper? No I don’t think I’m brave enough to suggest that, otherwise the next thing I know a toy (hopefully) alligator may devour my knee as it didn’t have time to go to al fresco and buy a suitably aristocratic accompaniment for French fries - oh dear it doesn’t bear thinking about

yes French fries little LA, not Italian fries - which would indeed be “quelle catastrophe” lol

LLF has emerged from her lair to text “Happy New Year”, well that was generous of her, haha

I texted back in a polite bland manner and sent my polite and insincere smile to her via smile - in - reply- mail, it’s even slower than regular post and “arachnids - oh - why?” - mail as toady the writer and director of all things Spider-Man - related once said ( she kept that under her 4 hats didn’t she? 😂) once had occasion to use when faced with a visit from the littley - aristocracy with not a spare cobweb or any black widow - proof armour in sight - how decidedly ookey 😱

I hope you and K got through the nasty phone calls ok

bye for now Toni tc xx

ps i know another temple but I thought it was a nice pic, Buddhist temple in Nepal this time xx

bosh

Hi Joan

how are you both doing today?

thanks about mum and I

we are ok thank you

i hope you have a great new year too

bye tc xx

Ps gothic cake for those who partake lol xx

bosh

Hi Keef

how are you today?

hope you’re feeling a bit better?

take care, Reshmi.

hi toady

how are you doing this evening?

my parents and I are supposed to be going to a Japanese restaurant tomorrow as a kind of late birthday treat for mums birthday which was in December

but the weather forecast look’s decidedly ookey

so we will have to see what happens

i actually managed to sit down and have a cup of tea at “wear a jacket / cost a packet” - or whatever it’s called these days, lol - I think it was because I went relatively early and of course most people were still recovering from nighttime partying, porridge consumption with postman, vegging in front of tv with cabbage nugget burger activities and so on 👍

I did also see a lot of confetti on the road, which was quite unusual, as there’s not a lot of nocturnal partying round here to be honest, so I am slightly concerned, ok more than slightly, that maybe LA has entered into a marriage with one - well hopefully one - lady baby!

my goodness what a thought

does that mean that tarantula king of the toy creepy crawlies has in turn found his partner / queen?

so what would I present the many legged couple with as a wedding gift?

Dark chocolate covered flies with no added sugar?

Do I eat 25 of these “alternative sweet treats” and leave 2 in the box?

oh no, my gastric oracle will choose to emigrate intergalactically if I even try to entertain such notions

ok that was a bit of a tangent really 😂

I hope you have an ok night and a better sleep tonight toady bye tc xx

toady

Hi all 😊 Happy New Year everyone xx

Quiet day, well apart from the rain of course 🙄 I managed a 5 minute New Year bit of a tidy up in the garden frog but it really was 5 mins, before it started off again, blah. Sleek & I stayed in instead and she helped me look through my Christmas cards and sort a few piles of bits & bobs. Yes New Year catsi prices are a bit eye-watering but had to be done, in this weather, won't it be nice when she can come over under her own steam on the bike & sidecar 😀 anyway she made a lovely first foot thank you, especially as mine is usually the boiler man 😱😄. I am still one phone call down, I texted the person earlier happy new year and said my mobile would be off for a bit then, I don't think they tried later on either but at least (I thought) it was a rare bit of assertiveness on my part rather than hang about with one ear out for the phone. Half my problem yesterday was I started to doubt which number they had for me & thought I'd better check the other phone, whose sim I had not put back since fiddling about with sims and batteries the day before (long story). Then I couldn't find it 😬 where was it in the end..? Under the battery in the other phone, where I had put it for safe keeping while I was swapping things, and put the battery back on top. Isn't it good that this is a New Year, clean start, and these sort of self-inflicted things will not be happening to me any more 😂😂. And your calls did not happen either, eek, well if they did today well done, I do hope you have got them 'off you' 😬. I bet Kari is exhausted today too, I find Scrabble extraordinarily tiring, can't really understand it, even without the staying up. How is the ickle house trial run going, it does look like a larger property, so Sleek may be swayed by the idea she is going up the property ladder 😀. Are the teastains on the old on on the exterior, or from her taking hers inside to drink 😄. Glad there were no fireworks I feared for your next doors', there was a sudden barrage of those gunfire sort here I'd convinced myself maybe people wouldn't bother, and a few horns and hootings. Have a good first normal day of the year, hope everyone well 👍️ p.s. had to post this in case you hadn't seen it, because just such a heavenly story I want to be these cats 😍. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-67686351 xx

Hello Joan, hope you & Sue have had a good day. Lovely post 😀 if everyone cared about little mice instead of fighting we would all be better off. Wildlife quiet at the moment mostly pigeons and magpies but what would want to come out in this weather anyway 🙄. Have you seen the foxes lately. Talking about cousins my Dad had lots of sisters & their families were far apart in age, my second cousin is older than I am, it gets very confusing. Have a good night love to all :) xx

Hi bosh, beautiful chair 😍 I need one of those for bad moods it would get lots of use haha. Glad everyone not too bad today and little BR has been feeling like 2nd helpings of Blearios, that's good 👍️😀. Oh and nice jelly & custard pic, life doesn't get much better than that if you ask me, jelly & icecream maybe 🤔 but you can't really beat custard. I'm not sure we will be getting much of a cut of 'keef the musical' though myself, you're right, so we will probably only be having the everyday sort not the super madagascan vanilla variety 😄. Sorry the weather looks a bit horrid for your mum's belated birthday treat, maybe it will veer off overnight & go & rain on someone else🤞I will see what I can do 🧙‍♀️. Not much news I have been doing the same as you and exchanging slightly unsatisfactory text messages, while waiting for an email I would actually like but am not getting apparently 🤨 not to mention a lack of ones telling me I've won an interesting prize or something like that 😕. Well done actually getting a seat in Wear a Jacket for a cup of tea 😀 ooh could the confetti have indeed been LA-related New Year nuptials, surely not, surely mima's would have been RSVP'd (reply swiftly, via pider-mail). Time will tell, if there are the usual hordes of weeping ladybaby's congregating around MH because word has got around, then we will know 😮. Have a good night and all the best for tomorrow :) xx

Hope keef doing okay today & family 👋

Have a good night everyone 😘 xx

bosh

Thanks toady

have a good night xx

ps a chair for one of your neighbours lol xx

frogmorton

Morning everyone :)

Lucy's Winnie waiting at the window for her Grandma (me) to arrive to feed her❤️

Morning Joan hope you are both well today? It's going to be windy later and I need to put the bins out today too 😕 Might wait and do it tomorrow morning....Yes tomorrow is teh appt at the Drs where we discuss the results of my scan thanks for remembering me ((())) xxx

Morning Keef I hope all is well and you are ok all of you? Have you been able to risk a visit to see your Mum yet? I do hope so.

Leaving you a cuppa

Morning Reshmi

I hope you are well it's going to be windy again later apparently so we will need to hold onto our hats today again and lots of rain brolleys probably won't survive the winds.😕

Maybe your Mum's mood will be better today glad her sugar is nice and stable still.

The biryani sounded lovely I bet BR would like it in a few years time when his palate can cope with plenty of spicy peppercorns. He is clearly not a nugget fan.

Imagine LA thinking he could see the new year in!!!! Did his Daddy carry him up to bed?

I have no idea what we can do with one such as LA with his evil sp***r today. I expect all his friends have them probably. Definitely best not to look scared otherwise the fun factor will be even greater. Restrict Paw patrol viewing?😮nooooo! Who knows what repercussions might occur.

Happy to sit in the angry chair not at all sure about the (posterior- poking-porcupine) cactus chair though.

LLF emerged from the woodwork did she? I wonder how she is🤔I think your reply was probably perfect in the circumstances. She is an odd-un.

Do you think the gastric oracle will be happy if we try both of those lovely cakes? They are darkly and mysteriously beautiful.

Morning Toady how are you?

I expect you'll get this stupid wind and rain like me today🙄honestly.

Sleek has her wet weather gear here and a catsi booked. She has started her motorbike and sidecar a couple of times in the garage to stop the brakes seizing but no the weather is still too rough.

Can I take the decs down yet? I hope the last phone call gets done ASAP.

I am off to a garden centre in Cambridgeshire! I need to meet Fatty and George. Sleek and fatty should get on well with their names. Maybe not though.

Oh dear what a stress that silly phone hiding! I rather think we did ought to tell people that we will have our phones switched off more often. I also need to learn to say no.

The tea-stains are on the roof and are mine😳 sorry Sleek. The interior ones are Sleeks if there are any and I doubt it she is very pawticular as you know.

Take care and have a lovely day I hope.

Ellen

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/comment/716552#Comment_716552

Thank you @dachshund a Happy New year to you too🙂