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[turps]

It's Murphy's Gotcha Day today. One year with that clumsy, loveable idiot in our lives. He's very much a teenage cat now, knocks things over just because he can. Would eat everything if he had a chance and he even knocked a canvas off the wall the other day because he was standing on top of the fish tank. Of course, the canvas fell down the back where I can't reach it.

Murphy still thinks it's his right to sleep in our bed, not at the bottom, oh no, he sleeps under the covers next to my head, but horizontal so he takes up the most space. He thinks Milo is his best friend, not that Milo agrees and is alarmed every time he sees Pansy. Seriously, I wish I could write out what he sounds like when he sees her, it's like this long high-pitched eeeeee sound which we now call the Pansy Alarm.

I posted a photo at insta so some will have seen it already, but, many Murphy's





It's been a gorgeous spring day today so we've been to Durham for our walk. The last time we were there was at the end of August to see Tenant -- and what a film to finish on before the cinemas shut down, it could have been something good at least. I waved at the Odeon and told it I missed it and would be back asap and then we wandered to the market square and sat in the sunshine and shared a box of chips for dinner.

We also had a bit of an explore, checking out a path that went behind the castle. Durham is a very old city with cobbled streets and lots of hills, and this path we took was like that but narrow, so due to his ankles and feet being fixed, James was regretting our choices as we inched back down a slope to get back to the main area. Still, it was fun to find a place we'd never been before -- well, I thought it was fun anyway.

We also found out today that our green home grant has been approved, so now it's a case of booking in the jobs, hopefully, on days James is off to help with cat wrangling duties.

Comments

[dine]

hi, Murphy, hi! hapy gotcha day to you all

glad you could enjoy the lovely spring weather - it's a nice time of year, isn't it?

[turps]

Murphy says thank you for his Gotcha Day wishes :D

I do enjoy spring, having a bit of sun makes all the difference.

[frausorge]

He's such a handsome young gentleman! Look at those big round innocent eyes!!

Also, yay for the grant! That's excellent news.

[turps]

Murphy's eyes may look innocent but he's not! *g*

The grant was brilliant news.

[pensnest]

A green home grant sounds interesting - is that stuff like loft insulation, or something more dramatic?

[turps]

The first thing we're getting for the green home grant is a solar water heater, which apparently will heat up a third of the water at no cost. Plus, a hive system for the controls and something else I'm blanking on right now.

The second stage we get underfloor installation and a new energy efficient boiler.

You have to get something big done for stage one, which in our case is the solar heater, then once that's installed you could get things from stage two. I guess they must have a sliding scale of how much energy/money will be saved using each thing so have to have something big first.

It's a fantastic grant and I'm thrilled we're getting all that for nothing, but still wish we could have got new windows and doors as our big thing as our double glazing is shocking. But, because they were already fitted in the past by the council before we bought the house that was impossible.

[spikedluv]

Love those photos! I especially like the top middle one. Reminds me of when Midnight is comfortable enough to just kind of melt onto his side on me while he reaches up to knead my throat. It's one of my favorite things. I could sit there forever with him sprawled out on me.

[turps]

Oh yes! I love when pets have so much trust they just sprawl on you. It's so comfortable just sitting together ♥

[shadowhive]

Awww Murphy is such a cutie and he sounds so cheeky🖤

It’s been quite nice here too. Tenant isn’t something I’ve seen but I’ve heard it’s... odd

[turps]

Murphy thinks he's king of the house :D

Tenant is one of those films you have to watch with all your attention just to understand what the hell is happening. And even then I ended up lost in places.

[shadowhive]

Of course he does!

Yeah I think I read the synopsis of it on wiki and was very confused by that

Since I know you like Christmas films, this made me think of you!

[turps]

That Christmas film looks amazing! And you're right, totally up my street. Now I want to watch it right now!

[shadowhive]

Yeah as soon as I saw I thought of you! I think I’ll watch it too when it’s up🖤

[turlough]

Hi Murphy! You're such a cutie!!

The Pansy Alarm made me giggle! It's not so strange that he finds her scary though, it's always the oldest female who's the boss :-)

Sounds like you'd an interesting walk in Durham even if James regretted it a bit.

Congratulations to the grant! It will be interesting to hear what they're going to do to improve your house.

[turps]

Murphy is cute, but a pain in the backside at times *g*

The Pansy Alarm cracks me up, I've never known a cat make a noise like it. But yeah, you're right, the oldest female should be boss. Poor Milo, despite being the oldest, is so placid he's very much bottom of the pecking order now.

It was a lovely walk at Durham, but I suspect James won't be taking that alley again.

Well, they're starting with the solar water heater and upgraded digital heating control. Then, once that is done underfloor installation and a new boiler. I still wish we could have got the windows changed, but what we are getting is great. Hopefully, it will save a lot of money in the long run.

[ephemera]

Such a cutie! And hurray for the green grant!

[turps]

We've signed the contract for the grant, now it's a 4-6 week wait to see when the jobs will happen.

[brandywine28]

I'm so glad Murphy got gotcha'd by you guys. What a sweetie.

[turps]

I'm glad we got him too. Considering it was a few days before the total lockdown, we could have easily never met him.