Cate's Diary

Cate said:
He then checked his cameras & saw that someone was definitely walking around on our land, just above our house & shining a torch toward his property.
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Yeah I can see how that would be really unsettling. Good for your neighbor giving you that heads up. Cameras might not be a bad idea...
Cate said:
I am staying right out of it & don't think I'll go near the golf club.
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Sounds like a good plan. That is good that G just cancelled that tournament instead of trying to organize something by himself. Good for people to understand that things don't happen if people don't step up. So many cases of one volunteer doing all the work until they burn out and then someone else doing the same thing...
 
Thanks, Llama. That's sweet of you.
I think the nerve of the vets is fairly unlimited. It is very hard to get G to stand firm, but I think he's doing pretty well.
Llama said:
That does sound scary. I hope he (or the police) can figure out who it was.
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I'm not sure if our neighbour reported it. I'll ask him. You couldn't see the person on the camera as it was too far away but could see the torch moving around.
Trusylver said:
A lot of strangers moving to rural areas during Covid, and not all of them are good citizens. Increased traffic and increased crime. Our driveway is a challenge to get into and out of but there has been a rise in rural theft lately and I would suspect it may be the same where you are.
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We have heard that there have been a lot of burglaries from sheds recently. I alerted most of our neighbours along the street yesterday. I have decided to definitely have a neighbourhood get-together in December & exchange as many names & phone numbers as possible. I also heard that there was talk about some people camping in the middle of the bush & doing robberies. We'll step up our security, which is basically non-existent. I might talk to our above neighbour about that as he seems pretty well up on it.
Trusylver said:
As for the Golf club, good onya for sticking to your guns and not getting pulled back into it all.
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Thanks, Tru. I have to keep telling G that anything he does to do with the club, he is doing it without me. He's got that I think. When he came home on Tuesday & said "I got lots of help today" I replied "No. The vets helped one another. You are not the vets." He is inclined to do everything.
liza3 said:
Yeah I can see how that would be really unsettling. Good for your neighbor giving you that heads up. Cameras might not be a bad idea...
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I would never have known if B hadn't told us. I am thinking a couple of security lights & a couple of cameras would be a good idea. I slept well last night & didn't worry too much. We don't have much worth stealing, but our neighbour does. It's not a good thought that someone would be wandering around near our house though so cameras & lights would probably deter them.
 
I had an idea during the day that our neighbour may have seen us switch on an outside light & have suggested we do a test to see if any of them show up on his cameras.
 
yes any sort of neighbor communication is really helpful. We had some thefts and weird stuff going on on my street a while back so everyone just stayed aware and let people know. Thankfully it all passed pretty quickly.
 
Thanks, Llama & Liza. :grouphug:
We do have a good community up here & I think organising a get-together will expand that a bit so I will go ahead with that plan. I did a test last night & none of our lights showed up on his cameras, so it does seem that someone was walking around up above our house with a torch. I need to buy a padlock for our shed. Our neighbour said he would come up & talk to us about cameras over the weekend. Security lights don't work so well up here as they come on all of the time with every little creature.
I overate yesterday & feel awful this morning. I snacked on nuts in the afternoon & went back for seconds. I felt hungry after a too-light lunch, which was my mistake. G was gone for most of the day again & I got out of sorts. I really need to wrest back control. I'll make Sunday a new start as we have to go to the family lunch today in town & tomorrow I am going to the painting class during the day. Sunday will be a new start. I need it! I have a belly ache. So does Archie.
 
My SIL rang this morning to say that she was feeling very under the weather & asked whether we still wanted to come in for lunch. She sounded awful so I said that I wasn't feeling very well either & that we would stay at home. We were both really relieved not to have to drive in. I haven't felt great, but a day at home is better medicine than a trip to town & a rich lunch. Arch has vomited a couple of times & hasn't eaten anything. I really need to change his diet & I'll try to find some new dog food for him. I think he may need probiotics.
 
Thanks, Llama & Liza :grouphug:
We both had a very light eating day & are both recovered. I think I overfed us both on Thursday.
I'm going with G to the golf club this morning, spending the morning with M shopping in our local town & then M & I are going to the bubbles and brushes painting class. The men are then picking us up after their golf. I'm quite nervous, which is ridiculous. It doesn't matter even if my painting is the worst in the class. If it is, I'll get some laughs out of it. I hope the others aren't drowned in perfume!
Arch has learned to use the doggy door. It means the door can't be locked, but I feel better that he can go in & out & other animals won't get in. I won't use it at night when we're out, but it's handy for summer even while we're home as you don't have to listen for him scratching & letting him in & out all the time.
 
I hope you had fun at the painting class!
Smart little Archie, learning new skills. How old is he again? Being able to at least close the door would be big progress, even if you can't lock it.
 
Hey Cate, sounds like you are having some ups and downs. Good that you ate light today.

We have always had doggie doors, not many problems with them. We did once have a bear try to get in one, he tore it up pretty good, but just didn't fit. You probably don't have bears.
 
Llama said:
I hope you had fun at the painting class!
Smart little Archie, learning new skills. How old is he again? Being able to at least close the door would be big progress, even if you can't lock it.
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I really had a wonderfull day, Llama. I can’t believe how much I enjoyed the class. Arch seemed good when we got home too & we were gone for 7 hours. He’s 7&1/2 years old. The magnet in the door is quite firm so he’s rather we let him out but he’ll get used to it.
alligatorob said:
Hey Cate, sounds like you are having some ups and downs. Good that you ate light today.

We have always had doggie doors, not many problems with them. We did once have a bear try to get in one, he tore it up pretty good, but just didn't fit. You probably don't have bears.
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I ate light’ish again yesterday too which felt better. Life is full of ups & downs & always will be. I’m trying not to worry too much & to enjoy life. I had a lovely day yesterday.
Did you see the bear trying to get through the doggy door? That would have been amazing! I watched a documentary on bears last night. They really are magnificent creatures!
I’m typing on my phone & it’s pesky. I forgot to charge my laptop on Friday obviously.
I had a really excellent day yesterday. I took M shopping in our local town & she was really impressed. She bought some Christmas presents. We both had a lovely time & loved the class. It was so much fun! I’m not hopeless at painting at all & will do this again.
 
Cate said:
I really had a wonderfull day, Llama. I can’t believe how much I enjoyed the class.
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That is so great Cate. What did you paint? Is this a weekly class?
Cate said:
Arch seemed good when we got home too & we were gone for 7 hours.
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That is really good to feel able to leave him now safely with that doggy door!
alligatorob said:
We did once have a bear try to get in one, he tore it up pretty good, but just didn't fit
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lol that made me laugh imagining the bear trying to get in and not being able to fit!
 
Glad to hear you had fun at the painting class and even tacked on a shopping trip! Doing new things is probably the best way to keep your brain happy and healthy.
 
@liza3 We painted a beach scene. I was quite happy with my painting until I started trying to make it better. That's the story of my life. It was quite nice before I tried to make it perfect! It was great fun though & it has me very interested in going again. I think I'll buy some paint & materials & have a go at painting our mountain view. They have them every second month but I don't think I can go to the next one as it clashes with something else. They are painting trees next time, which I would have loved to have a go at. I wanted to dab, rather than do brush sweeps & trees & leaves would be good to do I think.
Having the doggy door will be great for when we go out during the day.
@Llama I think it was really good for me & it was reassuring to see that my effort was fine. I learned a valuable lesson about being happy with what I can do & not being so self-critical. It was good. Art is interpretive anyway. There is no right & wrong. It also cemented M's & my friendship even more. She loved it. We are so different yet get along very well.
Our neighbour has hardly had any sleep this week & has come up with an idea that he was worried we might not like. We have agreed to have an electronic gate put up down near our letterboxes, which will have a security pad & remotes for each of us. He has a lot to lose & is a good neighbour. I don't mind if people have to ring us first to let us know if they want to visit. I can let our sons know the code & we can go down & open it for other people or if we're expecting a grocery delivery. It will take some getting used to, but should make us all a bit safer.
 
My parents have a gate like that and it includes a unit in the house so you can open remotely for visitors. Safety is a good thing! Of course small time thieves would be able to climb over a fence but someone trying to get away with several cars would have a lot more trouble.
 
Sorry to hear about the midnight prowlers. That would make anyone nervous. I’m not a big fan of security cameras and stuff but it sounds like your neighbour is really worried. Our neighbours across the way have huge gates, security cameras and an angry, barking dog, and it’s completely ridiculous, as we live in a very safe country. Don’t let one minor incident get into your head too much.

Good news on the painting though. Well done!
 
Cate said:
We painted a beach scene. I was quite happy with my painting until I started trying to make it better. That's the story of my life. It was quite nice before I tried to make it perfect! It was great fun though & it has me very interested in going again. I
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Yes sometimes it seems the trick with art is knowing when to stop! haha. I can't paint (or draw or anything artistic) at all.
I hope you do get the paint supplies and keep at it. Maybe you could invite your friend over for regular sessions at your place to keep you both motivated...It would be especially nice to do some outdoors as the weather gets nice...
Were you using watercolors?
 
Llama said:
My parents have a gate like that and it includes a unit in the house so you can open remotely for visitors. Safety is a good thing! Of course small time thieves would be able to climb over a fence but someone trying to get away with several cars would have a lot more trouble.
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Unfortunately, the gate will be too far away from either of our houses to be able to open it remotely from the house, but we can give someone we trust the key code if necessary. Our neighbour has a lot of things that can easily be resold, like motorbikes.
Emilyrose said:
Sorry to hear about the midnight prowlers. That would make anyone nervous. I’m not a big fan of security cameras and stuff but it sounds like your neighbour is really worried. Our neighbours across the way have huge gates, security cameras and an angry, barking dog, and it’s completely ridiculous, as we live in a very safe country. Don’t let one minor incident get into your head too much.

Good news on the painting though. Well done!
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I don't feel stressed about it all, Em. Our neighbour, on the other hand, is worried. He has put up a temporary gate with a padlock, which would be effective, but a pain to have to get in & out of your car constantly. Once you know someone is casing your place, it would be silly to ignore it. He gets called out for work at all times & has 3 kids so wants them to be safe as well as worrying about someone stealing his apparently very extensive vintage car & motorbike collection.
The painting was lots of fun!
liza3 said:
Yes sometimes it seems the trick with art is knowing when to stop! haha. I can't paint (or draw or anything artistic) at all.
I hope you do get the paint supplies and keep at it. Maybe you could invite your friend over for regular sessions at your place to keep you both motivated...It would be especially nice to do some outdoors as the weather gets nice...
Were you using watercolors?
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We were using watercolours. I really did love it & think I'll find some more classes before I invest in anything. I don't think I have an artistic eye, but I loved the process. I really would like to learn to do dot paintings.
 
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