Monday, 25 April 2016

SureFeed Sealed Pet Bowl The Review


I would have written this earlier but I was bust requesting car pet samples in order to cover a hole that Rollie has made in the front room for no apparent reason, it could have easily spend the door with its paw but no , it could have indeed been vocal to perhaps alert one of its staff to open the door * staff=me ( but no it didn't do that either . Instead Rollie  got cross and created a bit of a hole which will no need repairing * big sigh.


Rollie has a bit of a history with carpets which you can read about here.





There is  a new cat bowl in town * drum roll please!




The SureFeed Sealed Pet Bowl is a daily use feeder designed to keep wet food fresh, reduce odours and keep flies off the food. It opens when a pet approaches and is suitable for cats and small dogs. Keeps wet food fresher for longer by sealing in moisture, it prevents flies from contaminating food. Uses infra-red sensors to detect a pet approaching the bowl. Rollie has reviewed a Sureflap product before in the shape of a catflap which you can read about here.


Sure Flap are a great company to work with and as such I wouldn't write about them if I didn't whole heatedly believe in their products and more importantly the cats give they them their paw of approval. 


There is a training mode you can use with the SureFeed Sealed Pet Bowl in order to get your cat used to the feeding process , but as Rollie is a bit of a diva we just decided to dive right in. As Rollie does everything on his own terms you 'll see from this you tube video that Rollie had no problems using the bowl. And right on cue after doing a star performance he decided to try and boycott eh new bowl on and off but I stood firm and didn't let with Rollie or Jack sway how I was going to introduce the bowl to them as they do work as a bit of a double act to be as awkward as only as cats can be . 




We've all been there they want to go out the front door only to come back in 30 seconds later!


And this bowl is brilliant for my cats who don't partake in segregated feeding PS don't even suggest that to them as no doubt they will just had it to the list of their ever increasing diva demands.


So I and the cats honestly recommend this bowl and look forward to the other innovative products that SureFlap will bring out .. I am hoping a cat door bell isn't one of them!




Rollie and Jack were sent this cat bowl and their thought and opinions are their own  as our mine. I must rush Jack wants to go out the front door again.


No One Owes Me A Bean

I thought no one owes me a bean on the Internet , and I wish for simplicity at times , I wish at times I was borrowing Spectrum games from my friends ( mostly boys ) . A sudden realisation has come over me that I was in the in crowd ( but my in crowd was the out crowd and I never really fitted in at school )  , cycling round at break neck speed to borrow the latest game from one of my friends . Leaving my Mother wondering where the hell I was , bearing in mind this was the age before the age of the mobile fun so she rang every single boy on my Spectrum 48k list till she found me . If I had been in the pouty girl group this of course would have further dented my street cred . I was the girl with the bicycle the one that had 10 gears So I could whizz here and everywhere and it was my beloved Raleigh Wisp and it was a racer, the boys though how dear a girl have a 10 gear speed racer bike.




Sadly I no longer have my beloved bicycle but I do miss it greatly.

But I wasn't one of  the pouty girls I did like my music like AHA and a splattering of Duran Duran and so forth but I was very independent , that's not to say at times I didn't try and blend in but much to the horror of my mother I was up trees and jumping out of ground floor windows at Church youth club. I was the bespeckled girl living on a council estate going to the posh school ( an ex grammar school built for baby boomers) so just getting to school I was running the gauntlet from the kids on the estate going to the school of hard knocks. I was the one wandering along with my Latin book in hand pondering if I should cut through danger alley as I was running late for school . Staying individual is very much key to my survival at school and yes I was bullied like there was no normal but my bullies didn't define me.


I remember going to the Post Office to pay some money into my savings account and the lady in the post office pointing at the way I had written number 7 in the continental style saying

"What the hell is that  ?"


I remember saying


"That is my style and that is all that matters "



We can led our bad times drag us down and I hope people get more help nowadays I did get some help in my time but my individuality certainly helped , I defined myself .


Let no one define who you are .




Patience is indeed a great venture and good things come to those who wait ) except my cat who decided to get cross with the carpet again but that is a blog post for another day .




Patience was learnt through waiting for my Spectrum games to load it was the digital version of Russian roulette and the world was yours if the game did indeed load.




My name is Claire dedicated defier of Fashion



GOSH how forward was I .. indeed how forward I still am !




Friday, 22 April 2016

Slow Cooker Gammon With Sweet Potatoes

Finally it's Spring ! lighter days make my soul shine , it's been a mild winter . We are just chalking up to double digits in the temperature stakes which I'm loving. I've even got the outdoor furniture out but the next day it rained ! There has been more good days than bad ones and even then I've my beloved cup of tea . I think tea must be one of the words that I use most often and I get very cranky if I can;t have a cup of tea , I do take my favourite tea bags abroad with me.


You might think that a slow cooker is just for Winter but I don't think it is , a slow cooker is a brilliant helping hand in the kitchen , especially useful for the days when we are busy running around here there and everywhere.





Ingredients 

Gammon joint 

Pack of small sweet potatoes


Method 

In your slow cooker pour in about 3 cups of hot water.

2 Tablespoons of brown sugar 

A joint of Gammon 

Switch the slow cooker on low and least for at least 6 hours .

Make sure the water covers the sweet potatoes, I used a pack of small sweet potatoes.



You'll find that sweet potatoes have held together.


Prepare the additional vegetables that you want to accompany your meal .

Once everything is ready switch the slow cooker off 

Carve the gammon 

And then plate everything up .


Monday, 18 April 2016

Let's Go Back to 1985

Way back in the mists of time when things were so much better and there was only 3 channels on the television , and we watching everything in black and white ( well I was as my household didn't have colour T.V till 1986 ) I even had to change the television channels by hand bot remote control for me and the first time I ever did come across a remote I pressed the button and flicked the remote like Hermione using her wand. I thought Philip Scofield  in his Broom Cupboard had grey hair when I was growing up and was amazed when we finally got colour that in fact his hair wasn't grey though now it is and he is still on my television screen !

Sunday I did think I was back in time , it was a typical Sunday and Rugby was on the horizon with it being our last game , the teams playing expectations were high. The rugby game didn't start off too well it was scrappy which for a rugby game shows the gaps in play ( I am no Rugby commentator but I know a little ) . Eventually the team found their rthymn and they upped their age to win , they are 17 now and the game can get rather feisty in fact one player did have to go to hospital with a suspected fracture to the arm but in the end it just proved to be bruised pride and he was Ok .


After rugby we all piled back in our cars to head to their rugby club which wasn't as close as we thought it was going to be , I think some where along the 10 minute journey we must have hit 88 miles per hour in our imaginary Deloreans as we arrived at a working mens club. Think Phoenix nights and that is exactly what it was like just when I though it couldn't get any more surreal I looked up and saw laminate on the walls . 




This was so very much like the scene from Dumbo "Elephants on parade " . I had to wait will the men folk had a "5 minute rugby meeting " an hour and a half later and we were finished ! Then back to the year 2016 ... wohooooo but you know what I think I left a little back of my heart back in 1985 when life was so much easier . You had a limited choice in everything and you just had to get on with it ....




My last brush with a working mens club was when we had to go watch my sons cornet teacher at an event which included the world whistling champion whose talents included whistling the whole of the William Tell Overture ......


My life is surreal.







And I am sitting here on a cold ,dull grey Monday morning looking for my motivation in places that more than likely need a jolly good dusting. Yesterday at the end of the  I felt awful but today I am starting to feel a little more full of life and I am certainly in a better place than I was 2 years back and that is my marker. And certainly writing this helps as I having a good giggle as my husband was wearing a gilet in which look like the one Michael J Fox wore in Back to the Future except his was Burgundy ( not that makes wearing it any better but you know I don't have to embrace that fashion blip !)