HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY

[chinatyke]

Permanent solution!

[Big Kev]

I'm doing a reverse ferret this morning and asking if anyone has a tip for rendering a particular patch of ground in the middle of the back street unattractive to a crapping cat! To date the following have failed: Soap powder, Dettol, bleach and Jeye's Fluid. Any suggestions? I am getting tired of picking up cold cat shit!!!!!

Unfortunately it's not a quick fix, it wasn't for me anyway. It'll be the 'usual suspects' and once they've got used to using the same spot it takes a while. Have a chat in Chaudrey's and see if he has any chilli powder that's past its sell by date going cheap. It works until the rain washes it away. I did eventually resort to an electronic cat scarer (emits a high frequency noise) but 'youth' can hear it too.

[Stanley]

I'll pursue the chilli powder. Would pepper do as well?

[Tizer]

Dry lion poo is supposed to be effective but it's a bit difficult to source!
If you have any lavender or rosemary in your garden try scattering some leaves. Some people claim mothballs work.

[Marilyn]

Ha!...Sorry ( me and my imagination) but I'm seeing quite a shrine appearing for this cat. Could the council drop a small splodge of bitumen next time they are in the area?
Poor cat. The owner obviously doesn't supply facilities.

[PanBiker]

I was going to suggest if you know who the cats human is, I don't say owner purposely. Can you not suggest they get a litter tray?

Filling the hole would be good but highly unlikely to happen, your back street will not even be on the councils radar for refurbishment. You can buy bags of surface dressing macadam for a DIY approach I suppose which may help move the problem elsewhere. Cat's are generally very fastidious and the fact that you keep cleaning it's perceived surrogate litter tray will encourage it to continue using it.

Our neighbourhood has a couple of stray cats that both look for and use the surface water grates to do their toiletry even the un-neutered stray tom (Ginge) squats to pee in the grate.

[Marilyn]

Here is a though...popping candy! You know that stuff kids have that kind of fizzes and pops in their mouth. Once it gets wet, it should start fizzing and hissing.

[Stanley]

When Robert Taylforth had the disposal of the crap from Robert's Circus' winter quarters at New Brighton at Gargrave he said that Tiger Shit kept deer out of the garden..... Moth balls..... I have some. Ian I have been thinking about getting my builder friends in to cut it out and either concrete it or pop some cold tarmac in.
I don't know which cat it is..... there are several.

[Tizer]

I don't know which cat it is..... there are several.

After the washing powder it'll be the one with the white bum.

[Stanley]

We have been spared for two days, unless someone else is litter picking!

[Stanley]

Leather tends to dry out and shrink with age. If, like me you have little worn shoes and boots that have tightened up over the years, don't discard them. Spray them internally with light oil, you can get it at most shoe care shops, and wear them for a while. They will loosen up again! The same applies to other leather goods, expensive goods can be rescued!

[Stanley]

The recent hot and dry weather means that moisture levels in any wood exposed to the weather is as low as it will ever be so it's a good time to paint or otherwise treat any gates, sheds and fences. The wood will take up whatever you put on perfectly. Nothing tidier that a freshly treated garden shed!

[PanBiker]

Already done mine, gate and shed and a new roof for a proper job.

[Tizer]

Too late here - we've had torrential rains and everything above ground is soaked. Below ground is another matter though.

[chinatyke]

Ground fish mixed with a little phenolphthalein.

Substitute ground beef for the fish and it works on lurchers too.

[Stanley]

I'd never poison a dog, it wasn't the dog's fault.

[chinatyke]

I'd never poison a dog, it wasn't the dog's fault.

Works on people too, but with medical intervention the outcome wouldn't be the same!

[Stanley]

We are creatures of habit. It's not a bad idea to review how we run the small matters in our lives occasionally. What was sensible and efficient in past years is not necessarily the best now. Things change as time passes and our ways of dealing with them need to change as well in some cases.

[Stanley]

Winter seems a long way off but now is the time to have an audit and attend to the small matters like cleaning out the gutters and making sure that external pipes are insulated. Particularly the drain from the condenser unit on the CH boiler! A stitch in time saves nine.

[Stanley]

If you control when the CH boiler is serviced, now is the time to do it. We don't like to admit it but the nights will soon be cold enough to trigger the heating and that's not a good time to find there is a problem! I am on contract with BG so have no control but I know it's OK, I have tested it.

[Stanley]

If you have a regular butcher it's worth volunteering to take a delivery of anything they don'r want to store while they are on holiday. In Barlick we call this a 'wrap up'. I got one yesterday. It's always a very good price because you are doing them a service.

[Marilyn]

So what did you get in your wrap up, and what did you pay for it?
Is it just flaps and scraps for slow cooking?

[Stanley]

Everything you can imagine Maz from a cream bun to rolled beef joints. The nearest thing to 'flaps and scraps' is two small servings of stewing steak. I don't know the cost as it was left at the door but it will be very reasonable, it always is. Certainly way cheaper than buying the same things over the counter.
When Susan comes back from Kenya she'll be hard up so I shall donate a drawer full for her freezer!

[Stanley]

If you can't get on with the darker mornings, tough. It's that time of year when an overcast morning delays true daylight by at least an hour and it's depressing! Nothing we can do about it.... Mind you, it's my 83rd winter and I still dislike it!

[Stanley]

Today's tip is a reiteration of something I said earlier. I am now convinced that in the long run an established detergent like Fairy for clothes washing is cheaper and better in the long run. I used to use two of the Co-op Own Brand capsules and a hot programme for a load of washing. I am getting better results now with one capsule of Fairy on a 60 degree wash.