Oh yeah, and that's the kind of thing I do. But I want some 12x12 pages, and I want some cool gothy ribbon, and embellishments, and bits and bobs that say gothy things and...

stopping my first world whine now.

Raq, have you looked at Old Fashion Halloween? [link]

It's run by a friend of mine, and she *always* stocks cool ribbons, cards, papers, and general papercraft things.

oops, wrong thread.

Silly me.

Vortex, did you get a buffistas cookbook? The cover had a red background that was one of the papers I "made"

ah, I see. Let me talk to my people. t /paper whore

FUCK. Mal just woke up crying, and when I came back downstairs from soothing him, I missed the last step. OW.

Jilli, thanks for the link - that site looks yum!

Let me talk to my people.

Hee.

You people all rock.

makes out with everybody

considers trying to read 400+ posts in the 20 minutes that my £2 will buy me on the 'puter at the airport. Shrugs. Skips. Reads Raq's song. Cackles so loudly that many heads turn to stare.

Happy Hecday!

Oh, Raq, that was fabulous.

I'm happy to report that Operation: Cat in the Bag was a resounding success this time. Or at least...the first of 2 cleaners who came to clean my flat on the 27th was in the house in the morning, so naturally Daniel was hiding in a secure place while she was here. And then I waited for, what, an hour, an hour and a half after she'd left before sauntering oh-so-nonchalently into Flatmate's room to make friendly noises to the cat-shaped lump in the bed, and pet it. The cat shaped lump glared at me through the sheets. I peeled back the sheets a little, and did my best to be nonchalent and nonthreatening. Daniel rolled his eyes, said 'Yeah, right, lady. Like I'm going to trust YOU any time soon' in Cat, and jumped under the bed.

Rinse and repeat.

Dangling Interesting Dangly things to pounce on got us nowhere.

Eventually I opened the window. Daniel bounded up and sat on the windowledge (calculated risk, this) and I made friendly 'yes, isn't it nice outside? lots of interesting things! That is not the cat box you're looking for' type noises. Daniel was about to hurl himself out into the world, when I grabbed him firmly by the scruff of the neck and pinned him to the bed. He made 'Curse you, Faithless Human' type noises. I tried to be soothing and yet implacable. He hissed. I carried him by the scuff of the neck (!) and grabbed his fairly limp back legs, and sort of folded him/stuffed him into the propped-against-a-wall box. Gravity was my friend, and Daniel was my bitch.

And oh, the wrathful sounds of distress he made!

We carted him off to SPARE (the Society for the Protection of Animal Rights in Egypt) - my last day in Egypt involved driving past the pyramids to put my cat in a cattery.

SPARE is fantastic. Really professional and caring and altogether a jolly good thing. Daniel was hysterical. They put him into a wee cage of his own, he did his best ever Infuriated Voldemort Armed With Freddy Kreuger Gloveknives impression, and they were unfazed. Then they said 'do you want to see where he'll be?' and we went through to the most fantastic huge big set of interlocking rooms full of gorgeous, friendly, sociable cats and kittens. It was like a Disney cartoon waiting to be made. We spent a good fifteen minutes petting various different kitties.

It is entirely possible that when I collect Daniel in 50 days' time, I shall collect another cat too. They seemed to think that 2 cats could share the catbox, if they were friendly cats, so if he does make a good friend, I'll maybe adopt him or her too. That would give him a little living security blanket, and it would be helping out the people at the shelter, who have lots of gorgeous kitties. (OMG, Sultan the 7-month old white-and-grey kitty was the most adorable pick-me-up slut EVAH! And there was a wee Siamese kitten [how funny would it be to take a Siamese stray from Egypt to Siam?] and a gorgeous big Bengal cat called Pavarotti who had apparently raised most of the kittens himself, and just LOTS of adorable kittihood. Bless. So I think Daniel's going to have a fabulous time, actually. He's going to spend the first 72 hours in his own good-sized cage IN the cat room, getting used to all the other cats (who have lovely cat beds lying around, and exciting climbing things, and just generally all kinds of goodness, and access to a secure outdoor area - it's like a wee cat holiday home). Then they'll let him out and he can go and try to socialise with the others.

I hope he'll settle down quickly and have a nice time.

Meanwhile, I'm in London. I've been travelling since 3am and I didn't sleep last night, obviously enough. After we dropped off Daniel we came back past the pyramids and went for a last feluca ride at sunset, and then home (where I did some more frantic last (continued...)

( continues...) minute packing/cleaning/chucking out) and then we went to the Khan el Khaleili for the last time, and Friend From Round The Corner bought some presents for her folks, and we had Om Ali (fantastic Egyptian dessert) and yummy drinks. And then home, where I grabbed a shower, finished the last bits and bobs that needed doing, and then said goodbye to Friend F rom Round The Corner.

Much sadness.

Mr Said, our taxi driver of choice, took me to the airport. I was a snotty weeping mess, and so was he. Although he wasn't as bad as me, obviously. Well, he wasn't wearing mascara, for starters.

we came back past the pyramids and went for a last feluca ride at sunset

Perfect. Kala taxidi, Fay. I know you'll miss Egypt, but Thailand holds much adventure in store!

I was a snotty weeping mess, and so was he. Although he wasn't as bad as me, obviously. Well, he wasn't wearing mascara, for starters.

Oh, Fay! Glad you got Daniel squared away and you're safely back in England. And I have to say the image of Mr. Said weeping with you is too precious for words. What a lovely man!

instead of trying to tackle everything at once and getting overwhelmed I just worked and then took a break and accepted that it's easier for me to do things slowly, as long as I don't make any new messed.

You are the most brilliantest person ever, askye.

Daniel

You are the most brilliantest songwriter ever, Raq.

Operation: Cat in the Bag

You are the most brilliantest cat mom ever, Fay.

In conclusion, let's all make out.

I think I like this trend.

In conclusion, let's all make out.