De-catifying the house!

I had a great night's sleep but Sophie suffered overnight with a tight chest that kept her awake. She had let the cats into her room while we were away, and she said the bed and carpet were covered in cat hairs. I wanted to get rid of the catty smell that pervaded the house after they'd been kept inside for over a week with all the windows tightly closed. We all hoped that the catflap would be fitted before our trip to Berlin in November.

I was awake at 7am and had put the first of many washes into the machine. I then sorted out the rest of the laundry and Sophie said she was going to wash her entire bedding, even the mattress protector! Most of our luggage was still in the car so we emptied that out, and I removed the headlight convertors that had stayed put! Normally, one of them drops off!

Keith went to Tesco to buy ingredients for a chicken casserole this evening and Sophie and I unpacked the large suitcase and put the clean clothes away. I opened all of the windows and the back door in an effort to freshen the house up!

We had a busy morning but by lunchtime, the unpacking had been done, and the wines were standing proudly on the worktop in the kitchen (we had used up the spare slots in the wine rack!). Our wine fridge was full and Keith had prepared the vegetables for tonight's dinner. Vegetables! He prepared broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and green beans, and we added carrots and onions to the casserole! We missed our veg!

Sophie and I had sold some clothes on eBay so we packaged them up and popped to Mawsley to send them off. The weather has been disappointing today with heavy grey clouds and a chilly wind. It didn't stop me from opening the windows wide, though, and the catty smell has now gone! It helped that we'd removed the litter trays and I'd vacuumed the house and mopped the conservatory and kitchen floors!

I made up Sophie's bed with fresh bedding and we continued to do the washing all afternoon and into the evening. Poor Keith will tackle the ironing while we're both at work.

Dinner tonight was delicious and it was great to have vegetables again! I made dumplings to pop into the casserole and as the evening wore on we put on the heating to make the house cosy. The cats seemed to appreciate the warmth!

After dinner, Sophie and I caught up with Fake or Fortune, which was a great episode and kept us guessing right until the end!