Urgent Help Needed with IRM Catzilla DCC Settings

[Broithe]

'My' cat has returned to having her main meals nextdoor, after ten days of having to rely on me, although I am still heavily supervised.

I knew they were going away, but had forgotten quite when - I returned from a Lidl run to find her sitting on the doorstep with a bag of food.

They returned last Sunday and a retraining programme was instituted immediately - the last bowl of biscuits here has been retained for emergency use only, although she still expects a few of the shed biscuits daily.

I was presented with a special item for breakfast this morning, although I had already organised myself and had to refuse it. This was seen as a poor decision, as it was very fresh and clearly a free-range product.

So, she had it herself - the bones seemed to add to the crunchy appeal...

She has noticed that there is a potential route for unauthorised intruders, as the conservatory doors are open, to the outside and into the house.

A convenient elevated observation point has been established on the settee in there.

[DJ Dangerous]

The contented hunter's sleep...

[Broithe]

1 minute ago, DJ Dangerous said:

The contented hunter's sleep...

I did offer to mount the head on a small plaque, but that seems to be the best bit...

[DJ Dangerous]

5 minutes ago, Broithe said:

I did offer to mount the head on a small plaque, but that seems to be the best bit...

 

Grey matter, just like armadillos, smooth on the inside, crunchy on the outside.

Armadillos!

 

 

[LNERW1]

I wish I'd been alive when ads were entertaining...

[DJ Dangerous]

There were plenty of duds back then, too, but the odd gem like that one.

And the laughing Beecham's Lemon policeman!

[Broithe]

This remains a classic.

 

[DJ Dangerous]

I was wrong.

It was Lemsip, not Beecham's:

 

 

[DJ Dangerous]

Less divergent from the feline thread, Kit KAT had a few classic ads:

 

 

 

 

[Broithe]

I intend to make a small workshop in the house and picked up a couple of small drawer units in Lidl a few weeks ago - €14 for the pair, not bad.

I put them out of harms way for now.

It would appear that the security officer has felt the need to inspect them for useful stuff, contraband or uninvited trespassers.

[DJ Dangerous]

On 27/7/2024 at 11:37 AM, Mayner said:

The native "Bush Cockroach" a that occasionally wander inside are not considered to be a pest in this part of the World, but so far no one has been able to explain that to the cats who hunt them down to the state that I have seldom seen one in the house dead or alive in recent years.

Though funnily enough the hedgehog (an introduced species in Aotearoa (NZ) is classed as a pest as they are very good at hunting down and eating native wild life.

The other half discovered that there was a 'mouse problem" in the old family home in the States when she began caring for her father last year and adapted "James the cat" who after he spent 6 months at the local animal shelter. 

James did an excellent job hunting down and eating 28 mice during the first 4 weeks since his adaption, and has now become a pampered house cat and much loved member of the family both in the States and Aotearoa. The challenging bit will be whether to find a new home for James in the States or to integrate him into the family (including spending 6 weeks in quarantine) with 4 other cats after my father in law moves into a care home in the States during the next 12 months.

 

Photos aren't as high quality as yours, but will probably suffice:

 

 

[LNERW1]

Quite interesting-looking insects. I’d probably shit bricks if I saw them in real life, but they’re quite interesting to observe through a screen from many miles away.

[skinner75]

Here's a site I found that has all the Argos catalogues listed, that you can browse through:

https://retromash.com/argos/

[DJ Dangerous]

7 hours ago, LNERW1 said:

Quite interesting-looking insects. I’d probably shit bricks if I saw them in real life, but they’re quite interesting to observe through a screen from many miles away.

 

It's getting warmer now, so we're into the time of year when the larger ones start flying.

[Branchline121]

I'm late to this thread but it's nice to see you all have such cute cats. I'd let mine near the layout if I wasn't so scared she'd flatten it...

[LNERW1]

On 17/8/2024 at 10:40 AM, skinner75 said:

Here's a site I found that has all the Argos catalogues listed, that you can browse through:

https://retromash.com/argos/

Not a fan of the archive only going to 1999- the Argos catalogue would probably still hold the excitement today if they were still trading over here. I remember I used to love reading them as a young(er) child- and I wasn’t even alive when IÉ still had 121s! One of the things that can hold excitement for multiple generations, even if it’s just a small thing.

[Broithe]

As the cooler weather approaches, we have made a 'cat-flap panel' to fit the patio doors into the conservatory, to allow access but restrict heat loss.

The development model was made under the close supervision of an experienced industry professional.

It fits (fairly) nicely in the door and blocks the vast majority of the in/out airflow.

The door part itself is a little heavier than a standard cat-flap and this caused some sideways glances by the intended user, but I suspect it will become acceptable.

 

I have been careful to avoid mentioning a potential side-effect of this system. It may (I hope) be quite awkward to drag a rabbit in through door, as happened a couple of weeks ago. We were concerned that she seemed rather lethargic for a few days, with a little blood on her face, sleeping a lot and hardly touching the offered food at either house. This turned out to be because she had eaten three-quarters of a rabbit that was neatly hidden just inside the sliding doors there. If I'd eaten a fair-sized pig over three days, I might be a bit sleepy, too.

To be fair, she had stashed the rabbit in a good place, fairly cool and on a tiled floor, so I couldn't complain too much.

I now know the rabbit came from an electricity substation about 200 metres up the road - I presume she has a contract there also. Someone I know actually saw her dragging it down the road and just happened to mention it a few days after I discovered it.

She will, occasionally, offer me a mouse for breakfast and then eat it, if I don't want it. I presume the rabbit was felt to be too good to waste on me.

[RobertRoche]

2 hours ago, Broithe said:

It may (I hope) be quite awkward to drag a rabbit in through door, as happened a couple of weeks ago.

Ours brought a hare through the cat flap recently, and many smaller gifts over the summer.

[Broithe]

20 minutes ago, RobertRoche said:

Ours brought a hare through the cat flap recently, and many smaller gifts over the summer.

Mmm, by the time I spotted what was going on, there wasn't a lot left* for a positive identification of species.

I have made the entrance a bit smaller than standard, with the intention of making it a bit more difficult for larger items of shopping to be brought in - we'll see.

* Really just a leg and one ear, and a (surprisingly small) neat pile of unwanted parts.

The informant who saw her with it just assumed it was a large rabbit, without paying the attention she might have, if she had known that there would be follow-up enquiries.

[DJ Dangerous]

I planted a hedgehog tree a few years back and...

 

 

[spudfan]

On 12/9/2024 at 6:34 PM, Broithe said:

As the cooler weather approaches, we have made a 'cat-flap panel' to fit the patio doors into the conservatory, to allow access but restrict heat loss.

The development model was made under the close supervision of an experienced industry professional.

It fits (fairly) nicely in the door and blocks the vast majority of the in/out airflow.

The door part itself is a little heavier than a standard cat-flap and this caused some sideways glances by the intended user, but I suspect it will become acceptable.

 

I have been careful to avoid mentioning a potential side-effect of this system. It may (I hope) be quite awkward to drag a rabbit in through door, as happened a couple of weeks ago. We were concerned that she seemed rather lethargic for a few days, with a little blood on her face, sleeping a lot and hardly touching the offered food at either house. This turned out to be because she had eaten three-quarters of a rabbit that was neatly hidden just inside the sliding doors there. If I'd eaten a fair-sized pig over three days, I might be a bit sleepy, too.

To be fair, she had stashed the rabbit in a good place, fairly cool and on a tiled floor, so I couldn't complain too much.

I now know the rabbit came from an electricity substation about 200 metres up the road - I presume she has a contract there also. Someone I know actually saw her dragging it down the road and just happened to mention it a few days after I discovered it.

She will, occasionally, offer me a mouse for breakfast and then eat it, if I don't want it. I presume the rabbit was felt to be too good to waste on me.

This will of course have a negative effect on the BER rating for your house! Someone not far from us is building a new house. Built to current specs. Because he has chosen to have windows that can be opened he was told he will get a lower BER rating than if he installed non opening windows. I presume the powers that be that come up with these regulations do not realise that if you have a door fitted this will be opened and closed numerous times daily. Me, I like fresh air!

Regarding the catflap. If you installed another opening on a panel a couple of feet away from the first one, it would close before the second flap was opened by the cat. Might keep the BER man happy.

[Broithe]

Of course, cats can be useful in railway modelling, particularly if you have a large rural layout.