So Saturday morning everything started off well. I woke up early, emailed my work to my client and tidied the apartment once again. Then seconds before leaving the front door, i don't know what possessed me to go back inside but i went into my work room only to find a fresh puddle of cat pee on the guest bed.
The last time that happened was when J's younger brother came to visit. I must have been ignoring Yoshi because in an act of rebelliousness Yoshi goes and pees directly on the guest bed that i had just made up. Lucky i had draped a cover on top.
So i have a high suspicion that it was him again.
I think with all the rearranging and the strangers walking in and out of our apartment, it has made him very insecure. Either that or he didn't appreciate the extra vanilla scented kitty litter deodorant powder i mixed in their clumping litter.
*Shrugs*
Anyway, after much stress and chucking the pee-soaked covers in the wash with a cup full of apple cider vinegar, we made our way to see J's client and hoping we could just grab our Christmas tree and leave. Our landlord had mentioned the first apartment viewing was at 1 PM and seeing that we only left at 11:30 AM, that gave us about half an hour to mingle and eat their food.
We arrived in Beckum and at a farmhouse where J's client is holding their Christmas gathering. It's about 20 minutes away from where we live and surrounded by fields and sheep. It had rained the night before, so all the snow was gone. What a pity because it would have been so much nicer but with the random light showers throughout the day, the temperature hovered around 4 degrees Celsius.
Since we were invited and had our names were on the list, we were given vouchers which could be used in exchange for food and drinks. One of the vouchers included a free Christmas tree under 180 cm. We ended up having such a great time that we didn't bother driving back by 1 PM. Which ended up being a good thing because the person who had planned to see the apartment didn't even show up.
So we stuffed ourselves with lots of cake, some fried potato patties with apple sauce and several mugs full of glühwein - each with a shot of Amaretto... YUM! Needless to say, i was feeling slightly tipsy by the end of it which made trying to speak to J's clients in German much easier.
And it turned out that the pine trees had already been chopped down and all one had to do was pick and choose one. No need to bust out the hatchet.
It took us awhile to find one that we liked but the guy helping us was very patient. Although i'm sure he would have wished we weren't so indecisive.
But we eventually agreed on a baby Christmas tree.
Did you know there are two pine tree varieties? One with branches that are soft to touch and the other is spiky. We chose the latter, as a means to discourage wandering felines from getting too near [more about that later].
Then he shoved the tree in this metal tube-like contraption so he could put the netting around it like a condom and i handed him the voucher in exchange for our free Christmas tree.
Good thing we didn't get a bigger tree. Otherwise, i'm not quite sure how we would have squeezed it in the car. By the time we got back in the car, it smelt like fresh pine.
Then around the corner they also baked their own bread in wood fired stone ovens. So we bought a loaf for 2 Euros and i have to say, it was probably one of the yummiest breads i have eaten in awhile - it's finished now.
By the time we got home it was 5 PM and our landlord had already shown a couple our apartment.
I raced upstairs and hoped to all living things that Yoshi hadn't peed somewhere or that Luna hadn't left a nasty surprise in their litter box.
Lucky for me, everything was in its place and the apartment still had a faint smell of vanilla in the air.
Then i went online and found out that Christmas trees are actually not cat-friendly. Why didn't i research this BEFORE we got the tree?
Uh oh.
The fallen pine needles are said to be easily digested by curious kitties and could cause serious damage to their insides. Plus the sticky stuff that comes off the trees are actually poisonous for cats.
Oh shit.
But seeing that we had already bought outdoor lights and a stand for the tree, J suggested we put it out on our balcony. The kitties from now on would just need to be supervised each time they go out on the balcony.
It's -4˚C at the moment, so i don't think they'll bother going outside anyway.
So yesterday we cut open two large garbage bags and overlapped them on the ground. We positioned my Succulent planter boxes on the plastic so they wouldn't fly away.
Half an hour later, the tree was set up and was sparkling under the moonlight. I caught Luna standing at the balcony door being mesmerized by the twinkling lights.
Now each time i go in the living room, i can't help but pause in front of our balcony and smile at our tree.
It's so pretty.
The last time that happened was when J's younger brother came to visit. I must have been ignoring Yoshi because in an act of rebelliousness Yoshi goes and pees directly on the guest bed that i had just made up. Lucky i had draped a cover on top.
So i have a high suspicion that it was him again.
I think with all the rearranging and the strangers walking in and out of our apartment, it has made him very insecure. Either that or he didn't appreciate the extra vanilla scented kitty litter deodorant powder i mixed in their clumping litter.
*Shrugs*
Anyway, after much stress and chucking the pee-soaked covers in the wash with a cup full of apple cider vinegar, we made our way to see J's client and hoping we could just grab our Christmas tree and leave. Our landlord had mentioned the first apartment viewing was at 1 PM and seeing that we only left at 11:30 AM, that gave us about half an hour to mingle and eat their food.
We arrived in Beckum and at a farmhouse where J's client is holding their Christmas gathering. It's about 20 minutes away from where we live and surrounded by fields and sheep. It had rained the night before, so all the snow was gone. What a pity because it would have been so much nicer but with the random light showers throughout the day, the temperature hovered around 4 degrees Celsius.
Since we were invited and had our names were on the list, we were given vouchers which could be used in exchange for food and drinks. One of the vouchers included a free Christmas tree under 180 cm. We ended up having such a great time that we didn't bother driving back by 1 PM. Which ended up being a good thing because the person who had planned to see the apartment didn't even show up.
So we stuffed ourselves with lots of cake, some fried potato patties with apple sauce and several mugs full of glühwein - each with a shot of Amaretto... YUM! Needless to say, i was feeling slightly tipsy by the end of it which made trying to speak to J's clients in German much easier.
And it turned out that the pine trees had already been chopped down and all one had to do was pick and choose one. No need to bust out the hatchet.
It took us awhile to find one that we liked but the guy helping us was very patient. Although i'm sure he would have wished we weren't so indecisive.
But we eventually agreed on a baby Christmas tree.
Did you know there are two pine tree varieties? One with branches that are soft to touch and the other is spiky. We chose the latter, as a means to discourage wandering felines from getting too near [more about that later].
Then he shoved the tree in this metal tube-like contraption so he could put the netting around it like a condom and i handed him the voucher in exchange for our free Christmas tree.
Good thing we didn't get a bigger tree. Otherwise, i'm not quite sure how we would have squeezed it in the car. By the time we got back in the car, it smelt like fresh pine.
Then around the corner they also baked their own bread in wood fired stone ovens. So we bought a loaf for 2 Euros and i have to say, it was probably one of the yummiest breads i have eaten in awhile - it's finished now.
By the time we got home it was 5 PM and our landlord had already shown a couple our apartment.
I raced upstairs and hoped to all living things that Yoshi hadn't peed somewhere or that Luna hadn't left a nasty surprise in their litter box.
Lucky for me, everything was in its place and the apartment still had a faint smell of vanilla in the air.
Then i went online and found out that Christmas trees are actually not cat-friendly. Why didn't i research this BEFORE we got the tree?
Uh oh.
The fallen pine needles are said to be easily digested by curious kitties and could cause serious damage to their insides. Plus the sticky stuff that comes off the trees are actually poisonous for cats.
Oh shit.
But seeing that we had already bought outdoor lights and a stand for the tree, J suggested we put it out on our balcony. The kitties from now on would just need to be supervised each time they go out on the balcony.
It's -4˚C at the moment, so i don't think they'll bother going outside anyway.
***
So yesterday we cut open two large garbage bags and overlapped them on the ground. We positioned my Succulent planter boxes on the plastic so they wouldn't fly away.
Half an hour later, the tree was set up and was sparkling under the moonlight. I caught Luna standing at the balcony door being mesmerized by the twinkling lights.
Now each time i go in the living room, i can't help but pause in front of our balcony and smile at our tree.
It's so pretty.
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