Buying items related to your special interests

I think you just have to accept that cats and dogs are meat eaters, but at least they own what they eat by being willing to catch and kill it, unlike many human meat eaters who don't want to accept that their food was happily roaming around a few days before.

Where I used to live, we had a big rat problem, they invaded the house and ate the backs out of two fridge freezers, they ate the bottoms of our cupboards and chewed all the wires out of our cooker. They were a real health hazzard and I think cats are the most effective and one of the least cruel means of controlling them. The greyhounds were useless at pest control, Monty once picked one up and carried round the garden before letting it go, he seemed to think that anything in the garden had a right to be there, which was great when we had chickens. When he first saw the chickens properly he went and caught one and brought her to show me, with a 'whats this Mum?' look on his face, he was very gentle in picking her up and the only thing injured was her dignity Dogglet was just happy to have the occaisional egg for breakfast, but it was funny when we ended up with only one chicken the rest having been killed by rats, Dogglet would be lyiing out in the garden gnawing on his bone when the chicken would come up behind him and kick him up the bum and try and steal his bone!

Boris had been away when we got Muriel, when he came back he was fine with Muriel whereas she made noises at him like a cross between a pressure cooker and an air raid siren.

Awwww I love your description of your furry friends - I hope Boris makes an appearance soon or there will be a small purrball invading his space. ;-)

I know it's nature for animals to prey on others but it always disturbs me to hear it because (despite being allergic) I love many animals and am vegan so there you have it.

The fact you mentioned grey hounds made me all happy as I love them!  They're so delicate and stunning looking in my humble opinion.

I have Muriel who's one and is black and white, she's not a very friendly cat and whizzes past so fast on her way in and out that you don't notice her except to fall over, or hear her WAHHHHH when she wants food. She's a good mouser though. We have Boris who's also black and white, but in a tuxedo style and he has the most fantastic whiskers. He's gone walk about though we never managed to work out where he goes, but I think he goes and hangs out with people in a nearby camp site, probably scamming sausages from BBQ's, He's been gone a couple of months now. He taught my dog Fearn to hunt, I think he did it to see how well she'd do, he gave up when she couldn't do advanced oiking because her paws aren't flexible like a cats. When we got him we lived right out in the middle of nowhere and our old cat taught him how to hunt, we praised him for rodents, told him off for catching birds, but we were unsure how to respons to rabbits, the greyhounds we had at the time were not, they would wag at him and ruffle his fur with their noses, so whenever he caught a rabbit he'd bring it back for the dogs.

We want to get another kitten as I need someone to cuddle up with and purr with.

Are there any board game groups near you? My DiL goes to one and had to wait ages for a space to become available.

It is super difficult to identify any one car as my favourite in real life because I love so many of them! I attend car shows every year and I'm also a junior member of a private Porsche owners club (Despite not technically owning a real Porsche lol) so I often get the opportunity to see these cars up close and even go out on ridealongs! Even then, It's impossible to truly have a preference without actually driving the cars, which I have yet to do! For now, though, I would say some of my favourite cars are: the Porsche 718 Spyder (Pretty much a convertible version of the car shown in my profile picture), the Ferrari 512TR (Effectively a slightly more modern and useable Ferrari Testarossa), the Porsche 911 992.1 GT3 and the Ferrari 488 Spyder! 

The classic minis are super cool (And cute!), and they look great in the Italian Job! I remember one car show I attended, there was a display of a few classic Mini's, with each made to look like the cars from the film! For me, I remember first seeing the Ferrari Testarossa when I was little, playing racing games on my old Xbox 360. It was like no car I'd ever seen and I immediately fell in love with its wedge-shape design and ridiculous side vents!

I also just had to share this photo. I think it is so cool considering the amount of detail that has been achieved with a model so small it comfortably sits in the palm of my hand!

Also, I bet the lights will look great on your Titanic set! I can understand why you may be holding off as I imagine modifying such a large and complex set could require a significant amount of disassembly and reassembly! Still, I'm sure it'll look awesome when it's done

It really is so hard-and not many people understand that and that can make you feel bad that it affects you so badly. I'm glad you understand-it's always slightly easier when you know others get it, or it is for me anyway. The whole idea of using any bathroom except my own is is terrifying-that thought makes me not want up travel long distances but let's not get in to that lol. Being allergic to different things like that must be so difficult and challenging for you-I really can't imagine how hard that must be. You must have loads to think about when you go to places, like in the shops if they clean. I'm sorry you have to deal with that-it must be so hard to live with. 

I'm glad you get on well with the hoovering. I find hoovering really difficult though I love the idea of listening to music-I do have noise cancelling headphones that I generally wear when hoovering but they don't stop the noise completely unfortunately-so using my headphones and having loud music would probably work better for me-next time I use the hoover I'll give it a try.

As you said-its a good motivator too!️

Is Ferrari your fav real life car? I'm going to be a total geek here and say my fav car is the classic Mini lol-not really in the same league I knowbut I've loved them ever since I first watched The Italian Job. 

The Ferrari looks gorgeous. Won't lie I'm not a huge car fan-but I would love to own that car! I can't even drive lol but I'd just love to sit in that all day.  I thought the details on them looked really good in all your pics-It's cool they have interactive details too like under the bonnet. Your light up display case sounds cool! I bought special lights for my Lego Titanic though haven't fitted them yet-will take ages and I'm too tired at the moment. Lol!

It took a long time to build the Lego Titanic-might be why I've got no energy anymore lol. It was worth it though, literally the pride of my Lego collection. ️I like so many of the minifigures-the collectable series minifigures are amongst my favs but I also love the Marvel and Star Wars ones as well. 

I find online shopping okay for packets of things but I'm a control freak when it comes to fresh veggies as I like to smell and feel them.  Thanks for the compliment, my sewing machine pissed me off on a few occasions but I worked out why and fixed it myself.  I love Sewing Bee and The great pottery throw down too! I can't work with wool or pottery because of allergies but taught myself to crochet in the first lock down so do that until my hands get too sore.  It's a pain in the buttskee when hands and fingers go wonky especially when enjoying creating something.... I made a rainbow scarf which (if I do say so myself) turned out pretty beautiful.  I'm lucky to be able to use my hands without too much pain but that's down to me working out that sugar and certain foods affect the level of pain I get so now I'm in a better place. YAY! 

On another subject, I'm interested to hear how many cats you have and what colours they are.  I love moggies despite being allergic and love hearing about their antics. :-)

Thank you!

You are probably right about your father's Ferrari paraphernalia! As much as I do love Porsches, I have a soft spot for Ferraris!

I would have to say my favourite car model of the collection is the Ferrari Testarossa in Red which I had flown in from Japan, as they aren't sold in this country. It's the car featured in the third picture in my above response. Despite being so small, it has a fully modelled engine bay, rubber wheels, incredibly detailed decals and functioning suspension! I even got this special light-up display case for it!

The Lego Titanic set is truly awesome! I can only imagine how long it must have taken you to build that set as it is truly gigantic! I bet it looks amazing. It's interesting to hear you are a big fan of the mini-figures! Do you have any favourites? Personally, I'm a big fan of some of the older Lego Star Wars Clone troopers minifgures!

Likewise, if money were no object I would almost certainly have two copies of the Porsche set so that I could have one Targa and one Turbo!

Also, I must say that it sounds like you have a really impressive Lego collection! Do you, by chance, have the Lego Creator Ferrari F40 from a few years back? That is an awesome set, and I've been thinking of purchasing one. But, as the set is long discontinued and quite desirable, a new in-the-box example costs a small fortune!

If you do end up getting the Lamborghini and building it do you think you might be able to post about it here on the forum? Sounds like you are a real Lego connoisseur and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the build. I've also got my eyes on a somewhat unrelated release, The Jaws set, which I believe is releasing in August. It really feels like Lego are announcing some amazing sets left, right and centre, which is great for me, but not so great for my wallet lol!

Regarding the Lego House in Billund, I've never been but it is certainly somewhere where I've wanted to visit! I read one of your earlier posts on this forum and you mentioned that you got the opportunity to visit a little while back, what were your thoughts? 

I don't really like online food shopping as I can't see what I'm getting and it's expensive, I did try oyster mushrooms and didn't like them that much, they were alright, but a bit meaty for my taste. I'd like to try things in a restaurant first, but thats not happening. The only thing I miss about being veggie is the meat cookery, I used to make a few classic French dishes, raised pies and pates. I'm the only person I know who actually likes cooking a big xmas dinner for a table full of people. It gets a bit boring cooking for two, theres only so much I can make and not everything freezes.

Apart from dust I don't really collect anyhing, I think the collecting gene passed me by, I have tried to collect things, but I don't really feel any attachment to them. I'm not competitive so board games don't do it for me and nor do cuddly toys or cars.

Iain thankyou for giving me an oportunity to do one of my favourite things and try and see whats on someone bookshelves, when I see talking head on telly with a book case behind them I concentrate so much on the books I miss what they're saying. I did see a few I recognise, I saw a row of Pratchets, but I wasn't sure what the others were.

Tree Spirit, How I admire you for being able to make all your own clothes, my sewing machine hates me, I think they all do, bobbins do my head in. I'd love to have access to the fabrics too and to be able to afford them. Do you watch Sewing Bee? I love wool, but I can't knit anymore because my fingers are to wonky and I never liked the limitations of a knitting machine. If I had the money and space I'd probably have one of those embroidery thread carousels as a piece of art, I love them, all the colours and possibilities.

It sucks not having anybody to play board games with, I do live with my partner and we play sometimes - but a lot of board games are so much better when you have more people to play with! I have been searching for ages for a local board game club, but they're all D&D or Magic the Gathering nights - which I do like, but don't know enough about or have the resources to join - I love a good traditional board game night! There are so many in the cities but I'm in a little town. I went to Disneyworld in Florida a couple of years ago and they had a Disney Parks edition of Game of Life, and Candyland too! I had to pack them so well in my suitcase because I was so scared of the corners getting bashed on the journey home.

Omg-amazing you're so lucky! I would love to collect Monopoly-though no one to play it with sadly. I used to love playing the Game of Life when I was little, my mum was always wanting to play it. I used to love it

I think my favourite would have to be Monopoly! I have so many; Download Festival, Classic, Disney, Dogs, Animal Crossing, Friends, Alton Towers, Spongebob, Willy Wonka and Christmas! I do love Game of Life, and a little card game called Dobble, I have lots of different editions of that too :) 

That's awesome-what's your fav board game? I've got a few different Monopoly board games-including the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror edition-my personal fav. Board games are still so popular and get released yearly-so you've got plenty to collect still️

Hi Paige, thank you! I also collect board games - that's where I really struggle to rein it with buying. There are so many I want to get, the benefit of the bunnies is that there are only so many to buy. But board games are endless, there's always a new one to stumble across, or a new edition of Monoploy come out. My partner has told me I can't buy any more until we have a new shelf to store them because our current cupboard is FULL to the brim - but finally, an official Harry Potter Monopoly has just come out in America and I am desperate to buy it!

Hey Cayman-thanks for posting and sharing the pics of your cars they look fab! My dad would like those too-he's a real big car buff. He has a big novel of a ferrari which you'd probably like. Do you have a fav car model? They all look lovely though. 

Cayman said:

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of Lego sets do you collect? Are you a fan of any one range, or do you collect Lego in general? 

I love collecting all Lego!!!️I own a few different sets my fav is probably the Lego Titanic I bought-it's huge as well-I nearly couldn't fit it in my room! I love it all though especially the minifigures. It's a fun thing to collect.

Hello BumbleBee-I love your collection! They look soo cute and soft I really want to get some of those! Just adorable you have a lovely collection-I don't have many soft toys I'd love to get the Ty bears if I could.

I went with the turbo as that’s the one on the box lol, but I would buy another set just so I could have the Targa next the Turbo, but if I did that each time, Lego would make even more of a fortune out of me!

I think I’m going to treat myself tomorrow when I go to the Lego shop! If they have them in stock of course lol. I can’t wait to build it. My last big build was the Concorde, which I absolutely loved building. And I’ve recent got my hands on two retired Fiat 500’s which are waiting to be built. Have you ever been to the Lego House in Billund?

Thank you! I think the Speed Champion sets are an absolute must-have for car/lego enthusiasts! With your Porsche, did you end up going for the Targa or the Turbo? I had a few spare pieces lying around so was able to build a Turbo-Targa (Which I think is one of the coolest-looking variants of the 911 from that era).

I've also had my eye on the new Lamborghini Countach set since it was announced not too long ago. I completely agree that the set is beautiful (Especially with those functioning scissor doors!). The wedge-shaped design translates so incredibly well into Lego! I'm thinking of picking the set up later this month, maybe as a little birthday gift for myself. What about you?