Wednesday 30 July 2008

Cuddling Cherubs

Aaaay!! We're off on holiday soon:o)) Plenty of sea air where we're going:o)) And......LOADS of craft shops with lots of sales on. There's a Knitting Club, too!! Plus, I am going to be introduced to bingo. Eeek!

Junior and I have never been on holiday. How sad is that? Never been able to afford it. The boys always had one. They went on annual camp with the Boys Brigade until they left college, but me and Junior, or is it Junior and I, never had one. We'll try and get away more often now.

Anyway, have managed to get bro to babysit our menagerie while we're away. He'll get bored no doubt and so will probably embark on the 'To Mend' list....which is quite long. Yippeeee!!!! I might get a working back gate...at last...and allotment fenced off AND washing machine seal fixed, so I can chuck away the blue tack.... no more leaks:o) Yabbadabbadoo!!!!

Junior is already packing. Decisions, decisions.....what to take? Going by what she wants/thinks she needs to take, one of those trunks that Harry Potter has for his stuff may be required. Lol. I have explained that she will have to lug some of the luggage and so she's now attempting to downsize. Have to giggle. She's so blumming organised and is currently lecturing me, as I type, on how to pack properly:o)) "Do it neatly!! And, most importantly, take lots of undies and don't forget the make up." lol I'll try not to forget towels:o) I like my own. Gratuitous photo coming up.

Popeye's favourite 'perch' at the moment....cuddling the cherubs:o))

Monday 28 July 2008

Roll on Autumn

Cilla..smiling on here but finding it too hot today.


Good thing about Summer is that it is followed by Autumn....best time of the year by far:o)))

We watched the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice this weekend...one with Colin Firth playing the Darcy bloke. Free disc from some Sunday red top. Big bro brought it us down the other week. Alas, we failed to note that the disc only had the first 3 episodes on it. Arghhhh!!!!! So, been trying the find the other three episodes online, but no success as of yet. Blast!! Junior was quite into it, too. We watched Alice in Wonderland, which was good and then Animal Farm. The latter made Junior quite sad, so we abandoned it. The books of all three I have never read. Fancy that!!

The older kittens (Olive's) will be 6 weeks old on Thursday. Don't know what they put in kitten food nowadays, but the little darlings are soooooo hyper it's untrue. They spend an hour or so racing around like loonies and then conk out for hours:o) Can't help but love them, though. So lovely. One in particular...Loo Loo (Junior's spelling of the name) is very sweet and always congregates around my feet. She's a "sit and ponder" type of cat, a black longhair, very gentle character, quite delicate - similar build to Olive, little miaow, big blue eyes and she's staying:o)) Junior has taken a fancy to ginger and white boy Bart. He's huge and playful...as they all are! And then Tinks..a multi coloured girl..brindle/tortie with beautiful markings. She's the runt and so is the tiny one but quietly tough. Then Regal Henry..another longhair but black and white. He crosses his paws when he lies down. He's a quiet lad, likes his sleep. Then....Ringo!!! Ringo is Ringo!!

Tip. Said it before, but If your cat has a litter, NEVER give the kittens names. Fatal!! It becomes more personal, so you'll never want to rehome 'em!!

Do I follow my own advice? Heck no!! Megan's lot are just over 3 weeks old, black and beeeeoooootiful, too:o). 1 boy, 4 girls...and all named! Now they're getting older, you can tell the subtle differences between the girlies. We have a couple of "sit and ponderers" in there, too! sigh... They are quieter than Olive's tribe were at that age and no trouble! lol They're starting to wander around a bit, looking and learning. Meg and Olive are such good mums...very protective. They share the childcare and are so diligent and caring. Makes your heart melt when you hear them trilling and chirruping at the little ones, investigating every little 'cry' with the utmost urgency.

Wonder if the "designer parrot" neighbours would notice if we had 15 cats? Other next doors have 12 rabbits and a dog! At least we'd be able to keep the local mouse population down, what..with all that straw bedding! lol

The pooches are out in the garden. 'Tis 11pm and they are REALLY enjoying the cool breeze:o)) Ten more minutes then it's bed for them. But, as they say, there's no rest for the wicked...... 11pm is party time in kitten land:o) lol

Thursday 24 July 2008

Junior's Fan Club



Junior working on the computer with laid back, bestest fan Popeye watching on:o) As I type he is asleep at her feet, guarding:o))

Meanwhile, his offspring are causing a riot upstairs. The older lot are 5 weeks old today and WANT TO PLAY!!!!!...and I want to sleep!! Younger lot are looking and learning..... Bugger!!!

Wednesday 23 July 2008

Time Out

We're back from our little blogging holiday. To quote Junior.."Yippeee, the internet's back on!! Can I watch the iPlayer?"

Been busy anyway. Mother has not been well and convinced herself that she was dying...because of all the pain she had been suffering. I told her it sounded like gallstones and a scan has confirmed this. Mother is well impressed with my diagnosing abilities:o) I am a clever girl and favourite youngest daughter at the mo!! lol. Anyway, she's now embarking on a vegan diet. Wonder how long that'll last, 'cos the old girl likes her dairy produce, especially double cream! Junior and I quite like soya cream, though don't know how Mother will take to it.

Junior wanted a dolls house. One of those big, expensive, two storey pastel coloured ones. For her Bratz stuff. Sigh. We, being poorer than church mice at the moment, cannot obviously afford such a thing. So, we are converting two large cardboard boxes into a desirable residence:o) Might take a while, but she's got to work out how many things, like number of roof tiles required, interior design, measurements, etc. And paint and put it all together. So, armed with tools of the trade (namely glue, sharp knife and paint pot testers) it's onwards with the project!!
Before photo!!


On the kitten front:o) Turns out that Popeye had been a busy lad before his "snip" operation. Very busy. Olive had 5....and so did Megan. I could just imagine next door's face if ten new kitties appeared on the fence, looking adoringly at the very expensive designer parrot!! lol

Anyway, the babies are BEAUTIFUL and just at the "getting into EVERYTHING" stage. The mothers nurse the babies in the same box and take turns in the "childcare" duties. I gave them separate nursing boxes but Meg just moved her babies in with Olive's!! They're very good mums and chirrup away at the little ones. When Megan was producing her brood, Olive helped clean them up and fed them for her while she was busy having the next ones! Very sisterly lovey and what an organised production line! No more, though. All house exits have been blocked until the ladies see Mr/Ms Vet:o)
Olive's babies


Junior came into my bedroom at 4am the other week, complaining that there was a mouse on her bed and then swiftly hopped into mine! Waddled into her room and, lo and behold, there really was a mouse on her bed.....deceased. So, removed the little thing and changed bedding. Goes back to bed. Am woken by squealing. In tired state wonders if it is one of the kittens and how the hell did it get into Junior's room. So, goes into Junior's room and there is Popeye..the mouse killer suspect! He is busy and all you can see is his backside sticking out from under the wardrobe. Then, I sees this brownish thing move and go under the bed!! Arghhhh. Size of a rat it was. There am I wishing.."Please God, not this". Anyway, after a little farting about I move the bed and find......a humungous FROG!!! There's me muttering "Thank you so bloody much, Popeye!!" Spent ages trying to catch it but needed to move furniture, which tends to upset neighbours if you do it at 5am, so decided to leave it until the "morning".

Junior gets up before me...seeing as she had a relatively less sleep disruptive night than me. I explains about Mr Frog. She HATES frogs, so I am expecting shrieking of Olympic proportions if/when she comes face to face with our little visitor. I decide to evict the creature but he beat me to the landing!!! He'd crawled under the door at some point and was perched on the landing bannister, as bold as brass I tell you not a lie, ribbiting away, waiting for the cat/human free opportunity to leg it.

Anyway, he now lives at the bottom of the road in a nice, damp, wooded area.... with all his other 'rehoused because of that blummin Popeye' mates....about a dozen of them!!! Wonder if they are planning revenge?

On the sporting front....my niece came third in some National Championships. She was a bit disappointed because on paper she should have been second but, still, third seems pretty good to me:o) Goldie, of course, won the event as she's way ahead of everybody at the mo.   Bad photo but this is a pic off the screen in the arena.

She's in the pink.


The local kids start their summer holidays tomorrow. Seven weeks. SEVEN WEEKS!! Argghhhh!!!! There is no God!!