Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Yawwwnnn...
I got home safely after my big expedition to take the Catolympics' torch to Harper and Ramona in New Hampshire. It was great to meet them and their big brother Brendan. Brendan is a wise kitty and we had some interesting chats. Miss Ramona is very sweet and cuddly. I felt like I had the most in common with Harper though, he is my kind of kitty. He tells me his ambition is to grow up into an impressively huge but sweet-natured kitty like me. I gave him a few hints on how to grow into a fine figure of a cat. The Caturday cats' mum, Zuleme, is a very nice lady and is very generous with the Stinky Goodness. New Hampshire has some beautiful countryside, too.
It is good to be home and to hear that the Caturday cats have already managed to pass the torch safely on to Miles. He is taking it to Colorado - it's amazing how far the torch has travelled already! Has anyone worked out yet how many miles the total torch relay will cover?
In other news, yet more gingers have been added to the Gorgeous Gingers website recently. And I've added a blog link to my new (non-ginger) friends over at the Feline Oligarchy. They live in faraway Florida and have a very cool cat climbing tree. Oh yes, and did you know my fellow ginger Derby has acquired a new ginger friend and he's called it Phat Flower Eric in honour of ME! I am so flattered.
I feel like I need a rest now. My mum has this week off work (half-term holiday) so we are doing some quiet gardening and web-surfing, stuff like that. We have some big burly builders coming round tomorrow to have a look at our roof, I will need to be up early to supervise that. Time to have a really good nap...wake me up when it's dinner time please Mum...zzz...
Monday, May 29, 2006
The Catolympics' Torch Is Here!
This is a furry exciting day for me! The Catolympics' Torch is here and I have the honour of continuing the torch relay. Bombay and Bangles have managed to bring the torch all the way from Singapurr. I was up before dawn looking out of the window to see if there was any sign of them yet.
Finally I saw the glimmer of the torch coming up the path in the back garden, being carried by two very weary kitties. I rushed to wake up my mum, who was still asleep.
Mum, quick, Bombay and Bangles are here, we have to let them in!
You can imagine how happy we all were to see each other. My mum served up Stinky Goodness and crunchies for all. After some breakfast, Bombay and Bangles settled down for a nap. They are going to rest here for a while before setting off on the long journey back to Singapurr. My mum is going to keep an eye on them.
Meanwhile I had some extra food to keep me going on the long trip to New Hampshire in Mericky. I shall hold the torch very carefully while I teleport across the big pond. Then I have to find the Caturday house so that I can pass on the torch to Harper and Ramona. I am looking forward to meeting them and their big brother Brendan! I hope their mum has some food ready because I expect I will be pretty hungry by the time I get there.
I'm poised to leave now - the torch is on the way to Mericky!
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Helping Mum part 2
My stomach is all better now, thank you everyone who asked about it. My appetite is fine. I very nearly got two breakfasts this morning, my dad fed me really early and then my mum came down at the normal time and I thought it was worth begging again, but unfortunately for me my dad appeared and said I'd been fed, just as she was opening the cupboard. Drat.
The weather here's been terrible for the last week, we've had non-stop gales and rain, plus it went cold again. My mum had to put her sandals away and get warm socks and cardigans out again. I haven't been able to get outside at all and my mum's plants have been very battered by the storms. Today the sun finally came out but the forecast isn't great. We want summer!
My friend Zeus has been posting about organisations who help people and animals, such as The Cinnamon Trust and Pets for the Elderly. I'd just like to give a shout-out to another group of Good People at Richmond Animal Protection Society. It is not local to me because it is near Vancouver in Canada, but a friend of mine told me about it. It is one of the largest animal shelters in the world and has about 800 cats at any one time - imagine that! They must be nice people because they have sofas and cushions for the indoor kitties instead of chairs, and covered gardens for the outdoor kitties. You can see some interesting pictures on their website and they also take Paypal donations. It is sad to think that so many kitties in the world don't have forever homes, but at least there are Good People around trying to look after as many homeless kitties as possible.
My mum has been furry busy this week with school stuff. I know she appreciated me helping her to mark test papers recently. So this week I thought I'd help her with the ironing. I aim to please.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Stomach Ache
(Don't read this post if you're feeling squeamish.)
Tuesday was a very good day for me this week - my lovely presents arrived from Mericky. Thursday was not so good. I woke my mum up as normal and she came downstairs and gave me my breakfast. I inhaled the lot in 5 seconds flat, as normal, and my mum started making coffee, getting dressed and all that stuff humans do in the morning. Ten minutes later I was sick on the hall carpet. Then I was sick again in the kitchen, twice. I didn't bring up any hairballs, just my breakfast. My mum sighed and cleaned it all up, and she said she thought I ate my food too fast and I should take it more slowly. I went and had a little lie down because my stomach was sore.
When my mum got home from work, I had thrown up twice more - on the living room carpet this time, just to vary things. (Hey, I would have cleaned it up for her but I'm a cat, I don't have opposable thumbs.)
My mum was a bit worried about me so she kept an eye on me for the evening. She gave me two little meals instead of my usual evening meal and I scoffed the lot and used my litter box, so she thought I was probably OK. But I still felt a bit fragile so I wanted to lie on her cuddling all evening. That made me feel much better, even though it made my mum lose all feeling in her legs, she said.
My mum keeps telling me I should eat slower, but I can't help it, I love food so much I have to slurp it all up straight away, I can't leave it sitting there in my bowl. Now she is talking about splitting my food into smaller meals so I can't eat so much at a time. She is also wondering if I have been eating too many treats since all my presents arrived...I didn't know anyone could have too many treats!
I ate all my food today without any problems so I think my stomach ache is better now. I'm glad I didn't have to go to the v-e-t or anything. I think all that snuggling with my mum helped to cure me. I do like to spend a lot of time snuggling with her! (She has nothing better to do, right?)
Hope all my kitty friends are feeling well today.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
More Prezzies!
We got a card from the Royal Mail to say there was a package at the sorting office addressed to...ME! My mum was scared to go and pick it up in case she got arrested by Customs (she's heard about the difficulties Edsel has been having lately). So my dad went and collected the package. I hardly ever get post addressed to me so I was excited!
Ooh, it's from Knightly, Lizzie and Firenze, all the way in Mericky!
Wow...look at all these presents they sent me...ShrimpNip! (never had that but I've heard it's yummy!) Feline Greenies! A Cat Dancer! 
And look! An octopus just like some of my blogging friends in Mericky have! This looks like fun! Quick, Mum, could you take my octopus off this card please?
Hmm...the box is good too...I wonder if I can fit in it...uh...oh...well, maybe not quite. It keeps flipping up when I try.
Mmm...I'm worn out after all this present-opening fun...I think I need to take a nap...zzzzz...Sunday, May 14, 2006
Helping Mum
My fellow British kitty Arty posted a pic of him helping his mum to mark test papers. I have been doing this too! My mum’s little monsters at school are doing tests now, and when she brought home papers to mark the other night, Scratchy Mouse and I decided to help her. I know she appreciated it.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Keeping Busy
It's been so busy round here for the last few days (entertaining our relatives from the other side of the pond) that I haven't had much time for blogging. But they have gone now to visit Devon Grandma and some other relatives (they are coming back in two weeks) so my mum and dad and I are chilling out a bit.
I really enjoyed meeting Auntie Jody, she thinks I am adorable. She must like me because she said she didn't mind when I decided to share the sofa-bed with her and lick her hair at 5 a.m. And Uncle Sim and Auntie Jan said they didn't mind at all when I made the loud vomiting noises and threw up a hairball just outside their bedroom door at 5.30 a.m. on Friday, so that was OK.
I have added some more links to my list of cat-blogging friends. Some are old friends I hadn't got round to linking to before, some are new. I am pleased to say that the lovely Tilly from The Tower Hill Mob has joined the Gorgeous Gingers. Fat Eddy lives in Alberta, Canada, which makes him a neighbour of Magoo, Smudge, Bella and Dolce. Miss Maggie May is a very cute little calico kitten. There seem to be a lot of kittens around lately - everyone knows Harper and Ramona by now, and Mattingly has a new little sister. It's up to us senior cats to show these kittens the way to do things!
I really enjoyed meeting Auntie Jody, she thinks I am adorable. She must like me because she said she didn't mind when I decided to share the sofa-bed with her and lick her hair at 5 a.m. And Uncle Sim and Auntie Jan said they didn't mind at all when I made the loud vomiting noises and threw up a hairball just outside their bedroom door at 5.30 a.m. on Friday, so that was OK.
I have added some more links to my list of cat-blogging friends. Some are old friends I hadn't got round to linking to before, some are new. I am pleased to say that the lovely Tilly from The Tower Hill Mob has joined the Gorgeous Gingers. Fat Eddy lives in Alberta, Canada, which makes him a neighbour of Magoo, Smudge, Bella and Dolce. Miss Maggie May is a very cute little calico kitten. There seem to be a lot of kittens around lately - everyone knows Harper and Ramona by now, and Mattingly has a new little sister. It's up to us senior cats to show these kittens the way to do things!
Thursday, May 11, 2006
They're Here!
It is so exciting at my house at the moment! Uncle Sim, Auntie Jan and Auntie Jody are all here - our house is full of jet-lagged Americans. I like them all but they do weird stuff like get up and make cups of tea at 4.a.m. because they are confused about what time it is. I have had a lot of adoration already (but no more than I deserve, obviously), Auntie Jody says I am like a big fluffy teddy bear. Excuse me? I am a kitty, not a bear! It was very hot today, my mum had to go to work but my dad has taken time off so he could go and help all our visitors to do touristy stuff around London.
And...I have presents! They brought me 3 packets of Feline Greenies (Yum!) and a toy hedgehog which can be filled with catnip. Apparently I was supposed to get 4 packets of treats but my greedy cousin Fred (one of Uncle Sim's cats) chewed open one of the packets and scoffed them before they could be brought to me! What a cheek! I will have to plan my revenge on him...
For me? Wow!
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Favourite Birds...And A Confession
My friend Happy-Go-Lucky tagged me to name my favourite birds. Now, I sort of agree with Buddah Pest that the best birds are the ones you eat, but I don't think that's what I'm meant to put, so I shall list some birdies I see in my garden instead. We don't get exotic birdies like some kitties do, but here are the 5 birdies we see the most often; they are all quite common.
Mr. Woodpigeon and his extremely large fat family come every day and scoff tons of seed from the bird table.
My mum likes Mr. and Mrs. Blackbird - they are friendly and they come and peck around in the flowerbeds after she has been digging up the soil.
The Blue T*ts are pretty, but one of my kitty friends thought their name was rude, so I have censored it. They can't be very clever birdies as they cannot work out how to eat from any of the 4 different feeders my mum has put out for them. 
The Magpie family are really pests but I do think their colouring is rather smart.
We love seeing Mr. Robin when he comes around...he likes to sit on the fence and watch my mum doing gardening. He is so cheerful and friendly.
Only 3 days until my Uncle Sim comes...I am furry excited. We had some other visitors today - a work friend of my dad's came to tea and brought his wife and their little girl. My mum did baking (which she hardly ever does because she is too lazy) and she made some chocolate muffins and delicious lemon drizzle cake (I sneaked a crumb to test it) and we had cucumber sandwiches and scones and jam and clotted cream...mmm! Everyone had a lovely time and they all said how handsome I was - but (confession time) - I did a bad thing! The little girl was playing with me and she waved the feathery stick and I swiped at it and I accidentally missed the stick and scratched the little girl's finger and it started bleeding! My mum had to first-aid her. I was really sorry and I purred lots at the little girl - I still feel guilty!
Thursday, May 04, 2006
News Round-Up
Firstly, on behalf of Gorgeous Gingers everywhere, I would like to pay my respects to Grandpa Norton, the wise and venerable senior Ginger who has left us to go to the Rainbow Bridge. Norton was a furry special kitty and his family are missing him very much. We are glad, though, that he had a very long and happy life. I know lots of blogging kitties have already sent messages to Norton's family.
Secondly, thank you efurrycat who sent get-well messages to my dad. He is feeling much better (although my mum says his chest still sounds like a wheezy old accordion when he coughs). He went back to work today. I know he appreciated my nursing while he was ill, because he let me lick his head all over this morning without moaning about it like he usually does.
Thirdly, my new friend (and namesake) Big Eric was very happy to see all the comments about him that my friends posted on my blog. If you missed my posting about Big Eric and his brother, Flynn, you can find it here (and Big Eric wrote a message to you all on the comments there). Big Eric and Flynn have asked their mum if they can have their own blog, and she says they can, so I will let you know when they get it up and running. They tell me that Flynn gave them a scare recently - his mum broke her leg and had to stay in hospital, and Flynn was so upset he wouldn't eat while she was away. But she is home now so Flynn is eating again and he is fine. Here he is looking after his mum's leg.
Fourthly, I have some exciting news! My mum and dad told me that Uncle Sim and Auntie Jan are coming to stay next week! (Uncle Sim is my dad's brother, he married Auntie Jan and went across the big pond to live in Montana so we don't see him that often). I am furry excited about seeing them, and not just because they always bring me really good presents from America! What is even more exciting is that they are bringing Auntie Jody with them, who is Auntie Jan's sister and lives in Idaho with her kitty, Lil' Orphan Annie. I have never met Auntie Jody but my mum and dad stayed with her in Idaho three years ago and they told me she is a very nice human who loves cats. I am going to have so many humans making a fuss of me next week!
My friend Happy-Go-Lucky has tagged me to name some of my favourite birds. I will have to have a think about this and post at the weekend, it's been quite hot here today so I have to go and find somewhere cool to lie down (and help my mum get out her summer sandals!)
