Saturday, October 28, 2006
We're Tired
I had a great purrthday, but all the excitement was very tiring. I have been mainly sleeping it off since. My mum has been quite tired too, so we have been spending a lot of time napping together or watching daytime TV. She has to go back to work on Monday but she is feeling a bit weak (she is not quite recovered from the poisoned mushroom crêpe she ate in Paris, but I'll tell you more about that later). We have been supervising dad cleaning the house, washing up, vacumning, doing laundry - he has been doing a good job. Mum's sister has gone home now so we are back to normal.
I would like to thank all my friends who sent me purrthday wishes. I got lots and lots of treats and fuss. I think we should all have two purrthdays every year, like the Queen.
My dad ran out of the dry cat food while mum was in Paris and he bought a different brand to the one mum buys me. She wasn't very pleased because she thought I might not like changing brands so abruptly. Then she turned round and saw me stuffing the food into my face...gobble, gobble, crunch, crunch, mmm! Now she has decided that I obviously don't care as long as it is FOOD! But when I have finished this bag she is going to go back to my usual brand because it helps me to get fewer hairballs.
This is the new bowl my mum bought me in Paris. I like it - what do you think?
I thought you might like to hear about a fat cat called Willie. He was a cat from Mericky who moved to Wales. Look what happens to fat Mericky cats in Wales! Amazing.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Happy Purrthday To Me!
Yes! It is my purrthday. Well, technically it is my Gotcha-Day, as it is exactly 3 years since Hattie and I came to live here. Anyway, I am officially 11 years old today.I am having a great purrthday so far. First, I had all the excitement of the party Derby threw for all us October cats last weekend. That was lots of fun. Then, last night my mum and her sister came home from Paris, so that was good because I was getting worried they wouldn't be here to make a fuss of me on my purrthday. My mum hasn't been able to do much unpacking yet because I wouldn't get off her lap. (Have you tried moving a 21 lb cat when he doesn't want to be moved?)
This morning, I was given a special purrthday breakfast - gourmet tuna flakes with shrimps in jelly, mmm...diet, what diet? I am having the same food for dinner this evening too! My mum also bought me a new water dish in Paris, she says it is what all the smart Parisian cats are using. I will post a picture of it soon.
To add to all the excitement, I have just found out that today I am Kat's Cat Of The Day. How nice of them to pick today to mention me on there.
I expect I will be quite tired by the time I have finished celebrating, but I will be back soon to report on what happened while my mum was in Paris. Merci bien to my friends who wished us well! You're all invited to share my purrthday cake!
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Ma Maman Part En Vacances
My mum has a week off from teaching the little monsters. She is going to Paris tomorrow morning on the Eurostar with her sister, whose purrthday is on Monday. They are coming back on Wednesday. This means that I have been put in charge of looking after the house, of course, and also looking after my dad, who has a heavy cold and is sneezing all over the house. It's quite a responsibility.
I will miss my mum's scritches but, on the plus side, my dad tends to be more generous with the food portions. It is my purrthday on Thursday so my mum will be back in time for that, which is good. She is going to look for a new water dish for me in Paris because she can't find one she likes here. Maybe I will get a dish which is très chic?
As you can see, I add a little knowledge of French to my other talents. I've picked up a few phrases from my dad, who is fluent. As he isn't going on this trip, my mum and her sister will have to struggle by with their own French, which isn't as fluent!
A funny thing happened tonight, I had just come in from the garden and mum was combing me. She found something stuck in my long fur and she thought it was a pebble, but it turned out to be a baby snail that was hitching a ride! It was still alive and crawled up Mum's finger so she put it back in the garden. It is lucky it is not a French snail, apparently they sometimes get eaten there...
I had a great time this weekend at the wonderful party Derby and his mum threw for all us October kitties. I won't be blogging now for a few days because I'll be so busy looking after my dad. It's lucky je suis un chat très utile!
I will miss my mum's scritches but, on the plus side, my dad tends to be more generous with the food portions. It is my purrthday on Thursday so my mum will be back in time for that, which is good. She is going to look for a new water dish for me in Paris because she can't find one she likes here. Maybe I will get a dish which is très chic?
As you can see, I add a little knowledge of French to my other talents. I've picked up a few phrases from my dad, who is fluent. As he isn't going on this trip, my mum and her sister will have to struggle by with their own French, which isn't as fluent!
A funny thing happened tonight, I had just come in from the garden and mum was combing me. She found something stuck in my long fur and she thought it was a pebble, but it turned out to be a baby snail that was hitching a ride! It was still alive and crawled up Mum's finger so she put it back in the garden. It is lucky it is not a French snail, apparently they sometimes get eaten there...
I had a great time this weekend at the wonderful party Derby and his mum threw for all us October kitties. I won't be blogging now for a few days because I'll be so busy looking after my dad. It's lucky je suis un chat très utile!
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Midweek Mewsings
Not much time to blog this week, it is so busy round here. I am busy guarding my yellow chair and my mum is busy at school. Tomorrow night she will be home late because it is parents' evening so she has to stay at school all evening too and interview all the parents to tell them how well (or not) their little darlings are getting on. But don't worry, my dad has promised to make sure I still get my dinner on time even though mum won't be home to feed me!
I caught my mum yesterday, looking on the website of the cat sanctuary where she adopted me and Hattie three years ago. This alarmed me - what was she doing? Is she planning to get me a sibling?! Because I LIKE being a spoilt only kitty, you know!
Phew, she is not looking for a sibling for me. She is looking for some kitties for someone else. Back in July, I blogged about one of my mum's friends who was very sad. She had three cats called Nessie, Lulu and Fluffy. In the same week in July, Nessie went to the Rainbow Bridge and Fluffy disappeared. Fluffy is still missing and Lulu has been a bit lonely since then, so her mum wants to get two more kitties to keep her company. She and my mum are planning to go to the cat sanctuary soon to find a pair of siblings for Lulu. I just need to remind my mum not to "accidentally" pick up any kitties for herself while she's there!
Have you heard the exciting news that I just read on Grr, Midnight and Cocoa's page? There might be a Blogging Cats Calendar and we can all send in our pictures! We could all be pin-ups! I must start trying out my cutest floofy poses...
*EDITED* to add
YAY!!! We've been biting our fingernails and claws all evening listening to the big game...but the best team won!
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Return Of The Yellow Chair!
Until about six months ago, I had a favourite chair. It was yellow and it lived in our living-room. I was often to be found enjoying the comfort of the yellow chair like this: 
And sometimes like this:
And sometimes like this:Then, one day, my humans decided to move all the furniture around. A new blue sofa and chair appeared in the living-room and my favourite yellow chair...disappeared! I was quite upset, but after a while I discovered that the new chair was really quite comfortable, so I made the best of it.
A few days ago, I was upstairs on the landing helping my mum to empty the laundry basket (I'm such a good helpful boy). She went to look for something in the spare bedroom. Now, this may seem strange to you but the spare bedroom is a room I am not at all interested in. I never go in there, even though the door is left open. (There is never any food in there, so why would I be interested?) But for some reason, on this occasion, I decided to follow my mum into the spare bedroom. I wandered in there, and what do you think I saw? My yellow chair! It was in there all the time and I never realised! I was so surprised!
I tried jumping on it to see if it was as comfortable as ever, but unfortunately someone had decided to cover it with teddy bears so there wasn't enough room to get comfortable. Undaunted, I decided that maybe just being underneath it would be good enough. 
Except for trips to the food dishes and the litter box, I have been underneath it pretty much ever since...yay for the yellow chair!
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Rainbow Gingers
I am glad that we all agree that cats of all colours are beautiful, although I am always proud to be ginger. As you probably know, there are lots of Gorgeous Ginger kitties like me over at my Gorgeous Gingers page. I have just added a few more, and there are yet more gingers waiting to be added, when Blogger decides to co-operate in uploading their pictures...
Today I would like to tell you about a brand-new page, The Rainbow Gingers. You will also find a link to it on the Gorgeous Gingers page. It is a page to pay tribute to those members of the Gorgeous Gingers who have now gone ahead to wait at the Rainbow Bridge. There are some old friends there, including Trixie, Norton, Ullrick and Butterscotch - and I am going to put a picture of my ginger sister Hattie on there too.
Please let me know if you can think of any other lovely ginger cats who have gone on to the Bridge and need to be honoured as members of the Rainbow Gingers.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Cats Of Many Colours
I am sorry to say that during the course of my campaign against the Evil Intruder Cats, some of my kitty friends have got the idea that I do not like black kitties. This is not true! I believe that fur of all colours, including black, can look beautiful on kitties. I am proud to say that several of my blogging kitty friends (at least, I hope they count me as a friend!) are gorgeous black cats - for example, the lovely Turtle, Huggy Bear, Buzzerbee & Meep, William of Mass Destruction and not forgetting Grr, Midnight & Cocoa!
My problem is that I don't like Evil Intruder Cats of any colour - they should respect my boundaries and not come in without being invited!
My mum found another poem in a book at her school. I don't really agree with some of the things in this poem but I thought I would share it with you anyway, as it is about cat colours:
Cat Selection (Joan Aiken)
Tabbies and blacks are aloof and superior
Tortoiseshells feminine, winsome and coy
White, unless clean, won't adorn your interior
Siamese yowls all affection destroy.
Greys are deceitful, remote, disingenuous
Owners of Persians are slaves to the comb
Manx are ungraceful and Maltese too strenuous
So marmalade cats are the cats for the home.
Hmm...had the person who wrote this had a bad experience with a grey cat? They don't seem to like some cat colours very much! And of course Manx cats are not ungraceful - just look at Abby. I'm not sure how annoying Siamese yowls are - I'll have to check with the Meezers' mum!
At least the poet loves us ginger/marmalade cats!
But we are all beautiful in our different, colourful ways.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
I've Got Their Number
More news from my campaign to rid my personal garden of Small Black Kitties (also known as Evil Intruder Kitties). I have found out that they actually live down the road at number 29 - they do have a perfectly good home of their own, so why do they feel the need to come and frolic in my garden? They are obviously just doing it to annoy me. My mum says they have now taken to sitting on the front wall of their own house and greeting her when she goes past on her way home to me. That's just designed to annoy me as well! They are now wearing matching blue collars, so they are obviously just trying to copy me (my last collar was blue, before I managed to break that one).
I think we should all be vigilant. If you see any Small Black Kitties looking something like this:
call the Evil Intruder Kitty Police immediately to have them apprehended. Or they could be invading your garden next!
In other news, my dad is safely back from his mountain climbing! He came back all wet and dirty, I made a Stinky Face when I smelled him, but after he had had a shower I condescended to lick his hair. He also brought back bags full of stinky wet clothes. Still, I think he enjoyed himself. He has done a lot of sleeping since he got back. Last night I went to the party that Charlie and Pandora threw to celebrate Luna's return, so this morning I was quite tired and I have just been helping my mum to look up Ancient Egyptian gods on the internet (she is doing it for school). This afternoon I am going to help her do some gardening and plant some spring bulbs. And Derby is coming to visit me! I think I need to get in a few naps before he comes, maybe I'll go and join my dad for a nap right now...
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Missing Dad
My dad has gone away for a week. He has gone to Scotland to climb a mountain. I hope he doesn't fall off! Here are some pictures of the mountain.
Before he went, my dad told me I had to look after my mum. I have interpreted this to mean that I should:
1. Never let her out of my sight while she is in the house.
2. Follow her closely up and down stairs until she trips over me.
3. Lie on her all night and make sure she wakes up extra-early for work.
4. Share all her meals with her.
5. Sit on any books or newspapers she attempts to read.
6. Sit next to the bath while she is in it and meow loudly (in case she drowns and I am left with no human servants at all).
My dad is due home on Friday night, I will be absolutely worn out by then after working so hard to keep everything under control here. 
Sunday, October 01, 2006
A Poem To Share
My mum was given a book of poems yesterday. They were written by an English lady a long time ago in the 1930s, but have only just been rediscovered and published. One of the poems is about a cat and my mum and I rather like it, so we decided to share it with you. We hope you like it too.
Benedict Bishop Benjamin Binns
- Here, the tale of his life begins -
Clad in a velvet coat as black
As the gathered soot at the fireplace back
Owned two humans he found one day
When, frightened and cold, a trembling stray
Over the shed he found his way
Into a home where he came to stay.
First they gave him a saintly name
After a bishop of mighty fame.
Such a sedate, superior cat
Merits a given name like that!
“Benedict Bishop” his grave look wins;
But, when they knew him so full of sins
Scrapper, and haunter of old dustbins
He came down with a run to “Benjamin Binns”.
Everyone said, “What a handsome cat!”
Benjamin Binns was used to that;
Often a-neighbouring he would go
Everyone loved and admired him so!
But he loved the best his Missus, and Ganna
For them he reserved his most loving manner;
And, late in life, he took under his banner
A wee little kit as yellow as manna.
For sixteen years he ruled the place
Huge and beautiful, full of grace,
And beloved by folk upon every side
Till, old and tired, our Benjamin died.
Benjamin Binns now sleeps at ease
Under the pink flowered chestnut trees
But I think in the Happy Hunting Ground
His spirit awaits the joyous sound
Of a yellow kitty's eager bound
To join his Ben in the heavenly round.
E.B.D.
P.S. Please go and visit Gemini and her family. They have had some bad news and need your kind thoughts.
