Saturday, December 26, 2009
Boxing Day Update and Belated Happy Christmas!
Well, here I am at Devon Grandma's house. Sorry I couldn't post yesterday to wish my friends a Merry Christmas, but hope you all had a good one. My humans and I drove from London to Devon on Wednesday. It was a slower journey than usual because of the weather and my humans got very tense because of the snow and the freezing fog and later the torrential rain - lots of cars were having accidents but my dad drove very carefully and we got to Devon Grandma's house safely in the end. I fell asleep in the Evil Cat Carrier and slept nearly all the way and my humans said I was extremely good and quiet.
I remembered Devon Grandma's house and I am happy to say that she still has all the cosy sofas and that there is still a very warm and comfy napping spot behind the red sofa next to the hot radiator! I have been spending a lot of time there.
On Christmas morning I checked my stocking and I found some tins of tuna and some other luxury foods for treats and a packet of Greenies sent from Mericky just for me! Edible presents are my favourite. Then my mum and dad went off to Cornwall to have Christmas dinner with Cornish Grandma and Cornish Auntie (who live about 2 hours' drive away). Devon Grandma went next door and had Christmas dinner with 12 other people and I looked after Devon Grandma's house for her. My humans stayed in Cornwall for the night so I was in charge of looking after Devon Grandma. She remembered to feed me at the right times so that was OK. This morning (Boxing Day) I woke up and I remembered my humans had gone to Cornwall so I found my way into Devon Grandma's bedroom and I jumped on her pillow and started licking her hair just like I do to my humans and I went "Meow, meow, breakfast please!" Devon Grandma got a bit of a fright because she is 80 and apparently she isn't used to large floofy cats on her head in the morning, but when she had calmed down she served my breakfast, so that was good! Then at lunchtime she was eating a turkey sandwich and I sat in front of her chair and looked really, really pleading and I got some TURKEY!!! After that my stomach was happy and full of turkey, so I had a nap until tea-time, when my humans arrived back from Cornwall and there was much hair-licking and happiness.
We are staying here until Wednesday when we go back to London so I will have lots more chances to try out the napping spots at Devon Grandma's house. My mum has taken some lovely Christmas photos of me but we can't upload them until we get back home. Hope everyone else is having as much Christmas fun as me!
Monday, December 21, 2009
A Christmas Journey
Hmm. There are bags of presents in the living room. Bags of clothes in the bedroom. My dad is fretting about de-icing the car and my mum is making lists of Christmas items. I thought something was going on. Apparently tomorrow we are going on a long road trip to visit Devon Grandma for Christmas. This has happened before and you can read about my travels here and here and here. This means I will be thrown in the Evil Cat Carrier and put in the car along with a ton of luggage and presents, and will have to spend hours on the road. At least once I get to Devon Grandma's I know where the comfy sofas and the food bowls are at her house. Here is a map I made a while ago to show you where I am going:
On Christmas Day my humans are going a bit further down to Cornish Auntie's (mum's sister's) house for Christmas lunch, but I am staying at Devon Grandma's because it is more peaceful for me. Here's a picture of me on one of her sofas, I hope she still has this one!
We are not quite sure if we are going tomorrow because it has been snowing again and the roads are very icy; if it snows again we might have to wait till Wednesday to drive down. My mum sometimes has trouble getting an internet connection at Devon Grandma's, but I will blog when I can to let all my friends know when I have arrived. Wish me luck with all that travelling!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
The Christmas Tree and the V-E-T!
Last weekend I helped my mum to put up the Christmas tree and some decorations in our house. She had to get dad to stand on chairs and put up some high decorations because she is not allowed to stand on stuff like that any more in case she falls off and breaks her leg again.
I sniffed all the Christmas tree ornaments as they came out of the tins in the big box from the loft. My mum is a great one for buying tree ornaments in all the different places she visits, so they remind her of places she has been. We also have quite a few cat-themed ornaments. Here is our finished tree:
And here are some of the cat ornaments we have. Guess which one is my favourite? 
I keep looking at this robin ornament. He looks quite tasty. Shame mum has put him so high up on the tree. (I don't have the figure for tree-climbing).
And here I am doing a final inspection on the tree. I don't think she should buy many more ornaments or we will have to get a bigger tree. 
Not everything this week has been as much fun as tree decorating. On Friday evening I was peacefully dozing under the Christmas tree when I was picked up, thrown into the Evil Cat Carrier, put into the car and driven round the corner to see the Loud Australian V-e-t. It was that time of year again when I have those annual injections in the back of my neck. When the Loud Australian V-e-t tipped me out on to the table I climbed straight back into the Evil Cat Carrier again, heh heh heh. He did all his checks and said that I am in good shape and he was very impressed that my diabetes is still under good control. I have lost some more weight - when he weighed me a year ago I was 17 and a half pounds and now I am down to 15 and a half pounds, which is the lightest I have ever been since my humans adopted me 6 years ago. The v-e-t doesn't think I am qualified to call myself Skinny Eric yet, though.
Luckily the trip to the v-e-t did not take long, and I was soon back at home catching up on some naptime. There is one more week to go before my mum finishes school for the Christmas holidays. She has all sorts of stuff going on like Christmas shows and parties and card making with her class, but the v-e-t said she shouldn't forget to give me lots of grooming so that my floof is at its best for Christmas!
I sniffed all the Christmas tree ornaments as they came out of the tins in the big box from the loft. My mum is a great one for buying tree ornaments in all the different places she visits, so they remind her of places she has been. We also have quite a few cat-themed ornaments. Here is our finished tree:
And here are some of the cat ornaments we have. Guess which one is my favourite? I keep looking at this robin ornament. He looks quite tasty. Shame mum has put him so high up on the tree. (I don't have the figure for tree-climbing).And here I am doing a final inspection on the tree. I don't think she should buy many more ornaments or we will have to get a bigger tree. Not everything this week has been as much fun as tree decorating. On Friday evening I was peacefully dozing under the Christmas tree when I was picked up, thrown into the Evil Cat Carrier, put into the car and driven round the corner to see the Loud Australian V-e-t. It was that time of year again when I have those annual injections in the back of my neck. When the Loud Australian V-e-t tipped me out on to the table I climbed straight back into the Evil Cat Carrier again, heh heh heh. He did all his checks and said that I am in good shape and he was very impressed that my diabetes is still under good control. I have lost some more weight - when he weighed me a year ago I was 17 and a half pounds and now I am down to 15 and a half pounds, which is the lightest I have ever been since my humans adopted me 6 years ago. The v-e-t doesn't think I am qualified to call myself Skinny Eric yet, though.Luckily the trip to the v-e-t did not take long, and I was soon back at home catching up on some naptime. There is one more week to go before my mum finishes school for the Christmas holidays. She has all sorts of stuff going on like Christmas shows and parties and card making with her class, but the v-e-t said she shouldn't forget to give me lots of grooming so that my floof is at its best for Christmas!
Sunday, December 06, 2009
The Hard Stare
The humans think I don't know that they've been out stuffing themselves with cream cakes while taking a break from Christmas shopping. I can smell the cream on their breaths! And did they bring any cream cakes home for me? NO!!! This is why I am giving them a very Hard Stare.
In other news, today I helped my mum to decorate the Christmas tree. Pictures to follow!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Easy Like Sunday
Today it has pretty much rained VERY hard all day without stopping. A good day for staying indoors and keeping snuggly. My humans just had to go out once to go to the supermarket to buy food (including stinky goodness, very important!) - they came back very wet and grumpy and didn't go out again. My mum and I have had some good laptime this weekend, even though she has had lots of planning to do for school. She has a busy week coming up - important meetings, important people coming in to watch her teach, and she is taking her class on a trip on Thursday so she is really hoping it doesn't pour with rain on that day. But I am not accepting her busy-ness as an excuse to ignore my blogging requirements, of course! Next weekend we are probably going to put up the Christmas decorations and my mum is starting her class Advent calendar this week. She has promised to help me to write all my Christmas cards. I have some excellent new cards this year with a picture of handsome ME on them. If I sent you a card last year, you will probably get one from me again this year (unless you have moved since then and changed your address without telling me!) If you've never had a card from me and you would like one, send me your address - there's a link to my human's e-mail on the Gorgeous Gingers page.
Quick check - yes, still raining outside! Might as well go back to sleep...zzzzz....
Monday, November 23, 2009
Annual Purr-furr-mance Review!
Thanks to my friends at Zoolatry for passing on the Review Form for me to do an Annual Purr-furr-mance Review on my human. I have two humans but have decided to do the review on my main human, my mum.
1. QUANTITY OF OUTPUT: LOW
I can't help but feel that my human has got a bit lax about helping me blog lately. She's full of excuses about being busy doing work for school, or being tired, but that's just Not Good Enough. In fact, do you know that it is EIGHTEEN WHOLE DAYS since she last helped me to blog??? Outrageous! Especially since she's too lazy to help me blog but I notice she still has time to play on Facebook or other websites. I think that next year I may have to lay down some rules about how many blog posts I expect per week.
2. QUALITY OF OUTPUT: HIGH
Even though my human is lazy, let's face it, usually she is posting pictures of me and all pictures of me are always gorgeously ginger and fabulous.
3. CLIENT PAWTICIPATION: HIGH TO MEDIUM
I am happy that lots of my friends still come and visit me even though I don't get to post as often as I would like to. And I had lots and lots of comments on my recent birthday post which was lovely. But I still think my human needs to make an effort to help me post more so that all my friends can see more pictures of me and hear what I am up to! Plus she has been pretty lazy lately about making sure I get to join in Blogsphere events - she never got round to sending my picture to the Cat Blogosphere Calendar this year and I'm sure I've missed out on some good house-trashing parties.
4. CLIENT SATISFACTION: MEDIUM
Everyone likes to see pictures of gorgeous me, but my human needs to spend a lot more time making sure I get to visit all my friends' blogs. I haven't been to visit some of my friends for ages!
5. OVERALL RATING:
I am issuing a warning to my human that I expect her to put a lot more effort into taking pictures of me, posting said pictures for all my friends to admire, making sure I never again go EIGHTEEN WHOLE DAYS without posting anything, and making sure that I get to go and visit all my friends on a regular basis. This is in addition, of course, to her providing her usual services of feeding, litter box cleaning and long periods of providing laptime on the blue chair. Also I get to lick her hair whenever I feel like it. And get more tuna and shrimp. If she manages to keep to these conditions, I will give her another chance, but if there's no improvement, I may have to get myself another human assistant! She has been warned...
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Remember Remember...
...the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot!
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
I always like to post on Bonfire Night to remind everyone that here in the UK it is a special night when all the humans set off loads of noisy fireworks to remind themselves how Guy Fawkes failed to blow up the Houses of Parliament about 400 years ago.
It is a good night for fireworks tonight, dry and cold. My humans didn't go out to a fireworks display, they watched the big display at the Town Hall from our upstairs windows, we have a good view from there.
There are lots of bangs going off all over London. Some kitties get very scared by all the fireworks banging but I am not too bothered, I have been asleep most of the evening while all the bangs were going off. Zzzzzzz.....
Monday, November 02, 2009
Slim Eric?
A big thank-you to all my friends who stopped by and left purrthday messages for me. I really appreciate it, and I am in the process of getting my lazy human to help me visit all of you. Even though she has just had a week's holiday from school, and I did get some extra lap time, she has spent very little time helping me blog. She has lots of different excuses - first we had a French friend to stay, then Cornish Auntie came (mum's sister) and they were off having fun and doing excessive amounts of shopping, plus she has been redesigning her school's website and thus hogging the computer...excuses, excuses!
Finally I made her take me out in the garden for a little photo session. Our garden is looking very autumnal but there are still a few summer flowers out. All our visitors lately have commented that I look like I have lost some more weight. Maybe soon everyone will be calling me Slim Eric instead of Fat Eric? What do you think?
Don't worry, I still have a healthy appetite and my diabetes is under good control. The v-e-t says I am very healthy and that sometimes plumper kitties do slim down a bit when they get older. Besides, it depends what position I am sitting in. In this photo, taken the same day, I don't look that slim at all!
Of course, as soon as my mum got the camera out in the garden, you can guess who turned up and started posing, hoping to get his photo taken too.
He's such a camera hog, that Marmite.
Monday, October 26, 2009
It's My 14th Purrthday!
Yay! Do you know, last night I was wondering if my mum had forgotten it was going to be my purrthday today, but when I got GOURMET TUNA AND SHRIMP for breakfast this morning I realised she had remembered! She says we will celebrate properly with my presents this evening when dad gets back from climbing Snowdon.
Thank you to my friends who have already left purrthday wishes for me. I am officially 14 years old today, I think that qualifies me as a Geezer Kitty, don't you? My friend Derby sent me a fun e-card, thanks Derby! Milo and Alfie wanted to know why my Purrthday and Gotcha Days are celebrated on the same day - well, it's because my humans don't know my real Purrthday, because I was already 8 years old when they adopted me and Hattie from the cat sanctuary. So today is my Gotcha Day because it's exactly 6 years since I came to my forever home, but we celebrate it as my Purrthday too. Since my mum is on holiday from work today, I'm planning a full day of sitting on her lap and demanding Greenies. Come over for treats, everyone!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Farewell Beezer
I had a post lined up today all ready to tell you stuff that's been going on - my mum is on holiday from school for a week, so lots of quality time with her lined up, my neighbour kitty Lofty is doing really well running round his house on three legs, my dad has gone off for the weekend with one of his French friends to climb Mount Snowdon in Wales, my Cornish Auntie had a birthday and that Evil Intruder Kitty Marmite is back and more of a pest than ever.
But I'm changing my post because I am sad today and so is my mum. We found out that my good friend Beezer has gone to the Rainbow Bridge.
But I'm changing my post because I am sad today and so is my mum. We found out that my good friend Beezer has gone to the Rainbow Bridge.
Beezer was one of the founder members of the Gorgeous Gingers and he was one of the best ginger kitties I knew. We are very sorry that he got ill and had to go to the Bridge. I am sending lots of purrs to his mum because she is really sad.
Also today we heard that Kimiko and BG have gone to the Bridge too. It is a sad day in the Blogosphere. Give your humans a few extra purrs today.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Purrs Needed Please!
We need some purrs for a kitty in trouble.
You've probably heard of my Uncle Andrew. He's a neighbour of ours and a friend of my humans. Sometimes when they abandon me and go away they leave Uncle Andrew in charge of coming over and feeding me, and he is pretty good at it (except for that time he forgot and I nearly starved but we don't talk about that...)
Anyway, Uncle Andrew has two kitties of his own at home. Lofty is a black and white tuxedo kitty and Panther is a black kitty. They have a cat flap in their door and they like to go out and roam about people's gardens, unlike me because I only go out in my own garden and then only when I am with my humans.
Something sad has happened to Lofty. One night recently he didn't come home at dinner time with Panther, and then he turned up very late that night injured and dragging his left hind leg. Uncle Andrew thinks he might have been hit by a car. Lofty was rushed to the emergency v-e-t and over the last week he has spent a lot of time first having surgery and then recovering. Now he is home being fussed over by his humans and given lots of treats, but poor Lofty had to have his leg amputated and part of his tail too. Although Uncle Andrew says Lofty has already learned how to run around the house on three legs when he is supposed to be resting. So far Uncle Andrew has paid £1300 in v-e-t's bills (that's about $2120 for my Mericky friends) but he doesn't mind the cost, he is just glad that Lofty is still with his family, even though we think he might have used up a few of his nine lives. Uncle Andrew says Lofty and Panther are grounded to their own garden for now, too.
Please send purrs to poor Lofty for a swift recovery as he learns to get around on three legs and purrs to his family who have all been very worried about him.
You've probably heard of my Uncle Andrew. He's a neighbour of ours and a friend of my humans. Sometimes when they abandon me and go away they leave Uncle Andrew in charge of coming over and feeding me, and he is pretty good at it (except for that time he forgot and I nearly starved but we don't talk about that...)
Anyway, Uncle Andrew has two kitties of his own at home. Lofty is a black and white tuxedo kitty and Panther is a black kitty. They have a cat flap in their door and they like to go out and roam about people's gardens, unlike me because I only go out in my own garden and then only when I am with my humans.
Something sad has happened to Lofty. One night recently he didn't come home at dinner time with Panther, and then he turned up very late that night injured and dragging his left hind leg. Uncle Andrew thinks he might have been hit by a car. Lofty was rushed to the emergency v-e-t and over the last week he has spent a lot of time first having surgery and then recovering. Now he is home being fussed over by his humans and given lots of treats, but poor Lofty had to have his leg amputated and part of his tail too. Although Uncle Andrew says Lofty has already learned how to run around the house on three legs when he is supposed to be resting. So far Uncle Andrew has paid £1300 in v-e-t's bills (that's about $2120 for my Mericky friends) but he doesn't mind the cost, he is just glad that Lofty is still with his family, even though we think he might have used up a few of his nine lives. Uncle Andrew says Lofty and Panther are grounded to their own garden for now, too.
Please send purrs to poor Lofty for a swift recovery as he learns to get around on three legs and purrs to his family who have all been very worried about him.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Autumn
The nights are drawing in. The evenings are getting chilly. The leaves are falling. The caretaker at mum's school is muttering as he uses his leaf-blowing machine daily in the playground. Yes, autumn is definitely here.
Which means that in our house my humans are now seeing much less of this:
And, for the first time since May, more of this:
Yes, mum has started turning the radiators on in the evenings, which means it is time for me to rediscover my radiator bed. Mmm...cosy!
P.S. Thank you to all those who congratulated my dad on his 10k run. He is being good and keeping up his training even though he has done his big run. He is talking about doing a half-marathon next!
Monday, October 05, 2009
Dad's Big Weekend
Well, there were good and bad things about the weekend just finished. The bad part was that my humans left on Saturday morning and didn't come back till Sunday evening. Once again I was left to rely on Uncle Andrew to come and feed me and keep me alive. I showed my displeasure by throwing up on the kitchen floor.
My humans spent the weekend in Brighton & Hove because on Sunday morning 2000 people were running 10 kilometres along the seafront to raise money for Cancer Research UK. My dad was one of them. He finished in 1 hour 10 minutes and raised about £400. Altogether the humans running 10k in Brighton this weekend raised about £130,000. I guess that is a good thing.
Even if it does mean abandoning the kitty for the weekend.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Waiting on Wednesday
This picture tells a sad story. 
All those weeks this summer that my mum was stuck in this blue chair with her broken leg up, playing with her laptop, watching daytime TV and providing a lovely comfortable lap for Dr. Eric to help heal her leg through the power of purrs...
And what do we see now?
The blue chair is still there. The other chair she was using as a footstool is still there. The laptop is still there. And the loyal kitty is still there. But no mum.
She is off at school, hobbling around on one crutch and ranting at her new class all day until she gets them trained up to her satisfaction. She is off out all day, failing to provide me with a lap. It's just like the bad old days before the Summer of the Stay-At-Home Mum with the Broken Leg.
Suppose I'll just keep the blue chair warm until she gets home...sigh.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Meow Like A Pirate Day!
Arrrr...it be Meow Like A Pirate Day again, ahoy there! Wi' a yo ho ho and a bottle o' rum to all me shipmates...
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Paws It Forward!
My mum is just not making the effort to help me blog as often as I want to. And I'm not accepting her excuses about having to train her new class and getting tired by hobbling around on crutches at school, etc, etc. The least she can do after maiming me with the scissors (see previous post) is to help me blog! (And give me treats, obviously).
Anyway, the good news is that my injury is healing up nicely. I nearly had to go to the V-E-T because I kept licking at the cut on my hip and making it bleed again - in fact my mum had actually phoned and made an appointment at the V-E-T's! Of course, when I heard that I immediately stopped licking it and left it alone. Luckily for me, when she got home from work that evening my injury looked much better so she decided to cancel the V-E-T's appointment. Now I have a big bald patch with a scar in the middle of it, but it is healing OK now and the floof will soon grow back over it. I think scars are very Macho Kitty anyway. Thanks to all my friends for your concern over my well-being!
More good news! Look what I got in the post this week!
It's a parcel from Milo and Alfie! They sent it to me and my mum as part of the "Paws It Forward" gift-giving. Wasn't that kind of them? Here I am sniffing at the goodies.
Look what I got! Two different flavours of treats, a packet of mousies, some yummy foods...(check out my whiskers in this picture too, looking furry whiskery!)
...and a REAL seagull fev-ver from the beach at Sidmouth, previously played with by Milo and Alfie so it smelt furry furry interesting! 
They also sent some goodies for my mum - a pretty candle and some coasters and a funny book with cartoons about kitties!
We are furry grateful for the kind Paws It Forward gifts from Milo, Alfie and their mum, and we want to say thank you and also send our best wishes to their mum Jan, who is going into hospital tomorrow to have her poorly leg treated (and we know it is no fun to have a poorly leg). 
Many Purrs to them!
P.S. I will be sending some gifts to another kitty to continue the Paws It Forward chain, but I need to decide who to send them to first!
Monday, September 07, 2009
Injured!
I am injured, and thus not looking my best on this Mancat Monday. Yesterday my mum was grooming me - she has been so busy in the last week coping with going back to work that my grooming regime has been affected. As you know, I have a very floofy, double-thickness coat and if I don't get enough combing, I get mats and knots in it. Well, my mum found out yesterday that (due to her neglect) I had a big enormous mat on my left hip. She combed and combed at it - I didn't really enjoy this but I tolerated it, even though it was a little bit painful with the comb pulling my furrs. But she still couldn't get all the mat out, so she resorted to trying to cut it out, and she SNIPPED MY SKIN!!! There was blood!!! And yes, she did feel VERY VERY GUILTY and apologise a lot. My humans are keeping an eye on the injury. It is not bad enough to go to the v-e-t as long as it heals up all right, but we need to make sure it does not get infected or anything. Please keep your paws crossed that my injury heals up soon, that my mum continues to ply me with extra treats to try to work off her extreme feelings of guilt, and that I do not have to go to the v-e-t.
Happy Mancat Monday!
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Woeful Wednesday
Oh woe is me. My mum has taken her leg and her crutches and gone back to school. No longer do I have a permanent daytime lap and human attention 24/7, it's back to the bad old days of guarding the house in the daytime and waiting for the humans to come home and feed me. Suppose I'll just have to while away the hours doing this:
To make matters worse, that evil intruder kitty Marmite is back after leaving me in peace for a while. Normality is restored...
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Back To Normal
Hooray. My humans are home from Devon, after doing a lot of celebrating of Devon Grandma's 80th purrthday. I survived with the help of Uncle Andrew. I am so glad that everything is back to normal now, and my humans have agreed to stay home for a long time after all their travels. I have recovered from kitty jail and I am used to being back in my own house now. It is nice sunny weather and my humans still have some holidays left. My dad has taken a few more days off work to play with me (well, I think he also wants to spend some more time with Uncle Sim before Uncle Sim goes back to Montana next week) and my mum has another week before she goes back to school (her leg still does not walk properly but she is going back anyway, with limitations).
My relatives from Mericky who came over for Devon Grandma's party remembered to bring supplies of Greenies with them, which is good. Here I am enjoying the sunshine with my Scratchy Mouse and thinking about delicious Greenies. My mum has been combing me because I got a bit matted while she was away. Don't I look handsome today?
And here are my two grandmas, Cornish Grandma on the left (mum's mum) and birthday girl Devon Grandma on the right (dad's mum). 
My mum was exhausted after a couple of days of purrthday celebrations, she can't keep up with the party pace set by Devon Grandma! So she is tired out, but that is OK because it means she just sits still and I get to purr and drool on her. Must get back to doing that now!
My mum was exhausted after a couple of days of purrthday celebrations, she can't keep up with the party pace set by Devon Grandma! So she is tired out, but that is OK because it means she just sits still and I get to purr and drool on her. Must get back to doing that now!Saturday, August 15, 2009
Abandoned AGAIN!
So, the good news is that I survived the six nights in the kitty jail, where the staff were pretty nice to me, and on Friday morning my humans came and rescued me and took me home. I was very happy to be home, and even happier that my dad wouldn't let my mum adopt the two teeny black kittens who were working very hard to get taken home with us from the adoption section at the kitty jail. After I got home I demanded an enormous meal and then set about shedding my furs all over the suspiciously clean house, stinking up my litter box and making my garden smell less like Evil Intruder Kitties and more like me. I have also been catching up on laptime and spending a lot of time sitting on my mum (who is allowed to start putting some weight on her broken leg now but she still can't really walk on it so she is still relying on the crutches and the wheelchair, but that doesn't matter when it comes to giving a kitty his laptime, right?)
That's the good news. The bad news is that today, just when I was starting to feel at home again, I found out that my humans are abandoning me again! Tomorrow they are going down to Devon for three days to attend Devon Grandma's 80th birthday party on Monday (the party of the decade apparently). My mum thinks a car journey to Devon Grandma's would be too traumatic for me straight after the kitty jail, so I am staying home with Uncle Andrew coming round to feed me. But no laptime with my mum! *sob* How can they do this to me?
That's the good news. The bad news is that today, just when I was starting to feel at home again, I found out that my humans are abandoning me again! Tomorrow they are going down to Devon for three days to attend Devon Grandma's 80th birthday party on Monday (the party of the decade apparently). My mum thinks a car journey to Devon Grandma's would be too traumatic for me straight after the kitty jail, so I am staying home with Uncle Andrew coming round to feed me. But no laptime with my mum! *sob* How can they do this to me?
Devon Grandma's party is being held in a hotel in Sidmouth - the hotel is on the seafront and just a few streets away from Milo and Alfie's house. Lots of humans are coming from far and wide (including Uncle Sim and Aunty Jan from Montana), but it doesn't seem like kitties are invited!
My humans are going to pay dearly for all this neglect when they get back (my mum is going to owe me a lot of laptime!). However, I do love my Devon Grandma, so I would like to wish her a Happy 80th Purrthday anyway!
Friday, August 07, 2009
Noooooooooooooooooo!
I can't believe it. The ingratitude. All these weeks I have been lavishing care and attention on my mum's leg, and how does she repay me? Tomorrow my humans are going off to North Yorkshire (despite the leg) and I get to spend six nights in the KITTY JAIL!!!
OK, so this is the kitty jail I went to last summer, where they treat me like a celebrity, but even so, it is deeply traumatic! And OK, so I get to take my Scratchy Mouse, a bag of Greenies, my Gizzy quilt and various other home comforts, but I'd rather be at home!
Think of me languishing in prison, my friends, until I get released next Friday...
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Sunspot
Monday, July 27, 2009
Mancat Monday
Not much to report. I am worn out from taking care of my mum and her broken leg. Tomorrow it will be six weeks since her accident. Six weeks has taken a lot of napping, sitting on the mum, and generally making sure that she rests the leg like she is supposed to. Tomorrow she is going for another X-ray and to see the doctor again. If she is lucky he might say tomorrow that she can start putting some weight on the leg, and then she can start getting around better.
My dad abandoned us this weekend and went off adventuring in the Yorkshire Moors with some healthy friends of his. Luckily my mum is able to feed me and Uncle Paul (another friend of ours) very kindly came round and cleaned my litterbox and watered mum's plants, two things that she can't do because of her leg.
It's a tough job being a carer but some kitty has to do it. Zzzzzzz....
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Murder And Mystery
Oh yes, there has been murder and mystery around here!
The murder...at dawn one morning a magpie was found dead in the middle of our back lawn. There were feathers everywhere. Now a magpie is quite a large bird. What could have happened to it? (what with all those feathers everywhere, it didn't look like natural causes!) Well, it could have been a fox. Or an Evil Intruder Kitty. Obviously it wasn't me, because I am a pacifist non-hunting kitty and anyway I was locked in the house all night.
We do have a prime suspect...he says it wasn't him but he does have a previous history of catching frogs and birdies and even being caught before with feathers in the mouth...hmm...
So Marmite is the Prime Suspect but we can't prove anything...
The other mystery happened yesterday. There are two ways of getting out from our house into the back garden - one is through the kitchen door and one is through the patio window. Both were open yesterday afternoon while my mum and I were relaxing at home. Then, towards evening, it started to rain. My mum got up to shut the patio window. She looked outside and saw me asleep in my hiding place behind the flower pots. She thought "I will shut the window to keep the rain out, the kitchen door is open if Eric wants to come in." She shut the window and went into the kitchen. It started to rain really hard. She thought "I need to get Eric to come in or he will get all wet." She stood at the open kitchen door and rattled some treats and called "Eric, Eric, come inside!" But there was no sign of me appearing in the doorway. Then she heard a loud "MEW!" from behind her! She turned round and saw me in the kitchen mewing for the treats in her hand...but how did I GET there when the patio window was closed and she'd been watching for me at the kitchen door??? She is still confused by my mystical kitty teleporting powers!
I know the answer of course, but I'm not telling!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Eventful Week...And A Milestone
It's only Tuesday, but it's been a very eventful week already in my house. Yesterday my dad was supposed to get up at 7.15 a.m. to get ready for work but for some reason his alarm clock didn't go off. But luckily I was feeling hungry so at 7.20 I jumped on him and meow-meowed, which made him wake up and then realise his alarm hadn't gone off. Usually he isn't thrilled when I jump on him first thing in the morning, but this time he was pleased and called me a good little alarm kitty! After he fed me, I went back upstairs and snuggled up with my mum for a bit, because since she has been off work with her broken leg she hasn't been getting up that early.
Unfortunately, my humans haven't been so pleased with me since. Last night I waited till they had just gone to bed and turned off the lights and then I felt hungry so I started banging the door of my litter box loudly to get some attention. But that didn't work, so then I started making loud yakking noises in the hall at the bottom of the stairs. My dad put the light on and stumbled downstairs and said bad words, because I did actually yak a little on the carpet. After he cleaned it up I jumped up and down in front of my empty food bowl because now my stomach was empty I was really hungry. And guess what? He actually gave me some food to get me to shut up! Then he went back to bed, muttering. I really own him!
This morning after he had gone to work I waited for my mum to get herself up and dressed and downstairs. She opened the patio window so I could go out in the garden if I wanted to, and then she hobbled into the kitchen on her crutches to make herself some breakfast. Suddenly I saw Skinny Ginger kitty (who hasn't been seen around my garden for more than 3 weeks), lurking outside the window. I went out to chase him away but he didn't run! Next thing I knew, a red mist descended on me and we were REALLY FIGHTING!!! My mum heard us making a loud noise and came (well, not running but hobbling at top broken-leg speed) and saw a big ball of ginger fur flying on the patio. She yelled at us and waved her crutches and I suddenly realised I was in trouble! I skulked indoors and tried to look innocent and Skinny did the same outside. My mum checked both of us but couldn't see any blood or injuries, just a lot of bits of fur. You won't believe this, kitties - she called me a big bully, and I was only trying to defend MY territory! I think I should get treats for that.
(old photo, no fighting pics available!)Then I decided to play a new game with my mum, where she hobbles across the room to get to her armchair and I jump up on the chair just before she gets there! Heh heh, that is lots of fun because she has to try to dislodge me while still using her crutches to stand up. I did it three times running this morning, I don't think she finds it as funny as I do.
So as you can see, even though it is only Tuesday it has really been a very eventful week already. My mum is going to visit her class tomorrow afternoon for the first time since she broke her leg 4 weeks ago. They have been missing her, apparently. There is only one week of term left and then they won't be her class any more. She is going to see a show they are doing on Friday too.
Oh yes, I nearly forgot...this is my 400th post! 
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Wednesday Is Gingersday
The heatwave from last week has gone and it's been raining a lot, so instead of using my favourite hiding place behind the plant pots, I've just been napping indoors and watching daytime TV with my mum.
Yesterday she went back to the hospital and they took off the plaster cast on her leg! They put on this big blue brace thing instead, so that she can start practising bending her knee again up to 50 degrees. But she still isn't allowed to put weight on her leg or take the brace off at all in the next three weeks, so it doesn't make a lot of difference to what she can and can't do. In three weeks they might let her start trying to put weight on the leg and bend it to 70 degrees. If she was a cat like me, maybe she'd be a lot more flexible, I can bend my legs in all directions, especially when I'm having a wash!
I prefer the new leg brace because it is nice and soft for me to lie on, unlike that cast which was rather hard and uncomfortable. Also, what with it being dark blue and having Velcro on it, it shows off my white and ginger furrs very very well when I shed them on it!
I don't think this leg brace is enough to heal the leg, though, so I'm still keeping up the purring. She can't run away from me so I'm able to get in some good licks too.
Schlurp! Schlurp!
P.S. I'm sending some purrs to Cornish Grandma too - she had an operation on her hand yesterday because it never healed properly after she broke it last summer. Now she is all plastered up and can't do much. I'd go and schlurp on her too if I could!
Friday, July 03, 2009
Floofy Friday - Where's Eric?
It has been very hot in London this week. In fact, you won't believe this but on occasions my mum has refused to let me guard her and the leg by playing lapkitty - some excuse about "it's just too hot to have a warm furry kitty on my lap"! Luckily we have got an electric fan so mum and I have been spending a lot of time sitting in front of it. I have also found some shady places in the garden to get away from the sun. Can you see me in this picture? 
This is my new favourite hiding place. But I have to be careful in case dad decides to water the plant pots...last night I nearly got watered!
This is my new favourite hiding place. But I have to be careful in case dad decides to water the plant pots...last night I nearly got watered!Sunday, June 28, 2009
Easy Like Sunday With Dr. Eric
Here I am guarding the broken leg, the mum, the crutches, the laptop...I have a lot of responsibility! She has a new cast on now (not the one in this picture) which doesn't include her foot in the cast, which makes her happy. It still goes all the way up from her ankle to the middle of her thigh. We have been sharing a lot of laptime and watching a lot of tennis this week. She has to go back to the hospital this week for another X-ray to make sure nothing has moved in her leg. The purring therapy continues...I will be worn out soon!
