Archie and Bridget at 7 Months

Well, we've had 2 of Sparky and Blue Boo's kittens staying here for the past 10 days (Archie, a Cream Blotched Tabby and White and his sister Bridget who is a Black Tortie and White). Bridget has inherited her facial markings from Sparky's side of the family- her Grandmother Buffy has a Tortie "half and half" too, and all of the torties descended from her seem to have distinct markings on their faces. Archie is just the spitting image of his Mummy Sparky, just in a paler colour.

Bridget enjoying the cat garden

It's the second time they've been here for their holidays, and they just slot right back in and have a whale of a time with us. They have the most incredible purrsonailites- truly laid back and so affectionate. Archie likes to put both front legs round your neck and nuzzle your ear, whilst Bridget likes to snuggle up in bed at night.

Archie having just awoken from a snooze in the bedroom

It's so lovely to spend time with them and to see how well they've turned out. When they were born, they were big babies. Then as the litter grew up they were the 2 smallest and I wondered if they'd make full size. I needn't have worried though. At 7 months (they became 7 months old whilst on holiday here), they are both bigger than some of our Adult girls.

Look at my tail!

They're coming to stay again next month- I can't wait!

I look SO like my Mum

So, if you were wondering what Sparky's current "Oops" kittens will turn out like, these photos will give you an inkling as their Daddy is Blue Boo's son Cracker. Of course, they're all Red Tabbies, but they're going to be very lovely cats just like their older brother and sister.

New Website On it's Way and Sad News

Well, sorry for the lack of postings recently. It's been a hard few weeks as we had to have our first Norwegian the wonderful Ellwood put to sleep.

Ellie (aka E-Wo, Mr E Wood, Fluffwood) had been diagnosed with stomatitis in December and it was a very severe case. we'd tried treating it with interferon and anti-biotics which worked well for a couple of months but then it returned with a vengeance.

Our vet had done some research on it and was confident that a new regime might work, but when Ellwood was anaesthetised prior to having the lesions lasered, it became clear that his mouth was much worse then first thought.

Ellwood was a darling- a big softie. He was a bit of a wimp at times, but a total Mummy's boy and he always slept either in my arms or round my head on my pillow. He was the reason we ended up with all these blooming cats and got me into going to shows.

He won his first Kitten Class and that was it. He came to shows up until he was 7 and a half- by then we'd started going to FIFe shows and he was a Grand International Premier and halfway towards becoming a Supreme Premier. At that point he had a scrap with one of the cats and one of his ears was damaged, so that ended his show career. But at his last few shows he was always Nominated- it goes to show that some cats get better as they age.

It's taken me several weeks to be able to write this because I miss Ellwood so much. I know I'll never forget him- how will I get over this though?

On a totally different note, I'm moving the website over to a new host and will hopefully be able to update things much quicker and easier now. That's not to say that it WILL be updated- that all depends very much on how much time I have free- not much usually if I'm frank. But we shall see- if it's easier and quicker then I could be more inclined to do it.