Poorly Ali...

Sorry I haven't posted on the blog for so long. Life gets very busy at times and something has to give.

Anyway here I am in an unusual situation sitting in a hospital bed at Whipps Cross undergoing tests for a very swollen tummy and feeling very unwell. As an ex Nurse it's not natural for me to be on this side and I  not a very patient patient, nor a good one!

I miss Gethin and Steve and all the cats and kittens terribly. Poor Steve is on baby sitting (I'm not a baby, I am a big boy says Gethin! ) and cat sitting duties and it must be hard work for him.

So, while I'm in hospital our phone might not get answered and emails replied to as often as normal, and we ask for your patience in this.

Cat Garden Fence Upgrade- Day Two

Another glorious hot day and today was the second day of the Great Fence Rebuild Challenge! Yesterday Steve and Neil replaced several old and very fragile panels with purpose built ones.

Today they had to replace the part of the fence that is by the back door of our kitchen- it doesn't have the concrete posts that we have for the rest of the fence that go all the way down the 100 foot garden to the garage, so they had to devise a way of building a sturdy and stable fence.

Firstly, the old panels come down revealing our next door neighbour Melanie and her old shed, which we discovered had rotted at the bottom! So, this was where Melanie's 7 month old kittens had been getting into her shed...a mystery solved.

 

Steve, Neil and Gethin discuss how to best replace the fence and make it secure.

 

Gethin is all excited- Daddy has come up with a solution to the problem. They're building a frame, and bracing it to the existing fence and the kitchen wall.

 

So, Geth gets the measuring tape out to assist his Daddy. Steve is stapling the wooden slats to the frame.

 



 

Steve reattaching the mesh to the frame before starting the last panel.

 

Nearly there, then we can go to the pub for lunch and a pint!

 

Job done- I painted the slats that didn't have any wood treatment on and put the BBQ etc. back where they live, and it looks so much tidier.  For those of you who are eagle-eyed, yes, you're quite right, the cat in the photo isn't a Norwegian Forest Cat! This is Ruby our first pedigree cat- she's a British Shorthair. She just about tolerates the NFO's!

 

Lovely... next to be done is the lawn and the border next week. New turf for the old pitted and frankly tired old lawn, and railway sleepers to retain the border down the bottom of the garden.

The refurbishment of our Cat Garden begins at last

Stage one- Gethin helping from next door

 

Today we began to renew many of our fence panels in our cat garden- this has needed to be done for a while now but this summer has been incredibly busy. I've had Carpal Tunnel surgery, my Uncle sadly died unexpectedly and my Step Mum hasn't been well.

 

So, I am very excited to say that Steve and his friend Neil have been hard at work building and fitting the new panels after Steve treated the wood yesterday. The weather couldn't be better for this kind of project. Gethin likes to help of course.

 



Neil measuring up

 

This is the first part to our refurbishment- and the boys did well to get several panels done.

 

Gethin giving Steve a hand in our neighbour's garden

 

The cats have all been interested and only one made a bid for freedom- Sookie ventured next door very briefly until Steve grabbed her! They were very well behaved on the whole though.

 

 

"I think this panel is nearly done Neil"!

 

At the end of the day, Gethin was pleased with the job done when he inspected the new fencing from the comfort of his police car!

 

 

Gethin gives his seal of approval!

 

More panels to do tomorrow, then we'll get the lawn re-turfed, the border edging replaced and then start down the boys' runs with some new decking and the wood treated- will it never end???! Answers on a postcard...







Long Time, No Post!

So, it's been 6 months since my last post of here- scandalous I know. Where does the time go to?

Anyway, yesterday was the first birthday of our Red Devils "Ooops" litter from Sparky and Cracker. It's hard to believe that those little kittens- all Red Tabby or Red Tabby and White are now a year old. I remember them being born so clearly.

One of them, Toksvig is on holiday with us along with her "brother" Mags, photo below.

I emailed all the litter to wish them a Happy Birthday and received this photo of Sol aka Pippin back. he's a lovely big lad and very well loved.

We sometimes see his sister Lola who also comes to stay with us and she's a darling- and very confident. I'm now hoping that we'll get some more photos of the litter so that we can see how they've grown and developed.

Yay, I've had these lovely photos from Seth and Solaris- they're looking great. now all we need is some from Custard.

 

Hullaballoo at Beaune, France: Day 2

So, my little lad Hullabaloo once again won his 6-10 month class which was judged very early on in the day, but  we thought that he'd sadly lost out on the BIV to the 3-6 month Kitten.

However, having gone out to the park with Steve and Gethin for half an hour, I was met my loads of missed calls on both my mobile (which I'd forgotten to take with me), and our landline. Phoned Gary back immediately and was told the good news that Hullabaloo had beaten the other NFO and a Sacred Birman to win the Nomination for Best in Show.

After many phone calls over the course of the day it transpired that Hullabaloo DID win the BIV as well as the Nom and when Gary went to collect his reports and certificates he was given several lovely rosettes.

I think Hullabaloo is a very special little cat to go overseas with Gary and behave like a star- he and Gary's White boy Peter Parker have got along famously even to the point of cuddling each other and washing each other- they haven't met before Thursday!

Hullabaloo's Adventures in France

Hullabaloo and I drove to meet his breeder and co-owner Gary on a very windy evening on Thursday prior to their long drive to Beaune in France for the FIFe show with a Norwegian Forest Cat Special   there this weekend.

He had his bags packed and passport in paw, and set off in the dark on another European adventure, this time without me with him as sadly I just couldn't afford it.

He's a kitten who loves to travel and he enjoyed the journey and the hotels en route apparently. Nothing much fazes Hullabaloo- he's very like his Great Uncle Blue Boo in that respect.

Anyway, I was very happy to recieve a phone call from Clara de Dios who is over there with them to let me know that he beat another Junior to Ex1 and then went on to win BIV- yay! Now, who says that the British cats can't compete with their Euopean counterparts? There were about 350 NFO's entered at the show I believe.

If we're lucky we may get photos sent to us.

Greebo's Photo Shoot

Yesterday, Greebo and I took a drive into Shoreditch where he was to be photographed for a Petplan Insurance advert.

He enjoys a good day out and settled down in the car for the short drive into Town. It was a bit of a walk from the car to the studio, and Greebo was VERY heavy- he's certainly become a lot more muscular since being neutered! It was also very busy for traffic which he wasn't keen on, but once we arrived he relaxed in his pen until he was called.

Everyone made a big fuss of Greebo and he made a lot of friends and admirers- he was making puddings all through the session and made himself very much at home and tried his best to be accomodating and do as he was asked.

Of course, he's not silly and he made the most of the bits of ham he was offered!

 

Please excuse the photos- I didn't want to use a flash and disturb His Highness in action.