aliera

Heard it at RIAT last week. One of the pilots used it as soundtrack while doing silly things in the air. :)
Love the song, and I thought it only fair that I inflicted it on you lot. :D

About to embark on a Great Adventure: since the morning (so far) has yelded gazillion of jobs for London and/or Scotland, I am going exploring with camera.

I will try to reach the lakes behind the house (so to speak). They look close enough, and I has a map & directions provided by Beloved.

It's going to be fun. :)

...on the lines of 'I aten't dead' and all that. :)

Just wanted to say - my pc is back online (YAY!!), so we now have his n' hers running side by side.

Clever Beloved. :)

...back on the 27th.
Think of me, because I *hate* flying.

I also hate the fact that Beloved is not coming with me...

Not quite Greece, but plenty of sun all the same:




Desktop size here.

***hugs***

The story - we both play Throw The Bungee Mouse For Me with Thomas (it's either that or lose some skin...), so I was doing just that while reading on the computer.

Bungee Mouse is duly thrown for the black and white menace in cat form.

Bungee Mouse is thrown badly because the attending human isn't paying attention.

Mouse lands on Teddy, who is sleeping the sleep of the just.

Thomas lands on Teddy (and the Mouse) a split second later.

Teddy takes off vertically from a sitting (well, sprawling) position, apparently unimpeded by mundane things like gravity.

Human is helpless with laughter, tears streaming and stomach muscles aching.

I am Evil. :)

(The Psycho Kitten - also known as The Hooligan - is Thomas... Teddy is a sweet little cat who prefers cuddles and a good snooze on our bed).

Some of you guys might remember Bungee Mouse - Jack's (and countless other cats before him) favourite toy. I do not know what it is that makes Bungee Mouse special... There is no catnip inside, it's a very basic mouse-shaped toy with a springy cord attached.

Anyway.

We Have Discovered Bungee Mouse... We now wake up our humans at 4am so that they can play with us (and the mouse, of course...).

Seriously - Thomas fetches Bungee Mouse back, so that we can carry on providing entertainment. Truly. :)
You might think that you are safe for the time being, what with you sitting at the computer and ignoring the little hooligan... Wrong.
It start with gentle pats on whichever part of you is available (feet normally, but if he's not getting attention he will jump on the bed and grab you shirt - or bits of skin, depending on what's easier to reach...), escalating to pats-with-claws-drawn if you ignore him. Beloved discovered this morning that it *is* advisable to wear slippers at all times. Thomas was trying to bite his big toe, and Beloved was *not* impressed. :)
So we end up being very much his captive audience until he's tired of playing...
Teddy tries to steal the mouse, but generally loses out to Thomas.
I ordered five new mice last night... In the foolish hope that they can both have one. I bet you that it will end up with Thomas having BOTH.

We are finally settling down to some sort of routine (vital for cats...), and although things have *vastly* improved, Thomas still doesn't like to be touched much. He will only allow me to stroke him first thing in the morning (they are so utterly cute... They both waltz in to say good morning while we are having coffee - still in bed and not really awake), BUT he will sleep on the bed with us. Mad kitten. :)

They have both had the second round of vaccinations, and it wasn't nearly as stressful as the first time. The vet actually said that Thomas had been as good as gold (the nurse took him to the vet because he's still sneezing and his eyes are not quite healed. The vet said that it's something he will have for the rest of his life, unfortunately...), and I very much wanted to say - are we talking about the same cat here???

And finally - ( Kitten picspam! :) )

New kitchen cabinet, lovingly put together by Beloved (it started its life as an IKEA wall cabinet. Beloved added legs, a very handsome top and matching handles):



I love my kitchen. :)

Happy Birthday, Miss Rat!

And as the yearly offering of ye olde desktop, behold the fake windmill:



What with you visiting windmill country shortly, I though it was appropriate....:)
It's not a windmill but a windpump in Norfolk, once used to keep the sea out of the fields (they use electric pumps now).
Big size of the pic here.

Wishing you all the joy and happiness in the world.......:)

Both kittens have been to the vet - with a fair amount of faffing about, because when it was time to go we couldn't find Thomas... it's not as if he knew we were due at the vet or anythng. Crafty little person.
I took him yesterday, with the help of my lovely neighbour. Caught him by surprise, because he was asleep on the sofa. He never knew what hit him. :)

They have been vaccinated and declared healthy - apart from Thomas' eye infection. The vet gave him an antibiotic injection, and we'll monitor the situation. Giving him eye drops is out of the question - I'd like to keep my eyes (and fingers, and skin...).

They are a little less shy than they were, but any physical contact with them is still very much limited. Teddy will let me stroke him if I don't move suddenly, and if I am sitting down.
I can stroke Thomas first thing in the morning when I feed him, or when he's half asleep on the floor in front of the kitchen. But hey, it's progress compared to last week.
And Thomas is retaliating for yesterday....... He pooed on the bed in the spare bedroom, and when I removed covers and sheets to wash them (futile attempt at washing the comforter, it will have to go to the dry cleaners), he peed on my clothes that were on the bed. I am not impressed.
I don't know if it's an extension of the marking thing (he *lived* under that bed for the first two weeks) or what... The fact that we have changed the type of litter might be one of the reasons.
The bed is now stripped bare, and I have sprinkled cayenne pepper on it... I hope it is deterrent enough.

Anyway - I has pictures... :)
( Follow me for the rest of the update )

I have two new kittens (YAY!!), the only snag is that they have been living under the bed for the last ten days or so...

Back story - somebody at my (former) work has TWENTY cats (yep, I did wonder too...), and offered kittens after he found out about Jack.
Of course I said yes, thank you so much etc. Didn't even stop to consider that, with the amount of cats in the household, maybe the cats weren't given all that much attention...

Aaaaargh - wrote and deleted about ten times, because it was sounding judgmental and not very nice... Don't know how to say it though.

Right - they make money from breeding the queens and selling the kittens, and I doubt very much the kittens are well looked after. I mean mine were allowed out without vaccinations...

Anyway... I was told 'they are a bit feisty because they are not that young anymore (possibly they couldn't sell them...), and being the innocent soul that I am (am too!), didn't think anything of it.

The kittens are feral.

Looks like they weren't socialized early enough, and they don't know how to interact with people.
So we have had the little people hiding away and coming out to eat and play at night only...
I am fully aware that it might be a Beauty (my feral darling girl that didn't even let me touch her for two months, and was never really tame)situation time two, and I (we) are fully prepared to wait as long as it takes, but I have been thinking about contacting the RSPCA, because it just isn't right...

Anyway - Ghost Kitty #1, known as Thomas to his friends:



Tom investigating the new arrival:


They didn't fight or anything, and YES - that's part of the floor that *is* going to be replaced...:)
Teddy, the other kitty, is just an occasional shadow so far... Looks like Thomas is the bolder of the two.

Now, if any of you guys has any experience with feral cats and/or suggestions, please talk to me..........
And in case you are wondering - NO, I don't regret adopting them for one second... I hope I will be able to offer them a far better life they would have had. I am just mad at the people, and not 100% sure about how to go about things.