Cats on Tuesday - Merry Christmas...

So it looks like I'll be working over Christmas... I have no idea how much or little time I'll have to take pics or post so just in case...

Here Charlie jealously guards a Christmas bauble...

But Mrs P has got most of them anyway...

For more Christmas kitties visit Gattina's Cats on Tuesday.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday...

Woke up early this morning because of a small hot water bottle of a cat lying next to me so decided to see if I could drag an entry to the Scavenger Hunt together.  Yes I know I shouldn't have left it until the last minute, but don't nag at me ok?  I haven't had time to put a Christmas tree up yet let alone do anything else...

Sparkly...

Ended up at some kind of 

get-together for trainee pilots at

Coventry Airport yesterday.

Not sure how that happened!

Anyway, there was a very nice Christmas tree

with little presents under it.

Door...

Gates leading to

door of St Mary's Church,

Broughton Astley, Leics.

Decorate...

Pretty thing decorating

the Meditation Centre

at Kelmarsh, Northants.

Stripes...

Leaf caught in the stripy

planks of a bench at

Bosworth Battlefield.

A Few of my Favourite Things... #1

Books (one from the archives)

... #2
Cats...
Regular readers will
recognise Mrs Pod the venerable tabby cat.

...#3 

David, and also photography!

I can also squeeze another favourite

out of this one as it was taken with my

10-22mm lens which I love as it 

gives such weird and wonderful effects. 

(As evidenced by David's hands

being as big as his head in this shot) :O)

Cats on Tuesday - and now the good news...

After the saddest news ever last week, would you like to hear some good news?  Some really, really good news?  Ok, here it is... it looks like Charlie is in remission from diabetes!  He's no longer taking insulin and his glucose measurements on Sunday were lovely and low.  Hurrah!!!

Here he is celebrating by sitting

in the bath...

Elsewhere...

an (almost) incognito cat

sits behind a curtain...

And finally... Mrs P went to the vets on Friday for her renal and thyroid check-up.  Hopefully, we should get the results from the tests today.  The results from her behaviour are known already; she was bad... she was very, very bad, and that's all I can say without my blood pressure going up.  (Mrs P's blood pressure was also raised, although whether that was a true medical condition as opposed to the bloody-minded mood she was in, we're not sure).

The one positive aspect of our little trip together was that the nice nurse there gave me a chocolate cornflake cake that she'd made :O)

And a quick update - just heard back from the vet and Mrs P's results were all ok!  Of course they may just be saying that so that they don't have to see her again any time soon...


For more kitty news visit Gattina's Cats on Tuesday.

ABC Wednesday - T is for...

Trees...

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.

                    Robert Louis Stevenson

Linking to ABC Wednesday.

Cats on Tuesday... and then there were three

I've decided not to do the Scavenger Hunt this week, instead this is a very early Cats on Tuesday.  I've been wondering how best to write this post for a few days now...  as some of you know already, we had to say goodbye to Posky on 20th November.  He had been very unwell and very unhappy for the last few weeks and his blood test results showed that despite the efforts of his vets and ourselves, his kidneys were no longer responding to treatment.  So we made the decision to let him go.  

I don't however, want this post to dwell on the sadness of that day, or for it to turn into one of those mawkishly sentimental outpourings of grief that make the cats and myself feel queasy.  That would not be right for such a glorious, madcap, breathtakingly beautiful being as my boy. Besides, Posky didn't do sentiment; he did joie de vivre, impish fun, honest affection and love, and a huge appetite for life (and food, mustn't forget the food).  Did you know he was the only one of my cats to have his own MySpace page?  That he was my study-buddy and that I owe my BA(Hons) and MA to his inspiring thoughts?  That when I was upset he sat on my desk and kissed the tears from my eyes?  Or that when he had been out in the cold his fur turned to velvet?

...And do I miss him?  God yes, his absence is  a tangible thing.  He was a part of  my world for so long that things seem out of kilter without him.  But I knew him for 17 years and my life was better for his being in it, and that's no small thing.  So I will just leave you with a celebration in images of the one and only, unforgettable Posky.

 

The little illustrations of Posky were for an article I wrote about him and ourselves for a cat mag - he loved fame :O)

The Weekend in Black and White...

Recycling one of Wednesday's photos for this one...

Linking to The Weekend in Black and White.

ABC Wednesday - and WW...

S is for...

Stratford upon Avon...

Holy Trinity Church...

Path alongside the Avon
in the RSC Gardens...

Inside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre...
That poster is for a production
of 'As You Like It'.
(I know as I saw it :O))

Policeman...

This kind policeman
volunteered to walk in slow-motion for me

so that I could take his picture!

What a star :O)

Path and lamp
in the RSC Gardens...

Goose on the loose...

Hanging around outside the 

theatre... 

I find something pleasingly

weird about this shot.

Linking to ABC Wednesday... and