Friday, June 29, 2007

A different kind of cat!

Another little feline problem raised its head recently. A dear friend of mine now living in the US, asked me to do her a favour; naturally, I told her I would oblige.
I passed the request onto someone I know (or knew) thinking she would lend a sympathetic hand in helping me to do what I had been asked. All I wanted was for her to send me a pic of Monty, Sarah’s cat, that she had to leave behind when she fled home. Sarah really loved Monty and she was missing him. I just wanted a couple of photographs of him to send on to her. It wasn’t much to ask, surely!
Sadly, the help was not forthcoming; indeed, I never even got the courtesy of a reply. Unfortunately, without the aid of that person, I couldn’t fulfil my resolve to help.. It was no big deal and would only have taken a few minutes to accomplish. Instead, due to her insane hatred of Sarah, because she had the guts and determination to succeed after escaping a lifetime of abuse, the woman bombarded me with obnoxious posts, even to the extent of defaming the name of my late partner, Iris. She also complained to the police that I was harassing her!

Harassing her? She never complained about harassment when she came to me for money! She never complained when I was paying her bills for her and she never complained when I used to take her out for lunch when she said she’d not eaten that day as she had no food in the house!
In all honesty, I can say that I have never met such a vindictive and spitefully malicious creature in my life before.
May she descend into the pit and scream for all eternity!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Welcome home Amber!

The very first thing we did after our Scottish break was to look forward to picking up Amber from my daughter’s place. We had already got cat-litter trays and non-toxic wood-chip cat-lit. We had stocked up on kitten treats and we were going to get some special easily-digestible kitten milk. Unfortunately, on our return, due to torrential rain, many of the roads were flooded and consequently, we were late getting back. The roads were still impassable the next day so there was no chance of Amber coming.We were so looking forward to having her; it was a great disappointment when she couldn’t be with us. Tiffi, however, didn’t appear to be bothered about this. All she wanted was a cuddle and a treat after our absence. We hoped that the floods would abate and the roads would be clear very soon.

Today, Fran announced that the roads were now open and she’d be bringing Amber over this afternoon. Around 2.30pm, she walked in with a tiny ball of fluff in her hands and dumped it on my knee! Amber opened one eye, yawned and snuggled down on my chest She was home!


"What's in it for me?"


Fran with Amber


"This isn't the comfiest of places!"

These are the very first shots of Amber taken half an hour after she arrived. Don't worry folks, there'll be a lot more soon!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

A nightmare journey!

Coming back from Scotland yesterday was really horrendous!
It was raining when we hit the M.90 around
Perth and continued while we navigated the labyrinthine ring-roads and by-passes of Edinburgh.
We had a break around Jedburgh where we had completed 200 miles and after that, the rain came down extremely heavy! The border at
Carter Bar on the A.68 was absolutely desolate; nobody wanted to stop to admire the view this day!
A big problem was the spray created by heavy traffic when we eventually reached the A1 north of Scotch Corner. We stayed for about half an hour at a ‘Little Chef’ pull-in for coffee and a rest.
When we eventually reached the outskirts of
Sheffield we found ourselves caught up in a three-mile long traffic jam due to some pile-up further ahead.
On entering the city, we were again held up for an hour due to excessive flooding of the roads. We never realised the seriousness of the situation until we got home and saw the news on TV. It made local and national prime coverage.

Even today, many roads in the city are impassable; schools are closed and public transport is badly affected. Meadowhall, one of the largest shopping complexes in Europe has been closed for two days due to excessive flooding.
Worst of all, my daughter lives in an area hit by the floods and she can’t get out to me and I can’t get over to see her so little Amber will not be here just yet.
Bugger it… I reckon I’m going to stay in and keep dry!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Mandy Maureen Wright… (1962-1997)

Today I kept my promise to remember Sarah’s mum’s birthday and I placed a garland of twenty red carnations on her grave on behalf of Sarah; these were her favourite flowers. Sarah is strongly attached to her mother’s memory and it gives her much solace to know how much she loved her. I recorded the tragic death of Mandy earlier in my blog and Sarah has devoted a large portion of her forthcoming autobiography to her memory.

I know only too well what it’s like to lose a loved one; it leaves a gap that can never be filled. For them to be remembered down the years is one way of ensuring their immortality. May Mandy rest in peace knowing that she’s not forgotten.


On a lighter note, we shall be going up to Scotland for a few days tomorrow and I have made ample provision for the cats; both Tiffi and Amber. Tiffi will be cared for by a friendly neighbour who is as bonkers about cats as we are and Amber will be staying a little longer with her mum.
We shall be away from around the 20th to the 25th or 26th. When we get back, Amber will be ready to come to us! I can hardly wait!!!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Editing

Hi There,

I am just letting all the readers of this blog know that over the next hour or two I will be editing the background color of this page to make it easier on the eyes. I have already spoken to Graeme about this and he is happy with it. I thought I would warn you in case you came to visit the blog during the time of my formatting. The page may look rather strange until I am done.

Thank You for your Patience.

-- Sarah

Friday, June 15, 2007

Oi… Wot about me???

Hi folks, I’m Tiffi
For the past twelve years, I’ve looked after Graeme and Barbara. I’ve always let them share my home and I have tried to make their friends welcome whenever they call round.
Sometimes,
it hasn’t been easy. I’m expected to be picked up and dumped on some stranger’s knee while they make stupid cooing noises at me and tickling me under my chin! I’m also expected to chase my ass off jumping up and down for a piece of string or playing hide-and-seek under a chair.
When visitors bring their little brats with them, I have to suffer the indignities of having my tail pulled, being wrapped up in a
scarf or put in a dolls’ pram.
A few days ago, I heard that there is another cat coming to share my
home. This is a very young kitten and I suppose it will be spoilt bloody rotten! I can just see it now; saucers of flaked chicken, special goats’ milk, a comfy little basket and endless silly baby-talk like “Oosaboofuls?” and “Gizzakiss.” It’s enough to make you puke!

I know exactly what will happen; the little pest will start clambering all over me thinking I’m its mum and expecting to be washed and groomed every few minutes. Anyway, this little pillock isn’t going to think it can do what it likes.
I’ll still expect my bit of space on the hearthrug and I don’t want the little horror trying to climb upstairs to sleep on my corner of Graeme’s bed. Furthermore, my usual place on the top of his printer is sacrosanct when I want to watch him on his computer. However, I presume I’ll have to make a few concessions but I’m still gonna be the boss and that’s that!
Gawwddd… It’s enough to send a cat out on the tiles all bloody night!

Monday, June 11, 2007

Cat-lit... The new menace?

This was sent to me by an old friend who has always been a firm supporter of environmental issues. It provides food for thought about a problem that few of us ever considered.
Thanks, Bev, for bringing this to our attention.

"Re cat litter - I don't know what kind you use/have picked but an RVT (reg. vet tech) on-line friend of mine in the US is passing this onto everyone she knows who has cats. The DVM she works for apparently has inside information to back this up and she will be passing this on when she has permission. I have her permission to cross-post.
Not only is cat litter unsafe for the environment; according to the Bureau of Waste Management, approximately 8 billion pounds of kitty litter is dumped into landfill sites every year! Apparently that is over twice the amount of disposable diapers! Not only this! Clay cat litter is made from silicon particles which explains why there is dust produced with clay litter. Silicon particles, as we know, are a known carcinogenic and that means breathing in these particles can not only cause cancer, but also respiratory diseases. This is according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

When your cat goes to cover his waste, the dust is kicked about everywhere; the dust becomes an invasive intruder. Research has shown that silicon particles do indeed cause cancer-like symptoms in laboratory rats but so far, there is no data available to say if it does the same in cats. However, there does exist evidence that silicon causes problems in humans. Case studies have also shown that cats with respiratory problems have 6 times the amount of silica in their lungs than healthy cats. If this is what’s happening to cats then just imagine what it’s doing to humans who have twice the lung capacity. The studies are overshadowed by the needs of cat owners and the availability and ease of using cat litter. It has also been shown that kittens, because they lay down in the litter, are more at risk. Also because kittens then lick themselves clean."

On the face of it, this information is very disturbing. My own view is that although the amount of cat-lit dumped on landfill sites is a serious problem, my immediate concern is for the cats! I shall most certainly look for an alternative to kitty-training even if I have to replace the cat-lit in the tray with old newspapers until she is old enough to use the garden.
Comments please.

Friday, June 08, 2007

I was right!

Yup, no sooner had this posting been published then up pops Ruth with a plethora of abuse and hate-mail.
I accept that the woman is mentally unbalanced but surely even she must realise that her puerile messages get immediately deleted upon receipt.
Not to worry, my back is broad enough to take it and I even have the scars there from last time!

Thursday, June 07, 2007

A very big thank you!

Quite a lot of interest has been shown about the new kittens on our local forum. It is now running to several pages in length.
I had quite a few suggestions for names for the kittens and two stood out from the rest. Both were very apt names..


I decided to show my appreciation to the two ladies who came up with the names and I sent them each a pendant. One was an amber pendant and the other was Jasper.
There was even a bonus in it… Both the ladies are charming and intelligent so I’ve made two new friends into the bargain!














I have no doubt in my mind that a certain reader of my blog will bust a gut trying to spread the poison around about this.

Go on, Ruth… Make my day!











Saturday, June 02, 2007

Six weeks old today!

The little kittens are now six weeks old and are starting to grow up. They are lapping milk, eating a little solid food and learning to use the sh…. Sorry, litter tray!
I think that after another couple of weeks, we shall be welcoming one of the furry kits into our family and no doubt she’ll be smothered with cuddles and affection.
We have already bought her a basket, a litter tray, tins of kitten food and a few toys. (Are we crackers or what?)
It’s a long time since we had a tiny kitten to look after so we will be relying on past memory and good advice. I’ll keep you posted about Amber’s progress with plenty of pics