Check Up time!

Snix's cat box. Notice the organised folder on top with all his data and insurance papers. What a well organised cat, that is!

January seems to be a month for a lot of check ups in our house!

 

Our cat, Snix (his name is a pun on St. Nicholas as we got him right before Christmas 9 years ago), had his annual check up with the vet this week. He was not amused... Poor baby, he was sleeping on my bed, all warm and snug when I just whisked him into his cat carrier before he realised what was going on and could protest. Once there, with a rather defeated attitude he kept pressing himself towards me for comfort, while he quietly accepted being examined: eyes, teeth, weight, claws, heart, etc etc.



"I refuse to model today. No photos, please!"



He got a clean bill of health, but the vet suggested he was moved on to cat food for older cats. Not sure Snix could believe his ears! Food for older cats!? He is a mere 9.5yrs old.... A cat in the prime of his life, if you ask him. But apparently food for older cats contain more calcium which they need more of as they get older. So, he got his booster injection and was back on my bed in no time. Hopefully, a year till next 'trauma'.

 

The surgery was busy with loads of other cats and dogs in for the check ups. Or as one of the cats needed - medicine to induce vomiting because the silly cat had eaten rat poison. Something that doesn't happen too often to cats, according to the vet. Dogs, yes, but cats tend to know better. The owner did say this particular cat was generally rather stupid...

 

And today was my own check up with the oncologist. It is now just over 1.5 years since my own cancer operation and I am so grateful and happy that everything seems to be fine. I was very lucky with the early discovery and have had a very good recovery. I feel I am back to "normal" now, but with added awareness of my own health and I don't take anything for granted any more.

 

Next week is the annual MOT and service of my car.
I hope that goes well, too!

Still Hanging in There!

 

Oh, yes, I am still here!

I have neither found the right time nor inspiration for the blog, but I hope that will return!

 

I have gone back to work, and after my summer ordeal that felt ok. Not great, but ok. I am still on a phased return but aiming to start full time again next week. I think that will be ok, too. Sometimes you have to push yourself to move forward. One good thing that has come out of my illness is that I  started working out. Since July I have been going to the gym every other day and I really LOVE it. Who would have thought.... It has become a habit and I feel so much better for it. I just hope I can keep it up when I start working full time...!

☺ 

Time flies and beautiful autumn days are here. The heating goes on regularly in the afternoons, the Cat refuses to step outside for days on end (he is getting lazier by the year) and The Professor reported frost on the ground up north in Durham where he is.

Last week was half term and Halloween and tonight is Bonfire Night. I wrote about Bonfire Night last year, so you can read about that here, if you want. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas. It is just one form of celebration after the other!

Another thing to mention is that Our Boy has also sent off his University application for studying next year. So fingers (and toes and anything else!) crossed he is accepted to the course he wants at the University he wants! I am just finding it hard to understand that he is soon off to University... Seriously, where have the years gone???

These pictures are from Sunday when I managed to lure Our Boy (I guess I should start calling him Our Young Man ...) with me for a walk on Sunday with the promise of having lunch at a noodle bar. Their noodles in hot, steamy and  broth, like their Tom Kha Gai is just what you need on a blustery day. The soup was bursting with flavoursome broth enhanced with coconut milk, chicken, pork, seafood, mushrooms and various vegetables and vermicelli noodles. The portions are enormous so the leftovers were brought home and served as a starter for dinner.
No wonder this is a popular place with students!

So, time I had a 'wander' around Bloglandia and see what other bloggers are up to! Maybe time to start thinking of Christmas, too! That reminds me - I MUST get the amaryllis bulbs planted if I am to have any chance of it blooming for Christmas! Last year's didn't bloom until end of April...! I think I might be late already...

Have you got yours planted...?



 

Happiness is...

Old and new friends visiting from Norway.

Despite bitterly cold weather we enjoyed the company of visiting friends. Some of us had not met for YEARS. Some even met for the very first time!

☺

We did pretty much the usual things, ate well, drank well, walked a lot and talked a lot

♥

plus planned a lot for upcoming events...

☺

So, although our neighbour mowed the grass last week I would like to know when spring is deciding to come??? We had snow again some days ago and it is incredibly bitterly out there.

Should have known - The Cat refuses to go out. A sure sign that it is cold...

Don't need to look at the temperature - just check out The Cat curled up on the bed!

Bonfire Night!

Guy Fawkes - borrowed from the web

Fireworks have been going off all throughout the weekend although Bonfire Night is actually tonight on 5 November. The Cat is not too pleased about that, but he tends to stay indoors when it gets chilly and he doesn't seem to mind the fireworks when he feels safe inside.

☺

Bonfire Night is also called Guy Fawkes' Night. For over 400 years bonfires have burned on November 5th to mark the failed gunpowder plot - a plot that relates back to the conflict between catholics and protestants. In 1605, thirteen men planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Among them was Guy Fawkes.

Some of the 13... borrowed from the web

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion.  Unfortunately, James was not and 13 young men, decided that violent action was the answer by blowing up the Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. However, as they realised that also innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack some of the plotters had second thoughts and an anonymous letter was sent to warn a friend to stay away from the Parliament that day. But the warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces stopped the conspirators. Guy Fawkes was in the cellar with the barrels of gunpowder when the cellar was stormed so he was caught and executed. So, the questions many ask are - was he framed and would the plot have worked as the gunpowder apparently was old...

 

On the 5th, agitated Londoners who knew little more than that their King had been saved, lit bonfires in thanksgiving, a tradition to this day!

 

You can ask whether it is anti-Catholic to celebrate this event, but I agree with those that say that it is important to remember the history and the fact that the celebration is a commemoration of the thwarting of an act of mass murder. Also, I feel it is safe to say that the passage of the centuries has eradicated any sense of anti-Catholicism associated with the celebration.

May I Introduce You To...

I popped outside the door to take some pictures of all the lovely flowers in full bloom. Suddenly, I lost concentration and became aware of something making a lot of noice and creeping into view through the lense...

May I introduce you to TenTen?

The neighbourhoods most talkative cat!

He is not our cat.

He kind of "belongs" to one of our neighbours.

Well, he actually belongs to some other people on a different street...

Ok, here is the story of TenTen:

One dark and blustery night (all stories start like that, don't they...) our neighbours had a knock on the door at 10 pm. There was a very concerned lady explaining that she had almost run over a cat as the silly creature was just lying in the middle of the road... Since our neighbours house was the closest she thought perhaps the cat was theirs? It wasn't their cat, but our neighbours are kind and loving people who took the cat in and the cat absolutely loved it! 

They called him TenTen since he arrived at 10 pm on the 10th day of the month...

The neighbours searched for days to find out who TenTen belonged to. Yes, he was chipped, but the owners had changed address so the vet was not able to contact them. To cut a long story short, after a lot of detective work, our neighbours found the real owners. They had several cats and were well used to Ten Ten leaving for days on end. We all think with several other cats in the house it was a bit too much for him.

So, his owners didn't mind that he more or less moved in with our neighbours who fittingly enough are called Charity. He sometimes goes back to visit his original family, but most of the time he likes it around our cul-de-sac with his 'new' family. He is the friendliest of cats and talks to everyone. If you leave your doors open, he will visit and make himself at home.

However, not in our house.

Our Cat sees to that!

They do get along nicely and sometimes TenTen comes to our garden to play with Our Cat, but Our Cat draws the line about visits to OUR house.

I think TenTen's talking is too much for Our Cat who is more of the dark, mysterious and silent type...

All in all, a happy ending to the story of TenTen.

I think the point that you don't choose a cat - the cat chooses you has been well proved!



The Summer's First 'Wild' Adventure...

The first adventure this summer started this morning.

Our Boy had his last IGCSE exam yesterday (think he has had 20 exams since 10 May! not sure this is a satisfactory system of evaluating academic knowledge, but that will have to be discussed another day) and at 4 am this morning he left with the outdoor pursuits group from school for 10 days of canoing in Sweden.

They are heading to the Swedish 'wilderness' around Ed, north of Gothenburg in Sweden.

I must admit it was a bit amusing earlier this year when we attended the school's information meeting and they talked about the 'wilderness'...

Ed is just across the border from where I grew up in Norway.

We never looked upon it as 'wilderness'...

☺

I am sure they will have a great time!

Just hope it won't rain too much.

The Professor also took off this morning for two conferences on the continent leaving me and The Cat to fend for our selves.

I am sure we will be fine!

You can just imagine all the PLANS I have of all the things I am going to get DONE...

Famous last words...? 

♥

Well Trained...

The illustration on my office calendar for the month of May could have been written by me:

"I had been told that training procedure with cats is difficult.

It's not.

Mine had me trained in two days..."

I think about this when I stumble out of bed at 4 am to let The Cat out...

It also strikes me as strange that nobody else in the house hears him...!

Coming Together by Chance?

I promised yesterday to take a picture in daylight of the lovely cushion My Friend and her Delightful Son made for me and here it is together with the new throw. They all go together so well you would have thought it had all been planned!

Obviously, I am in a grey-&-creme-period at the moment.

The test of the warmth and snugness of the throw is whether The Cat likes it or not. He can be rather choosy and will not cuddle on our laps if we choose the WRONG throw... I had a little snooze on the couch after dinner last night and woke up to find my little black furry friend sound asleep ontop of me and the throw.

It is approved!

Not Too Bad After All...

It isn't too bad beeing stuck in bed with a cold even though it is Christmas...

I am not really doing anything else than I had already planned...

Like reading, watching films and sleeping...

:-)

The Professor thinks I am in competition with The Cat to see who can sleep more...

Trust me, The Cat is winning!

Night Time Comfort...

picture borrowed from www

I love my bed.

What I love most about it is that it is 1.8 m wide

- plenty of space for two

(or even three when Our Boy was little).

Amazingly enough, it never seems large enough when I sleep alone in it with The Cat. It is incredible how much space such a small animal seems to 'need'...

Anyway, this isn't about The Cat.

I have for many years been honkering after a Tempur mattress. Admittedly, I have never tried a Tempur mattress, but somehow I believe it MUST be great. My plan was to get one if/when we move house. That is still some years away, so when I came across the offer for a mattress topper from Cloud's Memory Foam on a GroupOn offer (73% off!) I took the chance. The topper arrived yesterday and I put on new clean bedsheets.

Don't you just love the feeling of clean bedsheets?!

One of life's little luxeries

:-)

I wouldn't say I slept 'on a cloud', but it was veeery comfortable. Being rather generously endowed from nature's side (sounds better than saying I need to loose some pounds, doesn't it?), I often have aches and pains in my hips and back when I wake up in the morning. I was pleased to note that I had none of that this morning. This is just a mattress topper, so I believe that a real Tempur mattress MUST be even better.

The Professor did not share my enthusiasm.

I had snored.

To my defense - I have a cold.

On the bright side, it probably means he will use another bedroom tonight and I get ALL of this lovely comfort to myself

... unless The Cat decides to stay in and occupy it, too!

HE doesn't mind if I snore!

:-)

Should I - or Shouldn't I...?

I think The Cat is a bit confused over the warm weather we have been enjoying. 

I am convinced it is part of his daily challenge finding the right spot in the sunshine...

But sometimes it is better to play it safe and stay indoors peeking through the curtains...

:-)