Really Autumnal - the clocks change this weekend...

It is always a great relief to us that when we return home all four of the cats are indoors safe and sound - although none of them are related, John spent hours with each one of them as they arrived Chez Villa10b to make sure they integrated into the fold.

There are inevitably family squabbles and struggles to establish 'Top Cat' but generally harmony reins and this is usually because we feed them in different places to avoid Charlie hoovering up everything in double quick time and barging everyone else off of their food so it is quite unusual to have the Ginger Quartet all eating together.  From the bottom we have Chivers - our first rescue and most definitely John's cat, then Charlie, instantly recognisable because he is much chunkier than the others, then Boris - the cool cream cat and finally little Minnie-Mou, Miss Aloof!



The picture of the four of them was taken last night before we went to bed - the change in the weather has meant that the cats sensibly prefer to be indoors so this morning when we got up they were all still here, Boris on his favourite tub chair - the chair he snuck onto when he first started 'visiting' in the hopes that we would take him on permanently - it worked of course and I think he loves this chair as a result!






Charlie was on one of the trusty old leather sofas.  He likes it on there because he can lounge against the arm rest and has plenty of room to spread out - I think he is too big for a tub chair these days - he is in danger of getting his hips stuck!






Minnie Mou, who is looking a lot better in her winter coat, likes to take up residence on the 'birthing' chair because it is near the door and offers her a quick escape if she gets spooked by something.  As we recently had that chair recovered we have to try and protect it with a throw - covers on covers - something I vowed I would never do but with our cats you simply have no option!

Finally Pops had made himself snuggly in amongst the gazebo covers that I was going to reinforce now that we have taken them down.  I didn't actually realise he was in until I could hear his gentle snoring coming from the dining area and then I found him all comfortable and warm so decided to leave him there for the time being - I would just have to move him when I wanted to do the sewing.

So it is Saturday today and John was going to football this afternoon with John Read.  I was still suffering with my ear and just wanted a bit of a quiet day home alone - the weather was changeable - sunny one minute and then black as your hat the next.  Looking down towards Argaka this morning you could see plenty of white horses on the coastline.  John was uncertain as to what to wear for footie so decided to err on the side of caution and layer up for all eventualities - as it turned out they only had rain for about 10 minutes - and as I was inside I am not exactly sure we had any rain here in Drouseia which makes a change.

Before John went to football and whilst the sun was out I went to investigate the wasps in the Morning Glory - they are still there, they are still hugging onto the mouldy leaf and I think it is gradually being formed into a new nest.  This ball of wasps is only about the size of a large egg but we have counted between 20-30 wasps clinging together.

John is keeping an eye on the roof as rain has stopped progress.  The good thing is that after a downpour if we go up there there are no puddles of sitting water so the work that has been done so far has been successful.  

It is only a small space so the tiling shouldn't take too long and John has been up and worked out the best way to lay the tiles - we just need to keep an eye on progress as there is definitely a pattern to them so they need to be laid in the right direction.  I know it will get done as soon as we have a couple of dry days but I am itching to get everything back to where it should be in the garden.  With so many different DIY jobs on the go at the moment the house and garden are in a right old mess and it gets on my nerves after a while.  The other problem we have is that the wet weather means we have to bring in cushions etc from outside and we really don't have anywhere much to store them during the winter so we have to find space in a small house that doesn't actually have any!!

Being outside in the cooler air didn't do much for my ear.  I have to thank my lovely friend Laura who sent me a knitted headband one Christmas and now it is coming in very useful - my ear feels better when it is kept warm and the knitted flower on the side is perfectly positioned - the headband does bugger all for my hair but I really don't care at the moment.  I can tell when I am due some more medication because just beforehand it is like someone is drilling through my eardrum and it is pretty painful.

I tried to tackle the gazebo covers but it was quite difficult as Boris decided to make himself comfortable in the middle.  Normally we talk about taking them down and then leave it just that bit too long and we get a coptic storm and they are ripped to shreds.  This time we have done it before they get damaged or more damaged than what the sun has already done.  I wanted to reinforce all the areas where the struts go and sew up any tears but hadn't anticipate how dusty they were - so ended up with a cleaning job afterwards.  I think two of them will last another year but fear that the third may disintegrate when we try and put it back up again.  Replacement covers cost nearly as much as a whole gazebo but it seems such a waste to replace the whole thing each time.

My jobs done and tea under control I decided to get out my knitting box and have a go at some crochet - mum had managed to get me a hook the other day and I have lots of bits of wool that could be turned into something.  It seems to be quite fashionable to have homemade throws and things at the moment and the wool is just sitting there so I had to try and remember what to do.

I recollect that back in the seventies crochet was all the rage and my sister and I crocheted ponchos for ourselves which we probably thought looked fab but in reality looked  pretty awful!!!

It took me a while but eventually I got a square (sort of square) on the go and it is fairly easy to do whilst watching the television.  I may only have enough to make a couple of cushion covers but the green is the colour of the wall we have painted in the guest bedroom and I have some bedding which is pink and green so it may serve to bring the colours all together - not sure yet - will have to see how it goes anyway it keeps me quiet and John is all for that as he was glued to the rugby and then the football when he returned from an exciting 3-3 draw at ENAD.



It was the end of a perfect Saturday for John, lots of sport, some man time and then home to fillet steak, a glass of beer and Jeff Snelling.

The only fly in the ointment was the fact that the Mighty Blades lost their game against Millwall but then you can't have everything.

We watched the last two episodes of Cradle to Grave before retiring to bed leaving reminders for ourselves that the clocks needed to go back an hour and that we would be getting another hour in bed.

No-one will have told the cats about the time change so will expect them in at what would be normal time for them which will be an hour earlier than normal!