A Quiet Sunday...

They say that if in doubt fill the internet with cute pictures of cats so that is what I am going to do today because it was a relatively uneventful day - apart from the storm which raged through the night!  We knew the storm was coming because it had been forecast but when I got up this morning and went across to feed the cats there was little evidence of what was to come.  The day started brightly but the wind was strong and cold.  We have our fingers crossed that next week will be reasonably settled as our neighbours are having new windows and patio doors fitted and storms are the last thing they want.  Mind you with our sort of luck if it had been us we would have been guaranteed monsoon conditions throughout the whole of the exercise!!!  Anyway we were off down to Mum and Dad's for lunch today and it was going to be warmer down in Emba and much warmer sat in their sunroom so it is a challenge to know exactly what best to wear so that you are not freezing when you leave, boiling during your stay and then freezing on your return - layers are the way ahead.  I had a text from my sister today to show snow where she lives in Balsall Common, not a lot but enough to make the garden look pretty, pretty but grey and cold.

I forgot to report that yesterday morning John fitted the new shelves (the ones that I had no idea about how much they were going to cost) into the kitchen cabinets.  This was a cathartic exercise as it involved removing all the contents, cleaning the cupboards and the contents, deciding what we did and didn't use and then what we used regularly and what not so often and then putting things back.  Whilst we did not get rid of a huge amount we can see what we have and what we need is accessible and we no longer have stacks of crockery which are in danger of toppling over - which is good because, as you know, my Denby Colonial Blue has not been made in years and every time we have an accident I struggle to find a replacement piece and when I do it costs a fortune and my poor mother-in-law has to bring it over for me.

My cupboards look like a scene from the film Sleeping with the Enemy in which the character played by Julia Roberts realises her psycho husband is back because all the messed up kitchen cupboards are overly neatly stacked!!  I am now taking bets as to how long I am able to keep them looking this way!!!  Anyway so successful has been the kitchen cupboard shelf project that we plan to add a couple more shelves to cupboards we had not originally included.

We may well have to look at some methodology of being able to lock the folding doors which house the cat food as I caught Charlie on film this morning having opened the door and got his paw inside he was then busy pulling out the carrier bag of cat treats.  He drives us nuts in the evening when he is feeling peckish as he flicks the underside of the cupboard door continuously.  We have wormed him but he is just a glutton.

This morning when I was feeding the boys  you can see just how much 'rounder about the middle' Charlie is compared to Boris and Chivers.  Minnie Mou does not partake in this scrummage for food - she waits very patiently around the otherside of the units by the back door for her bowl and then decides very carefully whether or not a morsel is going to pass her lips -she is one fussy bugger and likes to have the juice from a pouch freshly squeezed and if a single bit of catfood falls in she will lick all round it and then leave it.

Chivvy Pops is John's boy - he is John's substitute dog and John can do just about anything with him.  If we arrive back home and Chivs comes to greet us he will ride on John's shoulder as far as Paul's wall then hop onto the wall and run along into our garden coming down the wooden ladder.  Every day he comes about about 10.00 for a treat - this gets eaten quicker than I can get the camera out hence John looks like he is holding an invisible stick and Chivers is licking his lips because it has already been consumed!!

This next picture is of a very disgruntled Minnie Mou who had got herself settled this morning in the bit of the bed that I had just vacated and was therefore enjoying the residual heat.  I read somewhere recently that people feel better if they start the day with a well made bed but she is determined to put a stop to that but getting well snuggled down in the discarded bedding. I often make the bed around her but this morning I moved her and she wasn't happy - she was even more unhappy when she mooched outside to her favourite Birthing Chair to find Chunky Monkey Charlie sprawled out on it.  You could see her visibly huffing as she perched precariously on the draught excluder which had some sunshine on it.  She had half an eye open just waiting for Charlie to move which wasn't going to be long if he thought that there might be the slightest hint of some food going on in the kitchen.  She is such a diva at times!

So anyway we battened down the hatches at home in case we were not back before the expected rains came, made sure all the cats were fed and watered and then went down to Emba for lunch.

So my next cat picture is of Fred - this is the 'feral' cat that has adopted Mum and Dad.  He is an unfixed male so just recently he has been on the wanderlust exercising his instincts!  He goes somewhere and comes back absolutely filthy - today he was looking cleaner than of late!!!!

Mum and Dad have contemplated getting him done but he seems to have a sixth sense in that department and disappears when Mum has a cat carrier ready for him - they are also not sure of his age and his general health so it might be a step too far plus he is not their cat and he is not always around so they love him and feed him and clean him when he is.  We reckon he probably visits a number of houses in the area and the residents all do the same - to Mum and Dad he is Fred, down the road they probably know him as Costas and further down the road they refer to him as Vladimir!!!

Fred had obviously decided today was a day for stopping as he had his lunch and then retired to the warmth and safety of the new cat bed Mum got him from Jumbos and which he loves - this is good because he is a bit of a dribbler and it means he can dribble to his hearts content on the towel in his bed rather than all over the sofa.

If you are reading this today you will realise that this took place a week ago and unfortunately Mum and Dad have not seen Fred for a couple of days - fingers crossed he will return and soon.

We were anticipating a very bad storm tonight - clearly the world is no longer spinning on its normal axis as, god forbid, I won the Noms - or should I say Niggly.  I think it is the new cards but the other players remain unconvinced!!!

We did get home before the storm although by the time we had left Emba the wind had really got up.  During the course of the evening we escaped any rain but the wind was howling like you would not believe and we had to go out and investigate what was banging.

The real bad weather started about 1.00am when it sounded like ball bearing were being thrown onto the conservatory roof (hail) and the lightning was spectacular.  A quick head-count found everyone in thank goodness.  We are in for a bad day tomorrow that is for certain.