June10th...

Wow the power of the internet - never underestimate it!!!!  The other day I said I wondered if my neighbour Galadia read my blog because the cactus she had given me had a flower?

Well I know that she does, what's more I know that from her email I should spell her name Galatia and what is more I now have cactus envy because she sent me a picture of her cactus which is infinitely more impressive than mine!!!

As the weather warms up and we head towards Summer our garden is awash with colour - not just from the flowers but also from the dragonflies which are buzzing all around the swimming pool which come in shades of red, yellow, black and blue.  They sit still just long enough to grab a shot and then they are off again dancing over the surface of the water.

Unfortunately they manage to find their way into the conservatory and sometimes don't manage to find their way out unless we give them a helping hand and of course the cats are fascinated by them and want to chase them - chase them, worry them and kill them and then leave them behind.

So it is the start of the week and I am down to Klaus and Sheila's for my weekly dose of pastel pencils.  John was setting off for badminton early so that he could call in at John and Susan's to check on Millie and feed her and to check on the swimming pool as he had decided to remove the cover as it was slowly disintegrating and leaving blue disks of plastic floating in the water.

Before going down to the art John and I needed to empty" the car of all the books which Dad's friend Frank has asked us to find a home for.  Once again there were several that I thought Sheila would appreciate because they referred to Kenya and art and drawing.   Some were specifically about photography and one in particular - the National Geography Greatest Photographs was an absolutely stunning book and one which I wanted to keep - the photographs are inspirational and it makes for the most fantastic coffee table book.  The rest we catagorised into reference, novels etc and have packed them up to give to Irene and hopefully she will be able to make a bob or two from them.

My picture is progressing - blending blending blending is the order of the day - now that the shape and form of the shell is visible I can see better how the picture is going to turn out.  I know I say it every week but I love this medium and I am so grateful that Sheila allows me to take advantage of her vast range of pencils and her expertise.  She said today I will soon have to find my next subject and I have no idea what to tackle next - any ideas? 

When John got back from Badminton he said that Millie had got a sore left leg and although she had been as affectionate as usual and ravenously hungry he thought we ought to go down and have a good look just in case she needed to go to the vets.  It clearly wasn't a snake bite but it seemed like it could have been like when Chivers got the injury on his leg.  I packed up all that I had and off we went to investigate.

Millie was lying under a tree in the orchard when we arrived and greeted us vociferously and came running up to greet us.  We couldn't really see too much with her leg but it was a little swollen and obviously sore. It may have been one of those killer grass seeds.

We cleaned up her leg, squirted a load of iodine on top, smothered it with some new skin and gave her some food.  She seemed none the worse for the experience.  In fact two bowls of cat food later and a mega cuddle I think she is fine but will just email Susan so that she can keep an eye on her when she gets back on Wednesday.

Bless Millie she is one of those cats that looses so much fur during the hotter months that she can look a little scraggy even though she is absolutely fine.  John did Stronghold her last week because she had been scratching around her ears and we thought she might have earmites but I think she just doesn't cope with the heat all that well and today has been very hot and sticky.

Our lives are full of cats at the moment as we continue with Tom and Jerry's education...

Jerry thinks it is all a bundle of laughs, particularly now that Irene has provided him and Tom with a new toy, Tom on the other hand is much more reserved although for the first time today he did not greet us with a hiss!  They are going to be fine when they go to Lucie's and they are most definitely going to be missed.

On the subject of Lucie, her husband Tom has been growing some beans - black/purple beans - don't they look fab???  Sheila let me have a few to try and I wonder if they will lose their colour when they get cooked - will let you know.