Cat-Trap Boogie!

I know that I have mentioned before (several times I bet), the fact that we have several pre-owned cats living loose and fancy free in the village. I know for a fact that many of them were simply left behind when the owners moved, and others have been especially brought into the village and dumped.
Disgusting behaviour? Yes. But sadly that is what I expect these days from the so called humans who live here.

And of course, these cats roam around until they find somewhere to settle, usually in someone's garden...... we have Blackjack who has lived here for a couple of years and who comes regularly every evening for his plate of Friskies! He is neutered and therefore cannot chase the ladies and leave offspring scattered around! And our three ex-pre-loved cats have accepted him, although he has still not accepted Rob and me. He still hisses and scuttles backwards out of our reach when we put his food down! One day maybe......

Blackjack having supper!

And The Cat Comes Too!

I know that I have written about 'World Sauntering Day'  (June 2012, wow, how time flies!). And the fact that you have to have a dog with floppy ears. What they failed to mention was that a Ginger Cat is becoming obligatory. And a challenge.

We walk every afternoon after watching 'Eastenders'. As soon as Alfie hears the closing theme music, he becomes animated, (AKA hysterical). And, this is now the signal for Basil to arrive from wherever he was and whatever he was doing, and join the party!

Most times we walk with friends who have a Standard Poodle and if this is the case, Basil sits under a bush in the road and howls. He is not scared of Cocoa, far from it, but she likes to 'mouth' him on the back of the neck, among other places, and leaves him literally soaking wet! So, he tends to avoid that as much as possible! And their little dog who is only just bigger than Basil, likes to chase him, so that also puts him off!

Me and my friend!

Goosy Goosy Gander!

It seems just the other day when I wrote about Pieta and the excitement of the goslings struggling out of the eggs.

Newly hatched and tiny!

And now look at them!

Swimming lessons with mum standing by!

Of This and That!

I have become very tardy lately! For the last week I have been wondering what to write about next. My head is full of ideas, so much so that I cannot pin it down to one subject, so I have done nothing about anything!!

But, here we go!

I shall skip over my birthday (yes, another one, don't they come round quickly?? And I had a wonderful day starting with coffee in bed, even though it was an even numbered day! Add to that skypes with my family and chats with lots of friends, wine at lunchtime and rugby to watch later and you get the picture! And, Saturday Chicken for lunch, on a Saturday too!) Rob had a four day tour starting on Sunday, so he set off after lunch on Sunday and Alfie was a little confused with the comings and goings!

Oh, look what's on the telly! This has nothing to do with the story, but it's quite funny!

Farewell Billy Boy.

Today is not a good day in our house.

If you like sad stories with happy endings, then stop reading now! This is a happy story with a sad ending. I shall explain.

A few months ago we noticed a bright blue flash of bird around our feeding pole. Then for days, nothing. Then the flash of blue again a few days later, and finally we saw... a budgie! Bright blue and turquoise, he had obviously escaped from either a cage or an aviary and had managed to find our 'Roadhouse' where there was food, water, fruit and sugar water freely available. He was not tame, but he did allow us to get fairly close, and he would perch on the antenna wire and 'chat' to the insulator.

Billy drinking the sugar water.

We had no intention of trying to catch him as he was happy as a free spirit and mingled with the other birds in the garden. We felt sad for him in that he had no 'friend' and even thought about getting another one to turn loose, but there was no guarantee that a second one would stay with him and then there would be two loose and lonely budgies!

Basil's Goose is un-cooked!

Basil has a new 'friend'.

Piet, a few weeks old.

Meet Piet the gosling! He (or she) belongs to our neighbours on the corner, they own the local Nursery (Plants that it, not poultry!) and Piet was born (hatched?) there. But, he was bullied by the others and was being pecked and shoved around, so Phillip brought him home for safety.

Life With Basil!

To those of you who love cats but do not have a ginger one, I say, get one! It is now just over three months since Basil Jones (to give him his full name) arrived on our doorstep and life has never, but never, been the same! We have had kittens before, many times, but we have never encountered one who is so involved in every aspect of our lives! Our other three simply get on with life, they arrive for breakfast, sleep most of the day, pop in for a little nibble now and then, sleep, lie around at night, and  sleep.

Basil, aka Captain Chaos! (All pics, thanks to Rob)

As I write this, Basil is upstairs batting an empty eye drop container round the bathroom floor. He arrived in a rush as I was cleaning the bathroom and dived into the rubbish bin. He 'helps' me sweep, dust and wash up.

Washing up duty.