Lovely things Part deux

Frankly Mr Shankly

we always kill this tree when my mother goes away but we always manage to somehow bring it back to life as well

a floral sofa is just delightful

we mirthed much at the 'special charger' that comes with this dubious hair threader machine my mother obtained from  abroad

vintage cars at the vintage fair

lovey things

we ate take away himalayan food off that very dinner set the previous night. i love it when your things become vintage just by way of never throwing anything away

very sweet. she liked it.

i wasn't allowed to buy this cat. they said it was ugly. £15 TK Maxx, 

What with World Book Day, International Women's Day, Mother's Day, AND snow; this week has been so busy I haven't managed to finish reading Mister Pip. I am going to do that now. 

The End of A Season

...also known as The End of a February.

and The end of the way it's always been.

It has now been two months since we found a new home for our dog. I believe people call it re-homing.  I don't really like that phrase. There was (is) a long list of reasons why this had to happen and without question the decision was based on her happiness. That was the most important thing. But she was with us for over four years and when you have a dog that dog is very much a huge presence in your day... not like cats who spend most of the summer outside. Now she isn't here any more. And I keep on forgetting that she ever was. I have to remind myself sometimes. The dog has gone. She's gone. I don't know if I am a terrible heartless person or if I am just good at adapting to change. I really don't know.

But since she left... our garden has become a meeting place for the village cats. At night gangs of cats gather to hold court. I am literally seeing a different cat every night. Usually there will be two or three just waiting at the door. They try and sneak in. They are fearless. My cats seem a bit terrified.

And now they have started sleeping in my cat houses! They have basically moved in.

No more animals. 

First Aid & Many trees

I passed my first aid exam this week. I had to give CPR to a dummy as well as deal with other 'emergency scenarios' including an old man and a can of baked beans. I did some bandage practice on the cats who were quite good natured, even letting me put their paws in slings. They are currently chasing each other around the house (it must be a full moon) whilst Martin develops black and white photographs in the loft. I am just enjoying some cranberry and raspberry tea, looking at pretty necklaces online and feeling relaxed after a weekend of many, many friends; brisk countryside walks and too much wine.

The cat that changed our lives

Jimmy was a lovely ginger and white cat. Plump and loving; he would purr on your lap contentedly. I have some lovely memories of being unemployed lying in bed with Jimmy purring in my ear telling me everything was going to be okay.

Jimmy and his sister Melody were accidents anyway. They were born in our back room after a stray ginger cat moved in one Christmas. We temporarily confused her with a male ginger kitten of ours that had gone missing a few months previously. This makes us sound crazy but we are awfully normal. I assure you. So Harris the male ginger cat that we had had neutered suddenly decided to give birth. Because he wasn't who we thought he was. He was a Normanton stray. We kept two kittens. Jimmy and Melody Nelson. And everything was fine. Until one day we were driving back from looking at rescue dogs (!) when we received a phonecall that Jimmy had been run over. I still cry when I remember this horrible moment. Because I really loved him. And it broke my heart.


My boyfriend was equally distraught. We lived in a not very nice area and he decided that the area was to blame for Jimmy's death. People drove too fast and didn't give a damn. He decided to put the house up for sale. It wasn't my house so I just went with it. The house sold within 24 hours. It all seemed like fate. We moved to another small house in a slightly better area. Melody had run away by this point. Upset at the loss of her brother. We rescued an akita called Neko. We lived by a busy road so we didn't get any more cats. We stayed there two years before moving again to a nicer house in a nicer area. Where facebook lead me to two abandoned tabby kittens. We got married and stuff. And everything that happens now, from where I live to where we are; it all seems to be because of Jimmy getting run over. If he hadn't got run over would we be where we are now?

So thank you Jimmy. You will always be my favourite cat.

New cats: Frank and Molly