Showing posts with label kittens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kittens. Show all posts

Tuesday, 20 August 2013

The Nineteenth Blog of Augustus Lazarus Cooke (Gus)


Hello everyone!

It has been ages since I blogged. I told you last time that we had all gone to stay with Tia and Foxy and Buster for a day and how our people went out and left us with Dean. Well, we went to spend another day with them and this time we stayed with Kiri while everyone else went out and again everyone was happier when ‘it’ was over.* Kiri had two babies to look after ‘cos Susannah had taken Frankie down the night before ‘it’ but she was quite happy to stay at home and Frodo behaved himself – he knows Kiri very well. We got home very late that night and the kittens were pleased to see us.

The kittens are really big now – well, that’s what the Humans say. Course, they’re never going to be as big as us dogs. Just as well, I think, when I look at their sharp teeth and claws.

Mr H went off the other day to spend some time with some men he knew years and years ago. They all passed out together, he said – strange, I thought, but Mrs H explained that meant they were all remissioned on the same day (editor’s note: they were commissioned . . . )

Then, just after that Mrs H went to stay with Susannah and Frankie. 

She was looking after Frankie while Susannah went to work. Mr H had to learn how to work the washing machine and he even hung the washing out on the line. It was funny watching him – he puts the clothes out differently to Mrs H, not nearly as neat and tidy.

Now Tia and Foxy and Buster have come to stay for their summer holiday. It’s fun going for walks all together. T, F and B really enjoy the ponds in the forest – there’s not much water where they live. Yesterday we went out for ages. Buster is funny. He sits in the pond with the water up to his collar waiting for Mrs H to throw the Kong. He’s just as much of a cheat as Jenna and Bertie gets quite upset so Mrs H tricks Buster and pretends to throw the Kong in one direction but changes it at the last second. She has to do the same with Jenna so that I get a chance to retrieve the ball. Tia’s a good girl – she watches like I do and then races off. Foxy doesn’t bother. She likes retrieving biscuits but Mr and Mrs H aren’t doing that with her ‘cos she’s rather rounder than she should be and it’s not good for her joints.

It’s quite warm today so we’ll probably go to Simons Wood where there’s lots of shade but only one pond. 

It’s a big pond, more of a lake really, with ducks and geese and dabchicks and the water’s clear so we don’t come home carrying lots of mud in our coats. I hope we go soon . . . I like our walks.

Be good.

Hwyl fawr am nawr! (That’s Welsh for ‘Goodbye for now!’)

*’it’ was Trevor’s funeral. Trevor is Mr H’s brother.


Monday, 18 February 2013

The Seventeenth Blog of Augustus Lazarus Cooke (Gus)


The Seventeenth Blog of Augustus Lazarus Cooke (Gus)

Here I am with Bertie - he's quite confused - doesn't know why he can't play with the kittens.
Hello everyone!

I know it’s only been a little while since I last blogged but I wanted to tell you how life has changed.

Do you remember me telling you that Mr H kept saying, ‘You don’t know what’s coming your way,’ and how Mrs H laughed and said, ‘They’ll be all right,’ and I thought it wouldn’t be anything nasty? Well, it isn’t anything nasty as far as us dogs can see but we’re not allowed to get close enough to really find out.

Just after the Boss’s birthday he and Mrs H rearranged the furniture in the sitting room and got the big puppy pen out of the garage and put it next to the patio doors. All us dogs thought there must be a puppy coming and we were thrilled. After that Mr and Mrs H took us for a walk and then they went out again on their own but this time they took Winston’s basket with them. Bertie got really excited and sniffed it all over and we all thought it was a big mistake about Winston dying and maybe he was coming home after all. It wasn’t and he didn’t but what they did bring home were three tiny cats – kittens they’re called - and they’re distant relations of Winston and Monty.

We wanted to make them welcome and play with them but we weren’t allowed and anyway they weren’t very friendly. They hissed at us and growled and we backed off. I think they were afraid, actually – we must look ever so big to them.

Mrs H took them into the conservatory and they rushed off and hid under the bureau and the low coffee table. They didn’t want to be stroked and they didn’t eat anything. Naturally, we were curious so we stood in the kitchen looking through the glass door and they ran as far away as they could.

Then Bethan and Robert came. Robert loves cats though they make him breathless and Mrs H calls him the Cat Whisperer ‘cos he picked them up and they didn’t struggle.

This weekend everyone else came so the kittens were played with all day and they were really tired. They’re not scared any more but we’re still not allowed to meet them nose to nose apart from when they’re in the puppy pen at night. I’m looking forward to the day we can all be together ‘cos I liked Monty and Winston and I miss them curling up with me.

I expect they’ll tell you about themselves but here are some photos of their first day with us. I don’t think their eyes could be any bigger!
Herschel
Isambard
Jellicoe
Got to go – supper time. There’ll be more room in the kitchen now that Tia, Foxy and Buster have gone home.

Be good.

Hwyl fawr am nawr! (That’s Welsh for ‘Goodbye for now!’)



Sunday, 2 August 2009

Pet Pride - Burmese cats

Many years ago we acquired a brown Burmese kitten and were encouraged by her breeders to mate her. Kittens are adorable and we couldn't resist keeping one - or two! We bred four or five litters from AliCat and her chocolate daughter Sweet Pea. Kittens that didn't settle in their new homes came back to us and each of our four children had a favourite so we soon found ourselves with nine cats. Alicat also made her own arrangements on a couple of occasions with a disreputable-looking Tom cat. (I do wish people would neuter their free-roaming cats!)He must have had something about him for his offspring were beautiful. AliCat's first half-Burmese were black and would have passed as Bombay cats (a planned cross between a Burmese and an American Shorthair)
The following photographs are quite old and not very good quality but I hope they give some idea of the sleek beauty of these fantastic cats. Burmese cats are talkative, responsive and extremely affectionate.

This is AliCat's first litter. There were three browns and two chocolates. We kept a brown boy, Herbert, and his chocolate sister, Sweet Pea. Their blue eyes turned yellow later.
This is Pansy, a blue kitten from AliCat's second litter. She stayed with us and grew into a beautiful and affectionate companion. She had the softest eyes but went completely blind in her last year of life and her eyes lost their expressiveness.
Like most cats Burmese will seek out warm spots. The top of the aquarium was a great place to hang out. Not only was it warm but there was always a slight chance of a quick snack!

There are seven cats in this photograph. From left to right: Angus (lilac); Clown (chocolate); Pansy (blue); Alicat (brown); Magic (chocolate); Sweet Pea (chocolate); Singleton (blue)

Thank you to Bozo and his human for initiating and hosting this meme.

To see more lovely pets please click here.