November 1999

I've been taking the opportunity to listen to Will a bit and we sit and talk during some of the day - inside if its cold and rainy (and Will is not required on the farm) or outside if it is warm enough - It's not been too cold yet.  Will is a typical man who does not show his emotions very clearly (I am a boy too, but very in touch with my feminine side - as most felines are) "There is nothing wrong with showing your emotions and talking about your feelings"  I think it helps Will to talk about his brother Gus and his life, and in return he listens to me....I hope my furry Mum and all my furry brothers and sisters are happy and well loved, and I would wish that no cat was ever abandonned like I was.  "All living creatures deserve love and affection, a safe place to rest, food, and freedom from fear"  I am quite enjoying Will's company too (sssshhh!)  Mum has had a few days off work too which is nice, but she was in and out a bit anyway, so I didn't see her for "full days" just like normal.  To be honest, this arrangement suits me fine, I can come in and out, have food, water, most of the house, a comfy warm bed on tap, and human hugs and knees to sit on, humans to drape myself on as I please - result!

So the reason Will has been about more often is because that Dad's Dad (Alan) had an accident a few weeks ago and has broken his arm.  Unfortunately, humans are not ambidextrously-pawed like most cats, so it really has had an impact on him.  He's not in as much pain now, but has had one of those funny white casts on it for weeks, and of course, this has meant that he can't do as much on the farm as he would normally.  Luckily, and this is something I do really admire about some humans, "everyone has really pulled together to help out"  Dad's brother Mick has had a few weeks off work, Dad's uncle and Cousin, John and Ben, have all helped out (Ben is a really good photographer, so I have been practising the art of "striking a pose" - I do love modelling when I am in the mood!)  Also, the neighbours here (Dave and Karen - Dave is Pam's brother and they live further down towards the village, but farm in the fields opposite us) the neighbours at Deeping (Bryan, Janet and James) have all offered help and assistance.  Mum and Mum's parents have all been doing their bit too in the taxi-ing about between farms (if you go over to the other farm in a car, then come back in a farm vehicle, that means you don't really have any fast means of transport to get back - and seriously, farm vehicles are soooo slow, I mean I could walk faster!)

When they have been over here, I have been watching Dad ploughing, it means a tractor pulling a "plough" this is a big bit of kit with lots of silvery "fin shaped things" (it puts me in mind of a lot of silver coloured fish!) as it moves up and down a field.  This is so that the remnants of the other crop can be ploughed in so they will decompose and not grow, and that the top layer of soil is turned over so there are fresh nutrients there - ** I would like to add that I learnt that all by myself, rather than relying on dog-standard-information**  

In other news. Mum's friend Adrienne popped round to see me (I have not met her before) and it was love at first sight for her (about me I mean, obviously!)  she said I have "Whopper Paws" and will be a big cat...but I am fully grown and I am careful what I eat - I don't want to put too much weight on - I have far too much jumping around and exploring to do!

this is Will and myself posing with Mum's car - as you can see it is not as posh as the other vehicle in the last blog entry!