May 2001

Disaster!  Mum used to have a chenille-velvety jumper, (my favourite of al her clothes) it is almost the same colour as me, but it has got a hole in it (very noticable, and impossible to repair) so I don't get to cuddle up to her in it........but she has given it to me for my bed - obviously, not to dress up in, I am not that sort of cat (!) and anyway, you could not improve on the perfection that is my ginger fur!  So "every cloud has a silver lining" and / or "in the midst of difficulty, look for opportunity"

On the farm, there have been a few bits of machinery breaking down, including a clod separator which (funnily enough!) separates clods of earth by breaking them down this means that you can plant potatoes into a clod free seed-bed (See? I am Agri-cat with all my knowledge!)  So the repairs and new bits of kit (note un-technical term here!) have cost a bit of money, and a lot of time wasted in delays.  Mum is still enjoying her job - the training is finished, and she works out of a nearby branch mostly, and then covers at 3 other business centres which are 18, 24 and 27 miles away.  I know she misses me, and I miss her a bit, but to be honest, I am so busy "doing my own thing" that I have enough stuff to be getting on with!  

They have finally finished planting potatoes - which is quite late - but they are all in now, and they have checked on what has been planted so far.  I myself, like to inspect the wheat - this is my favourite of crops to watch ...it looks just like grass when it is is first grown, but then becomes taller and golden as the weeks and months pass - it does not look "furry" like barley does, but I enjoy checking it out!  At some points, it is nearly the same colour as me!  There are lots of fields of wheat around the farm this year - some ours, some not, so I don't have to explore too far to see what's what!

Mum's Mum has been over a few times, as has Rachel (Mum's sister) with George who will be one year old this month!  Later in the month, Mum and Dad went on their holiday to Canada and I went back to see Barbara at her cattery - it is a home from home there!  It is also, endlessly fascinating "cat watching" ....apparently there are some humans who enjoy watching other people eg in a shopping centre (whatever one of those is!) and I enjoy watching other cats and talking to them too....some of the cats in there had bad homes and were badly treated before finding forever homes with loving families, some of them are scared as they have not been away from home before and that is where we can all help each other out - a friendly meow or purr, and a bit of reassurance can go a long way (this is the same for cats and humans!) and we all enjoy watching the birds, plants and butterflies in the garden!  Barbara has got this brilliant spray called cat-nip spray....I love it, it makes me happy and lively (and she says it needs to be limited use for me unfortunately) I have wowl-ed and talked to Barbara to ask her to make sure that she tells Mum about it, so I can have my own stash at home..................watch this space!

Me outside the house at home.............pondering my next move............!!