Christmas has come and gone and now New Year is upon us, a thoughtful start.

My Father in Law with Harvey as a kitten

Well just a short post to wish everyone a fantastic New Year. I sit typing on a chilly but perfectly crisp day, the blue sky clear and the hard frost crunching under foot. The layer of ice on the pond and the canal being frozen indicates how cold it has been but a touch of snow would be nice.

Finally a day with minimal eating.....my OH adores cooking and he makes the most fantastic food although he is a bit of a tyrant, a Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen, it is his way or the highway so to speak. We have continued to eat well however there is lots now in the fridge just to finish up and no more large volumes of washing up for me!!!!!!!

Luna

The house is finally looking like a semblance of itself although we still look rather over stocked on furniture, Xmas trees forcing a rearrangement. The tree is surviving well, no interest by five cats in the tree or ornaments, I must have the oddest cats!!!!! and with watering the base we have a tree still looking good.

Bertie

Harvey

Monty

Reuben

The cats have found the frost too much especially the grass which they seem to treat incredibly suspiciously. Bertie has found launching himself up the maple gives him a good view into the neighbours gardens, I just try not to look at him coming down!! He is our slightest cat, the one who broke his leg this year and probably the one everyone feels protective to. Monty on the other hand is truly looking massive and the ground does shake when he pounds in, looking down across his shoulders I've measured his bones to be 5 inches(13 cm) across. He is just one big beautiful unit, a rugby player in a former life! Luna has now become most beautiful, her coat hangs from her as if she has been groomed daily but I barely touch her and her tail makes up half of her size, a plume to be proud of. Harvey and Reuben are most loyal in the most different of ways, Reuben detests attention but loves to be by you always, he will never be more than  a couple of metres away whilst Harvey runs to me and push in for love but I do have to say he is almost a one person cat.

On the saddest of notes, January 2nd will find us having a day of thoughtfulness as it is my Father in laws funeral, a man of great gentleness, a man I never heard a bad word from in all the 30 years I knew him. He didn't like fuss and the funeral will show no frills just those who knew him being respectful, so here is to you dear gentleman......you loved your walks, the birds, the family and the cats, especially one!!

The Supreme - delayed post

A beautiful Mainecoon

We have a large exhibition centre near Birmingham, called the  NEC, it generally holds massive concerts or nationally large exhibitions. This year having not been once, I know I will now have to go again in 5 days. Once a year the 'GCCF Cat Supreme' is held at the NEC, this is similar to the much more well known Crufts for dogs. I went last year and enjoyed seeing the various unusual breeds, as well as all the merchandise which is there specifically tailored for cats which you find hard access to in the run of the mill pet stores.

Daughter with a Stormtrooper

To add a bit more fun they had Comic Com on at the same time in the adjacent hall so whilst we walked around you suddenly came across Darth Vader or a Marvel character!!! Weird.......but fun.

Comic Com

I did feel it was all a bit surreal as normally pens for the cats are only allowed to have plain white bedding etc in them, however as judging in the Supreme is different, all the pens are dressed up in a theme which this year was 'Winter Wonderland.' So what with Comic Com Characters and fake icicles coming out of our ears at the Supreme it was all a bit strange.

Petaluna - Selkirk Rex, Longhaired Curly

Burmese

Going around I found Luna and Bertie's breeder who was showing three cats and a kitten, as usual her cats are so relaxed that the kitten she had just melted my daughters heart as she looked up at her whilst ignoring all the rumble of sounds around.

They also have breeder club benches which have some cats on each demonstrating the breed and explaining pros and cons to each. I think we fell in love with the Burmese, small but laid back with a velveteen coat, the Maine Coon just so solid and steady as a cat bred to go on ships to kill rats, and the gorgeous but slightly cooky looking Devon Rex, not to everyones taste but really human orientated, small and quite crazy!!!

After a day of walking around and aching feet we left with catnip toys, a popup cube, and some "plague rats" probably the smelliest thing invented, a canvas made rat filled with stinky valerian root, sold sealed in plastic bags and to be kept there until used for a toy as they are loved by cats but not the household, pphewww.

Winter Wonderland Theme

Owner showing a Persian