Daughter's 21st Birthday meal : Bertie's 1st Birthday and you wouldn't know he had a broken leg.

Out of the sun after chasing birds with Monty

Today was the day we were having a family celebration for our daughter, as always we always go out for a family meal. This was to be a bit odd as the OH is in Brazil at the moment however the kids made up for it with friends and girlfriends. My daughter had requested for us to go to the Art Kitchen, a great modern Thai restaurant. A gorgeous place with modern meets traditional Thai cuisine. This is a very popular place so I had to book up a few weeks ago and still could only get a 9.00 pm sitting. To make it easy for everyone we went for 6 set meals plus a red and a green Thai curry. Well it was just gorgeous, as is the price, hence we like to go but  only for special celebrations. So this is the start of my daughters special day! week! month! or is that me who celebrates like that? Hope you loved the start of your birthday….sorry you still can't have your present until the day…….

http://www.theartkitchen.com

My daughter is right at the back

 I had that feeling this morning and I just checked Bertie's pedigree and found I was indeed right and it was definitely his birthday.

What a lot he has fitted into his first year. He is one of our most cuddliest cats when HE feels like it…..he approaches a cuddle with a lot of fuss, he squarks as he comes in the room looking for you, he then approaches and jumps onto your lap but then goes off again, only to jump on again and fuss, working away around your lap up and down, finally he kneads your chest or lap, then gets off again, to then come on your lap again until he finally settles.

Bertie also has this most unbecoming coat at the moment….. he is out of condition with his leg and having had such a self imposed restricted diet for a while his coat is not thick nor curly. It is tufty however. He also had, which the breeders have said, he first major moult related to his becoming a Tom cat and then neutered. Resulting in matts in his coat the like I have never seen which had to be cut our. One breeder suggests a cut  to even the coat out and then all the coat will come through as the same type and length….I'm thinking about this as the summer months are coming and it would be a good time.

What cast? Chasing Lun

Bertie then of coarse broke this leg which by all accounts is repairing quickly and could be ok for the cast removing next week, only four weeks along if the callous which the bone is building is suitable.

How high can I go with a cast?

As you can see he no longer sees the cast as a major hinderance. This cast just seems a little shorter so he can lean on it. He can keep up with the others when running and no tree is safe, nor are the birds….don't worry no birds have EVER been caught by our cats.

What fantastic weather we had yesterday and today, it has really brought Bertie out of his doldrums and perked him up so much. It has also helped Luna to stop finally hissing at him and see him as a fun companion again which she can chase.

I wonder what his reaction to losing the cast will be???? The vet did mention physiotherapy if they do remember the pain of the break and not  wish to return to putting weight upon the mend. However I hope that once Luna teases him enough to chase her it will be forgotten and all will be well. Hoping that he won't do toooooooo much climbing in the next few weeks to put too much pressure on the mend.

Playing pat a cake together 

Will she see me?

My youngest

Well I did wonder what I was getting when we had our youngest, my two other children could not be more dissimilar from day one, so I was under no illusions of expecting a clone of either of them.

Our youngest was Mr Laid-back and has remained so throughout his life. He is also Mr Relaxed, Mr Easy going and Mr Gets on with everyone. He doesn't really see the need to get worked up about anything.

I had the easiest of pregnancies and an epidural at birth made that so easy, I do wonder if that had anything to do with his easy going nature!! As a third child he did have to fit with what we needed to do whether that was play groups, more playgroups, visiting play friends or shopping. None of this getting him to sleep and not going anywhere !!! In fact he was amazing put him in the car and before we had gone ten feet he was asleep, unfortunately he still suffers a little from that as a passenger in the car and drops off at the drop of a hat!! He talked fairly early somehow managing to get his voice heard in the household!! What we did notice is that he could remember things very well and at one of his early tests he was able to remember at least 7 or 8 numbers in a row, I was lost at 5.....

I do remember he always had a beaming smile and would melt a situation by using it as you couldn't be cross with him....

We were lucky when we moved to our new house as he made the best of friends with a neighbour, they were inseparable. Unfortunately teenage life got in the way as did other interests.

He is a devil for not putting his head down to work on something, he doesn't like to be told either, that is something I have learnt. You can only put your ideas briefly forward and leave it at that otherwise you are on a sticky wicket. Not easy going.

I think he has some regrets that some of our lovely holidays were when he was young and he doesn't always remember them or only through photos although him and me had a really special holiday together, just us two, in Morocco. My OH was unable to come to a break we had planned, just the two of us!! so as our youngest was free he came. It was a joy. We had to follow an itinerary based around birdwatching!!, my husbands hobby, so there we were a young teenager and me driving over the High Atlas, visiting Oasis, eating with heads of a village, staying in isolated places where we were the only people staying and we had to go over two miles of sand, staying in a Riad in Marrakech in an area which my husband described as traditional!!! We had a ball.....It was great to get to have that experience with him, just him.

I love that he has a wide circle of friends, there is no type, he seems to get on with everyone. I do like that. The only issue I've ever had was when all these friends!! seemed to turn up at a house party. He had persuaded us that we could trust him!!!! to have a party with a few friends. We went away only to have my daughter at three in the morning ringing and crying down the phone. No body would listen to her to stop people coming in so the party became huge. Unfortunately at the end of the evening our sofa was literally broken in half!!!!! yes in half, my daughters glasses were broken and smashed, we had lost / broken most of the baubles on the Christmas tree and my poor daughter was trying to clean up messes that people were making around the house. And our youngest.... well he couldn't be found until they looked under our bed where he was asleep. Needless to say he has and NEVER will have another party at our house. The sofa is mended but not perfect!!!!!

That said, he does always make me smile, so darn cheeky.