Part 2 -Longcanggou - In Red Panda country but we didn't see any.....

As we travelled along away from the city the smog lifted and the stunning sharp scenery emerged, every green patch of usable ground was cultivated and huge works were being envisioned throwing up tunnels through mountains.

Our next night allowed us to stay in newly built wooden chalets, not heated but serviced with a very useful heated blanket, agghhhh.

Our chopstick abilities were beginning to be put to the test. Similar meals began to pop up, lots of vegetables with minimal meat, to add texture the meat would tend to be gristly or fatty. Initially this would not be favoured by myself however you do get used to it.... Food would come one or two plates at a time which would be gannet eaten by us, a little unseemly. Interestingly rice would only appear at the very end acting as a filler.

The next couple of days involved going up a hill stopping every few metres thank goodness for a new spot of another bird although the men did do the boyish thing of striding out on occasions leaving quite a few of us breathless on the steep inclines!! Along these area we would meet locals, in standard dress but with a fibre cape on.... the fibres were coarse almost like coconut husk gathered on the cape in a form of thatch. The area was immensely damp in general and apparently this was to allow you to continue to work, the thatch acted like it did as a roof on a house allowing the rain to sweep away and not penetrate your clothing!!

Around the chalet was beautiful cultivated fields along which I took a day off from the bird watching and got up late : ) and strolled along looking at life at MY leisure. The day was warm but with a slight morning chill, the fields had a slight haze over them and morning in the houses had already calmed down..... I walked along and found that obviously that not many tourists came around here yet, the chalets were used for wedding parties and local conferences, thus as I walked along and was noticed and stared at a lot. We had already begun to get used to this in towns and wherever we went that was not on the standard tourist trail. My dearest memory of this day was an old couple tending their field who I think appreciated the break of seeing me. They waved me over and through sign language they worked out I was married, had three adult children, what our jobs were etc. I appreciated the time as it was a lovely chance to meet some kindly local people. It also of coarse gave me a chance to take photos, at last......

Feeling smug: Photos from China and the Tibetan Plateau, Part 1

Well this has taken some time but I have finally managed it.....that is I have finally managed to go through numerous RAW images saved from our gorgeous holiday and process them. The process was taking soooooooo long....only to find out this week that our hard drive on our three year old iMac had been failing thus processing each image was taking a very, very long time. The computer must have been failing for some time and we had not noticed just getting used to things taking longer.

Although the computer then failed I still felt smug as I had religiously got my 1TB external back up disk saving regularly, putting down only ever new changes at 3am every day, HOWEVER as the computer had been failing it wasn't backing up properly, ugghhhhh. Luckily we got installed a new hard drive and all the information extracted and reinstalled without any loss.

Gentleman going to ride over that!! bridge

Over the river near Ya'an

A scary ride using motorised transport

We left Heathrow and arrived in Hong Kong to then be forwarded to Chengdu in China, our starting point. As soon as we arrived the group had already been summoned to go and look at the local park for any birds to begin our holiday.....this basically indicated the tone of the holiday, no spare time for anything except bird watching. The benefits of having the OH keen on birds is that you get taken to the most amazing places the downside is that you have to fight your corner for anything not related to birds...therefore if you want to take photos they are taken very quickly, without stopping the bus, without interfering with anyones birdwatching. Thus I was adept at having my ISO on high to capture any action and most photos were taken through the bus window. Even so I did slowly wear down the guide a little who capitulated occasionally to stop for a photo!! I was occasionally frustrated throughout the holiday as I rarely was able to photograph individuals from the front having to capture a photo from the inside of the bus or by using my long lens. Now living in an incredibly touristic town I am aware of the benefits and downsides to tourists, having been gathered for a photograph by numerous Chinese, Japanese, Italian, American and French tourists. There were so many photos I could not get, the inside of a meat market, traditionally dressed locals, interesting vehicles - all evaded me as I accepted they did not want photos taken.

Our first full day took us to Longcanggou. Our first stop however was at Ya'an

Homemade bench, freezer full of cat food and the first few photos from our China/Tibet Holiday

Whilst we were away gallivanting on our adventure in China and Tibet  we found out that our eldest son had been having an adventure of his own creating his own wooden framed long mirror. Initially I thought he had meant that he had assembled it however finally it dawned on me that he had actually purchased planks of wood and tools to actually build, shape, and stain a lovely mirror. I think in jest he may have said he would like to make  a bench which I accepted eagerly as I've been wanting a garden bench forever. We went and acquired the wood and then the process began. In the photo he is smiling or is that a grimace as by the end of the project it had taken a lot longer than he foresaw, mainly due to the weather and the intricate design he chose. However as you can see, we now how a bespoke 1.4m bench, long enough to put my feet up and something that is extremely sturdy. It is beautiful, I've never had something made by hand just for me.

Just before we went away I made sure that there were supplies of cat food in our freezer to last. Well the little piggies had nearly wiped out the whole lot, all the mice had gone and we were down to our last 6 tubs of food. Therefore I needed food and I needed food fast, Morrisons were doing pork at £2.99 kg so with the offal that made a really cheap volume of food at 30p a 100g or cheaper. There is a site called Kiezebrink
Kiezebrink - animal foods
which supplies  a range of different meats for Zoos etc, so on looking all were within my £5.50kg max i.e. the most was £4.45kg. Therefore we ordered the rabbit, then went onto Kangaroo and Guanaco plus other stuff. By 9.30 the next day the delivery came fully frozen and I was up to my elbows in mincing meat and making up food.The photo left shows a fully filled free freezer which had been empty before this session. As you can see it has gone straight to Luna's tum. Little fatty.

It seems so long ago now but only a week ago we came back from our gorgeous holiday to China. It had been a long wait especially for my husband who I had not seen since the beginning of January. A holiday. We had filled an 8 page form to get our Visa and finally got the passes for going into Tibet. Now I did phone up enquiring about the weather and I did ask my OH about what I should take, to say I was lead a little astray, well maybe. We actually had good weather but for a mortal that freezes down the chilled aisle at Tescos I should have wrapped up for the arctic, as it was I took hand warmers and my hot water bottle, honestly. The issue was when you're at altitude it is chilly, especially at 4,750m or even on the plateau at 3,500m above sea level.

These photos were taken in the first few days when were were in the warmer areas, every piece of ground was cultivated and the people were gorgeous. Very humble.

Bertie is now cast less and don't expect food to be paid for, whilst a pet is in hospital, by the insurance company

Bertie getting back to normal

Bertie is out of his cast at last although to be truthful it hasn't been that long i.e. 4 1/2 weeks.

All five having treats

All the Selkirks playing in the garden

His cast unfortunately slipped to the point that it looked as though it had turned around, the problem was that this was Easter day. We had to phone the emergency vet hoping that we were not going to have to go and see them. The result was that they allowed us to cut off the cast and keep him on cage rest, the other issue was Easter Monday is of course a bank holiday also!! so no vet for two days!! The problem with the cast slipping wasn't so much it prevented him moving around but that it had caused some red angry sores.

Finally on Tuesday came and we were able to visit the vets and the head vet who had initially seen him. He gave us three options - to put on a new cast having to make a new support and give him another bout of sedation and the issue of it rubbing on the raw sores, to add a supporting bandage as he was quite far along on his repair but this could also rub on the sores or to keep him on cage rest and provide no support hoping that the leg was repaired enough. We went for the last option. So he now has no cast and he is a much happier chap.

Monty just doesn't fit anymore

Trying a different option, a window shelf

Now my minor rant…… we are insured with the biggest company in the UK for pet insurance. So we pay slightly over the odds but know that the vets and public like them as they pay promptly. We paid the vets bill for the first run of costs, costing us around £750. Yesterday the cheque came, so very pleased with the speed of reimbursement. However they would not pay for the food he was given whilst in hospital, the cost was only £9, but it is the principal, the underwriters really need to look at this. It's not going to cost a lot in comparison to the stay in hospital.Uggghhhhhhh.

They WILL pay for food to dissolve stones and liquid food whilst in hospital……. my issue is

• When a human has health insaurance food is covered whilst they have a stay in hospital as it will aid recuperation at least
• He was in hospital because he was NOT EATING and a temperature, do you expect him to be in hospital for not eating and NOT need food!!!! surely that is essential to stop him getting Lipidosis
• Why just liquid food…. he was provided with RECOVERY food which surely indicates he was unwell which was made into a sloppy soup to get him to lap it up if he could or wanted to. Does that count as liquid food? If that does count, what happens when he is still under observation but recovering getting more solid food when does it count or not count.
• He was so ill they kept him in for almost three days…….

A warning - make sure if you have a pet in hospital they state that liquid food is given, not just food!!!, if it has been pureed (does it count, still a query in my mind on that or does it have to be Liquivite).

Also take your own cat food in…...

Treat time

Walking along the canal - Luna and Harvey

Hay Fever seems to be kicking in already, which is strange as I don't normally get it but sore eyes are the name of the game today.

The weather has been lovely the last few days and although Easter is said to be wet the other days should be lovely. I've just taken Harvey out for his walk and finally we are able to walk away from the roads along the paths which have until now been mud entrenched.

Sorry for my voice in the video, but she only wags her tail if you talk to her…….

Harvey having a stroll

Luna has even taken the odd walk as she is getting used to the noises and people. The noise which upsets her most is the canal boats going through the lock but as you can see she is also quite enamoured by them also.

The others show no interest in walking or going outside, Reuben is very content and Monty is happy as long as he has a few birds to chase. Bertie is shy, he would probably follow Luna but not have a need for outside walk.

This morning was so nice that I was able to catch a couple of nice photos. This was Luna managing to get herself up to the top of the cherry tree 

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?