Family update

Whoops started this last week

Firstly,

Well I was just so chuffed with my most amazing bit of parking today that I had to take a photo of it. No going up on the kerb to get the hefty wheel behind the lines and just a full reverse and one adjustment forward. So cool.

Amazing parking

Family update:
Hubby has gone transatlantic for some time but we have found Skype after a £900 phone bill. We really don't know why we didn't do it sooner, just habit I suppose. I love it. The only trouble is the 5 hours difference so sometimes I am in the bath when he rings!!!!!!

Uni room

Son's blood cells, photo sent today!!

I went up to visit my youngest yesterday and he is definitely settled in at Uni. Room great. Seems to have come down to the activities he does like now. Unfortunately Rugby which he loved here has a different vibe up there so not so keen to join that bunch. His student colleagues in the flat seem very nice, on his course they sound quite studious!!!It'll be good for him!!!

My daughter has invested in a pair of expensive boots, I think she nearly fainted at payment time. I'm pleased as she always went for the cheap pairs that rubbed these are really nice, she's also bought a lovely dark coloured Russian style hat which goes with her long blonde hair beautifully. She is now on holiday and soon off to Bournemouth.

My eldest, I think, is ready for half term. He is really chuffed that he will be able to complete a whole year at the school he started as a supply at, as cover for Maternity leave.

Well the cats update:

Luna had to have another bath yesterday just before we were going to bed. What fun!! So in the sink she went with a proper scrub up. Not the best time as she really needed to have a lovely warm room to dry in but we sorted it, a brush up this morning and she was our fluff bundle again. Generally she is just so confident, never concerned by anything, she just bowls into everything. She adores RAW food especially bird with bones ie any sort of game bird. The only problem is she only has baby teeth still and she will spend ages knawing away on skin and bone. She came up to me at the computer with food in mouth and the most horrible messy face ever!!

Bertie is everyones love bug is chirrups and jumps up next to you burrowing in and hunkers down of an evening. His coat is just exploding with curls now. We went to a cat show at the weekend which had Selkirks on show. I can safely say his curls on his chest would beat a lot of them there hands down and he is only 6 months.

Monty is having to come inside more with the weather changing, his coat is so dense that outside is lovely and cool, now he comes in he is returning to his mute but loveable teddy self. Again with reference to the cat show he has all the correct attributes in all the right place but he was way, way chunkier than any of the others. Not fat just solid. He is like a bouncer a real cuboid shape, a perfect teddy bear.

Reuben is stunning, his coat and condition is gorgeous. He is the most loving cat to the others. He has his quirks where he likes a stoke, on the back but not his head except in the sink!! He's into greeting you with lots of leg entwining. I think he has grown in confidence  at to his position in the cat household.

Harvey is our affectionate big boy to me, but grumpy with all others humans or cats. Except Grandad whom he loves!! No accounting for taste, hehehehe. He is intrigued with Luna and exasperated with Bertie, who does not understand the hint that if Harvey is on the stool you don't jump up next to him. Monty he is beginning to see more as an equal.

Autumn walk with leaves

Harvey off on his autumn walk

Why would you sit on the gas hob??? Monty keeping warm!!!

Shetland - A wonderful holiday

Me

Hubby

Ok in all truth this wasn't the holiday I was looking forward to most. It had come about as my husband had gone to Shetland last year and immediately booked it again this year, always asking me to come along. However I did have visions of being a frozen block of wind swept ice trying to watch some LBJ - to those who are not bird watchers a little brown job (lbj). I am truly not good with cold I can honestly get white finger, ie my circulation shutting down in one or two fingers going around the cold section in TESCO's, yes and I have been known to go around with gloves on in there. Therefore I have always said NO.

Mad bird watchers!!

This year has been odd though, from before Easter to August he worked in Germany, for one stint he was away 2 months with one day home. Then he was off transatlantic!! It really meant we had no chance of getting together. I rushed over for his 50th birthday for a week but when he came home he would be home for a day only to rush off to Shetland again. So I said YES, but only to one week.
So I was prepared for

Being frozen
Being windswept
Seeing LBJ which all looked like Sparrows
Being in a MINI van with 4 other birders and us, in my mind a group of older generation gentlemen with no sense of humour and an ernest look. Boy was he going to owe me : ))

We flew to Aberdeen then onto Sumburgh in Shetland, the rest of the flight looked suspiciously twitcher like. Men, older, wearing green jackets with telescopes and binoculars!!!It was peak time for birds.

Otter, he is there , honest 

We arrived in the most barmy warm weather which lit the drying hay into a beautiful golden hue, the sky was vivid blue and the hills just tumbled beautifully away from us. It was beautiful. The air was warm and everything was a pleasure.

We then met the dreaded group and they were NORMAL, the other four were active, knowledge people with a sense of humour, an earnestness to bird watch but who could communicate and interact like real humans!!! The whole week was great.

I have absorbed even more knowledge that I didn't want about Western and Eastern this that and the other, demonstrated by T6 or is it T5!!!! but I have to say as a non bird watcher I thoroughly loved it. My favourite place was Fetlar but Unst and Yell all had their own beauty, we used Ferries like taxis and appreciated every last tiny shop which appeared. A totally different life, enhanced by the fact that when I got back home it was a big tourist weekend and I saw more people trying to cross the roundabout in the centre  of town than I did in Shetland it total!!!

It's the best I could do

Well Shetland gave its all. It was rugged, raw, and beautiful. The weather was kind on all but one day and our guide was the most fantastic Martin Garner - Mr Knowledge himself on so many birds and on Redpolls especially. Our hotels had lovely breakfasts and meals and we just enjoyed ourselves totally, ably helped by wine in the evening.

I LOVED it.

Native Shetland 

One year, my mum

Well, what can I say.....mum was 5ft nothing and lovely. She could do everything and made us try. I was never allowed to be girly....  or maybe that was having two older brothers. No excuses just get on with everything.... I remember mum around 80 years old on the top of the shed hammering down the felt, making sure she kept her promise to dad not to let him go to hospital in his last days even though she could hardly manage to move him, get up in the loft and wrestling all the stuff down when she should have been watching tv. I remember around 5yrs ago she was living 50 minutes away, I would ring regularly, I couldn't get through on the main phone nor mobile, I tried in the morning, afternoon and evening. At this point I was worrying a lot but also if I got it wrong I know I would get the wrath of mum!!! Next morning still nothing so off I go to find her tootling around the garden and me all a flummox. She hadn't put the main phone back properly and her mobile was out of charge. A short tirade from me about MY worry and thereafter she wore her mobile in a little red bag all the time.

These are memories of my mum......how she would swim with the kids on holiday when they were younger, near her end we would go to every garden centre and buy more and more plants for my poor brother to plant, hehehe just because parking, wheelchair access was easy and it was a quiet morning out.

I miss her.

We didn't do a whole lot of personal chats just everyday stuff but I knew she was there and that is what I miss. My luckiest photo is one taken a couple of weeks before she went when I insisted she went out and came and saw our new kitten, it's not the best in quality nor shows my mum at her best but I'm glad I have it.

Now is the time for happy memories.

Every now and again though I get thrown  back to that last year, very regular visits to the cancer department, almost weekly visits to the transfusion unit, arranging phone calls, information, nurses and visits. I went with my son recently to the same hospital and although I am a tough thing suddenly as I walked past the pharmacy area, bloods area, cancer department etc my throat tightened, and heart rate rushed and my head swimmed. My body I suppose reacting instinctivly to the memories even though I tried to over ride it. I told myself not to be stupid but there it is........

So now I am looking at photos which make me smile, look at  a ring which she would wear and remember.........

Luna, our new beautiful little girly kitten

Well I've been back a few days from my break in America and it feels like our new addition to the family, Luna has been with us forever.

Luna waiting for the boys!

Luna is a Longhaired Silver tipped Selkirk Rex Variant, which means that although she has the endearing nature of the Selkirk she actually has a straight coat and not the curly one for which a Selkirk is noted. On picking up our curly coated longhaired boy 7 weeks ago we had seen lovely Luna and she had melted our hearts. As the days went by nobody had booked her!! It then came to the day when she could leave and still nobody had wanted her : (( The next day I did note that she was booked for someone called -------.

Now call me thick but at no point did I think it was my eldest son who had reserved her.

Would you fight with her!!

I then went on my trip to the USA. Half way through the break I received a text with photos, a stream of gorgeous photos from my house and on them was lovely Luna and my son and daughter saying "Happy Birthday", by the way my 50th birthday is not until October!! After coming down from the ceiling and hysterical laughter, wonderful phone calls etc I then had to break it to my OH that yes we did now have a fifth cat.

Talk about worry!!!!

Well I needn't have worried, he took it really well especially when he knew his parents had been in on the secret and were happy about it. In fact he is so keen I have to give daily updates on any events!!

Luna looking ready for anything

Luna and Bertie

Yesterday she went for her chip and a fine bill of health to the vet, she already weighs 1.5kg but until she reaches 2kg they would not want to midline spay her. A procedure I requested and not the flank spay that is more normal here. Looking at her feet, which are huge, I think she has quite a bit of weight to put on!!! So we are probably looking at another month or two.

Luna and Monty

Surprise!! Surprise !!

Well here I am posting in the US of A!! Having come over to celebrate the 50 th birthday of my nearest and dearest.

Indianapolis is lovely and so are the people, lots of deco buildings, steaming manhole covers and a busy centre. The people are extraordinarily kind and polite. We've celebrated his birthday a lot this week! As there are so many lovely and odd eating places. Unfortunately I could only bring myself and not his present from the kids!! A lovely single malt.

However the SURPRISE was for me.

Yesterday I received an email with lovely photos of a kitten at home!!! My children had given me an early birthday present.

Youngest got in.....to his Uni choice

Ok, today was that dreaded day that no one has talked about for months, A level results day. I was trying to play it cool and was my youngest, however being up at 7.30 did indicate it was a different day.

It didn't start well when he couldn't find his login details for UCAS, but then it was time, 8.00am.

Thank goodness they have changed it so if you have a place it says, CONGRATULATIONS. With my other son we had to wade through tables to work it out. This is plain and obvious. So we at least knew he'd got a place at his first choice.

Then we had to head down to School for 9.00am to find the actual results. Typical with all results, the subject or exam you thought you were pants in you find you got your highest grade and visa versa!!! However needless to say he was very happy.

Well done, thank goodness all that worry was for nothing, what worry!!!!!!!!!

Now we have to set up for his Uni.......... god help them.........

Recipes past and present: Cheesecake

Yesterday my youngest had a go at making a cheese cake, it is a family favourite which he believed his Granny had always had the recipe to, however it came as a shock to him that it had been such a success at a meal many years ago that Grandma had organised that it had been passed along between the inlaws.

I then began to think of all the meals that we would have when I was a youngster  that I loved, Coq au vin, Apricot daquoise, and even the regular evening meal/snack of tomatoes and bacon on toast.

Those were some she made, we have of course have our new favourites that we make, again mine would be Venison Wellington, Croissant Bread and Butter pudding and a herby bread that is always a winner.

So I thought I would put some of those recipes up here:

Today - Cheese cake

This Cheese cake has the advantage that it is dead easy and can be frozen, hence its use at so many parties. You can make it in advance and keep it in the freezer until needed.

Ingredients
Metric/Imperial
1 Packet of Lemon flavoured packet jelly ( Hartleys)
150g/6oz Digestive Biscuits/ Hobnobs crushed (ummmmm)
25g/1oz Demerara sugar
75g/3oz Butter , melted
125ml/ 1/4 pint Double cream
300g/12oz Rich cream Cheese
Juice of two lemons
100g/4oz Caster Sugar

This is the high calorie version!!!! to reduce the calories a bit we always used EXTRA light cream cheese and it seemed to work. We also used to hit it with the lemon juice a bit more as we liked the cheese cake to have a zing.

Now yesterday when my youngest made the cheesecake I tried something new - Dissolve the broken up pieces of the concentrated jelly into 125ml of boiling water, sometimes they are stubborn just keep going, don't add extra boiling water.Then make this up to 1/2 pint with cold water and place it in the fridge until it BEGINS to set- this time however I added ice cubes to speed up the process. Yes it works but you do have to make sure everything else has been done already so it doesn't set and you have a lumpy cheese cake.

Your base now needs to be made, grease proof paper the bottom of a spring sided cake tin as it means you won't spoil the cheesecake when done. Mix together the biscuits ( place all the biscuits in a plastic sealed bag then use a rolling pin to bash all the biscuits until crumb like), the Demerara sugar and the melted butter and cover the base of the cake tin. Level it but do not push down too heavily as depending on the sugar it can set too firmly!!!

Whisk the cream until thick. Mash the cream cheese with a fork until softer and then add the thickened cooled jelly, lemon juice, cream and caster sugar. I always whisk together at this point and pour into the cake tin.

Tada - it is done. Leave it in the fridge to be eaten or freeze it when it is set.

However I usually sneak it into the freezer straight away, where I have cleared a level drawer and place it careful inside until firmly set but not frozen.  I then remove the cake tin and if for every day eating slice into wedges and bag it up. Otherwise freeze entire and then when needed let it thaw overnight in the fridge. I would pipe around the edge of the cheesecake with some whipped double cream and then use some fruit coulis to flood the top.

Cat Equipment - Cat Trees, inside and out

If you came into our house you would not see lots of paraphernalia based around cats, in that you would not see ornaments, calendars, statues, or photos with any cats on. However you would come across all the stuff related to keeping the wee beasties content and happy or so we think!!!.......

Katzengluck cat tree, just put together

Initially our cats were house cats which meant all their stimulation had to come from enhancing the house environment... that is we had to think cat. Ornaments came down to the bare minimum just like having a baby really and an understanding that the cats will find a way to look and lie in front of the window. All our cats love height and secret places. The back of sofas, window sills and room furniture of any height became plinths where they could rest. Leaving a coating of moulting fur wherever they rested!!! Even the kitchen is not a free zone as the work surfaces are a prime target, the only thing I can say we did try and keep them off and to date we really only have one cat that takes advantage. He is agile and demands food from the food cupboard, all I can say is we wipe down constantly and especially when we cook.

The old cat tree now a cat bush after it broke twice

To support their need for height we bought a cat tree, but I can honestly say almost all that you can by in the shops in the UK are appalling. They are light weight and fragile, one thing British Shorthairs aren't is fragile and they are hefty. Our first broke as it constantly toppled over. Our next came supposedly strong and good looking and again first the top broke, it got a lean, then as my husband said it became a cat bush being only around two foot high, hardly a tree. At this point I did my research and good old Germany does it again, best quality cat food and now best quality trees at a good price.

Too tired, now resting

Cats having a mad five minutes

We do have a fantastic make in the UK, which I received a quote from, it is made from a solid wood base, large solid poles and lovely wicker baskets however a quote around £700 for a cat tree would make anyone think you were a 'Mad Cat Woman' and could not even be considered. 'Tigga Towers' is a fantastic make and amazing quality but too steep for my pocket. Hence looking at the German websites. I found three that did good quality width poles, excellent sisal, good fabric and heavy duty bases.

Showing the quality of the sisal and the thickness of the leg posts and the thick plywood base.

These hammocks are just great

The one I went width was the cheapest, however the very big problem with this company is that they are very very poor at answering emails. I used Google translate and never knew whether my questions were misunderstood or not comprehensible. Eventually I sent a plan of a tree I would like which they priced up and we agreed to and I paid for. Then suddenly after some time, 6 weeks!!, it appeared!!!!!! and was perfect with hand drawn instructions! I knew they used plywood to cut the price down but it looks good, the poles are thick and it looks as good now as it did when it came. It doesn't move and inch even when all FOUR  cats are on it (3x5Kg).

 Katzengluck was the website

http://katzenglueck.de/xtm/index.php?XTCsid=olodkd7qcgo8v3p3dii0uqt5g3

Amber and Bernd the people to chat with.

There were three other sites I found one is Pet Fun

http://shop.petfun.de/en/kratzbaeume

 or Kirstins Heimtier Shop

http://www.kratzbaeume.de/index.php

 or Profeline Katzenshop

http://www.profeline-katzenshop.de/baukasten/abschlussteile

The outside cat trees being test driven

Playtime

 During the process of putting all the cat proofing up outside we did have to cut down a lot on the height of plants etc in the garden. Just to ensure it would go safely in and there would be no leapable areas. We cut down all the plants which went up the outer legs of the Pergola and then it became obvious as they were so bare that they could be used as a main post for a cat tree. Decking tiles, 60x60, were purchased and a middle section cut out to slide around the post. The underneath was then reinforced around the cut in all areas and then when it was fixed up a triangulation piece of wood placed in to support the weight of the hefty cats. The result was a three level cat tree outside x 2. These have become prime perches and adored for watching the world go by.

Watching the world together

Sunbathing

Monty is poorly

Sneezing.... again and again and again.

Lazing around on a summer evening

Playing in the flower pots

Poor Monty, our Shorthaired Curly Selkirk Rex, is definitely under the weather. Head down looking sorry for himself, not eating much and when he does it sets off a fit of sneezing!! I think as his nasal passage is blocked to try and eat and swallow and breathe is causing him problems. With the nasal situation it seems it has also blocked his tear ducts therefore causing one eye to weep incessantly.

Poor boy, it doesn't help himself though as I have had to bring him inside from the wet rainy outdoors... again and again and again.

Therefore on the way back from taking my daughter to work I dropped in at the vets and we will kill two birds with one stone by getting Monty sorted and taking Bertie for his microchip later today.

My poor boy.......

Update - He came back having had a couple of injections. So this morning less sneezing, much happier within himself and ate a couple of bowls of food. Hopeful that he is better.

Playing with younger brother Bertie

Harvey, Reuben and Monty examing the snow

Hubby....where in the World is he today!!!

Family outside Harry Potter Warner Bros, Watford.

Reapplying Mosquito repellent and removing leeches again

Typical weekend!! Hubby, daughter and Monty, when he was little

When my husband first started in his line of work he stayed very much fixed on site for years. However as the years have gone by the necessity to be mobile has become even more important. This used to mean staying away within the country, down in London, up in Leeds, across in Derby. However this has now expanded to longer stays abroad. I know lots of people do it but we are still getting used to it. Initially it was staying in Germany all week then coming back at weekends however as time constraints pushed it meant we saw him once in 6 weeks and that was for a day, driving all the way to Gatwick on a Saturday to then take him back there on the Monday morning for 6.00 am. However now things have spiralled again and this time Indianapolis calls in the US. The next time we see him home is late September!!! I hope that I will push for a visit to him for his Birthday....let's see if we can pull it off.

Trying to keep the blog nice but aarrrgghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Here is a bird watcher!

Morning stroll

I better get the camera out for lots of incidental family photos to keep him in the loop......

Eyes up!!!!