CHRISTMAS CATS

MORE SNOW CATS

SNOW CATS

Tommy Fudge just loves the snow! At first I thought when he went out in it that he just didn't mind it, but now I think he really enjoys being out in it. It quickly gets stuck to his fur, notably his undercarriage but he doesn't even seem to notice. When the other cats came out he chased them around the garden, much to their disgust. Whilst they delicately tiptoe their way through the deep snow he shows no such pussyfootness and charges through the powder like a seasoned Alaskan husky dog

He is a real snow cat and has the fur to match

He has taken recently to sleeping in a box on the bed, then about a week ago discovered my box of xmas presents so now sleeps atop of them. I shall have to turf him off at some point to get at the presents to wrap them up

UP ON THE ROOF

Binky has, for many years, occasionally appeared at the bathroom window, meowing, wanting to be let in. Usually at night, when it is dark. I think she is attracted by the bathroom light. You can make out her black and white form behind the frosted glass. I have never worked out quite how she gets up on the end room roof.

Well the other night she wanted to be let in with the usual meow. Mitzi looked up and wondered what was going on. So she hopped up onto the window sill. Just as I let Binky in, Mitzi squeezed out through the gap under the sash window. And before I knew it Tommy had hopped up and limboed under the window too. They thought it was wonderful! Oh to be high up on the roof, level with the birds. I crouched down and peered out of the window and there they were, the two of them, gingerly perched near the top of the apex looking out.

BINKY'S BED
A few months ago I was very excited as I bought a radiator cat bed. It is soft and fleecy and you hang it off a radiator for added warmth and cosiness. A couple of the fur babies investigated it and I woke up one morning to discover Tommy in it. But apart from that nobody has touched it. A disappointment I have to say. I thought they would have loved it.

Woke up a couple of days ago to find Binky curled up in it! Was so thrilled! And later that day she was in it again. And she is in it now as I type. Maybe she thinks it is a sink because she spends some of her time in the bathroom sink, hoping for a drink. And it does resemble a furry sink, as Martin remarked

MISSING MOUSE AND SCREAMING FROGS

The pussies are having a great time at the moment. Tommy and Mitzi have been sleeping on the bed at night with Binky close by on the floor. I think Kitty has been sleeping in the lounge. Tommy loves to be outside and Mitzi looks up and watches the house martins swooping in the sky

Today I heard a funny noise by the bathroom and later discovered a dead mouse. Someone (probably Kitty) had left it for me as a present. Poor little mousey

In the afternoon I heard a dreadful high pitched screaming noise and gingerly made my way downstairs to the source of the screaming. Tommy had a large frog in his mouth and was being watched by Mitzi. He ran out of the French windows and let the frog go. I picked it up and it played dead. The poor thing was covered in bits of fluff and carpet so I washed him in a puddle. He was quite large and had beautiful green eyes with black pupils. Eventually I put him in the undergrowth near the bottom of the garden

Later I went back to dispose of the dead mouse but it had gone. What a surprise! I have never encountered that before. Usually they leave a dead thing for me and that is that

Caught Kitty just now in the hall eating the remains of some entrails. I wonder if that is the riddle of the missing mouse solved?

BABIES IN THE BATH

The kittens love sitting and playing in the bath, esp Mitzi Gaynor. She also goes on tiptoes and reaches up to bop the light pull

I thought the bath made a great natural photographic studio too

TOMMY AND THE FROG

I was doing a bit of spring gardening when something moved amongst the grass. To my astonishment it was an orange frog - quite an extraordinary sight! I showed it to Tommy who proceded to chase it into the long grass on the bank. He leapt after it with delight. Suddenly a very loud high pitched shriek eminated from the grass. At first I thought it was Tommy; it was actually the frog. I have since found out that frogs actually do scream when in danger. It is supposed to scare off predators but it didn't seem to have any affect on Tommy Fudge.

I managed to get hold of froggy before he leapt out of my hands like a bar of soap. I got hold of him again and popped him over the fence into the school field where I think they have a nature pond. The silly thing was scrabbling about seemingly trying to make its reptilian way back under the fence. Fortunately I distracted Tommy leaving froggy to live (and scream) another day

Pussies eating all together and Tommy waving

TOMMY'S TRAIN

SNOW BABIES

We had a lot of snow, very unusual for us. Woke up in the night and was very excited, looked out the window and the garden was a blanket of white. I could tell it had snowed before I even pulled back the curtains as the bedroom was lit up from outside

When I eventually got up a few hours later I looked outside again and there were a few pussy prints in the snow. Wasn't sure who they belonged to though. The kittens were on the bed, but they could have sneaked out earlier and come back in again

Went outside after lunch and coaxed everyone out by shaking a tub of cat sweets. They all fell for it, apart from Kitty (very wise). None of the other three thought much of the snow - I think it was far too cold on their feet. Tommy ran around in it for a while before discovering a patch of green under a wheelbarrow and sat there

Mitzi eventually decided the high fence was much drier and Tommy swiftly followed. Binky came out for a while, gobbled up some cat sweets and then popped back in the cat flap (very sensible)

The kittens in particular enjoyed their first Xmas as Grandad Leakey came to stay in the boys' room. They can't wait until next Xmas when he will be staying again. I think most if not all of the cats took it in turns to visit Grandad in the night and early morning

Fur and feathers

Yesterday afternoon it seemed particularly quiet in the bedroom. I took a look and discovered Tommy and Mitzi entranced with a dead bird, possibly a young thrush. And a few feet away was a large pile of feathers. Mmm. I wonder who caught it? Was it a joint effort? Poor birdy. There was a thin trail of feathers leading from the feather pile to the bird