One year on

Now we have had Alice almost a full year it seemed that Pearl the senior Birman was coming round to her presence in the home and indeed was prepared to offer the nose of friendship .
On occasions she was seen stretching her neck from her superior position on the bench and reaching down to Alice to give a cursory sniff . Alice's occasional loud antics make no difference to her being deaf and she rarely scuttles off upstairs the way her children do . More suspiciously however , she is usually present when Alice sneaks upstairs at night to ask for her blanket to be replaced , and is often to be seen , back turned but clearly awake and watching out of the corner of her eye as the sad greyhound freezes on the sofa , her blankets askew or on the floor . " Me ? pulled them off that sad skinny loser ? I don't think so ! " written all over her pursed lips .

So as Alice's birthday week approached we had high hopes of a truce , albeit an uneasy one . Alice is desparate to be friends , if only having spotted the obvious , that cats are covered in fur and would make very fine hot water bottles , if they would only sit still and keep their claws under wraps ....

But our hopes were shattered this morning when as Alice lay dreaming on the floor in front of the fireplace , Pearl climbed steadfastly onto the mantelpiece and lined up the heavy Vaseline jar , taking aim and flicking with her paw . Bang ! The jar just missed the dog's head . Had it struck ... well I hate to think ?
Pearl looked distinctly disappointed , stretched and climbed down , narrowing her eyes as if memorising the angles for next time.

The Monkeys Share a Moment

Nico the Beluga Whale

One of my favourite books is " Turtle Diary " by Russell Hoban .

Whatever you feel about these massive creatures being contained in tanks it was impossible for me to resist being completely captivated by Nico as he swam right in front of me .