CatCalls.....

CatCalls picking up and the little black kitten is a delight , chasing me and everything that moves . One of the advantages of this job is getting to play with numerous cats and kittens with all their little foibles . I prefer houses with good sound proofing , often wondering how the neighbours regard someone like me who goes in and starts an immediate dialogue with the cat , usually in a very loud voice in case they're sleeping upstairs , not wanting to give them a sudden shock if they appear and find me lurking amidst the food bowls and scratching around the litter trays .
Soon after I started I was looking after two cats whilst their family was in Brazil over Christmas and on Christmas Day itself I went in and greeted them loudly with various endearments and wishing them both Happy Christmas as you do , fretting that they were feeling bereft . As I left , after half an hour or so , the door across the landing opened and a smartly dressed man appeared , wished me a good morning , then retreated behind his door . I concluded ( from his bow tie ) that he was a psychiatrist wanting to check me out ,talking to cats and calling them darling and poppet and on a public holiday too . Though on reflection isn't it surgeons who wear bow ties ? The psychiatrists I know usually wear beige chinos and no ties at all .

Yawning not roaring ....

Pearl, yawning not snarling .

Buzz in the tube on the right .

Disgruntled ....

Called at Blagdon en route to Belsay , and stopped at the coffee shop

there then quick perusal of the various shops . All very well but in the end decided we will enjoy it better when we are older ....or perhaps just when we have grown up .

At Belsay we try to walk round the lake , following a map which unfortunately we have mis -read . We expect the walk to follow the lake in a circle but it goes off in the opposite direction taking us up through the woods ( where I temporarily wonder whether we might get bitten by a tick . I have a thing about deer ticks ) .

The woodland walk would have been just the thing had we not been expecting a lakeside stroll, so we trudge along in silence and I ponder the word "disgruntled " as it seems to fit the bill . A wonderfully descriptive word , it conjures up images of black and pink spotted pigs , with bristly backs , and snorty snouts , rooting in the undergrowth ( perhaps for truffles ) and coming up with nothing more than a grubby nose . And looking around belligerently as they emerge . A bit like we did as we emerged from the woods with " was that it then? " looks on our faces .

Later , as we re enter the grounds , and follow the gardens to the house , I notice the sign advising anyone who thieves plants that they will get their comeuppance . I dont know much about the world of plants and gardens but this one is particularly big and stocked fit to burst with every species of plant I know and I can't help thinking what a churlish notice this is . One of my childhood memories of walks round country gardens was of the women in the party snipping cuttings with their fingers and placing them in plastic bags in their handbags and going home all pleased with their acquisitions ( it wasn't a thing I ever saw a man do . Men in those days didn't have handbags though . Its all different now . )

St Mary's Lighthouse

A flurry of CatCalling this weekend including two visits which take us past the lighthouse . We stop to take pictures and muse about the weather . Floods in various counties west and south , and the news shows cars and people floating .
Later we go out to see a film and bundle up in coats for the occasion. July . Summer holidays . Wierd. Global warming ? Global cooling and flooding .

The cats don't seem too bothered . A wonderful British shorthair with the softest fur and a little black kitten who likes to play hide and seek .

Buzz the hamster , perhaps reacting to the change in environment , has carried a pile of sawdust up to his wheel on top of the cage ( reminds me of Center Parcs with all its flumes and tubes and plastic balls for play purposes ) and settled down there for the duration . A wise move , possibly .

Bike ride ? Rather have a coffee

Celebratory coffee and ricotta and mixed berry muffin in cafe royal after Bravissimo . Is that an apple or a heart in the froth ? I couldn't decide . Either was it was a thing of perfection .

And the cause for celebration ? Bravissimo had no problem understanding why I was returning two , not one bra , with different explanations for both , and within seconds had credited my account and more to the point scuttled off to find me a replacement in the right colour and style . Result . Bravo .

I attempt to sign up for my speeding awareness course online but lo and behold am premature in my wish to atone . I do not yet have a reference number from Drivetech SAS . I will just have to wait . Perhaps this is part of my problem , this desire to be ahead of myself . Clearly I need to slow down a bit .

Still time to find out which course V is doing ? It must be fate .

hamster , what hamster ?

Kitty , studiuosly ignoring the hamster .

" Those Birmans are pathetic , fawning over a rodent which looks like an animated teddy bear ... cuh "

Thunder ?

Writing late last night I could hear the roll of thunder in the background . Engrossed , I thought no more of it . Half an hour later , as I contemplated a coffee break , I noticed the thunder again . If that was indeed thunder it had now been rolling for some considerable time . It was certainly blustery outside , but thunder over all this time ? Maybe it was the wind in one of the bedroom chimneys ?

Half way upstairs I realised the noise was louder and coming from the Hamster Room . Buzz , our house guest , in her wheel .

I brought her down , and whilst we watched tv , the cats watched her . Like Daisy she seemed to find no fear in being watched by two large cats . They prowled , lay down and tried to draw her towards them by patting the cage , rolled about in sheer frustration at being unable to entice her out and finally retreated across the room and turned their backs .

Kitty studiously ignored the whole charade . This hamster is nothing to do with me . I ignore her very existance . Toby finally extended a paw , Birman style , and sulked .

The police have written to me . I have a choice to make . I can pay the sixty quid for the speeding offence , and have three points added to my licence . Or I can attend a course , pay sixty seven quid and not have the three points added to my licence . I understand my sister s friend V is going on the course . I wonder if I can find out when shes attending and go on the same day . Suppose that's not really the spirit . The course nformation is strict . If I appear late , I will not be allowed admission . I am to allow sufficient time for my journey there ( so as to avoid further offending I imagine . ) I am to present for the course in a fit state to participate . If I appear intoxicated either by alcohol or drugs I will be refused entry or required to leave after entry . Oh dear . It all sounds quite scary really .

Meanwhile the rain batters on and our long ( ish ) planned bike ride is off . So instead D books his bike in for a service and I gird my loins ready to do battle with Bravissimo ( again ) . This time ( have I mentioned this already ? ) the brand new creaking bra which arrived on Thursday , has already come adrift. A piece of fabric has parted company with the " band " ( see how I know my terminology now though ) after two half days of wear . I know in my bones they will be delightful , but they will not have my size in the style and colour I need and will helpfully order me yet another , to be delivered through my door , but sadly in three weeks time , as they will also be out of stock wherever else they hold their stock . And I will be back to wearing a bra-which -doesnt- fit like the rest of the population who haven't yet discovered Bravissimo .

Oh well .