In Sheds They Can't Hear You Scream!

.... although thankfully I could have also named this post 'The Prodigal Son Returns!'

On the evening of Thursday 6th June, Minstrel went missing. Now, much though I like cats, I also like birds and I always make sure our cats are in at night as cats catch most things at dusk and dawn. This is usually no problem, but if you mis-time the 'getting them in' bit, both our cats think that the growing darkness is very exciting and they're off!

Flossie came in quite easily when she heard the rustle of the 'Dreamies' cat treat bag, but there was no sign of Minstrel. Since this has happened before a couple of times, I wasn't unduly worried and we left our outside conservatory door open, thinking that in the morning he'd be there, curled up on the settee, waiting to come in for breakfast. However ...... no Minstrel ..... and as Thursday was a very wet and windy day here, I started to get increasingly worried.

On the whole, I don't think Minstrel goes far. If you call him when you go out into our garden, he comes back very quickly, often only appearing to jump over one fence to get home. He's also quite shy. When new people visit, he usually disappears upstairs, unlike inquisitive Flossie. Although once he knows someone, he quickly sits on their laps and likes a good fuss.

On Thursday morning, John and I walked all round our estate to see if we could find him, going far further than I really thought he would roam, but you never know! I must have sounded like a mad woman, calling his name and giving bushes and shrubs a good look but I really didn't care! I did attract the attention of at least two other cats ..... but no Minstrel.

By Thursday evening, I was very worried and contacted the database holders for his micro-chip to report him missing. What was worse ..... I was due to go to a conference for the Foresters Friendly Society from Friday morning to late Sunday afternoon, and I hated the thought that I wouldn't be at home to do things to help!

First thing Friday morning, with still no sign of Minstrel, I contacted our vets and they said they'd pass his details, plus a photo I sent them, to all their branches in the area, which I thought was nice of them. I then had to go off, although I left John with the task of doing a poster/leaflet to distribute round the houses immediately near to us to ask people to look inside their garages and sheds. It really was most likely that he'd got shut in a shed or garage. He can be very nosey! We have to be careful when we go inside our own garage to make sure he doesn't slip in without us noticing ....... and I have shut him in the cupboard under the stairs a couple of times as he can't resist a cupboard!

Over Friday and Saturday, I had to have my mobile phone off most of the time but at every available opportunity, I texted home for news. There was none! However, a nice lady did phone John on the Friday afternoon to say she'd seen a poster for a 'Found' little black and white cat on a road near us. Although this wasn't likely to be Minstrel, given the short time lapse and the fact that I don't think most people would call Minstrel 'little', John trudged up the road in the pouring rain but the poster wasn't there. However, it was so nice that someone cared enough to ring and let us know.

I must confess that by Saturday evening, I did send a frustrated text to John that just said 'Bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger ............. where has Minstrel gone!' It was so upsetting to think that he might be somewhere scared or, even worse, hurt and I couldn't bear the thought that we might not see him again.

By the way, John did say that all day Saturday, Flossie was wandering round the house from room to room meowing! He said he wasn't sure whether she was moping for Minstrel or for me ....... but he said the pair of them made a 'Moping Couple'!

However, at 4.30am on Sunday morning, I got the best ever early wake-up text from John. Minstrel was home! In the early hours, Flossie had started meowing loudly and John thought ...... OK ...... I'll go downstairs and look. So down he goes, without even putting on his glasses ...... so that there stretched up at the conservatory window was the black fuzzy outline of Minstrel!

He was obviously hungry and Flossie stood back to let him eat ....... and thirsty as well. But when I immediately phoned John, he said Minstrel hadn't stopped purring. That he felt rather skinny but was clean and not injured and seemed to be OK. I told John to update the poster on the lamp post outside our house to let people know he was home and to thank them for looking in their sheds and garages, which he did.

I can't express the relief I felt and it was the best home-coming ever for me! As to where he's been ..... who knows! Perhaps if whoever let him out sees the poster, they might let us know, but other than that, it will be a mystery!

However ..... Minstrel ...... please don't do that again! And stay away from garages and sheds!!

Under The Weather

No ... not Flossie but me! I've just used a photo of her from last year as having the cats around can help to raise my spirits! Firstly, I must say a very big 'Thank You' to Joy for her comment on my blog the other day in her efforts to make me feel better. I was particularly down in the dumps that day and I sounded it! .....

Firstly, the cold that started in the week before Christmas and turned into severe catarrh by Christmas day was still with me and, indeed, it still is today having added the insult of a lovely cold sore on my lip just to really top things off! I've never had a cold and catarrh hang on for quite so long, especially with it being so severe that it's affected my hearing on and off over the time since Christmas. It's really making me feel energyless and everything is such an effort! Including doing anything with the blog!

Secondly, I program my iPAQ to give me early warning when people's Birthdays are due and last week it reminded me that my Dad's Birthday would have been today, 20th January. This has made me feel an odd mixture of emotions. It set me to thinking about Dad's 80th Birthday last year when he was very confused and didn't really understand what was going on. I had to help him open his cards and he didn't really even comprehend what a card was as, once opened, he just wanted to give it back to me. I feel sad that he's not here and also well on his Birthday. However, I'm sitting here at the moment burning a blue and white candle that John made especially (Dad was a fervent Spurs supporter) and sending up a prayer in his memory; he's in a better place now.

I think that calls for another cat picture to try and raise my spirits :)

Minstrel looking slightly scruffy from last year :) If you look closely, he has bits of garden debris on his fur as he is a real boy, loving to roll around in the dust in the garden.

There! Perhaps just a little bit better :)

Don't Mess With Me!!

This little lady looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, doesn't she?

However ........

Minstrel here would beg to differ :)

Although like many brothers and sisters, they can get along quite amicably and quite frequently they will wash one another. And as their human slave, I can vouch that they are the nicest natured cats I have ever known, and they never bite or scratch.

However, like many brothers and sisters, they do have their moments!! They do have the odd barney when you'd think they were trying to kill one another. Last night was one such occasion! We're not quite sure what happened but they were having an 'argument' and John then noticed Minstrel was working his mouth ...... and a tooth fell out! This resulted in a little bit of blood on the front of his white bib, although he didn't seem too bothered and a little while later he was actually chasing her again.

Flossie is actually a little bit smaller than Minstrel, so I don't know if she has enough punch in her paw to knock out a tooth. We can only assume that she whacked him one and his head knocked against a table and that was enough to knock out a tooth.

Still, clearly ....... not a sister to mess with :)

Photography - A New Year Resolution?

Although I frequently use John's camera to take photos, he always has his camera set on 'raw' so I have left it to him to process these raw images into something I can use on my blog.

This hasn't 'sat' well with me, so I asked him to buy me a camera as my Christmas present for 2010. It's a Canon PowerShot S95 and I've been using it over the last few days to take photos. Today, I have been learning how to process the 'raw' images ...... with lots of advice from John. When the original photos are in 'raw', you can adjust so much more regarding the exposure etc that I followed John's advice and set the camera in this way.

I'm really pleased with the photos the camera takes. The photo above is of Minstrel. He can be very difficult to take photos of as usually he doesn't like cameras and shoots off! He was sitting on the top of the cat activity centre, so I just snapped away quickly before he decided to disappear. Black and white cats can be a challenge, but the 'tweaking' I could do in the software that came with the camera is really impressive.

Here's another one of him. OK ...... I chopped off a bit of one of his ears! But remember, I was expecting him to disappear at any moment! However, I love it when he sits like this. You can see he has the tuxedo colouring and I love this pose ...... I think he looks like Sylvester the cartoon cat.

And, of course, we can't forget Flossie :)

Both cats are really intrigued by the noise the camera makes when I turn it on. The battery firing up noise reminds them of a cat toy they used to have, so when I turn it on, so far they tend to then try to get as close to me as they possibly can to investigate what I've got!

Makes taking photos of them a challenge!!

You Want Cute Cats ..... ?

A friend's son just became the new slave for a kitten and, as a result, he posted a 'cute cat' video on You Tube. Not to be outdone, my son's response was ...... if you want cute cats ....... we have TWO cute cats, so there!

This video is the result! It was only taken on James' mobile phone and his camera technique might induce sea-sickness if you're that way inclined :)

However, I love it as it shows off Flossie's temperament perfectly! For any ladies who, like me, struggle to keep their weight in check, she is living proof that exercise is the key to slimness! She is always on the go! She eats far more than Minstrel, yet there is nothing of her.

Hope you enjoy this :)

Birthday Boy!

And, of course, I couldn't forget Minstrel!

Taking photos of Minstrel can be a challenge, what with him being a black and white cat! So we don't have as many good ones of him as we do for Flossie. His eyes are the most vivid green which this doesn't really capture unfortunately.

Had we realised that he was a boy when we first had him, we would have called him Sylvester as he looks just like him! He has the Tuxedo colouring with white down his front and the white paws and if he sits looking at you, the long-haired fluffyiness around his mouth makes him look just like Sylvester. Truely a handsome chap!