The New Territories?

I know another episode so soon but I have to share with you the strange time the KC is having. She is being besieged from all comers right now by other cats encroaching on her “patch”. In the past 3 days she has had to defend her corner from visits by old ginger moggies, sweet looking tabbies and most newsworthy, a very cheeky white & black cat who had the audacity to follow her into the house! Hubby & I were flopped on sofas with a roaring fire on the go watching Hamilton crash out of the Singapore grand prix when all of a sudden there was an unearthly yowl from the conservatory. Leaping to my feet (as I do when I hear any cat noise) I could see the KC fluffed up to 3x her normal size, hissing furiously at the back door. Going into the conservatory I came face to paw with a very large white & black cat. He had clearly made it in through the cat flap but on sight of me he decided he was far too big to fit back out of it & best he left through a window - so he proceeded to jump up at our solar roller blinds, shredding them with his claws as he (naturally) slid down them, (yes, our rollers are now venetians...) then when he realised the windows were shut, he ran amok on the windowsill, yowling (it was so much more than a meow) knocking plants & pots everywhere until hubby managed to open a door for him & off he shot. Leaving the KC quivering in an upstairs wardrobe & sheer carnage in my house. But I am curious as to why now? All summer long the KC has been very chilled, hanging out happily all alone in her garden, but as the mercury is dropping she is getting lots of visitors. Are cats just more active in the cold? Do they get nosier? Who knows ...

Shanghai Nights

Well well. After a summer of discontent and being reminded how un-glam my life has become by some lovely very overseas friends (not in a bad way, but an impromptu an invite to join them on another continent for a bit of a party weekend made me realise my life isn’t like that anymore!) the gods of glam-ness & international travel decided on a quick mercy visit. A very long time ago when I lived & worked in Hong Kong, I hired & trained a very very talented woman. She then went off to run her own business and recently got named Chinese Small Businesswoman of the Year (or some other such impressive thing). Then she had her small business bought by a very large business and has now asked for me to go out to China to train her new team the way I trained her! Will I ever! As the dates for the training coincide with our wedding anniversary I have persuaded hubby to come with me ... and amazingly all the ducks lined up & there was even a “free” mileage seat on BA, so our 3^rd wedding anniversary will be spent drinking BA’s champagne whilst lounging on their flat beds. And after the training is complete we even get 2 days to explore Shanghai together. Hurrah Huzzah!

RIP Charlie Puss

Unbelievably sad news. My best friends cat was killed instantly by a hit & run idiot this morning. (Charlie is the black kitty; ginger cat is George) There is a 20mph speed limit in her street but no, Lewis Hamilton the 3rd thought he’d hare down the sleepy suburban street whilst kids were en route to school at well over 40 – poor Charlie didn’t stand a chance. I hope Mr. Murderer is proud of the fact there were small children who saw everything – especially him reversing to get away from the mothers who were trying to stop him driving off.
Charlie was a real character; he was big & butch & bold & chose his mummy himself – she had no choice! She had only been in her new house about 2 weeks when a sleek black cat (aka Charlie) came into her garden to say hello. Not wishing to be rude, she said hello back. So he came the next day – and the next. And then he crept into the house & one day leapt onto her lap & that was that. True love. After 6 months of regular day & night (frequently overnight) visiting, after checking with all the neighbours and seeing no “lost cat” posters anywhere in the neighbourhood, she gave in & installed a cat flap. His “real” owner soon realised that’s where he was happiest & did the decent thing & handed over legal ownership. And since then Charlie has been world’s happiest puss. Which I guess counts for something. And of course this terrible incident is bringing back the day (18 short months ago) the same fate befell Gorgeous George (also pictured). Although at least George’s killers had the decency to stop & were going to take him to a vet. Let’s hope Charlie & George are chasing mice & lapping cream in cat heaven together.

You say potato

... and I will go dig them up from my big potato pots for super fresh spuds! Amazing, we have a bumper harvest of tiny tomatoes and I have just managed to dig 1 kilo of spuds from my pots. See picture of this morning’s harvest in my newly acquired vintage trug. Yes I did say vintage trug! And that’s one of my pumpkins developing fast to the left, there is another 2x the size hiding behind all the foliage. Spuds are Maris Piper if you’re interested, a great all rounder suitable for jacket potatoes, chips, boiling, roasting & mashing! Will contemplate all those styles but hubby (bizarrely) not a spud fan – only likes chips & roasties. Hmm. Still it’s finally getting to my all time favourite time of year – autumn. Can’t come fast enough. For me, summer is hugely overrated, give me the slightly chilly mornings the stunning autumn deep blue skies & the joy of a gentle sun that doesn’t make you feel like you are living in an oven, and the beautiful light you get as the sun gets lower in the sky. Ahhh! And of course the opportunity to go coat & boot shopping; the best type of shopping there is. Trawling the shops for meltingly soft cashmere overcoats & beautiful shiny knee length boots, and for scarves & gloves... fab. Feel a trip to the shops coming on! The only sad things about this time of year is that I am way too old for school: roll back 35 years & you would find me excitedly putting new pencils & pens into a new pencil case, checking my new uniform for the 100th time & packing & repacking my new bag. Yup; I loved school. Sad but true...