Little Star

 

This one has been a conplete star today. Early this morning, I dropped him off at the vets, then late afternoon I picked him up again. There was slightly less of him this by this time, but he appeared to be none the worse for his experience. In fact, for a while, he seemed even more lively than usual. He was treated to a well deserved meal of fresh turkey this evening, and I think he might just sleep well tonight. He was very well behaved throughout and I believe he enjoyed lots of cuddles from the staff at the surgery. 

It has been another incredibly chilly day. It was -5° this morning, so I replenished the bird feeder and then I broke the ice on the container pond. Fortunately the pavements were mostly clear but the rooftops were all white with frost and there were icicles hanging from the corner of a house in the village!

While Boo was being well looked after, this afternoon I was helping at the Warm Space event again. This week I took along some Mincemeat Shortbread, which disappeared rather quickly. It is a favourite of mine, and so much quicker than baking individual mince pies. The recipe can be accessed via the side bar, although I will put up a link later on, when I can get on my laptop. There were a few more people attending this time. Hopefully, there will be even more next week, if word gets around.

J. X

Friends

 

As you can see from the above photograph, Boo has made himself very much at home now, although I'm not quite sure how he will be feeling after his impending visit to the vets on Thursday. I won't go into detail, but I'm sure you can guess what it is for ;)

It has been a very ordinary day. I did, however, manage to squeeze in a trip to the recycling centre to clear out several bags of clothes and also a couple of other items, which have been languishing in the boot of my car for several weeks now. That's another job checked off, much to my great satisfaction.

This afternoon, I deliberated over buying a small Christmas tree for the kitchen like I usually do, but I think I'm going to give it a miss this year and just string some lights instead. It will be one less thing to stress over. Not that Christmas trees are in anyway stressful, but keeping Boo away from it could be. He hasn't shown any interest in the decorations on the mantel yet, but the real test will be when we put the tree up in the living room. 

J. X

First Frost

It was a pleasant surprise to wake up to more seasonable weather yesterday. Overnight we had received our first real frost, and during my journey to walk I felt quite spoiled, being able to enjoy the quiet of the morning. The sky was clear and bright and the surrounding fields sparkled in the sunlight. A welcome change from the mild damp days we have been experiencing in recent weeks. 

Thank you so much for your kind messages regarding Mog. I am pleased to say she is completely recovered now, and back to her usual self. Even my 5am wake-up calls have been re-established! I must admit, I had been quite concerned to begin with, as until this recent setback, she had never previously shown any signs of illness. Not bad going for over seven years. And Boo appears to be growing bigger by the day. He really is the sweetest, most affectionate little ball of fluff. 

And I'm also feeling much better now. It turns out there was a virus doing the rounds at work, and thankfully I got off lightly compared to most.

Looking back, November has been a quiet month, and if I'm being honest it felt as though I had wasted some of my days. In hindsight, I think I needed this time to pause and reflect. Looking ahead, December is going to much more busy. I am still not feeling as prepared as I would like, but I hope I might be making some headway after the weekend. 

This evening, I've hung Lily's Advent stockings and tucked a festive, foil wrapped chocolate into each one. Whilst doing so, I whispered a grateful thanks to last year's me, who clearly decided it would be a far better idea to leave each individual stocking firmly tied to the garland, and saved this year's me an hour or so of unnecessary faffing. A small win, but a win nonetheless :)

J. X

Boo! 🐈‍⬛

There is no denying that November is my least favourite month of the year. Dark mornings and even darker evenings. Gloomy, wet and windy weather. Bright, blue sky days, where the leaves almost appear to glow in the autumn sunshine have been too few and far between.

Hallowe'en was quiet again this year. We received several callers, slightly older than I had expected, but all of whom were lovely, polite, and had made a lot of effort with their costumes, so they were more than welcome to some treats.

Lately, most of my weekends have been spent close to home. A busy working week means I need to run errands or catch up with housework. Finding that work/life balance has proved difficult since starting back again after the summer. Still, things should hopefully improve as time goes on - she says optimistically :)

Last Saturday, we enjoyed a trip into town. Unusually for us, we travelled by bus, which was surprisingly straightforward, given as for some reason I am absolutely terrible at reading bus time tables. We found some new winter boots for Lily and I managed to pick up a few less exciting bits and pieces for myself, before rewarding our achievements (I don't particularly enjoy shopping) with lunch out. After which I may or may not have also bought some mince pies from a well known high street bakery :) 

During the afternoon I  made bonfire toffee and later that evening we lit our sparklers in the garden. Fireworks were thin on the ground here this year. Not that I am complaining. I do love a proper, organised display, but most back garden fireworks can be a little underwhelming to say the least. Fortunately, neither of the cats appeared bothered by the few that had been set off nearby. 

Yes, that's right. I said CATS. I now have two!!!

Introducing...Boo.

Boo is just under 4 months old, he has the most velvety soft fur, bright green eyes and besides proving to be somewhat of a house plant menace, he has settled in just fine.  

J. X