Mog

 

I've received several lovely messages asking after Mog, so I just thought I would pop on with a quick update.

Early yesterday morning, I dropped Mog off at the vets for an x-ray. She hadn't had anything to eat since the night before - didn't she let me know about it! - and could only have water to drink until the time of her appointment. A nurse went through the details with me and double checked that all her information was up to date, and then I had to leave. It is definitely reassuring that all my pets have been registered with this clinic over the years, and I know they offer excellent care.

That said, it still felt like a long day, whilst  waiting for the phone call to say she was ready to collect. A house can feel very quiet and empty all of a sudden when there is no one pestering me for food and no need to step over anyone on the way to the bathroom :) Drowsy she may have been, but there was certainly nothing wrong with her appetite, as even though she had eaten a small meal following the procedure, she soon polished off a bowlful of turkey and then went upstairs to sleep it off. 

I thought there might be a problem that she would need to be kept indoors for the next 24 hours. It would mean keeping the cat flap locked (not easy with two cats) and I know she doesn't like to use the litter box. I decided to take a chance and leave it open, and Mog, being such a good girl, didn't go out anyway and I noticed she must have used the litter box just this once. I got up at 5am this morning just to check on her, and she was already waiting for her breakfast.

Having been heavily sedated, she still appears to be quite drowsy, even now, but she's definitely glad to be home again. Regarding her niggling issue, we are still non the wiser as to the cause. But what we do know is that the x-ray didn't show up anything of concern, which as you can imagine is a huge relief.

And as for the withering glares which are still being cast in my direction, I'm sure they will ease off eventually. A small price to pay for my peace of mind. 

J. X

'Bother That Cat!' Again

 

It's been quite a week, and not helped by this one, who has developed a bit of a health problem. She isn't off her food at all and doesn't appear to be in any discomfort, so I am hoping it isn't anything too serious.

She has already been seen by the vet, and although they haven't been able to find anything obviously untoward, she has been given some pain relief medication and I have been trying my best to keep a closer eye on her. I have my fingers firmly crossed that the problem will resolve itself without the need for more tests but I just have a feeling that this is something which will require further investigation.

Anyway, yesterday morning I set off for work as usual. Both cats had been fed and I'd also put some fresh water out for the pair of them. Boo had gone back outside again and Mog was fast asleep at the top of the stairs. It's just where the sun hits the house first thing in the morning, and probably the warmest part of the house throughout the day, so really not the best place for her to be at the moment. Just try telling her that :)

I returned home shortly after 3 o'clock and it's not out of the ordinary for me to not see either of the cats for a while (unless I happen to open the fridge door!), especially at this time of year, so it didn't strike me as being unusual that I didn't see Mog. 

As the evening went on, Boo came in, and then went out again. Still no sign of Mog. I assumed she would have gone outside later in the day and found a cool shady spot beneath the trees for a relaxing sleep. 

By the time I went to bed, I was a little concerned, especially given her recent health issues. Years ago she would have been out for hours at a time, but now that she's reached middle age, she tends not to wander too far from home. I checked in all of her favourite places - the spare bedroom, the cushion on the chair at the far end of the dining room, and under the bed. Nothing.

Cue a restless night for me. I got briefly disturbed by Boo in the early hours, still no sign of Mog. 

Every time I woke momentarily I listened out, but heard nothing. I was hoping for that familiar click of the cat-flap, but sadly it remained silent. I was imagining all sorts of scenarios in my head, none of which had a positive outcome. 

Finally, after a very restless night, she was discovered. Fast asleep in the bath, hidden behind the shower curtain. 

Bother that cat!

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

A Mog's Life

 

Spring is here! And so the days are growing longer and the weather warmer. The sun shines on the front of the house during the morning and Mog likes to make the most of it, curled up asleep on Lily's bed.

Not a care in the world. Happy and relaxed.

Back soon. 

J. X

Rainy Days and Pumpkins

 

Once again, thank you so very much for all your lovely messages. I cannot begin to express just how much it means to me knowing I am in your thoughts. I will reply to you all very soon, I promise. With each day that passes my heart feels just a little bit lighter. 

So, my time off didn't go quite to plan. For obvious reasons I cancelled our planned trip away. It wouldn't have felt right, and in all honesty I wouldn't have been able to enjoy myself. It was a shame really, as the weather on the east coast looked to have been much brighter than at home. To say it has been a bit wet here would be an understatement, and my heart goes out to those who's homes and businesses have been affected by flooding yet again. Wind and rain lashing against the windows has been the soundtrack to much of the week, standing water covered many of the roads and any unnecessary travel has been avoided.

Because of this I have been mainly hunkered down at home and unusually for me I've hardly ventured out, preferring instead to stay cosy and dry indoors. We did, however, go out just for a short while, so that we could choose our Hallowe'en pumpkins and I spent a very productive afternoon carving them. It never ceases to amaze me how I manage to do this without somehow causing myself serious injury, although I suspect it's very much down to good fortune rather than my knife skills. 

And I didn't let anything go to waste either. The flesh was quickly turned into some delicious spiced pumpkin soup and the seeds were gently tossed in olive oil before roasting them in the oven. They taste so so good, and are very moreish. If you've never tried roasting them before, I can definitely recommend it. Just be careful not to eat them all in one go. 

At the weekend, and during another brief respite from the unrelenting rain, we put on our boots and set out to enjoy just a small part of what autumn has to offer. The leaves are changing rather rapidly now and with the sun making a brief appearance it was wonderful to spend some time amongst the beautiful seasonal colours. I would like to say we enjoyed kicking through the crisp fallen leaves, but disappointingly they were far more soggy than they were crunchy - still pretty though, especially in the bright sunshine.

Last night we welcomed some delightfully scary looking characters at our door for Hallowe'en, and you know it really did feel so good after the quiet of last year. During the evening many chocolates and sweets were given and received. I always end up buying far too many but they never seem to last long in this house. 

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this here before, but Hallowe'en is also a special day for another reason. It is the day I officially adopted Mog! It has now been six years since Lily and I drove to the animal shelter and brought her back home to live with us. 

I think she's happy to be here. 

J. X

'Bother That Cat!'

 

For those of you who are not familiar with the popular children's book, 'Mog the Forgetful Cat,' my post title is a frequently used exclamation of the family's frustrations towards some of Mog's typical cat behaviour.

Even though my Mog did not take her name from this particular book, I have found myself uttering this phrase (and much worse 😁) quite often recently.

Don't get me wrong, Mog is a great cat. The best. I really shouldn't complain. She doesn't climb curtains, damage furniture or jump on the kitchen surfaces. She is incredibly easy going, inexpensive to feed and although she doesn't exactly enjoy the process, she will take her worming tablet every couple of months with very little persuasion required on my part.

She doesn't scratch or bite, is quite used to having her sleep interrupted for a quick cuddle and has an adorable habit of wanting to be very close by while Lily enjoys her bath.

BUT. And it is a big but. For some reason she feels the need to wake me each morning at around 5.30a.m. 

She's been doing this, on and off, for some time now but it is definitely becoming a more regular thing and I don't understand why. Sometimes she will stand next to the bed and miaow! Sometimes she nudges me with the top of her head, or I feel her cold nose against mine and sometimes I even wake to see her just staring right at me! I read online for ideas as to why she does this but the suggestions were that she needs to go out - she has a cat flap, she is hungry - there is always food in her bowl, or that she simply wants company - as soon as I get up she wanders off elsewhere, often straight back upstairs to sleep on the spare bed. So, I am still none the wiser.

One morning this week, however, she woke me at 4.30a.m.!!! 

Now, it's a good job I am a morning person and I do enjoy being able to drink my first coffee of the day in peace and quiet, but still, this was a little too early even for me. Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to why this happens, perhaps this will sort itself out when the clocks go forward in a couple of weeks time, or perhaps I am just destined to be up early every day.

'Bother that cat!' I say. 'Oh, but she's nice!' replies Lily.

J. X

Peter the Polar Bear

This evening we've decorated our tree. I had originally planned that we would do this after dinner, with some Christmas music playing in the background and a large glass of Baileys in my hand. What I hadn't accounted for, however, was Lily's level of excitement, and insisting we decorate the tree the moment she returned home from school. Fortunately, the tree was in position, having been brought into the house earlier this morning, and I had already hung the lights, so it was all set for Lily to do the fun part. My Baileys would just have to wait.  

With the box of decorations open on the coffee table, we removed each glass bauble from it's tissue paper wrapping and hung them carefully on the more sturdy branches of the tree. Next we opened the more special decorations. Some which have been bought on holidays or weekends away and others gifted from a dear friend. This year, with not being able to enjoy our usual visit to the Christmas markets, we found our decoration much closer to home, at the farm shop. 

Introducing Peter the Polar Bear. Peter is a lovely little felted bear and he's been waiting very patiently above the fireplace all week, just ready for his moment on the tree,

which is fully decorated, and until now has remained that way. For how much longer, I'm not too sure.........

I think I'll be needing that Baileys. 

J. X

Shopping and Snow

 

I didn't have the best night's sleep. Being woken at 3.30 by Mog miaowing loudly in my face did not help matters. I'm not sure why she did this, other than perhaps to protest at the fact it was raining and she wanted to go out, or maybe she was getting her revenge at me having recently put her on a diet. Last week she had a appointment with the vets for her annual vaccination and although she is in very good health, she is a little bit heavier than we would like, so now I am trying to address this. I hope she doesn't disturb me tonight.

This morning, in an attempt to finish off my Christmas present shopping, I took a trip into town. Heading in nice and early meant it was lovely and quiet. I had my list and knew exactly which shops I needed to go to in order to get everything I wanted. If I had any time left I also wanted to call in at The Works to get myself an easy read Christmas novel and to the florists for some fresh stems of eucalyptus.

The weather was cold and wet and really not ideal for trailing around the shops, but it wasn't long before the rain turned to sleet and I busied myself getting what I needed from my list and wishing I'd had the sense to wear my gloves. 

Recently, Lily has been pleading with me to get her a snow globe. Now, she really isn't a child who for asks for much at anytime, so in this instance I am more than  happy to oblige and I have managed to find a really lovely one, quite inexpensively, from TK Maxx. I had seen a gorgeous, much dearer one at a local independent store, but I want Lily to be able to enjoy it and not have the worry of it getting broken. This was originally intended to be given to her on Christmas Day but, as it would be a shame for her not to be able to enjoy it for as long as possible, I think I might just surprise her with it at the weekend. It really is very pretty and even plays a tune.

By the time I left the store the sleet had turned into snow and I can't tell you just how lovely it felt to now be getting my Christmas shopping with snowflakes landing on my hair. Doesn't that only happen in Hallmark films? I really wanted to take  a picture and  I know it's not the best of photographs but I tried to capture it as best I could. The last stop was the florists and here I had the added excitement of being greeted by the owners new puppy, a gorgeous little spaniel. Only eleven weeks old, he's absolutely adorable and I might find myself needing to buy fresh flowers from there more often : )

It should have been my last stop but on the way back to the car I just had to call in at Greggs for a Festive Bake and some mince pies. Now it really does feel like Christmas. 

J. X

Under the Weather

I've been in hibernation the last few days. Just before the weekend I came down with a rotten cold and have spent much of this week feeling rather sorry for myself. I've been curled up on the sofa under a blanket, drinking hot lemon and honey, and managed just the bare minimum of housework in order to keep everything ticking over until I felt back to normal again. This morning I think I've finally turned a corner, my eyes have stopped streaming and I have discovered the ability to breathe normally once again 😌

One advantage (if there is one) of being poorly is that I've had Mog snuggled up on the sofa with me. She was the same this time last year when Lily came down with chicken pox, sleeping right by her side. I'd like to think it is genuine concern that something is not quite right, but I'm sure it is more likely down to having a warm human to lie with and a cosy wool blanket. Nevertheless, she has been good company.

The recent turn in the weather has heightened my longing for spring. Bright, dry days and lighter evenings have been a most welcome change from the dark and damp we had throughout  January. I hope this weekend's imminent storm is short-lived and that we can look forward to even more sunshine and blue skies as the month goes on. The snowdrops are out here now and I've been determined to enjoy them while they last. A short walk through the woods and we were greeted by this lovely sight.

Just after Christmas I began making a blanket for a friend's baby, due in March, and I'm happy to say I've finally finished it. It is largely based on this pattern here, although I have made the picot edging less 'spiky' and I used  the Teeny Tiny Stars pattern from Attic 24.

It's not easy to photograph a blanket but I hope you get the idea. I gave it to my friend this week and I'm happy to say she is thrilled with it. In fact, I was really touched when she told me it is already packed in her hospital bag.

J. X

Summer Solstice

For me, the first day of summer was one of quiet contentment. One of those days when life just feels good, that if I could I would re-live it all over again.

The day began as usual, but once work and chores were out of the way I spent much of the afternoon in the garden. The morning's cloud cover had disappeared, giving way to a gloriously clear blue sky and once I had planted out Lily's birthday sunflowers, I sat for a while and enjoyed some elderflower cordial in the bright sunshine. I wasn't alone for long, however, as I suddenly felt a familiar nudge against my leg - Mog had crept out of the house to join me following her long morning sleep, quickly jumping up onto the table expecting a fuss. She can be incredibly gentle and affectionate when she chooses to be. You would never think that recently she generously gifted us ten mice in just over three days. Ten!!!

Our strawberries have begun to ripen now and they looked so very tempting to me but, at her insistence, I left them for Lily to pick when she arrived home from school. And they were definitely worth the wait, so very sweet and delicious. 

In the evening I went for a run along the canal towpath,  through the fields and out past the village. The air was still incredibly warm at this time. The track, bordered with an abundance of wildflowers, welcomed bees and butterflies, with the sound of crickets in the long grass breaking the quiet.

Even later that evening, my friend and I went for a walk up Gummer's How, overlooking Windermere. We chatted, drank coffee and laughed a lot as the air turned chilly, the light began to fade and we watched the sun set on the longest day of the year.

J. X

Settling in to Autumn

In sharp contrast to the heavy rain and blustery winds of last week, autumn has officially arrived, bringing with it some sunshine, blue skies and crisp, cold weather. The darkness of early morning has given way to a beautiful but very chilly day, and Lily was most excited to announce 'Mummy, I've found my breath!' as we walked through the village to school.

It has been two weeks since the beginning of the autumn term and Lily has slotted back into the regular school routine once again, which is such a relief, although, I wish I could say the same for myself. I've been finding this whole transition period a little unsettling. I am aware I'm juggling a few extra balls this year but it's taking more getting used to than I originally anticipated. I think I just need to have faith in myself, be a bit more patient, and hopefully everything will eventually fall into place. With a bit of luck, I will be left wondering what I was so stressed about in the first place.

We are still getting out in the garden at every opportunity. Lily is using it mainly as some kind of a mud kitchen with her bucket and spade! In between clearing away small piles of mud, I've trimmed back the hedges that I wanted to get done before the winter months, and have been harvesting the tomatoes and beans on an almost daily basis. Thankfully they all managed to withstand the heavy winds. Remember the failed strawberry plants? Well, one out of the nine of them looked OK, so rather than bin it, I moved it into a large empty pot, and it has thrived and filled the pot with runners. I will have to wait and see if it provides us with any fruit next year.

Indoors, I've been busy turning the tomatoes into delicious meals and soups, I can hardly keep up with them since they started ripening. The sofa throws are being used as the evenings turn cooler, and we are gradually adjusting to the shorter days. I've picked up my crochet again, as I really want to try and get Lily's blanket finished before winter. It feels lovely when I'm working on it, nestled in the comfort and warmth of the wool.

Recipe for tomato soup:

50g butter
2 chopped onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of plain flour
1 litre of vegetable stock
1 kg tomatoes
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
Fresh basil

Melt butter and gently fry the onions and garlic until soft.
Add the flour and mix well, taking care not to let it burn, then gradually add the stock, stirring all the time.
Add the tomatoes, tomato puree and basil and allow to simmer for around 30 minutes.
Blitz with a hand blender then sieve to remove any pips and pulp.

J. X

Another Week

It's that time of year once again. There is excitement in the air as we look towards the last week of the school year, and as usual I am ready for a break from the routine. Much as I try to make time to relax and unwind at the weekends, there is still nothing quite like not having the need to 'encourage ' a small person to get up and out of the door early every weekday morning, and the idea of those empty days stretched out ahead of us full of opportunity makes me feel very happy indeed. Places to go, things to do and adventures to be had.

The last few weeks have been a gentle slowing down, without the hurried frenzy the end of term often brings with it, so I'm hoping next week will be reasonably calm.  This last week was the school summer production with Lily playing the part of a snowflake, although it was so hot she decided she was melting! She looked very sweet in her white costume and played her part really well.

The days have been consistently hot and sunny, and although it has been lovely and we have been enjoying some shorter walks and days out, the garden is now looking a little worse for wear with much of the lawn being sun scorched. Thankfully the vegetables seem to be fairing a little better with regular evening watering and I have a feeling we are in for a good crop of tomatoes. They seem to be appearing on a daily basis, not bad for our first attempt using an inexpensive packet of seeds.

Our small raised bed contains beetroot, carrots, spring onions, courgettes and beans. What started as a bit of growing fun for Lily is once again providing us with some delicious home grown produce, and I cant wait for the sunflowers to bloom.

Mog has been showing her face more often and has discovered a new favourite place to relax by the back door. It is lovely watching Lily stroking and hugging her. Mog is so good with her and doesn't mind Lily's  fascination with her soft fur. They appear to have a mutual understanding, as is often the way with animals and children.

Last Sunday we went for a walk in the woods, then on through the fields where Lily discovered her very first Geocache all by herself.  Following an afternoon spent relaxing at home we then finished the day with fish and chips down by the sea,  a perfect way to round off the weekend.

This evening I am off out! A rare treat for me. One of the lovely mums from school has arranged an end of the school year meal. I don't often get the opportunity to dress up, made clear by Lily who looked surprised and  said 'Oh, you look pretty mummy!'  I think it means I should really be making a bit more effort on a regular basis. 😄

J. X