WOYWW 6th October

Its Wednesday... well barely, as its 4.30 a.m. and the only reason I up and about is because the cats decided that they were going to mess about until I got out of bed... the likelihood of either one becoming a pair of furry mittens in the not to distant future is pretty high!! TomTom has taken to wailing... yep, wailing in the early hours of the morning in the hope that if he is really annoying I will let him out to play in the streets!  He started at 3 a.m. and I gave in trying to sleep at 4 a.m. - I don't think he will ever happily adjust to being a house cat but he has little choice in the matter.  So, getting back to my work desk... this is how I left it last night, still working on the book of Pandora which is coming together slowly!  

This is TomTom... just to prove I am not totally awful, he still has all his fur!! LOL

Oh and next to my desk this morning is a bargain I found at Ikea!!  I was in the As Is section where all the stuff that isn't going to be stocked anymore ends up and I spotted it... I was with Odelia and she looked at me a little oddly and kindly pointed out that it was way too big to fit in my kitchen drawers...

and she is correct - its huge!!  But I didn't see a 30" cutlery tray.... all I could see was a brilliant printer's tray for the wall, painted and decorated I think it will look fab! 

If you just happened upon this page and you are wondering what WOYWW is all about, it's the day of the week that we all display what is on our work desks, check out Julia's blog for the details and links to the ever growing list of people who love to nose about each other's work areas!

The Cats are Home!!

What a busy and fun weekend we had, on Saturday friends took us to the Calgary Stampede and we watched the chuckwagon races and a fabulous outdoor show and firework display.

This a picture of the chuckwagon races... it rained all day and the state of the drivers was urgh....

This was the band and VIP guests... the Mounties are for Misteejay!!

After the chuckwagon races this huge stage was pulled into place by tractors.

and we were entertained by song and dance groups, a fab comedian who thinks about camping along similar lines to myself, and a firework display that was amazing.

Sorry about the picture quality but my camera couldn't cope with the dark and distance!!

  Now, call me a bit simple but I really never thought of Canada as cowboy country!!  Well, the ten days of the Stampede Calgary becomes cowtown!!  You have never seen so much denim and jackets with frills on them!!  Cowboy hats are the thing too... so Chris and I bought ourselves a couple.  I have a photo of us wearing them but its on my phone and although I have had it a couple of years I have yet to figure out how to actually get the pictures off it and onto my computer where they might be useful!!  Mine cowboy hat was a pink one.... well, it had to be, didn't it?

On Sunday we went to the airport and collected the two cats.  They were as pleased to see us as we were to see them.  Pandora just lay on the floor and waited to be picked up and cuddled and purred like mad.  TomTom is bruised and battered and looks like he has gone a couple of rounds with Mike Tyson... all self inflicted as he really fights himself the moment you put him in a carrier.  Hopefully in a few days he will be feeling less sore and jetlagged.

A bit bruised and travel weary...

Pandy has found a comfy spot in my wardrobe..

Chris and I have also found a house we like!!  We put an offer on it last night so I am sitting here waiting to hear back from the seller... once we have that sorted, I just need to find a car, buy some furniture and move before the end of the month.... LOL

I was out on the balcony of the apartment and saw a magpie.  Now, I am not an overly superstitious person but whenever I see one magpie I have to look about to find its partner... well, I found not only its partner but an entire family gathering under the trees across the road!!  I counted 9 in all and now I have the old magpie song/rhyme going on in my head.... I always say the rhyme 'one for sorrow, two for joy, (which is why I have to look till I see the second), three for a girl and four for a boy, five for silver and six for gold, (either would be handy just now), seven for a secret never to be told, eights a wish and nines a kiss, tens a bird you must not miss.... magpie....'.   Must remember to keep the windows closed if there is anything shiny about....

House Hunting...

I spent yesterday with Sue, the lovly estate agent I found, house hunting.  We had a fabulous day for it, sunny and very warm.  The odd thing about looking at houses is that after three they all start to blend into each other and when you try to recall one in particular... bits of the others creep in too!  Anyways, I did manage to reduce the number to a manageable one for a second look plus some new ones.  Chris gets the better bit of this deal, as I do the legwork and he comes along for the second look!!  We did buy a condo though.... a two story one for Pandora and TomTom!!  :)

You just know that they are going to turn their whiskers up at it, don't you?  We bought them a couple of normal beds just in case.  They are flying out from Saudi Arabia on Saturday and arriving here in Calgary Sunday afternoon.  Chris and I can't wait to get them back, they have had a long 6 weeks shut up in their cages at the vets in Khobar and will undoubtedly make us pay for their imprisonment in spades!!  They have been very lucky as Ping and Denis have kindly been popping in to check on them and make sure they are ok for me... Denis even takes videos of them and puts them on YouTube so I can see them!!  well, I can see more of TomTom than Pandy... TomTom is all over anyone who is willing to pay him attention and give him a smooth and cuddle and takes the camera in his stride... Pandora on the other hand is Pandora and sits inside her cardboard box inside the cage and stares out growling and spitting at anyone who dares to look in at her!!  Its a double edged sword though, on the one hand it is great to be able to see them and on the other both Chris and I end up in tears to see them in their cages... but I remind myself that 6 weeks in Khobar is better than 6 months in quarantine.

We arrived here in Calgary at the perfect time, the weather is being very nice and tomorrow is the start of the Calgary Stampede.  All this week you can get a free pancake breakfast at various points in the town... Saturday is the turn of the Chinook Mall which is just around the corner from where we have an apartment and Chris is off work... so guess what?   Yep... I plan to be there nice and early for my plate of pancakes and sausages!! Saturday afternoon we are off to the Stampede to watch the chuckwagon races, which are supposed to be brilliant.

Chris in goal on the ice hockey pitch... is it a pitch or do they have a different name for it?

Me in front of a lovely carving of the hockey teams.

Then we went off to Michaels!!  Yahooooo, I thought I had died and gone to scrapbook heaven...

and just to confirm how bad I am... I didn't even know these photos were taken, I found them on my camera when I downloaded the photos this morning!!

I was very good and didn't go completely mad....

Aisle after aisle of lovely stash...

Oh and before I left the UK I did a wee bit of shopping and guess what fell into my hands??   Yep, two more of the Signature Ciccia handbags with cats on!!  I love them!!

I love this one... Cattier's indeed!!  And isn't our little kitty bank robber just fab?? LOL

Catwoman Returns...

I haven't seen Catwoman (named for obvious reasons) for a couple of months, she was always extremely shy and crept about late in the evening to see what food had been left in the porch.  Last time I saw her, she was looking very pregnant and we failed at trapping her numerous times.  Last night she turned up to see what she could scrounge and if you look closely at the entrance to the porch you will spot she was not alone!! 

I was warned off by some snarls, growls and howls so after plonking some kitten food and biscuits down I retreated with camera and tried to get a couple of photos.  Sorry the quality is so dodgy, it was dark and they weren't in a posing mood!! LOL

Hopefully if they keep coming back we will be able to trap them and take them to the vets, get Kitty's eye treated and Catwoman fixed.

Phantom looks to be the culprit as the two were quite an item before I trapped him and he went off to be 'sorted'!!   As you can see, the gene pool is quite small in the feral cats in the compound as Phantom is half brother/father to my Pandora - a fact that Chris says explains a lot about her personality or lack of!! 

Lots of people ask what is going to happen to them all when I leave in two weeks... luckily there are quite a few of us soft touch types so they will just call by at a different house for their hand-outs.  Pandora and TomTom will go with us but as much as I would like, we can't save them all. :(

Here is another needy character... Jingle Bells/Peg Leg/ Mena, she got attacked by a dog and her owners didn't take her to the vet so she has a crippled paw and spends most of her time laying in my porch and demanding food at regular intervals. Note the colour combo??  When asked if we have seen a certain cat I always say... would it be black and white?? LOL