Wednesday 13 October 2010

WOYWW 13th October

My work desk is looking pretty tidy this morning... the book of Pandora is close to being finished, I just need to add the journalling to the tags and stuff and I can play with something else for a change!!  I had real problems with my printer, it just didn't want to play nicely at all so Chris took me out and bought me a new one!!  I have always bought HP printers, preferably the Photosmarts but the quality was terrible and half the time it refused to print at all, so my new one is a Kodak and I am really impressed with the photos!

You will have to wait till it is light and I will take some better pics of Pandora's book - at the moment it is 6 a.m. and dark outside and the lighting in the scraproom makes the colours look a little weird!
and yes, I may have gotten a bit carried away with the new Distrezz It All!!  I think it looks ok though and the book feels fab!
 Have added some new photos taken in daylight that actually give a better idea of the colours...
 I added a notebook type thingy to the inside cover with the 40 pages of journalling in it.
 Loads of pockets with tags for the extra photographs.



 More pockets with tags...








I love the distressed edges to the pages - though they do make books quite fat very quickly!




Don't forget to hop on over to our lovely desk drill sergeant, Julia, for the ever growing list of snoopers to see what is about on all the work surfaces.

The journalling for Pandora's book is finished!!  Yahoooo!  Please feel free to skip this section... it is very long but I really wanted to record her story and how she ended up staying with me.
The Tale of the Saudi Kittens
30th May 2009
A couple of weeks ago a stray cat who was obviously very pregnant sniffed out the scent of 'stoopid cat woman lives here' and starting hanging around and I couldn't see her go hungry so I have been putting food and water out for her. On the 26th May she turned up slim and ate everything I put down, so I figured she had had her kittens but didn't know where. I had put a box with a blanket in it out on the porch in case...
So when she finished eating I followed her across the path and watched as she jumped into a windowsill, up onto the porch roof and then she promptly disappeared into a hole into their roof space above their ceiling... 
On the Thursday afternoon she was hanging around my porch and wailing and kicking up such a scene I had to go and investigate what the problem was and noticed that the people in the house and had put a brick over the hole so the cat couldn't get back in!! Taking into account it was 48 degrees here that afternoon and the roof space must have been in the 55 plus heat range I was incensed that someone would be so cruel!! 
I went and knocked on their door and asked why they had blocked the hole and the man said a cat kept going in there... so I explained she had kittens in there and he just said 'well, hard luck, they'll die then'! 

Well, the look on my face must have said everything I didn't verbalise as he got a ladder out and knocked the brick away so she could get back in. He did add that he would be calling maintenance to come and remove them as they made a noise in the ceiling above them....
Well, I just went outside and there is the Mum with 2 kittens in the box on the porch. So I went over and knocked on their door and told the woman that the Mummy Cat was out with 2 kittens so they could block the hole up. The woman replied that the maintenance men had been earlier and that there were 5 kittens removed from the ceiling space..... 5? Where were they? She said I had to have them removed I am allergic (yeah right, she got a sudden allergic reaction since Thursday because she feels bad about what they were doing) and said the workmen had put them out on the ground and pointed.... so I went over and there were 3 teeny kitties laying there in the sun!! I was almost too afraid to touch them in case they didn’t move but leaving them in the heat was not an option so I picked them up and took them to Mummy Cat.  I just sort of offered them to her at the entrance of the box and hoped she wouldn’t rip my arms to shreds, but she just grabbed one and I lowered the other two into the box, so I will have to wait and see if she accepts them back and if they survive..
3rd June 2009






The kittens appear to be fine and Mum didn't growl at me today for shoving a camera in the box!!
4th June 2009
 Emily Loved Him aka Helen on UK Scrappers said:

As it is my birthday today can I have one please. Let them have at least 8 weeks with Mum, Annette - then just pack one up and send her over (would like a girl please !) Maybe not - but how about naming one Pandora as DH got me a beautiful bracelet today to mark the occasion”.

When it gets very hot outside Mum comes and lays along the length of the front door because there must be a bit of draft coming through from the air conditioning.... last night Chris suggested removing the draft excluder from the door so that she gets more cool air!!!
I was checking on the kittens and spotted this 
guy in the garden..... 
Hmmmmm methinks he looks awfully familiar!!





5th June 2009
Two kitties have eyes open!!

I guess they will get ears in a few days too? 

6th June 2009
  LOL... this is what happens when you just shove a camera into a box and click!! All I got was 5 little black tails!! The gardener kindly added a board to each side of the porch blocking it off so that when they finally (not like I am impatient or anything) start getting out of the box... they can't escape from the porch!
8th June 2009
And then there was none...






Something must have spooked her as she has taken them all away!!

I gave her breakfast this morning and thought I could only see 4... then there was three.... so I followed her and she has relocated to..... wait for it.... roof space on a house behind mine!

and then this one was left on its own for a while 
 and then she came and 
carried him off too! 


I'll leave the box and food out and see if she changes her mind....

Well, I went and knocked on the door of the house and met such a nice lady, Rania Sabadine!! She is going to leave Mummy Cat and the kittens up there until they are ready to leave of their own accord. She said it was the same cat that had kittens in her roof a few months ago!! Maintenance removed them and put them in a box on the ground and some kids found them and the kittens ended up dieing... so this time she will just leave her alone.

Well, Mum keeps popping back here to get the cold draught from under the front door... and I'll leave the box and food out for her so maybe when she feels they are more mobile she will bring them back.... I'll miss the little beggars though!! (Mind you, I have managed to clean the house, change the sheets, and dust and polish the lounge this morning, so it shows how much time I wasted checking on them)!! 

24th June 2009
The kitties might be coming home today! Spoke to the lady who has them in her ceiling last night and she said they are making so much noise that she will have to get the workers to come and remove them... so I told her that they must put them back in the box on my porch so Mum will find them. Whether she will leave them there.... is another story.
So I have extended the box to take their extra growth!!
I did have a listen in her bathroom.... and it sounded like 5 rugby players in a scrum dancing around on her ceiling tiles, so I think she has done well to last this long!!

25th June 2009
 there back!!! Now just got to wait for Mum to come yelling about them disappearing and re-introduce them! 

Mum turned up and was totally stressed out.... so I showed her a kitty in the box and she had some tea and gone in with them. Wonder if she will stay now? 





26th June 2009

 this one had a go at 'real' food this morning!
I have contacted PAWS in Al Khobar about re-homing the kittens and was told that this is kitty season and that they were inundated with them. I just hope I can find homes for them all.


28th June 2009
It didn't take them long to learn that a cool draught came under the front 
door..... 

and this little one is so cute I could squish him....

30th June 2009
Is it just me... or can anyone else see a striking resemblance between this little guy and this one?
 
 




3rd July 2009
 Gremlin Groucho Marx
They are doing well, the heat is a bit of a trial for them at the moment but they are growing up quite nicely.
Chris and I were chatting and I said that there were two uggily kitties and he claims kitties cannot be ugly... they are always cute!! 

Look at Gremlin and Groucho Marx and tell me.... are they cute? 

4th July 2009
Well, it appears everything is down to personal taste... because Groucho Marx appears to be female and she is the one that the lady who wants a kitty has chosen!! 

One down... four to go...

Well, I need to find homes fast... have to take Mum to the vets tomorrow to be spayed before she comes into season! I have managed to borrow one cat basket... just need to locate another one or I will have to go and buy one. Mum has to stay in for 5 days because she isn't domesticated, to give her time to heal properly. I'll take the kitties with me and get them all inoculated at the same time which is going to be about £250.00 but Chris has to take the morning off work to drive me the one and half hours to Khober where the vet is... Chris says he doesn't mind, he would rather do this than give money to charity.


What do you mean they have big ears? Don't all kitties have ears that are too big for them? maybe nobody will notice....
 and give her/him a home anyways!! I think that one might have suffered a bit from the time in the roof... because he was lovely and round and plump when she took them off but is now skinny with a big head when they came back... think it might be the runt? He has loads of character and out of the five kitties he is the one happiest sitting in my hand snuggled against my dressing gown. 
Now you come to mention it... he does look a bit batlike, doesn't he?

5th July 2009
This morning was pretty traumatic... trying to get a big Mummy Cat into a travel cage!! I have never even attempted to pick her up before... but we managed it on the third attempt and took her off to Al Khobar to the vet... we can pick her up on Friday when we take the five kitties with us. They have to be 6 weeks old for the inoculations and he will worm them all and check them over. We also said to vaccinate Mum (I presumed she had never been done) and give her a rabies shot... it seemed daft to do all this for her and not make sure she is as covered as the kittens.
The kittens are now in my bathroom at night so that nothing happens to them. I can have a go at handling them all and smoothing them and getting them used to human contact which should help with re-homing them. Personally I don't think they like their foster mum very much at the moment... but hopefully that will change! 

8th July 2009
 well, shows what I know about what peeps are looking for in kitties... because these two have homes to go to! I have to look after Gremlin until August 18th when the family come back off their vacation in South Africa, but if it means she gets to go to a good home, I really don't mind. (had a bit of a soft spot for our little runt anyways)!
 Just these three to find homes for now. I am going to put up their photos in the compound shop and restaurant and PAWS are going to send them out in next weeks newsletter... so I really hope we get them sorted.

9th July 2009

 today was the first day that Gremlin could climb up onto the top of the box... all the others have been doing it for days but she was still too small... but today she managed it and was knackered and promptly fell asleep! 
 she is cute in a weird sort of way!!
 and her big brother looks out for her...
11th July 2009
Now got 4 kitties... Maisie has just left for her new home, wrapped in a towel and Trudie went shopping this morning to get her a teddy so she wouldn't be lonely in her box!!

Oh and we have a Pandora again... because Pointy Haired Boss is a girl so we have re-named her!!

18th July 2009

 they are coming along nicely. Not had anybody asking for the 3 I have left and they have been advertised free to a good home for a week now... just hope they find homes soon! 

19th July 2009
It’s odd, most of the cats here are white... which might be to reflect the heat? The only black cats I have seen have been imported from outside when people have moved here with them. They don't seem to get burned in the sun but then they are also pretty smart... Mum keeps herself and the kittens in the shade of the porch all day, sleeping, and then when the sun goes down she takes them out on the lawns for a good play to exhaust them before bedtime!

22nd July 2009
Took this one this morning while they were out in the cool 'grass' of the front garden.

28th July 2009

Had to take little two ears to the vet in Khobar this morning because he couldn't stand and was having fits... spent all night on the lounge sofa with him curled up with me, he would only settle if I had my hand resting on his back. The vet thinks he has had a bad fall and hurt is head/neck, he is going to try some medication today and see how he is tomorrow but doesn't hold out much hope for him. 

29th July 2009
 now Pandora is going the same way... back legs and not eating or drinking just curled into a ball on her blankie in the box. Spoke to the vet this morning and he says two ears is no different, no worse and is going to continue hydrating him today and then make a decision tomorrow. we think it may be toxic shock from poisoning as the compound and my garden were sprayed with insect spray a couple of days ago and the kittens go out and play in it then clean themselves.

Pandora is eating again, she had a really good supper this evening and her back legs look stronger, so I am hoping that she is over the worst of it and will feel brighter tomorrow, maybe she didn't ingest as much of the stuff as little two ears. She is still sleeping in her little box and doesn't want to play but at least she is eating and I am holding on to that thought.

31st July 2009
Well, Pandora has a foot double its normal size this morning... I have bathed it in disinfectant but I can't find anything wrong, so I think she does actually have a broken leg... so it looks like a trip to the vet... and to make matters worse, little Gremlin is now sick and curled into a ball in the box!! Good grief, I must be the worst person ever for looking after kitties, or something. 

1st August 2009
We got up early and were on our way to Al Khobar by 6.40 a.m. this morning with the little Gremlin and Pandora. The vet looked at her leg and couldn't find a wound or an abscess but gave her some injections and I have anitbiotics for her, it isn't broken so at least that is good news. Little Gremlin had a temperature of 39.3 and obviously just has a fever but there is no underlying cause for it... it seems to be part and parcel of being a Saudi cat. So I have to do hourly drops of antibiotics for her too and keep her hydrated every hour with Babylite.









 its just sugar water and salt solution we had to buy at the chemist. We saw Two Ears while we were there, poor wee mannie, he does look very ill and I am not sure he is going to pull through this. The vet says he will keep him for a few more days and see if he progresses, but he isn't feeding on his own and he can only just stand but his balance and co-ordination are not there. He recognised my voice as soon as we went in and meowed at me and as soon as I got him out the cage and cuddled him he started purring.  Chris and I will leave it a few more days and then make the decision what to do as if he isn't fit and healthy he won't find a home and he certainly won't survive long against the males in the compound.

Gremlin and Pandora have both eaten solid food and are wandering about!! Yahooo! The first lot got upchucked but the last two lots have stayed down. They have both lost a lot of body weight so need to make it up again... it shocked me how quickly they get skinny when they get ill.

4th August 2009
Two Ears is walking!! yahooooo! He can't come home till he is eating on his own, but that is such good news..

5th August 2009
I got a call from the vet this afternoon to say Two Ears is now eating on his own and if he keeps improving he can come home in a few days. 
On the downside, something spooked mum and she has gone off with the kittens. I found her round the back of the house where she had them in the roof - and she won't come home.
In the end I catnapped Gremlin, she is too small and thin to spend the day without food and water. She is now indoors with us and doing fine. 
I have tried persuading mum to come back but she isn't having any of it. I did manage to capture One Ear and gave him some food, but Pandora is more feral and she wouldn't eat it.
I'm hoping Mum will come to her senses when she is hungry and thirsty, as she knows where the food and water is....
I swear these cats will make me grey....


OK... Mum and kittens are back in the porch, eaten everything in sight and now happily sleeping it all off. Mum is back to rubbing herself on my legs and purring at me... I really don't know what spooked her, but I think it may have been a tom prowling about last night. I have kept Gremlin indoors with us though, she is too little and frail to take all this being carted off and starved of food and water for an entire day. I found her sound asleep on Chris' chest after dinner... I knew he had a soft spot for her....

8th August 2009
 Two Ears is home! I got up at 4.30 this morning and got to Khobar for 8 a.m. and collected him. I have introduced him to the 3 kittens and Gremlin doesn't mind him at all... the other two are a bit wary so I will introduce him to Mum gradually and hope some of Grem's smell will be on him and she accepts him back into the tribe!!

He is eating and drinking and running around... very skinny and is even smaller than Gremlin!! I'll have to feed him up and get him back to where he was 2 weeks ago... poor little guy.

9th August 2009
I have to say, she is a really good Mum, she heard him crying through the door and answered him back straight away... so I let him out and he dived onto her and she washed him from head to tail... he's eating and drinking really well and running round like a whirling dervish!

10th August 2009
I had no idea how time consuming looking after kittens was! I am up at 4.30 a.m., change the litter tray, sweep the porch, mop the porch, clean the food bowls, put new food down... then repeat this at lunchtime and tea time and check on them a hundred times... give cuddles and smooths so they stay handleable, go find them when Mum takes them off for a jaunt... bring them back, feed them.... good grief, its tiring!!

16th August 2009
well, they all had their booster jabs and rabies injections except Two Ears, he has lost weight and isn't strong enough to have them. The vet is keeping him and seeing if he can get him right. He doesn't eat enough on his own to compensate for what he is losing through diahrea (sp) and even with me feeding three times a day with an eye dropper he hasn't really improved in the last week. We will have to see what he is like before I leave for my holiday and make a decision, if he has improved then the vet will keep for me until I get back and not... well, I will have failed miserably with him, even though I have tried everything, but quality of life also has to come into the equation. I can't home perfectly healthy kittens, I wouldn't stand a chance on homing a sick one.
Pandora went into Tasmanian Devil mode, and ripped the vets arm open after biting me a couple of times so we have no idea why she is biting the fur off her paw. I will monitor it and see if she will let me have a look - but she is a real little witch and more than partly feral now.

17th August 2009
One Ear moved out and into his new home this afternoon... he has gone to the Deputy Principle and his teacher wife and their three little children.
So how come I stood and howled when I got home from taking him there?

Mum will still come by for food and a cool breeze under the front door, I am sure. She knows she will always get food and a smooth here but she has her own routine, disappears somewhere for the majority of the day. It is just her and Pandora outside now, they have been looking for One Ear and Mum thinks I have him stashed away indoors somewhere, I am sure. Gremlin is feeling poorly after her jabs yesterday so she is in the house with me, tucked up on her blankie in the bathroom. Parting with her day after tomorrow is going to be even harder.
Good news is that a lady from the local horseriding stables loves cats and may take one... so I am torn, Pandora would be brilliant in a stables, hunting for mice and being part Tasmanian Devil when she wants.... but this lady is a real cat lover and might be perfect for our Special Needs case of Two Ears.... so I 

don't know which to persuade her to have!! I would find it hard placing Pandora in a family with kids... and Two Ears might not make it and I would lose a home for Pandora.... what a quandary!

18th August 2009 Two Ears RIP
Sadly, we had to have Two Ears put to sleep this afternoon, the vet said he couldn't do any more for him. 

Gremlin got collected this afternoon and went off to her new home so its just Pandora left now.

Poor little guy couldn't fight anymore and I know it was the right thing to do... but I am doubly heartbroken because Grem went off this afternoon too and she had found a spot in both our hearts... but the girl who collected her was so taken with her, (she had only seen photos) you could tell she was going to be loved to bits.

They all found a little spot in my heart, it’s impossible not to, Two Ears was my purr baby, he was the first to learn how to purr and as soon as I touched him, his little engine would start up even when he was really sick and couldn't walk. Mum is looking for her babies, she has been in my house and inspected every room and cupboard for where I am hiding them, she sits on my doorstep and cries for them... I feel really mean... this evening she even went up on the roof where she had them originally to see if she had left them there...  I'm hoping she will be fine in a few days and she still has Pandora out there with her.

19th August 2009
Well, on a more cheerful note, I got news that One Ear is now Ringo (Star) and sleeps on the bottom bunk cuddled up with the little boy of the family and is very happy and this afternoon I saw Gremlin's owner's car pull up and when the family got out I asked how she was settling in... and the Mum got out of the car with Grem wrapped in a little blankie... they had been out visiting friends for the day and taken Grem with them 'because their baby couldn't be left at home on her own' - and she was one happy little fur baby!!

25th August 2009
 just been to see Gremlin and she is very ill, don't think she is going to last the morning. I'm heartbroken, that little kitty had a huge chunk of my heart as she was the runt of the litter and I had to spend so much time getting her back on track when she got sick. Her new owners are doing everything they can for her but I don't think it will be enough. Sorry to have to upset everyone again. 

I had all the kittens given their booster flu and rabies vaccination and I'm told that the rabies causes lots of problems and makes them very ill. Little Grem was too small to have it, she didn't have the body fat to combat the resulting diahrea. I thought I was doing the right thing for them, but obviously I was wrong. The others had the upset tummies but were strong enough to fight it off and seem all to doing fine now, just little Gremlin losing the battle.

Gremlin RIP 10.11 a.m.






Little Gremlin didn't make it.

Little Grem would have been 3 months exactly tomorrow. Not much of a life was it?  I am heart broken.  

26th August 2009
Well, Pandora completely blotted her copy book today... Grem's owners said that they would take Pandora as their house was now bereft and quiet.... and I did explain that she was not anything like her sister!! In fact, opposite ends of the poles would be more alike and I popped her in a box and took her around and explained that they would need to treat this one like a normal new kitty - give her some time to adjust and finally come out from behind the sofa and then slowly build up the trust.... and I left and went to lunch and on my return the phone was ringing and the lady asked me to go and get her, that it wasn't going to work out.... When I turned up at the house she opened the door and had band aids all over her hands, big scratches down her arms and a couple of bites as well.... oops! She had decided that the best thing was to cuddle her and hold her tight and try and get her to sleep in a basket....(when I told Chris he raised his eyebrows and said she was a brave woman as he sure wouldn't do it) so when I finally managed to catch her I brought her home again and she is now with Mum who has spent the afternoon teaching her to catch pigeons.... so she will be a compound cat after all. I'll catch her when I get back from vacation and take her to be neutored and she and Mum will always find breakfast and dinner at my house, it isn't what I wanted for her but there isn't really anything else I can do. Ping is going to feed them for me while I am away.

27th August 2009
It's a shame, because at this moment she is indoors with me and quite happy sleeping on her blankie on the sofa... she lets me smooth her when I walk by but that's it... she doesn't want loads of attention and smothering - it just panics her. She will certainly hold her own against all comers outside though, so I don't have to worry about that and her Mum still spends evening and all night with her, so she has her protection.

28th August 2009
Pandora and Mum are still together and they hang around the house for their food. Pandora sometimes gets left behind when Mum goes walkabout and then she sits on my doorstep and I let her in to sleep the morning away on the sofa. She is getting quite used to me smoothing her now. 
I had a call last week from someone looking for a kitten but they lived an hours drive away so I put them off... I couldn't take the chance that if she wasn't friendly they might just put her out the door instead of bringing her back to me!! So Pandora is here to stay and her and Mum are quite a team and good company for each other.

29th August 2009

they are both fine... and eating me out of house and home!  Everyone loves the name Pandora... and being that she has this mercurial type temper I think she is aptly named after Pandora's Box rather than a pretty bracelet!!

Why don’t we keep them?
Because when we finish here she/they would have to do 6 months in quarantine to get back to the UK... and we would probably already be on assignment somewhere else, which would mean they had then to go into quarantine where we were going and still have to do it again when we went back to the UK... its a bit cruel expecting an animal to spend the majority of its life in a small cage with strangers when what they want is to be at home with their owners. I have the additional torture of knowing that Pandora won't settle with anyone else but me.... a few weeks before we went on leave she started biting the fur off of her back leg.... and I couldn't find anything wrong with it, when I took her to the vet he explained it was psychological, she wanted my attention and when she was 'sick' she got it... so I brought her indoors with me and sat her on her blankie on the sofa and she stopped biting the fur... she had what she wanted.  So we have an agreement, she comes indoors when it’s just me at home (she won't come in when Chris has a day off) for a couple of hours a day, she sleeps on the sofa and will let me smooth her and tickle her ears... then when she has had enough... she goes back outside with her Mum. See... she is well named!!

30th August 2009
Of course... sometimes Mum comes back from her wanderings and shouts at my door that I have stolen her baby.... and Pandora being Pandora doesn't see why she should move off a comfy sofa and go out in the heat just because her Mum is yelling for her..... so.....






7th October 2009
Guess what? I was standing in the porch this evening and this little tiny kitty comes round the side of the house and into the porch and promptly finished off the dinner that Pandora had left!! She is one of those three coloured cats... ginger, grey and darkish... with the eyeliner on one eye like Pandy!! Judging by her size I would say she is about 6 weeks and I have no idea where she came from and there was no Mum anywhere about... I tried to pick her up but she did that exploding kitten thing so she is feral and then she tootled off after feeding her face... Chris just looked at me and didn't say a word....

8th October 2009
Well, when I fed the cats at 4.30 a.m. this morning I found the little kitten sitting a foot away from Pandora on the concrete cover for the dustbin! Mummy cat doesn't like it and 
Pandora is just fascinated but not over friendly but its weird, neither of them will hurt her.... its like they know she is a baby and a bit lost.... so when I put the food down she ventures into the porch and promptly starting eating out of Pandy's tray!!  I waited for WWIII to break out but Pandy just backed off and let her eat.....

I swear there is a hidden sign post saying 'soft twit lives here' near my house that only cats can read....

16th October 2009
Aaaaaw, poor Pandy, she has been spayed... but she is doing fine really. Went into her carrier as good as gold and is enjoying her confined stay indoors on my best chinelle throw!!   Rather than leave her at the vets for the five days we have her indoors with us at home.



18th October 2009
Little Tortie tootled off to her new home this afternoon!!  She and Pandora had spent the day playing nicely and having cuddles on my throw and I got a call from Karen asking if she had a home yet.... so she came over and collected her. Chris was most upset when he got home from work to find she had gone... he liked her!! She was so like little Gremlin in her ways.  Tortie is now named Layla.
22nd October 2009


22nd October 2009


This photograph of Pandy represents the change from future compound kitty
 to belonging to me kitty... poor Pandy was just recovering from being spayed
and had spent a few days indoors with me when she heard her Mum outside
the front door and wanted to go out and join her.  Mummy Cat was having
none of it, hissed and spat at her adorable little daughter, claws out, batted
her hard around the head a few times and made it completely plain that she
was out of favour.  Pandy was mystified, couldn’t understand why her Mum
didn’t love her anymore and attempted to move in closer and was batted
hard and hissed at again.  Once more, in my need to protect the kittens, I had
made the situation worse, the scent of the vets, the days indoors with me
letting her recover meant that the bond between Mother and daughter was
broken.  Pandy was traumatised and came back in the house and hid behind
the sofa... I found her there a while later and discovered that she had sat and
pulled her stitches out and her side was now an open wound.  Another 3 hour
round trip to the vets to get her sorted and put into a body stocking to stop
her doing any more damage.  Mummy Cat never changed her attitude....
Pandora always looked at her longingly but learned that it was best to keep
her distance.  Pandy was now mine, I couldn’t put her outside to be a
compound cat without the protection of her Mum. 

9th March 2010
All Growed Up!!
Anyone remember my babies? Thought you might like to see how they turned out now they are grown up - well, teenagers at least!!
 Maisie who has a home with a friend of mine, Trudie.

 One Ear AKA Ringo who has a home with some teachers.  Pandora

Pandora never did find a home... so she is still with me.She now has a step-brother, TomTom                           
 who turned up one day and decided he was going to live in my porch... so he is also an indoor housecat!!
We are now making arrangements to ship them out with us when we leave here in a couple of months. 

26 April 2010
Have left Pandora and TomTom at Jeddah Vets in Al Khobar.  They will stay there for 6 weeks while we go home to Scotland and sort shipments out and then they will fly straight to Canada and join us in Calgary as soon as we have somewhere to live.

11 July 2010
Collected Pandora and TomTom from Calgary airport this afternoon and have brought them home.  It is lovely to have them back. TomTom is looking a bit worse for wear because he hates to be confined to a carrier and mashes his nose against the wire of the door and Pandora is so happy to be back with me... she is glued to my side and wedges her body against mine when I go to sleep at night.
 




31 comments:

  1. Love the book! It's beautiful!

    Thanks for sharing. Pop over to my blog for my first blog candy. :)

    http://maggiescraft.blogspot.com/

    Maggie

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  2. Your book of Pandora looks wonderful, obviously a much loved friend. I've always had HP printers too, the 3 in 1 kind, and get brilliant photo printing from mine.

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  3. Lovely book made with so much love. Just bought a new printer too - gone for a Canon - given up on HP too. Hope to see more lovely things soon.
    sasa 10

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  4. Your book is gorgeous Annette :0) I'm gonna google the distress it all thingy now see if i need it lol.
    And snap with the printer ive just bought a kodak and i love it pictures are such good quality.
    Kate x

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  5. That book looks great and the distrezzing is fab

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  6. Oh, Pandora's book is fab. Always love seeing your space!

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  7. Your new toy obviously creates this wonderful shabby look to the pages...perhaps if I talk nicely to Santa...

    Beautiful book Annette, your ideas are always so inspiring.

    Toni :o)

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  8. I love your book, It's stunning and very inspirational!

    A.xx(29)

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  9. Absolutely beautiful!! This must have been a ton of work! Love it.

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  10. love your book so vintage looking thanks for the peek
    hugs

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  11. I can't believe I beat you to the punch today. It's been a horrible day. I keep getting a 503 errors after I write a long message.

    I was crying over Pandora's story. You should get a medal. At least one from Bleubeard since he saw me crying. Is that a new recliner in your studio? Looks comfy. I can't wait to see the whole book. It looks very textural and would love to feel it. Happy WOYWW from #2.

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  12. what an adorable book with an even more adorable story behind it, thanks for sharing

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  13. Your book is so wonderful and your workspace so darn tidy! I think I need to take a closer look at your adhesive holder...very inventive! Thanks for stopping in tonight! Sue Kment #25

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  14. lovely lovely book with so many beautiful details! i enjoyed your story, so glad you took them with you. couldn't stop reading cuz i wanted to find out.

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  15. Well what a wonderful journal!
    I've just spent I don't know how long reading it all. Those kitties are so beautiful, I can understand your pull to help them.
    We took in a feral cat years ago, a runt, who had been abandoned by mum. We didn't think she'd last the night, but went on for another 18 years!
    Wonderful book too, love that vintage look!
    A wonderful snoop today, thanks!
    Chrissie

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  16. I adore your book, it is truly stunning! Pam (20)

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  17. Oh now that is supreme shabby chic - really gorgeous Annette, and such a labour of love! Your desk is quite tidy - I console myself that it wouldn't have been whilst you were mid flow - distressing must cause some fluff, for sure!

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  18. Thank you so much for sharing the story of Pandora - it's fab. To answer your question about the TV reception - we live in a rented house, and here in the UK we're switching over to digital TV Signal. The lady who owns the house only has analogue aerials on the roof, and we refuse to pay for a digital aerial to be put up when we don't own the place. So we go without TV. And you know what, I don't miss it. It means I'm much more selective about what I DO watch through the internet, and I don't waste my life sat in front of a square box..... LOL

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  19. What a beautiful book and I read every word about Pandora and her siblings, how lovely to record it all.

    Hugs
    Brenda 96

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  20. Love your book it is gorgeous. Must confess I have just sat with tears welling up in my eyes reading your account of the kittens and Mum.

    What a lovely lady you are. You deserve some recognition for what you have done for those kittens. Bless You!

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  21. I read the entire story now, I'm so glad you could take the two cats with you. But so much heartbreak in between.

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  22. Wonderful book and a wonderful story

    Enjoy your day Candace

    (little late this week so I'm #150)

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  23. Gosh, the whole kitty story has been a real labour of love hasn't it? You've worked so hard to do best by them all and how lovely that Pandora and TomTom are now with you in Calgary.

    It's mad how big Halloween is over in the US & Canada - I kinda wish we made more of an effort over here really.

    Anyway, I enjoyed reading your story - give the 2 kitties some strokes from me!

    Ciara
    xx

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  24. It's a beautiful book... and beautiful story. Thanks for sharing.

    Terry #18

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  25. Oh my goodness Annette I didn't realise how much you had been through with the cats!
    When I was in Morocco on holiday there were lots of stray cats around the hotel. I think had you been there you woudl have done the same as me. I took ood back from the restaurant most nights and fed them on my (ground floor) patio. I met this lovely woman who it turns out is from Aberdeen! and she checked as many cats as she could for fleas etc as she runs a branch of the Cats Protetcion League. I am in touch with her through facebook and I am sure that she would love to read your blog post. Do you mind if I pass on a link to your blog?

    Hope you are keeping well.
    Sharon
    x

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  26. Oh my goodness Annette I didn't realise how much you had been through with the cats!
    When I was in Morocco on holiday there were lots of stray cats around the hotel. I think had you been there you woudl have done the same as me. I took ood back from the restaurant most nights and fed them on my (ground floor) patio. I met this lovely woman who it turns out is from Aberdeen! and she checked as many cats as she could for fleas etc as she runs a branch of the Cats Protetcion League. I am in touch with her through facebook and I am sure that she would love to read your blog post. Do you mind if I pass on a link to your blog?

    Hope you are keeping well.
    Sharon
    x

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  27. So honoured to part of Pandora's life and have a mention here (ie I gave her her name!). I do hope that maybe someday I might get the chance to meet her, she really does sound a character! Dh suggested calling one of our kitties Pandora but told him there could only ever be one!

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  28. Tears are tripping me over the cats ... first thing Saturday morning ... bless. I hope they love Canada - I know I would !

    Love 'n' hugs xxxxx

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  29. How does it feel to be responsible for a tsunami of tears over your blinkin' cats...?! LOL!
    What a wonderful story - I was gripped from beginning to end.
    You have at least one 'proper' book in you Hunni - you write so much from the heart.
    Hugs
    Ei
    x

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  30. wow- what a wonderful story.You have me all teared up.Bless you forlooking after those cats so very well!!

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Thank you for taking the time to leave your comment, it is truly appreciated - sort of confirms that it is more than my Mum and husband that read this thing! :)