Cat life

 Lately Pete has been in the wars. We don't know what happened but he had definitely been fighting. He got this nasty wound on his face which became infected and swollen.

It took the vet and three assistants to shave his face enough to inspect and clean the cuts. He had a few jabs and some pain killer drops.

After a few (hilarious) days of walking around like this, he was allowed back out again. All in all it was an expensive fight.

Today he was already fighting with the neighbour cat again...I'm glad we'll be on holiday and away from trouble soon.

Spot the Cat

 Above you can discover Pete's latest hiding place if you look close enough.

 These two are previous favourites. He's so tricky!

Bird Watching

For a while now, we've been seeing more and more birds appear on our balconies, especially at the front where we still have the feeders from Winter.  Nico finally snapped this woodpecker out there on Wednesday - normally they are long gone before we reach the camera.

Nico's grandad gave us a bird box which we fitted to the front of the flat (out of Pete's reach) and there are bluetits nesting in there already!  We also discovered some nesting in our roof at the back - they are brave considering that's where Pete likes to sit.

In fact, it was a little sad this week when one was brave enough to sneak through the net at the wrong moment and paid the ultimate price.  We didn't realise until it was too late and we found Pete playing with the dead bird in the hall.  He was not impressed to have it taken off him even though Nico praised him for his good work.

Hopefully the rest will take the warning and stay outside the net for the summer.  One in eighteen months isn't too bad I guess...

Hide and Seek with Pete

On Monday, Nico found Pete, and an explanation for the muddy footprints we've been finding lately!

Pete's Latest Adventures

Nico and Pete enjoyed a new game of hide and seek yesterday while I was at work.  

Pete is so funny.  He has been trying to get on this bookcase for weeks but always gets told off when we catch him so the little sneak waits until we are out of the room, jumps up there somehow and then stays dead silent while he watches us search like crazy for him!  I'm just amazed he didn't knock anything off the shelves to get up there!

28 things - learn to draw

Over the past year, I have had a couple of attempts at this one.  I started with landscapes and when the process seemed to be going too slow, I jumped to cats so I could draw Pete!  Here are my latest attempts:

I really enjoyed this process.  A friend told me of a project where she draws scenes from places she visits on holidays and I hope to keep this hobby up in that way.

Cat Shaming

If you don't have a pet, you're really missing out.  Having Pete has changed our lives.  Not only is he calming and comforting but he is also highly entertaining.  Just the other night he had us in stitches when Nico offered him two treats but placed them separately to see which he went for and of course he managed to go for both at the same time...you probably had to be there.  I know, it can get really annoying when people go on about there pets all the time so I'm not going to but seriously, check out this amazing blog that my mum put me on to and you'll see what you're missing.  If it doesn't make you laugh, you've lost your sense of humour.  I check it out every few days and it always tickles me.

Pete's New Trick

Here's Pete's latest trick.  Now that we have new, larger glasses, he can drink out of them as well as his own bowl.  It doesn't matter if it's our water or not!  Now we have to keep an even closer eye on him!

New Adventures of Pete

As I mentioned, Pete has been enjoying a new hobby while we were on our travels - namely exploring.  Nico's Mum bought Pete a special cat lead and walked him around outside for an hour a day while we were away.  He acts really funny on grass, although he had gotten more used to it by the time we came back.  We've ordered one for our flat and can't wait to take him to the park!

The Saturday Update

It's been a lovely last week of the holidays for me.  Since arriving back last weekend, I spent Monday having lunch with the lovely Loreto who I had really missed during our combined travels and then signed my permanent contract!  

On Tuesday we visited Nico's family and picked Pete up.  We even took him for a walk around their huge garden on the lead and are looking forward to his new one arriving so we can do the same here. 

Wednesday was our last day of the holiday together as Nico was back on Thursday.  We relaxed and watched Total Recall!  I love the idea of the film but how dated it looked (I couldn't believe it was made in 1990) was laughable.  Looking forward to seeing the new version.

Thursday was a long, quiet but productive day by myself in the flat.  I got tidied and cleaned up, finished unpacking etc and read over half of Shadow in the Wind in preparation for reading Carlos Ruiz Zafon's latest instalment - The Prisoner of Heaven which I'm well into now.

Friday was more of the same, getting things done and reading lots.  Nico was home a little earlier though so we enjoyed a lovely steak dinner together.  Despite the lovely food and drink all week and not really paying attention to the diet since I'm going back to Weightwatchers, I have lost the pound that I put on on holiday.  I'm still planning to go back to meetings, I'm just waiting to get my timetable from school so I can see which time is best for me.

So next week is the big one, back to work, meeting the new class, more catching up with friends I haven't seen all Summer.... Have a good week!

Crazy Cat

Anyone who has visited our flat will tell you that Pete is quite spoilt, just about every room here has been turned over to Pete in some way and he has just about every cat toy imaginable.  So please believe me when I say that the picture below is not cat abuse - he chooses to curl up there for a nap despite having at least five other cat oriented sleeping places!  I guess he's like the child who has more fun playing with the box than the toys at Christmas!

Spot the Cat

Here's the latest round in what's becoming a regular feature - spot the cat!

Pete

Pete is in heaven lately, not only does he have a whole balcony to explore, getting one step closer to those birdies and now he can also drive one of his owners mad while she is trying to improve on her new hobby.  The creepy thing last week was seeing him swallow a long thread of wool whole! 

Balcony Love!

On our productive Saturday we finally got the balcony net fixed up so Pete can explore while we sit out in the sun.  Of course the sun has now disappeared but we're really pleased with how it looks and are just waiting for it to come back now!  Pete loves it - he's so cute!

And check out Nico's great work planting veggies on the front balcony too.