Coming soon...

Looking forward to this!

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.

Freedom!

For a week now, Pete has been free to roam the neighbourhood. One cat fight and two dead birds later, he's still enjoying his new found freedom.

Meanwhile, Nico and I are like parents of a teenager when he stays out late and Isabella can't work out why it's one rule for him and another for her.

It's nice to see him out and about though - he definitely missed the outdoors. 

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!

A Streetcat Named Bob

Just started the sequel - The World According to Bob!

Our Square Eyed Cat

 Since we got the television Pete has become obsessed with watching it (as well as the laptops, which never bothered him before). 

 He especially likes wildlife programmes with big cats and meerkats.

 As you can see he can't get close enough.  He also thinks the DVD player is a God and regularly worships it.

 He was so engrossed that he jumped out of his skin, hurting himself and Nico when Nico switched it off just moments after these photos.

I don't remember our cats watching TV when we were younger but a colleague's cat goes crazy for gorillas!

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!

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!

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!

Spot the Cat!

On Monday I finally got round to filing the papers that I have accumulated over the last two years, you can see how that looked above.  You can also see where Pete curled up for a nap and has been sleeping every day since!  Strange creature!

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.

The Saturday Update

Weekend breakfast in bed

 Good morning and Happy Weekend everyone!  This is how our weekend started - beautiful sunshine and a delicious breakfast in bed.  When we first talked about moving in together over a year ago now, the idea was to have less stress with travelling between flats and to be able to get a cat.  This morning really made me realise how many of our dreams have come true this year when we were in bed with breakfast and the cat watching German TV and just enjoying the weekend.  It's just wonderful!

 

 

 

Delicious gluten free croissants that Nico bought me

It's been a great week although very busy.  I finished another knitting project which I'm very proud of, conducted and marked the year ten English exam for my group and they did really well!!, and had another lovely lunch with Loreto, making a new friend - Camila and practising my Spanish!

On Tuesday I had a strange day when I managed to lock a pupil in a classroom over break, oops!  Luckily he wasn't as sensitive as I would have been and took it well...  It's made me a lot more cautious though!  I also had an interesting languages hiccup with a pupil which may have knocked my reputation at school.  He came to the staffroom asking for water and I wanted to tell him that we only had tap water - unfortunately I have visited one too many bars in Germany and said 'vom Fass' (from the barrel / on tap) instead of 'vom Hahn' (from the tap).  So while I may have gained a reputation as an alcoholic, I won't be making that mistake again and he took it in good spirit.  Tuesday also saw the last Spanish department meeting with our current head of department who is retiring at the end of this school year.  It was inspiring to hear her talk about her career at the school.  It made me both inspired to work harder in my Spanish classes and a little sad that I hadn't gotten to know her better over these two years.  It seems strange but I'm only just starting to feel like I belong in the school and that I'm part of a team there and not just the foreigner who's going to disappear again soon.  Still waiting on that contract though...

Wednesday was the exam day so it seemed really long, but as I said, the kids mostly did better than expected and when I worked out their overall grades, none have below a four which is good.

On Thursday I had a drink with my English students which was nice after not getting together for a while with holidays.  I don't always look forward to the meeting as it is a bit later in the evening and I'm tired after work but I always come away feeling good.

Friday was really nice as I had cover lessons now that year ten have finished and watched an English film with the year seven pupils.  I got all my cleaning and washing done before heading out in the glorious sunshine for a lunch with Loreto and Camila.  I find it hard to stay on track when eating out.  I guess it depends where you eat but we tend to eat at a restaurant which only has two salad options and neither of them sound very filling as they offer bread as a side which I can't eat.  I did okay though with a jacket potato and allowed myself a glass of wine.

This week I have stayed the same on the scales which is good considering how busy I have been and how I haven't had the energy for zumba in this heat.  We may head out to find the lake in Huchting later for a cooling swim so at least that will be some form of exercise and I have been cycling a lot including to work and back one day this week.  (It would have been two but a motorway accident on Friday meant that our route had very heavy traffic and I'm not comfortable enough on the bike to cycle through that.

Next week we will be having a visit from Mum and Doug so we will be out and about a lot.  We also have a nice long weekend due to a bank holiday Monday (with Tuesday off too) so let's hope this weather holds out!  We are visiting Fischerhude with Loreto on Tuesday which I have heard a lot about but will be new for me too so I'm excited about that too!  Have a good week!