December 2017

December 2017 has arrived with snow. By the 2nd it was over six centimetres deep.

This was all new to Lettie who had never seen or walked in snow before.

Fif’ took it all in her stride rushing out quickly and returning speedily to settle down to sleep for the rest of the day on the bed. The bird table has had to be replenished several times

and all the garden birds have taken shelter there and dined well.

June 2017

June has been a peculiar month. It started hot with temperatures of over 30 degrees then the temperature dropped down to less than 15 and yesterday it was over 37!

Then we had a mouse problem. Both cats brought into the house several mice which they then let loose, became bored and abandoned them. It became so bad that several traps were brought into use which eventually solved the problem. I am sure we got the cats to solve any mouse problems rather than extubate the situation.

Then Lettie went missing. We had just printed off a “Perdu” poster when she reappeared. She was totally unaware of the stress she had caused – just tucked into a meal and got on with life!

April continues

Although we have had a couple of very cold nights the frost has not damaged too much.  However, the' mouse in the house' season has returned with Fif'

bringing them in one at a time for Lettie.  Luckily we have been able to catch them and return them to the wild before Lettie

has a chance to get her claws into them.  We have seen our resident hedgehog trundling up the garden path at night and have a desman

 resident in the bank next to the stream.  So far he has been too quick to photograph.

First mouse

Wednesday night Thursday morning. At some unholy hour there came a thumping, scratching, rasping and jangling noise. On examination there was Lettie comfortably stretched out with an expired mouse under her right paw. As she had not been out I can only surmise that Fif’ brought it in for her. She used to do that for Willie. However, it was not difficult to retrieve the mouse from Lettie; Willie used to growl loudly and strike out if anyone else wanted his mouse! So, Lettie has now experienced two species of our local wildlife.

It is the end of March 2017 and we have lived through “Brexit” but as we are both French; Fifi and Lettie, we do not really care.

However, the owners have taken precautions to ensure we will be well cared for as one is French and the other is Irish. The weather has improved and we can go out hunting

and carousing and enjoying the work done in the garden.

It really is amazing what a noisy lawn mower can accomplish together with a ‘strimmer’ in good hands! Last year’s bulbs have survived and the trees planted on the bank are growing nicely.

But at the end of the day we both know where to rest and recuperate best.

Winter's back?

The sun had been shining and we thought that spring had arrived.

However, winter has a sting in its tail as we woke up this morning to this.

So we decided that a day on the bed was the order of the day!

More adventures

10th March and Lettie got her first lizard.

 She has been exploring the wood pile

and the other parts of her playground.  She appears to be very busy but no one is sure what she is doing! She now has learnt to climb fences

and get through all sorts of entanglements. Water always tastes better out of a watering-can.

 She certainly enjoys being outdoors and is always tired after supper.

Spring

It is March now and “spring” is here.  Although it has rained occasionally it is mainly dry and sunny so far. 

The daffodils are out

and the cats are exploring their domain enjoying their freedom.  It’s all new to Lettie but Fif’ has seen it all before and is enjoying showing off to the youngster!  Lettie’s coat is very well adapted for camouflage

and she can hide anywhere.  However, the birds are very aware of her.  She has her vantage points

and places to sleep.

Outside

Saturday 18th February and it was time for Lettie to explore outside in the garden. It was a lovely warm spring day with hazy sunshine. She was very timid at first

exploring the shrubs in front of the patio.

But after deciding that they were harmless but smelt nice

she progressed further afield. She was fascinated by the birds

and attempted to climb the ‘cat proof bird table’ with no success!

She ventured further afield and after an hour or so became quite used to the space and freedom.

Growing up

Settling Down

It has been just over a week since Lettie (as opposed to Lattie) arrived.  She has explored the whole house and she and Fifi have almost made friends.  Lettie has decided where her favourite places are

and the best places to sleep.  Apart from my lap she has taken over Tipsy's spot on the sofa and sleeps on the bed at night.

More exploring

A New addition

Off we went to the SPA as we had had an uninvited visitor through the cat flap. We thought that we would get a male cat which would be territorial and keep off the feline gate crashers. Although there were many males, including this one who we called the walrus

as his markings were appropriate. Helen fell in love with Lattie a female grey tabby!

So what happened? We returned home with Lattie, who as I write, is exploring her new domain and keeping a wary eye out for Fifi.

It should be an interesting night!

2017 so far

It’s the middle of January 2017 and Fifi has been on her own for about a month. She still looks for Tipsy but she is an independent sole and now patrols her domain with a certain amount of authority. So far she has brought in three mice and one bird for our inspection. Thereby showing us how much she appreciates us and advising us that her hunting skills are more than adequate! However, as much as we acknowledge that she is an expert huntress we have been unable to impress upon her that we are aware of her skills and that she does not need to show us so often. All the mice have been released back into the garden and the bird was set free. It just shows that she has the mouth of a “retriever” and rarely harms any of her prey. At the moment the garden is under an inch of snow and the temperature is below five degrees so Fifi is not impressed with this year’s winter!