A Cat's Tail

Meet Chivers!

He lives next door.
Last week he picked a fight with our cat flap.

He lost the fight.
And he lost his tail.

This week his owners are having a few days away so I'm feeding him and making sure he gets his antibiotics and loads of affection.

He's desperate to get outside - hopefully soon!

It's all gone a bit Gerald Durrell

It appears I wasn't the only one pulling an all nighter last night.

After a very late night surfing to distract me from some tummy ache I finally climbed wearily back into my bed at around 4am this morning, looking forward to getting a couple of hours of shut eye before having to be up for work. Just as I was dropping off what sounded like the whole of the feathered cast of Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds' decided to have a party outside my bedroom window. I opened one eye just a bit to see if the celebrations were due to the sun putting in an appearance, but no, it was still pitch black out there. I was just about to cover my head and ears with my pillow when I realised, that actually, it sounded quite lovely and soothing.

Their premature saluations to the Sun God lasted about an hour. They had my attention now, with only the occasional distraction of the soft snoring of my other half. I played 'see how many different bird sounds I can hear' before finally dropping off to sleep.

I woke again with the sun sometime after 5.00 - when there was only the gentle 'coo coo' of a solitary pigeon to be heard. I reckon the other birds had decided to quit this crazy scene and go find some breakfast.

Needless to say I'm now completely trashed. But it was worth it.

Potato Pie and Tractors

Two book recommendations for ya.

The first I read a couple of months back, namely "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer. It's a lovely book and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this tale of a writer who gets involved with the inhabitants of Guernsey and their recounting of their experiences during WWII. It's an interestingly indirect take on how the german occupation affected the islanders, but there's loads of humour in there and the obligatory love story. The only disappointing bit was the predictable happy ending - I hoped for something a bit more realistic.

I must be growing up.

The second I read just this weekend, in a couple of sittings. "A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian" by Marina Lewycka is as quirky as it is thought provokking. A tale which starts with the 80 something Ukrainian refugee father of our narrator announcing his intention to marry a blonde, buxom 30 something he met at the local Ukrainian Social Club. His two daughters find it difficult to be civil to each other but become united against their father's decision. As the siblings relationship progresses, family secrets and heartaches are revealed leaving our narrator to wonder how two children from the same family can have such differing experiences and views of life.