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Friday 31 October ~ by Gemini
As most people know, I am a multi talented sort of a cat, with experience in lots of useful things such as box checking, cupboard investigating and of course bicycle maintenance. It's not generally known however that I am also very good at organising sewing boxes. I started with balls of wool when I was a kitten, and later graduated onto cotton reels, tape measures and thimbles. As you can see I'm now able to organise the whole sewing box at once, nothing is beyond my skills. OK, so it look very much like a tool box, but if you knew the standard of 'her' sewing you'd understand!
Thursday 30 October ~ by George
We had a whole bunch of visitors tonight, more visitors in fact than you could shake a stick at. Apparently that's the way to tell if you have too many visitors, by trying to shake a stick at them. Our folks didn't shake a stick at any point in the proceedings, so I drew the obvious conclusion. Anyhow the Giggle Lady was there and also the LIB's (Ladies with Interesting Bags), but as there weren't any spare chairs, me and Gemini retreated upstairs onto the bed instead. One nice thing about this sort of gathering, is that there is usually various food items on offer, and we weren't disappointed today. After they'd all left we came down to help with the leftovers, and I discovered the delights of cheese sandwich biscuits! They're great, first you get the salt-lick bit on the outside, then the crunchy bit, and finally the cheesy bit (my favourite bit). The folks weren't overjoyed that I'd left a heap of crumbs on the table, but it wasn't my fault they didn't put them in my bowl is it?
Wednesday 29 October ~ by Gemini
It's just been so cold and yukky outside today, that I have felt totally justified in staying indoors all day keeping warm and doing lots of washing, (well apart from a couple of trips to do the necessary, but I kept those as brief as possible). Mainly I washed myself, but I washed George quite a bit too, and he very obligingly washed me back. I reckon we must be the cleanest cats in our road after today. The only difficult thing about this mutual washing business is when we both decide to wash each others faces as the same time, that's a bit tricky I must say! As you can see from the photo we gave it our best shot, but we kept bumping noses. Luckily for me George hadn't had any garlic today, I'd have made him wash his own face then. In fact if he'd had garlic, I'd have made him wash on a different chair altogether!
Tuesday 28 October ~ by George
I'm sorry but I'm totally confused now. I really thought fireworks night was last weekend, basically because there were just so many fireworks going off (usually a bit of a clue that), but there's been fireworks going off last night too, and now again today. What's going on? I can't believe so many people have got the day wrong! I hate the things, just as well we have a reasonably quiet spare room to retreat to, otherwise I'd be behind the sofa with earplugs in all evening. I don't wish to sound like a party pooper or anything, I mean I really enjoyed the display last year down near Sooty Cat's place. I sat in the upstairs window with one of the folks and watched all the coloured lights going up into the sky, it was quite magical. But this year, there just seems to be loads of bangs and no colours. Can't someone invent quiet fireworks please? Either that, or cat earplugs!
Monday 27 October ~ by Gemini
What a darned cheek some cats have! I couldn't believe my whiskers this morning when I went out on patrol in our front garden, and spotted this black and white intruder right up one of our trees! It was only after our birds, yes our birds! Naturally I shot straight over there, with the intention of going up after him, but he saw me coming and virtually flew down that tree, smart cat. If anyone's going to catch the birds in our garden it's going to be us. As George would say, 'Grrrrrrr'. I rediscovered one of my best winter evening places tonight, which is under the radiator on the landing. There's a nice hot upright pipe at each end of it, so I lay with my head by one of them and my bum by the other. Oh yes, a full belly and a warm bum - heavenly!
Sunday 26 October ~ by George
OK I'll admit Gemini's tunnel did look rather good, and I would have liked a go in it, but I suppose it was her turn for an adventure. I had a game of Blanket Boxing with one of the folks this morning (it's becoming something of a Sunday tradition), and later on I got to witness the Changing of the Compost Bin (that's like the Changing of the Guards only without... oh you guessed already). For some reason it was decided that the compost bin should be moved, and all the contents mixed up, turned over and shovelled back into the bin, I have no idea why but it was fun to watch. Some of this year's baby froglets were living behind the bin, so they had to move house with the bin (and with some help from me). Gemini said there's plenty of overgrown shrubs and unidentified plants in our weed borders, so the frogs have loads of homes to choose from. This is our folk's excuse for not doing the weeding, they say they're not weeds, they're habitat!
Saturday 25 October ~ by Gemini
Sorry George, for once I think I had a much more exciting adventure than you! I found this tunnel you see, down by the pond, and could I resist it? No I could not! The folks had rolled back the netting on the pond to clear out some of the old weed and stuff, and made this fantastic tunnel, just perfectly cat-sized. On the same principle as 'what goes up must come down', I think I demonstrated that 'what goes in must come out', so here's me going in... and coming out again! I went through it four times, and where was George? Missing out on the fun, that's where!
Friday 24 October ~ by George
Me and Gemini have been playing helicopters today! I don't mean the big noisy machine-type helicopters that people ride in, but the ones that come off pigeon trees that spin round in the wind, and have to be chased and pounced on. Gemini says they come from sycamore trees, but she's wrong, these ones definitely came off next door's pigeon tree. Anyway, there's loads of them in our garden now, and one of the folks plays this game with us, where they scoop up a handful of them and throw them up in the air, and they all come spinning down in the wind for us to play with. They look like moths as they come down, but they don't taste like moths unfortunately, (both me and Gemini tried to eat one, and found that out the hard way). I caught one in mid air, right between my teeth, which I think makes me the champion. Playing helicopters is the only good thing about windy weather. Interesting fact: I recently found out where wind is made - they grow it on winds farms! How bizarre is that!?
Thursday 23 October ~ by Gemini
I am going to totally ignore George's remarks about me having slept all through yesterday, on the grounds that he just doesn't appreciate sleeping as being an art form like I do. He just sleeps to, well, to get some sleep! I was in demand today to combine my sleeping skills with my occasional role as Nurse Gemini, when one of the folks crashed out in a sleeping bag on the sofa, saying they were 'feeling a bit dicky'. Humans do this from time to time, and the quickest way to get them feeling back to normal is with a good dose of feline companionship. If there are any other potential 'Nurse Cats' out there, here are my top tips for making your human feel better: Firstly, lay down as close to their face as possible, and purr right into it. Second, locate the nearest bit of bare skin (arm, hand, face etc.) and dribble down it. Thirdly, drape yourself right over the most convenient bit of them and go to sleep there, purring as loud as possible. George hasn't quite got the hang of this nursing lark, deciding instead to just leap on top of them from the back of the sofa. No bedside manner that boy!
Wednesday 22 October ~ by George (again)
I know it's not my turn to do the diary, but Gemini's been asleep on the armchair by the radiator all day, and she's still there! I figured 'Today I slept all day' wouldn't be the most exciting diary entry in the world, whereas I've had a most exciting day indeed, very much a going bonkers day in fact. It was freezing outside, and cosy inside, so what was a smart George to do other than go bonkers playing Rug Tug with the living room mat (which has irresistible woolly tassles at each end). I've managed to completely pull out one of the rows of wool now, although I don't think the folks have noticed yet. My best tactic is laying with two paws under the the rug, and two paws on top and just pummelling it, then I leap up, dash under the table, hide for a bit and then rush out and attack the mat again when it's not looking. See? Far more exciting than Gemini's day, although she'll probably make some excuse later about needing her 'beauty sleep'. (It's true she needs it more than me though, heh heh heh!)
Saturday 18 to Tuesday 21 October ~ by George
We never did find out where Communicado was, although we haven't been able to use the computer all weekend. The folks went off somewhere and didn't even leave it plugged in for us! Now we're both very smart cats, but even we haven't worked out a way to put plugs in sockets, so we've just had to be a bit lazy for a couple of days (thankfully we're good at that when the occasion demands). Next door lady came in to supply us with food, which is something she is very good at, and she always over-estimates how much we eat. Gemini says it would be rude to leave any too, seeing as she's being so kind, so she makes sure to finish every bit! Next door lady had an added treat this time, she got to clean out my litter box, so now even next door know how great my poos are! The folks came back today (Tuesday), I expect they'd been to Communicado without us. I don't mind, it wasn't on my 'must see' list anyway.
Friday 17 October ~ by Gemini
We had a very cosy day today, mostly spent snuggled up on one of the folk's dressing gowns on the office sofa (every office should have a sofa, particularly if there are cats in charge). It's by a radiator too, which makes it rather desirable as a napping spot. The inside of my belly was also rather cosy at dinner time, after a few nice bits of tuna found their way inside it. I must say I am slightly confused by tonight's information that we are going to be in somewhere called Communicado for the next few days. I thought I'd mis-heard but the folks definitely said we were going to be in Communicado. My geographical knowledge is usually fairly good, but this is a new one one me. I hope it's not far because George will wail in my ear all the way!
Thursday 16 October ~ by George
I'm getting used to this cold and windy weather we've been having, but that's only because it's out there and I'm in here of course. Being all cold out there with it is no fun at all, but being all cosy in here is lots of fun, mainly because of our rugs and cushions. We have three rugs, two downstairs and one up, all of whom enjoy a good game of Rug Tug, (even though I always win, they like the taking part). Cushions of course have a double use, first and most importantly, they are a crucial part of that well-known cat sport, Cushion Caving (that's where you dig and scrabble your way under the cushions and go bonkers). Second, as demonstrated in the photo, they are also good for crashing out on afterwards! This is my favourite cushion, not only because it's the fluffiest, but being black it shows up my true handsomeness!
Wednesday 15 October ~ by Gemini
I've started to drive the folks mad again by walking the tightrope across the pond. Well it's not exactly a tightrope, it's more like walking the plank. We have this netting thing, that goes across the pond at this time of year to stop all the leaves from next door's Pigeon Tree falling in, and it's held together by thin wooden poles that go right across the pond. Well honestly, how could I resist? I have perfectly good balance being a cat, and I like a challenge, so in my expert opinion those poles are there to be walked across. The bit they don't like is when I get to the middle and the poles start to sag, so sometimes I stop just there and have a wash and a contemplate before moving on, that really gets them going! I suppose they think the poles are going to snap, and I'm going to end up in the water, but I'm not that heavy. Or that daft!
Tuesday 14 October ~ by George
Brrrrrrrr! That's my description of today, just quite simply Brrrrrrrrrrrrr! (that's even colder than the first one). I think I did the sensible thing by staying indoors, unlike Gemini who insisted on going out to do her garden patrol. She does that in all weathers, and all temperatures. She doesn't seem to feel the cold like I do, (although she does have a little more 'personal lagging' than me), but maybe tabby fur is warmer than white and black fur? I feel sure I serve a useful purpose by staying indoors though, for a start I keep her bit of duvet warm for her, and I don't hear her complaining about that, oh no. And someone has to keep guard in case of, well in case of any number of things. All manner of disasters could happen if I wasn't there to keep an eye on things, but luckily I was there, so all manner of disasters didn't happen. In fact I probably avert thousands of disasters over the course of the winter by staying indoors. George the Disaster Averter, that's me!
Monday 13 October ~ by Gemini
Sometimes when I go on morning garden patrol, I find things that weren't there the previous evening, but then I suppose that's the whole point of doing a patrol. Anyway this morning's patrol was very intriguing, with two unusual discoveries. First was a small squashy football on our path which I assume came over the fence from a nearby garden. Either that or George has finally taken up a proper sport instead of coffee table skating or advanced pouncing (pretty unlikely). My second discovery was a whole piece of toast on our patio! Now that's a bit more like it, unexpected food turning up out of the blue! Sadly there was no butter on it, so it was only good for a couple of nibbles, but at least it was an improvement on squashy footballs. My theory is that it was dropped by one of our local giant mutant (ten foot wing span) seagulls. If anyone knows who's football it is, we'll gladly return it, and if anyone knows who's toast it is, can we have some butter on it next time please?
Sunday 12 October ~ by George
No, this isn't one of those trick photos, or some modern art thing that's supposed to 'say' something but never does, it's me in there, honest it is! (take a closer look, I'm the one with the eye). I was helping out with the changing of the bed clothes today (that's like the changing of the guard only without the guards), and I invented this fantastic new game called Blanket Boxing. This blanket is 'crocheted' apparently which means it's like a normal blanket only with holes in. Now, when you get underneath it the holes are just right for poking your paws through and swiping at the other player. Gemini was off relaxing somewhere so the other player was one of the folks. I think I won because they ended up with a couple of very impressive scratches down their arm and I was totally unharmed! I am the Champion, I am the Champion!
Saturday 11 October ~ by Gemini
We had a bit of a worrying moment today, come to think of it, it was more like a worrying half hour! Our cat-box suddenly appeared in the hall, and that usually means one of two things - vets or cattery. Surely not the cattery, we've only just recently been there, and why the vets? George's harvest mite scabs have long since gone, and my dodgy eye is no longer dodgy. We tested the cat flap and that was still open, (it's normally shut if the folks want to corner us and shove us in the box), very odd indeed. Inspector Gemini of the yard (Back Yard, not Scotland Yard) had a mystery on her paws. A mystery that Big Bad George was not about to help solve either. He legged it outside just in case. The mystery was solved when Man in Socks turned up to borrow the box for his cat. Phew! (wipes brow, breathes sigh of relief, gets stuck into biscuits to celebrate!)
Friday 10 October ~ by Gemini and George
It's good when we find a game we like to play together, and that we're both good at, and Crinkly Bags is just such a game. Most bags are fun in their own way, but a really crinkly bag is absolutely the most fun of all. We discovered this one on our upstairs landing today, just lying there empty, and looking crinkly. Now for one thing, a crinkly bag should never stay empty for long, and for another, they very much like to be pounced on, so we did both. It wasn't big enough to both get in at the same time though, so we had to take turns being the 'Cat in the Bag' and the 'Cat out of the bag'. So, can we have a bigger one next time please?
Thursday 9 October ~ by George
Crumbs, that was quick! No sooner had I asked to have my toilet house back indoors, then there it was! Nice fresh scrunchy crunchy litter inside too, just how I like it. Shame the weather turned warmer again today, I won't want to use it now. I do appreciate the fact that it's there if I need it, and that it was brought in just for me, but I can't help it if the sun decided to come out again, can I? I thought it was winter, and now it's gone back to being almost summer again, very confusing. Even our frogs are confused. There's still plenty of them hopping in and out of the pond, when normally by this time of year they've packed their bags and flown south for the winter. The little weeny ones that were only born this year will have a bit of a shock when winter really does arrive, and they might have missed their flight by then! And they haven't got fur, Brrrrrrrrrrrr.
Wednesday 8 October ~ by Gemini
The tidying and clearing frenzy continues! Here I am in my role of Chief Cupboard Investigator. I think I should have waited for more of the 'stuff' to be taken out first, as it was a bit of a squeeze even for a cat of my slender proportions!
Tuesday 7 October ~ by George
I think it's about time I had my toilet house back indoors please, (yes, that is a hint). It doesn't stay in the house through the summer, because I prefer to do my toilet business outside in interesting places, but now that it's starting to get cold and windy those outdoor places aren't so appealing. I like my toilet house, it's just the right size, Gemini never uses it and I can really make a good job of things in there. And I do so like to make a good job of toilet things, with lots of scrabbling and digging and covering over. Oh yes, I was brought up properly in that department, although Gemini still says I go on about it too much. Anyway, today was particularly windy and cold, and where was my toilet house when I needed it? Still in the garage, that's where! I'm going to have to start dropping some big hints to get it brought in for me, hints like pooing in the bath, that usually works! No, I haven't resorted to that yet, but if I had a sleeve, a poo in the bath would be the ace up it!
Monday 6 October ~ by Gemini
Every now and then one of our folks goes into a mad tidying up and clearing out frenzy. It doesn't happen often thankfully, but today was phase one of their latest frenzy (there's always more than one phase). It usually starts with cupboards being emptied out all over the floor, which is my favourite bit, because I have to do a tour of inspection of all the stuff, and smell-test it all to see if it's rubbish or not. Phase one seemed to be mostly paper so the recycling bin is now overflowing, and the rest was clearly mostly rubbish. I'm then required to get into the cupboard to check for any straggling rubbish, and to make sure it's safe for new rubbish to be put back inside. I have wondered why it is that humans seem to keep so much of the stuff, when most of it rarely gets used, and just sits there until the next frenzy. And, although I like cupboards, I fail to see why they need more than one. Surely the food cupboard is the only useful cupboard? Or is that just me?
Sunday 5 October ~ by George
There's a half-crazed murderous monster living under our stairs! It's terrible, it's fierce and ferocious and would probably destroy the world if it got loose! I haven't decided what to do about it yet, whether to go in and get it (which I'm more than capable of doing, of course) or whether just to make sure it stays in there and never gets out. I haven't actually seen it you understand, but I know it's there. The door was open just a crack today, and I peered in with one eye and I saw something move, which made me leap back in surprise. There's never been anything under our stairs that moved before (apart from a spider, and I ate that) and Gemini wasn't in there playing with the Christmas stuff, so it must be the monster. Until I decide on my tactics, I'm being very careful, and running past the door quickly in case it leaps out and takes me by surprise. The folks think I've gone a bit barmy, but then they don't know about the monster yet. When they do find out, they'll be jolly glad that Big Bad George, Defender of the Universe is there to save the day. Yeah. Grrrrrrrrrr.
Saturday 4 October ~ by Gemini
I'd like to state for the record that this photo isn't what it looks like, despite what it says on the glass. It was just tap water, really it was! And yes, I know it's only tap water that our folks put down in our water bowl every day, but I never drink that sort of tap water. I only want the sort of tap water that wasn't meant for us if you know what I mean. Water always tastes better when I've found it myself, like the rainwater in the bucket outside, or out of the pond. Same with water left in the washing up bowl, that's OK too, even if it is sometimes still a bit sudsy. So there you have it, I haven't suddenly started hitting the bottle or anything you'll be pleased to know. The only time I'll ever go near anything remotely alcoholic is at Christmas when the Bailey's appears, and that doesn't count because I only like it for the cream, oh and sherry trifle of course, but that's only because of the custard. And the cream. I can smell cream content at 100 paces!
Friday 3 October ~ by George
Gemini often says that there's always more than one way to look at things, so I thought I should put her theory to the test, and guess what, she's right! I normally look at things pretty much straight on, as in the photo on the left, and I've got used to things looking that way. But, as you can see from the photo on the right, I've been experimenting with looking at things from upside down instead, like they do in Australia. I expect my mate the Parallel George (the one who lives in the parallel house on the other side of the mirror) sees things from inside out, but I'll save that experiment for another day. I must say though, of all the things that looked strange from upside down, definitely the strangest was the human taking the photo! (Mind you, they look pretty strange even when they're the right way up!)
Thursday 2 October ~ by Gemini
It's funny how some things happen every single year, and yet I forget all about them until they actually start happening, and they I think 'hey yes, I remember that from last year!' and it's exciting all over again. Today's excitement was remembering that this is the time of year when next door's tree starts to shed all it's leaves. It's like an annual leaf migration, where they all migrate down into the gardens, and we get leaf-drifts everywhere. I like leaves best when it's windy like today, and they whizz round and round on the patio, and flap down the path. It makes me feel all kitteny actually, and the only thing to be done is to chase after them. It's one of the outdoor games that me and George enjoy playing together. We have been known to play with leaves indoors too, but that usually only lasts until one of the folks finds the leaves and chucks them in the bin, spoilsports!
Wednesday 1 October ~ by George
Despite their very many faults, I've decided that humans can sometimes be very considerate. I decided this today when I realised that they sit on our dining room chairs just long enough to warm them up for us! We have to be ready at the right time to take advantage of it though, so as soon as they stand up we have to quickly move on to the chairs before any of the heat is lost. There's one for each of us as you can see, which is perfect. We can both fit onto one chair if we need to, but it's a bit of a squash these days (it was OK when I was a kitten, and when Gemini's bum was smaller, but both of those things was ages ago!). Notice that the seats are made of a nice woven sort of straw-type stuff, which we find very handy for sharpening claws on. As I said, very considerate!
Tuesday 30 September ~ by Gemini
Ah yes, this is more like it, home sweet home. It's amazing how quicky we settle back into our routine after a spell away, it's almost like 'cattery?, what cattery?' Absence makes the heart grow fonder they say, but absence makes the grass grow longer is more accurate I think. Maybe the saying was meant to be 'makes the grass grow longer' and someone mis-heard it. Anyway, now that I've had time to thoroughly inspect the place, I can report that the grass is longer, and the weeds are taller, and there's also some unidentified business under our front tree, (I can see I'm going to have to step up the boundary patrol for a while). The one thing I really miss about not being at home, apart from custard of course, is not being able to curl up on a lap. There's just something perfect about snoozing on a lap, and no amount of fluffy, soft, heated beds can match it. Every cat should own a lap. So, if there's any humans out there with a spare lap and no cat, there's plenty of spare cats in rescues who would love to help you out! (If you are after a cat for your lap though, don't pick a George, they don't really do laps!)
Monday 29 September ~ by George
OK so the folks turned up just after breakfast to take us home. Suppose they thought we'd be grateful they came early. Well maybe we were and maybe we weren't, but we'd decided to look unconcerned either way. We'd planned that this time we'd look totally indifferent when they arrived to collect us. So they turned up, Gemini looked at them nonchalantly from the top of our 'Activity Centre', and I just gazed out casually at them from the 'bedroom' bit, (I wasn't entirely sure how to look nonchalant). We were going to try to be indifferent all day, but that's impossible when you're being fussed to bits and given treats! And anyway, we had to get down to some serious exploring before lunch. Being in a cattery definitely makes me want to do serious exploring. Then we got coley for lunch, well I should think so too after what we've had to put up with for a week. Still I suppose the folks suffer more than us, I mean a whole week without us, that must have been hell for them!
Saturday 20 September to Sunday 28 September ~ by G & G
Stuck in the cattery. No comment, except to say Aaaaargh! That wasn't a comment on being in the cattery, it's not actually that bad to be honest, but on one side of us we had a mother and three kittens who just would not stop playing! And on the other side were these two oriental things that just would not shut up!
Friday 19 September ~ by Gemini
Today started so well. Sunshine, nice breakfast, a bit of fuss on the patio. Later we had a visit from one of our best cat fussing friends, Strange Object Man. He got that name because whenever he turns up he's always got some strange and unidentifiable object with him. Today he had two little cardboard tubes, no I have no idea, why but one of our folks was obviously impressed with them. I don't wish to know quite frankly, they didn't contain food, and that was their downfall in my opinion. We got totally caught out later in the afternoon, when I tried to get out the catflap and found it locked... bad sign... vets or cattery?... then I witnessed our scratch-post-playstation being carted out to a car... yup, cattery. If only they'd give us a bit of warning. On second thoughts if we had a warning, they'd never find us! So, just time to put a parting shot on of us in oblivious mode this morning. Oh well, BYEEEEEE, Back soon!
Thursday 18 September ~ by George
She loves me! I knew already of course, but it's still nice to be told. Yes, I had an email from my email girlfriend today. She called me handsome, brave, bouncy and rugged, which I am of course. She's ever so good at catching stuff, mice and voles usually, but she's even surpassed me in the catching stakes with her most recent catch I'm ashamed to say. Still, she's my email girlfriend and I'm proud of her, even though I'm dead jealous - she caught a pigeon! Still alive it was, which totally freaked her human out, heh heh heh. Well done TinkleBell the Killer Queen, my heroine! Oh and guess what else she said about me, after seeing the photos of my rear end in last week's diary, she said my bum had 'je ne sais quoi'. I have absolutely no idea what she's talking about but it's bound to be a compliment. I bet Gemini's bum doesn't have je ne sais quoi.
Wednesday 17 September ~ by Gemini
There's this little black fluffy thing with small white bits that has taken to sunning herself under the pampas grass in our front garden. There was a time when I would have chased her off at first sight, but do you know, lately I just can't seem to be bothered. Starting trouble all seems like too much trouble these days. I mean if she started taking real liberties like coming in through the cat flap and eating our biscuits, then of course I'd box her ears, but what's a bit of sunbathing between cats? I think I must just be getting a little laid back in my middle age. In fact now I come think about it, I box George's ears far less often than I used to. I considered the possibility that George might in fact be less annoying than he used to be, but no, it's definitely me that's changed. So, if I'm improving with age, by the time I'm really old I'll be absolutely perfect!
Tuesday 16 September ~ by George
Do you know that if you eat food quick enough, and then sick it up again, it looks more or less the same as it did before you ate it, amazing eh? I did that this morning with my breakfast, that's how I found out. I didn't do it on purpose, it just sort of happened, one minute it was in my tummy and the next it was in a pile on the living room carpet. The downside of this scientific discovery was that I was hungry all morning, and the folks wouldn't feed me again until lunchtime. Wait for your stomach to 'settle down' they said, oh great, and in the meantime I waste away to nothing is that it? Grrrrr. I'm not ill, I just ate it all too quick before my tummy had woken up that was all. Maybe I should learn from Gemini, she takes ages over her breakfast. I've usually been outside, rolled on the patio and run up and down the garden three times before she's finished!
Monday 15 September ~ by Gemini
I've been feeling so much better lately, and today I felt well enough to have an adventure under the stairs. That might not sound ever so exciting, depending on what's under your stairs, but under ours is a virtual playground. It's got everything from big boxes to little boxes, umbrellas, coats, an old sewing machine, a vacuum cleaner (not switched on thankfully), the odd spider if I'm lucky, various unidentified pipes, wooden things, bags and oh, this is the best thing... Christmas is under there! Yes, if anyone wondered what Christmas does all the rest of the year, it lives under the stairs! I dived into one of the many cardboard boxes, and found myself plunged into a pile of sparkly tinsel and christmas decorations. Christmas in September, how cool is that? If I'd known it was there before, I'd have had Christmas every week! The folks had to fish me out in the end, but I managed to cling on to a little piece of red tinsel just to prove where I'd been. It felt just like a Mr. Ben story!
Sunday 14 September ~ by George
I do so like Sundays like this. Coley fish, sunshine, muck-rolling, getting fussed, chasing pigeons, more coley fish, then crashing out on our new bed-on-a-box for the evening. Not sure about the folks' cheesecake though, I feel sure cheesecake is not meant to be a cat thing. Gemini liked it, (it was food, 'nuff said) and she reckons I'm just not gastronomically adventurous. She's wrong though, I'm very adventurous where food is concerned. I'll go almost anywhere, under bushes, over fences, through dense jungles, up unclimbed mountains and across uncharted waters (provided I had a map), if I thought I'd get a sparrow for lunch, I mean how much more adventurous can you get? I reckon someone should cut out the middle-cat and make sparrow or mouse flavour cat food. I'm sure eight out of ten cats would agree with me!
Saturday 13 September ~ by Gemini
I've been avoiding having my photo taken whilst my eye's been all horrid, but today I decided it looked well enough for a brief photo shoot. I insisted on being partly shaded by the bushes in one of my napping spots though, I figured that was the next best thing to soft focus and might even enhance my tabby gorgeousness (if that's possible). It's not the best photo ever of me, but at least I can keep both eyes open all the way, which I definitely couldn't do last week. This time last week I would have been quite happy with a patch over one eye, practising balancing a parrot on my shoulder and saying 'pieces of eight', but thankfully it didn't come to that. Anyway, the parrot wouldn't have lasted five minutes with George around.
Friday 12 September ~ by George
Ever since Gemini had the thumbs up from the vet yesterday she's been like a new cat. In fact she's been acting more like a kitten than she has since, well, probably since she was a kitten. I don't think she was actually bothered by the idea of having the stitches, but she desperately did not want to wear one of those funnel-collar thingies! ( I wouldn't have laughed, honest!) So, she's been chasing me up the garden at every available opportunity, playing Hunt the Frog with me in our latest pile of branches, rolling in the muck (I knew she'd get to like that in the end) and tonight she even played follow-the-cotton with one of the folks, which is something she hasn't done for ages. I reckon there was something strange in that eye cream that's made her go all sort of bouncy somehow. If that's the case I hope I never need any, my bouncy-ness quota is high enough already thanks!
Thursday 11 September ~ by Gemini
YAY! No stitches, I don't need stitches, I'm free, I'm free! Thank you Bastet! Thank you Mr. Vet, I love you! Right, er, well, I think that's quite clear then, yes, that definitely says it all. My eye is going to be fine, and I don't need stitches, so whatever else happened today doesn't really matter, this is the best news I could have had. Seems the squidgy eye-cream did it's job, and my theory of eating myself better helped enormously I'm sure. It'll take a while for the damage to completely heal of course, so I might have to eat myself better for some time yet. I'm going to have to spill the beans about George losing his cool though. When the catflap got locked up to make sure I didn't escape before the vet run (as if...), George panicked. He panicked so much that he actually broke the front off the catflap! (Big Bad George, heh heh heh!)
Wednesday 10 September ~ by George
So, two days in a row that I get to write about me, that's a bonus for the world isn't it? (It's because Gemini will want to do tomorrow's diary when she gets the verdict about her eye from the vet, yaaawn). It's a shame it rained most of today really, because most of the exciting stuff seems to happen outside. Still, we did get a new cat bed today, which was unexpectedly good. The folks figured that seeing as we spend quite a lot of our napping time up on the cardboard t-shirt boxes, that they might as well make us a proper bed up there! They made it exactly the size of the boxes, and it's three duvet-layers thick, and what's even better is that I found it first! That makes it officially mine, that's the way we work it, whoever discovers something first owns it. This is why I own the filing cabinet and the airing cupboard, and Gemini owns the sock drawer and the jumper cupboard. We're very democratic, (until it comes to prawns or coley, then it's every cat for themself!).
Tuesday 9 September ~ by George
I'm sorry, I can't write about Gemini's eye any more, it's getting boring and I want to write about frogs now. Today was an unexpected frog-fest for me. One of the folks got hold of the Giant Water Snake this morning (codename hosepipe), and was spraying water into the pots on our patio. I had no idea until then that there were loads of this years little froglets living in them, so when the water hit, out they popped! They're so springy and bouncy too, so I didn't waste any time chasing them off into the weed-borders. It's just like tiddley winks only with frogs instead of tiddleys. Seeing as Gemini's refused to have her photo taken since she's had this dodgy eye, I figured it was down to me to add some colour to the diaries. So here are some smashing photos of one of my (many) best sides!
Monday 8 September ~ by Gemini
I absolutely deny that I'm eating any more now than I was before my enforced starvation last week, I'm just keeping my strength up, that's all. I simply must make my eye better by Thursday to make sure the vet doesn't prescribe the stitches and collar thing. So, I'm eating myself better, and I've also been allowing the folks to administer the squidgy eye cream without administering my claws into their legs, which is what I'd normally do in such undignified circumstances. We had some chicken today too, which made me feel even better with every mouthful! George's expert advice for feeling better was to roll around in the muck on the patio, he said it always works for him, so I tried that too. Surprisingly, I think it did help a little, particularly the bit where I rolled upside down and stayed there with the sun on my belly, that definitely helped. Oh, and George, if you're reading this, I love you OK, but you can be so daft sometimes. Yes I'm talking about the golf balls!
Friday 5 to Sunday 7 September ~ by George
It's not like me to pass up an opportunity to go on about myself, and what exciting things I've been up to, but in this case I think it's only right that I report on Gemini's weekend instead. When I heard about her 'eyelid-thing' it made me feel quite ill, and I don't know how she kept so calm about it all. All she did was grump about not being able to eat. So when she came home without having the stitches, boy did she hit that food bowl! In fact I think she's been making up for it ever since, surely she's replaced her lost food by now? Anyway, she's being given the squidgy eye-cream treatment several times a day, so in addition to making up for one missed supper and breakfast, she's now comfort eating as well! She knows the vet wants to see her again on Thursday, so her tactic is to stoke up on her energy now, in case he makes her starve again. In Professor George's opinion, I think her eye looks better than it did, and her stomach looks wider than it did!
Thursday 4 September ~ by Gemini (again)
Sorry George I know it's your turn and you probably had something really exciting to write about, but I really have to continue on from yesterday's shock vet visit. I was due to go in for stitches in my third eyelid this morning, which I wasn't looking forward to, particularly as it meant I wasn't allowed any food last night, or this morning (and just the thought of not eating something at least every three hours makes me feel weak!). But I woke up this morning feeling rather better, and my eye wasn't so sore, and it definitely wasn't all gungy like yesterday. I wasted no time in doing my best 'Hey look, I'm getting better, honest I am!' act, accompanied by loads of purring. Now I have to congratulate our folks for their part, they took me in to see the vet again, put forward my 'getting better' case, and he went for it! He gave me a tube of squidgy eye-cream and a week's reprieve in which to see if it really is healing on it's own, (oh please, please). This is all very well, and good news for now, but what about my ordeal of having no food for over 14 hours? Never mind my eye, I could have died of starvation!
Wednesday 3 September ~ by Gemini
Oh dear, this is not good news. My eye landed me up at the vets today, which wasn't a complete shock, given the amount of fuss that was being made about it. What was a complete shock was to be told I have to go back there again tomorrow for stitches! My eye has been rather badly damaged apparently and to stop it getting infected, they're going to stitch my third eyelid right up over my eye, so that I won't even be able to see out if it. George thinks I'm joking, and I wish I was. Our vet might make jokes about my weight sometimes (which I don't mind because he loves me), but he wasn't joking today. The stitches will come out of course, once my eye's healed up. Oh, and I'll say this bit before George does, I'm going to have to wear one of these bizarre plastic collars too. George better not laugh too loud, or I'll have to remind him it's my eye that's out of action, not my paws!
Tuesday 2 September ~ by George
I'm not going to tell Gemini this but I heard the folks muttering about 'vets' today, and I'm pretty sure it's to do with her weepy eye. She says it's nothing, but personally my money's on a vet trip anytime now. Anyway, on to the strange event of today which took both me, and one of the folks by surprise. I don't 'do' laps as a rule, sitting on laps for more than a minute at a time isn't a very George thing to do. But tonight, when I decided to allow her lap the priviledge of thirty seconds or so of having a George on it, I didn't forsee me falling asleep there! I mean, how can you just forget where you are and fall asleep in less than thirty seconds? Perhaps it's my age, maybe being seven does funny things to you. I must have been asleep there for twenty minutes at least, how scary is that? The only good thing was that the lap was asleep too, so maybe she didn't notice.
Monday 1 September ~ by Gemini
Over the summer our folks have had various postcards from various people on holidays, ('weather is here, wish you were lovely' that sort of thing). The pictures are pretty boring, castles or beaches usually, but today a postcard arrived with a superb collection of Cornish Cats on! What's so special about that you might ask? Well I'll tell you, it wasn't for our folks, it was addressed to us, Gemini & George, the folks didn't even get a mention! The other news today is that I've got a weepy eye with a cut underneath it. The folks of course went into salt-water-cotton-wool-major-event mode, but I got lots of extra fuss and cuddles too (naturally I put on a 'poor me' look for added effect). They leapt straight to the conclusion that I'd been in a fight, and even George gave me some 'licks & sympathy'! (I haven't the heart to tell them I caught it on a bramble-bush!)
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