Everyone, this is Cheeky. He's very pleased to make your acquaintance.
Oh, and don't let the appearance fool you, the name suits him perfectly.
Oh, and don't let the appearance fool you, the name suits him perfectly.
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Baa
Black sheep of the family? Well, in Spain, as I have recently discovered to yet more amusement, you'd be the garbanzo negro, or black chickpea.
Sunday, 23 November 2008
The old faithful
Yes, it's that time of year again. Be prepared for more sunsets (given my sleeping habits, I can't promise any sunrises), camera dependent.
Sunday, 26 October 2008
One of my favourite times of year
Oh yes. The clocks go back an hour tonight. And I get an extra sixty minutes in bed. Woo hoo!
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
*sigh*
The last couple of weeks have been trying. Normally I keep this kind of thing to myself and brood, but I've decided to try and moan more to people, let them know how I'm feeling and see if it helps me to cope better myself. If I stay up here on my own and keep it to myself I'm sure to go potty.
So here we go...The tooth reconstuction I shelled out for a month or so ago has broken already, and sod it, I'm just going to have what's left taken out instead of forking out a scary €1,500 for an implant.
I may have a wheat intolerance/allergy. It looks like my sister is at least intolerant. I need to make an appointment at the doctor's to get tested.
I lost a pumpkin. Remember last year's crop? Well this one was even bigger. It rolled down the hill, broke through the fence into the neighbour's finca, hit a bump in the earth, flew into the air, collided with the branches of a tree and exploded into pieces. Fortunately it was my part of the fence that broke, and not the neighbour's, becasue he's a grumpy old bastard who hasn't been very friendly in the past. It was also fortuitous that nobody was around to get in it's path, otherwise it may have become a killer pumpkin. Now I'm afraid to try and move its companion in case the same happens again. I've told Cris that if she wants her Halloween pumpkin at the academia this year I'll need help in harvesting it. It´s not so much the loss of the vegetable that made me sigh, rather the fact that it brought the realisation home that managing on my own is more difficult, and at times, rather wearing.
Shortly after witnessing the demise of the pumpkin, the woman who owns the field where I go to collect firewood moaned that I'd broken the wall surrounding the land by placing when my logs on it. I swore I'd been very careful and it wasn't me, she pointed out that she'd paid a considerable amount of money to get the wall done and that it had to have been me. I said I'd go and look at it. Which I did after she'd left. The old witch had marked every chip that had come of the wall using an old piece of roof tile. Some were in places where it would've been impossible for me to lay any wood (right in front of a lamp post for example) and others weren't even broken bits, just irregularities in the concrete. Anyway, I'm sure she's bad-mouthing me in the town now, she's that type of person. I'd love to tell her to stuff her wood, but this is my sole source of heating and I can't afford to buy any. I'll have to figure something out. I shall try and be diplomatic but if she winds me up I may end up forgetting how cold it gets here in January and February and tell her where to go after all.
Worst of all, I took the motherpuss from my mum's house to the vet's to make sure she wasn't pregnant which in itself went well - she wasn't - then brought her back here to see how she'd get on with my three and if having her here was an option since she behaved perfectly at the vet's and seemed to trust me completely; she ran straight out of the cat flap straight and I haven't seen her since. This happened ten days ago, despite going to call every night and keeping en eye out for her on the way to work every day there's no sign of her. I hate thinking I might not see her again, that she's out there on her own, and feel miserable knowing it's all my fault. Everything else that's happened in the last couple of weeks wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for this.
I'm fortunate to have a job to go to that cheers me up when I'm feeling down. I doubt many people can say that. I had a good laugh this evening when one class of students, when asked to name famous English people, responded with George and Mildred, (see here for a taster) which was mysteriously chosen, out of the many British comedies on offer, to be shown on Spanish TV, and it was still being rerun a couple of years ago. I find it absurdly amusing to imagine thousands, maybe even millons, of Spaniards watching the programme and forming ideas about the British from it.
So here we go...The tooth reconstuction I shelled out for a month or so ago has broken already, and sod it, I'm just going to have what's left taken out instead of forking out a scary €1,500 for an implant.
I may have a wheat intolerance/allergy. It looks like my sister is at least intolerant. I need to make an appointment at the doctor's to get tested.
I lost a pumpkin. Remember last year's crop? Well this one was even bigger. It rolled down the hill, broke through the fence into the neighbour's finca, hit a bump in the earth, flew into the air, collided with the branches of a tree and exploded into pieces. Fortunately it was my part of the fence that broke, and not the neighbour's, becasue he's a grumpy old bastard who hasn't been very friendly in the past. It was also fortuitous that nobody was around to get in it's path, otherwise it may have become a killer pumpkin. Now I'm afraid to try and move its companion in case the same happens again. I've told Cris that if she wants her Halloween pumpkin at the academia this year I'll need help in harvesting it. It´s not so much the loss of the vegetable that made me sigh, rather the fact that it brought the realisation home that managing on my own is more difficult, and at times, rather wearing.
Shortly after witnessing the demise of the pumpkin, the woman who owns the field where I go to collect firewood moaned that I'd broken the wall surrounding the land by placing when my logs on it. I swore I'd been very careful and it wasn't me, she pointed out that she'd paid a considerable amount of money to get the wall done and that it had to have been me. I said I'd go and look at it. Which I did after she'd left. The old witch had marked every chip that had come of the wall using an old piece of roof tile. Some were in places where it would've been impossible for me to lay any wood (right in front of a lamp post for example) and others weren't even broken bits, just irregularities in the concrete. Anyway, I'm sure she's bad-mouthing me in the town now, she's that type of person. I'd love to tell her to stuff her wood, but this is my sole source of heating and I can't afford to buy any. I'll have to figure something out. I shall try and be diplomatic but if she winds me up I may end up forgetting how cold it gets here in January and February and tell her where to go after all.
Worst of all, I took the motherpuss from my mum's house to the vet's to make sure she wasn't pregnant which in itself went well - she wasn't - then brought her back here to see how she'd get on with my three and if having her here was an option since she behaved perfectly at the vet's and seemed to trust me completely; she ran straight out of the cat flap straight and I haven't seen her since. This happened ten days ago, despite going to call every night and keeping en eye out for her on the way to work every day there's no sign of her. I hate thinking I might not see her again, that she's out there on her own, and feel miserable knowing it's all my fault. Everything else that's happened in the last couple of weeks wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for this.
I'm fortunate to have a job to go to that cheers me up when I'm feeling down. I doubt many people can say that. I had a good laugh this evening when one class of students, when asked to name famous English people, responded with George and Mildred, (see here for a taster) which was mysteriously chosen, out of the many British comedies on offer, to be shown on Spanish TV, and it was still being rerun a couple of years ago. I find it absurdly amusing to imagine thousands, maybe even millons, of Spaniards watching the programme and forming ideas about the British from it.
Sunday, 21 September 2008
Four-cat household
Yes, I have taken another step down the path to crazy-old-cat-womanhood. Although the lastest addition to my household may only be temporary. It depends on my will-power.
Anyway, the story goes something like this... In the village where my mum has a holiday home, there's a small black and white cat, that I have, over the last couple of years, been befriending. She has no permanent home but lived, I presume, in the outbuildings of a small-holding on the edge of the village - at least she always disappeard in that direction after I'd petted and fed her. She must've been given scraps of food, although no-one is ever there in the winter and hunting for food must've been difficult for her then.
I'd seen her pregnant several times, but never with kittens. It's a very sad fact that in rural Asturias controlling the feline population means drowning the offspring at birth. However, she must have realised I was a trustworthy, kind sort because this June she appeared with three kits in tow in the barn opposite my mum's house and has been there ever since.
This has posed me a great dilemma. What to do? I can't not feed them, the kittens are too young to hunt for survival and the mum too weary from looking after them. But then again, I don't want to have an ever-expanding population of cats on the doorstep, clamouring to be fed. On top of this, two of the little ones have come down with a bad cold. One, of them, who's completely ginger, is a suspicious fellow who won't let me near him. Helping him, beyond providing food, is currently impossible even though I'm desperate to take him to the vet's and get him well since he's in a really bad way and I'm dreadfully worried for him. I keep going up there to see if there's any chance of catching him, but no luck so far. His brother, however, a very cheeky ginger and white tom who'd previously enjoyed nibbling my hand and getting strokes, is much friendlier and I brought him back here instead of watching him go the way of his ginger sibling. (The third, one, a very pretty, mostly ginger female seems perfectly healthy at the moment.) He's currently in a spare bedroom with food aplenty and a comfy bed to sleep on and can't believe his luck. Beeps, Mahou and Elbi are aware that something's up but I'm keeping them separated until this little one is better.
There are organisations here who will help you neuter stray cats and look for adoptive homes. Once I've nursed as many as I can back to full health I'm going to see what I can do along those lines for the three kits. The mum is going to be spayed too, she's so tiny, the ginger kitten is almost as big as her already. She's too small to keep on having kits and I'm incapable of not being responsible and doing my part in keeping the unwanted cat population down. So, once that's done, do I let her stay where she is, where she's happy enough, although life is difficult at times, or, do I bring her back here? I watch my three on the terrace, rolling in the sun, content, and know that in the winter they'll enjoy snuggling in front of the fire and the answer seems a simple one. However, introducing an adult female cat to a household where there are alreay three adult females is going to be difficult, and I wonder if she'll be happier here or not for that reason. I can envisage power struggles with Mahou already. Do any cat lovers out there want to help me figure this one out?
One last thing, I'd include pictures if I could, the three little ones are adorable and I've caught them in some poses that would've made you go 'awwww'. However, my camera is still refusing to function so you'll just have to believe me when I tell you that they're damn cute.
Anyway, the story goes something like this... In the village where my mum has a holiday home, there's a small black and white cat, that I have, over the last couple of years, been befriending. She has no permanent home but lived, I presume, in the outbuildings of a small-holding on the edge of the village - at least she always disappeard in that direction after I'd petted and fed her. She must've been given scraps of food, although no-one is ever there in the winter and hunting for food must've been difficult for her then.
I'd seen her pregnant several times, but never with kittens. It's a very sad fact that in rural Asturias controlling the feline population means drowning the offspring at birth. However, she must have realised I was a trustworthy, kind sort because this June she appeared with three kits in tow in the barn opposite my mum's house and has been there ever since.
This has posed me a great dilemma. What to do? I can't not feed them, the kittens are too young to hunt for survival and the mum too weary from looking after them. But then again, I don't want to have an ever-expanding population of cats on the doorstep, clamouring to be fed. On top of this, two of the little ones have come down with a bad cold. One, of them, who's completely ginger, is a suspicious fellow who won't let me near him. Helping him, beyond providing food, is currently impossible even though I'm desperate to take him to the vet's and get him well since he's in a really bad way and I'm dreadfully worried for him. I keep going up there to see if there's any chance of catching him, but no luck so far. His brother, however, a very cheeky ginger and white tom who'd previously enjoyed nibbling my hand and getting strokes, is much friendlier and I brought him back here instead of watching him go the way of his ginger sibling. (The third, one, a very pretty, mostly ginger female seems perfectly healthy at the moment.) He's currently in a spare bedroom with food aplenty and a comfy bed to sleep on and can't believe his luck. Beeps, Mahou and Elbi are aware that something's up but I'm keeping them separated until this little one is better.
There are organisations here who will help you neuter stray cats and look for adoptive homes. Once I've nursed as many as I can back to full health I'm going to see what I can do along those lines for the three kits. The mum is going to be spayed too, she's so tiny, the ginger kitten is almost as big as her already. She's too small to keep on having kits and I'm incapable of not being responsible and doing my part in keeping the unwanted cat population down. So, once that's done, do I let her stay where she is, where she's happy enough, although life is difficult at times, or, do I bring her back here? I watch my three on the terrace, rolling in the sun, content, and know that in the winter they'll enjoy snuggling in front of the fire and the answer seems a simple one. However, introducing an adult female cat to a household where there are alreay three adult females is going to be difficult, and I wonder if she'll be happier here or not for that reason. I can envisage power struggles with Mahou already. Do any cat lovers out there want to help me figure this one out?
One last thing, I'd include pictures if I could, the three little ones are adorable and I've caught them in some poses that would've made you go 'awwww'. However, my camera is still refusing to function so you'll just have to believe me when I tell you that they're damn cute.
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