As well as running her own business, The Housekeeper also regularly performs on stage and tonight is opening night for her current production of Beauty and the Beast, where she is playing Madame de la Grande Bouche (The Wardrobe). Amusing for someone who is Wardrobe Mistress by trade!
So apologies if the blog entries are a little sparse, or non existent. She will probably be either on stage, or at the chiropractors having her back manipulated after dancing in a costume that weighs 18lbs for the next couple of weeks.
The four Abyssinians are currently all in their element. We have a friend's son staying for the duration of the show, so that he can work backstage for some theatre work experience and he is spending hours every day playing with the cats. They are all exhausted but sitting on the stairs every morning waiting for him to get up and continue the games!
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Itchy Scratchy
Poor Amber is in a bit of a state at the moment. She has a skin condition which started in approx April/May last year. We have reason to believe it may possibly be hereditary - however - there are also very definite indications that it could be either a seasonal allergy (as it appeared at the same time last year) combined with over grooming.
As you can see she has some nasty patches on her inner leg, tummy and face so we have been off to the V.E.T this morning. She is now less than happy with me and hiding. She's had a steroid injection, with another longer acting one to follow next Wednesday and also has a course of antirobe tablets, assuming we can catch her, to ensure there is no infection. The problem has been dormant over the winter months and we have been able to maintain her with a course of Advacate with not only treats cat fleas and worms but also mild dermatitis as well.
As you can see she has some nasty patches on her inner leg, tummy and face so we have been off to the V.E.T this morning. She is now less than happy with me and hiding. She's had a steroid injection, with another longer acting one to follow next Wednesday and also has a course of antirobe tablets, assuming we can catch her, to ensure there is no infection. The problem has been dormant over the winter months and we have been able to maintain her with a course of Advacate with not only treats cat fleas and worms but also mild dermatitis as well.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Sorrel Sunday
After the fighting comes the making up!
Sorrel Sunday was brought to you today by Amber and Dino
Pictures taken 16th April 2011
Saturday, 16 April 2011
Thursday, 14 April 2011
The House of Moult
With the recent spell of wonderfully warm weather, all four Abyssinians have obviously decided that's its time to get kitted out for summer and they are all shedding fur EVERYWHERE
The Housekeeper is hoovering almost daily and all the chair covers are covered! She doesn't know what it is abut sorrel fur in particular but it gets everywhere and seems to make everything pale look dirty, when it is in fact just furry!
Parsnip never enjoyed being brushed (and The Housekeeper's both valued the skin on their hands anyway) but as per all other activities, the two boys love being brushed. Its just another game to them.
Crystal is less keen and has to be held to be brushed.
Amber isn't too sure whether she enjoys it or not. She loves being scratched with fingernails down the back, but having it done with a brush is a little different. She did manage to get a brushing when The Housekeeper picked her up for a cuddle, and again later, when The Housekeeper put down their tea, however despite a brushful of fur, The Housekeeper still managed to gain an extra layer of clothing herself.....
The Housekeeper is hoovering almost daily and all the chair covers are covered! She doesn't know what it is abut sorrel fur in particular but it gets everywhere and seems to make everything pale look dirty, when it is in fact just furry!
Parsnip never enjoyed being brushed (and The Housekeeper's both valued the skin on their hands anyway) but as per all other activities, the two boys love being brushed. Its just another game to them.
Crystal is less keen and has to be held to be brushed.
Amber isn't too sure whether she enjoys it or not. She loves being scratched with fingernails down the back, but having it done with a brush is a little different. She did manage to get a brushing when The Housekeeper picked her up for a cuddle, and again later, when The Housekeeper put down their tea, however despite a brushful of fur, The Housekeeper still managed to gain an extra layer of clothing herself.....
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Monday, 11 April 2011
Musical Monday
Crystal has been on lead vocals, lying in the conservatory, machine-gunning and talking to the birds as only an Abyssinian can.
Amber has been batting the wind chimes which hang in the conservatory by standing on her back legs.
Jasper and Dino have been on the rhythm section, beating their tails against the lino on the landing in a rendition of "Any noise you can make, I can make louder"
The Housekeeper has been listening to her mates band on the Ipod, ready for their gig on Friday evening
Amber has been batting the wind chimes which hang in the conservatory by standing on her back legs.
Jasper and Dino have been on the rhythm section, beating their tails against the lino on the landing in a rendition of "Any noise you can make, I can make louder"
The Housekeeper has been listening to her mates band on the Ipod, ready for their gig on Friday evening
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Friday, 8 April 2011
How to De-Junk your Life
The Housekeeper remembers a television programme some years ago called How to De-Junk Your Life. Dealing with Clutter. How to De-Junk Your Home. It gave radical, but sensible ideas on how to gut a room, sort out the essential from the sentimental and to let go of the junk.
A dejunking expert is not required at The Housekeepers. She has four mini whirlwinds who are willing to indiscriminately select possessions of The Housekeeper's which they feel she should no longer have to dust.
The Housekeeper suspects that a fly may have been to blame for the mayhem which was caused at lunchtime today. She heard the crash - and knew it spelled trouble. It is, however, VERY worrying in hindsight that when faced with a room of broken glass, three absent felines and the fourth leaving the scene of the crime that the first thought was to where the camera was for evidence. The Housekeeper is pleased to report that there were no trails of blood to be seen and all sixteen paws were checked for signs of cuts as soon as the broken glass had been picked and hoovered up.
So: The bell tolls today for;
1) The large blue goblet vase which stood on the conservatory table. It was destroyed by a low flying empty wine bottle (which survived). Purchased for just £5 at a car boot sale on a warm sunny day, not unlike today by The Housekeeper, out on a mission with her mate Ian, when they were on the hunt for props for a show.
2) A goldfish bowl shaped lantern which took a candle or tea light.
3) A wrought iron stand with three mini glass goldfish bowls which took tea lights as well
4) A square lantern with painted glass
5) The rope light which used to be hidden in the internal conservatory guttering to reflect light onto the ceiling
Fortunately the glass top table in the conservatory survived. Just.
Smashing!
A dejunking expert is not required at The Housekeepers. She has four mini whirlwinds who are willing to indiscriminately select possessions of The Housekeeper's which they feel she should no longer have to dust.
The Housekeeper suspects that a fly may have been to blame for the mayhem which was caused at lunchtime today. She heard the crash - and knew it spelled trouble. It is, however, VERY worrying in hindsight that when faced with a room of broken glass, three absent felines and the fourth leaving the scene of the crime that the first thought was to where the camera was for evidence. The Housekeeper is pleased to report that there were no trails of blood to be seen and all sixteen paws were checked for signs of cuts as soon as the broken glass had been picked and hoovered up.
So: The bell tolls today for;
1) The large blue goblet vase which stood on the conservatory table. It was destroyed by a low flying empty wine bottle (which survived). Purchased for just £5 at a car boot sale on a warm sunny day, not unlike today by The Housekeeper, out on a mission with her mate Ian, when they were on the hunt for props for a show.
2) A goldfish bowl shaped lantern which took a candle or tea light.
3) A wrought iron stand with three mini glass goldfish bowls which took tea lights as well
4) A square lantern with painted glass
5) The rope light which used to be hidden in the internal conservatory guttering to reflect light onto the ceiling
Fortunately the glass top table in the conservatory survived. Just.
Smashing!
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Sun Spot Chasing
Today the sun shone and it was unseasonally but beautifully warm. The bed's been changed and the pale lilac duvet cover is on the bed. It has silver embroidery in a panel across the top and tiny silver sequins sewn into the embroidery.
The Housekeeper's have a water bed, which of course moves when it is pounced on. Amber volunteered herself to jump on the bed, making it move, causing the sequins to reflect the sunlight and sun spots to dance all over the bedroom ceiling, walls, furniture and floor.
Hours of Abyssinian fun. Unfortunately sun spots don't photograph too well, but Sorrel Abyssinians do!
The Housekeeper's have a water bed, which of course moves when it is pounced on. Amber volunteered herself to jump on the bed, making it move, causing the sequins to reflect the sunlight and sun spots to dance all over the bedroom ceiling, walls, furniture and floor.
Hours of Abyssinian fun. Unfortunately sun spots don't photograph too well, but Sorrel Abyssinians do!
Sunday, 3 April 2011
The Watch Pot
Something caught the eye of the Four Abyssinian's on Saturday morning. It kept the four furry friends and The Housekeeper transfixed for over THREE hours!
.... but on the basis that nothing had changed, she decided to show her tummy to the camera .....
Everyone watched .....
and watched .....
Amber kept watch from the best vantage point whilst everyone else had a break .....
Jasper and Dino came back and took a closer look .....
Crystal came back to see if anything had changed .....
Jasper tried a change of position too, whilst Crystal went back to watching .....
And they watched .....
And they watched .....
Crystal and Amber watched .....
Jasper and Dino watched .....
And then when everyone else was bored, Amber took up sole responsibility - and watched .....
And then took over guard cat duty to stop any strangers from coming in to watch .....
But eventually, after all that waiting, The Housekeeper spied a tiny copper coloured beetle, the size of an adults little fingernail, crawling through the stones !!!!
(He's in the middle, on the LHS of the pale stone)
The Housekeeper gave up what she was doing and settled down, lying on her front, to watch .....
Jasper gave up watching and and made himself a nest on the back of The Housekeeper's legs
(Note: It's not very easy to turn your arm, wrist and camera 180 degrees to take a picture of a cat who is sitting on the back of your own legs! Three pictures of the ceiling deleted!!!)
(He's in the middle, on the LHS of the pale stone)
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Friday, 1 April 2011
Worst Mum in the World Award
.. goes to The Housekeeper this week, I'm afraid. The Housekeeper isn't proud of herself at all and is almost too ashamed to type this entry, but feels that it isn't right to just post about the good and silly things that happen and also it serves as a warning to just how quickly things can turn from good to bad.
After sewing on Tuesday, The housekeeper had tidied up and put everything away - or so she thought. She always hoovers after sewing in case there are dressmaking pins on the floor for little paws, or big feet, to stand on - but she remembered after the incident, that she had put down something in a hurry and gone to answer the telephone and left the offending object out in full reach of all four cats.
Late on Wednesday morning, The Housekeeper saw Crystal sitting on the conservatory, shaking her head and rubbing the side of her mouth with her paw. She was also dribbling a lot and whilst not foaming at the mouth, as such, something obviously wasn't right.
The Housekeeper caught Crystal in the kitchen and after a struggle, she got away, leaving The Housekeeper with some beautiful scratch marks on her wrists which look like human suicide attempts (Not far wrong when she realised what the problem was later)
Crystal sat in the front room, still pawing at her mouth, so a couple of minutes later, The Housekeeper managed to catch her again and settle her between her legs so that she could try to check what was in Crystal's mouth. It was a sewing needle, with a piece of thread attached that was approx 6/7 inches long and which had already been swallowed. Very, VERY gently, The Housekeeper managed to withdraw the length of cotton from a very frightened little cat and then held her tightly in her arms for a good 10 minutes and had a damm good cry.
It just goes to show just how easy it is for an animal to pick up something so innocent looking to them, to play with, which could cause untold damage. The Housekeeper is feeling very relieved that she was there to deal with the situation at the time it happened, but of course it should never have happened in the first place.
After sewing on Tuesday, The housekeeper had tidied up and put everything away - or so she thought. She always hoovers after sewing in case there are dressmaking pins on the floor for little paws, or big feet, to stand on - but she remembered after the incident, that she had put down something in a hurry and gone to answer the telephone and left the offending object out in full reach of all four cats.
Late on Wednesday morning, The Housekeeper saw Crystal sitting on the conservatory, shaking her head and rubbing the side of her mouth with her paw. She was also dribbling a lot and whilst not foaming at the mouth, as such, something obviously wasn't right.
The Housekeeper caught Crystal in the kitchen and after a struggle, she got away, leaving The Housekeeper with some beautiful scratch marks on her wrists which look like human suicide attempts (Not far wrong when she realised what the problem was later)
Crystal sat in the front room, still pawing at her mouth, so a couple of minutes later, The Housekeeper managed to catch her again and settle her between her legs so that she could try to check what was in Crystal's mouth. It was a sewing needle, with a piece of thread attached that was approx 6/7 inches long and which had already been swallowed. Very, VERY gently, The Housekeeper managed to withdraw the length of cotton from a very frightened little cat and then held her tightly in her arms for a good 10 minutes and had a damm good cry.
It just goes to show just how easy it is for an animal to pick up something so innocent looking to them, to play with, which could cause untold damage. The Housekeeper is feeling very relieved that she was there to deal with the situation at the time it happened, but of course it should never have happened in the first place.
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