Fat Cat Club

Both Jasper and Bib are on reduced rations: one sachet of food a day and 40g of biscuits. As they let us know, they are NOT happy. Bib especially is very vocal and will meeow plaintively to tell us that she is starving: we give her food bowl to her, she sniffs the biscuits and then tells us that these aren’t the ones she wanted…Jasper just looks at us with sad eyes, and whispers You rescued me from the streets just to starve me….?

Cat feeding time is becoming more complicated:

Pomme is shut in the dining room with her bowl of cat milk and her small portion of Cat Soup (she shouldn’t have too much protein, but the cat milk helps her drink more, so we’re balancing between two extremes).

Millie goes onto the landing with her hors d’oeuvres tray – ordinary food, but put into different compartments, because she eats too quickly.

Millie’s dish is like this

Bib and Jasper are in the kitchen with their two bowls, one of 20g of biscuits, and the other with half a sachet of food. Bib will put her head down, and eat until the wet food is gone; she may then have some biscuits. Jasper will eat a bit of food, a few biscuits, and then wander away.

We can’t let Pomme out until we’ve picked up everyone else’s food, because she’ll eat it; we can’t let Jasper onto the landing until Millie has finished and her bowl has been picked up, because he’ll eat what’s left. We need to keep Jasper & Bib’s bowls separate so we know who’s had how many biscuits, but we need to pick them up so Pomme (and possibly Millie) don’t eat them.

Meanwhile, Bib is meeowing piteously either because she is starving OR because she wants a shoulder ride to the living room, because she’s scared Jasper will chase her . Though, if we’re honest, she can take care of herself more than adequately, and Jasper is probably more scared of her bad tempered spitting than she is of him. It’s more likely that she doesn’t want to make any effort. Friend Alison says that Bib always looks at you as though she’s got a flick knife concealed on her person, and she’s just waiting for a reason to use it! I can see what she means, but sometimes she’s the cutest little ball of purringness ever! (Bib, that is, not Friend Alison!!)

We’re also giving them toys to play with: Jasper is taken with a bundle of feathers, which I’ve attached to elastic. He will stalk it and chase it for a few minutes, so we try to do this a couple of times a day. Bib loves her waggling fish – but only to lick the furry covering, rather than to fight it with any enthusiasm. It is amusing watching her with it though. Happily, it wasn’t very expensive, because neither of them are that impressed by it.

Hopefully they will both become a little slimmer. We shall see.

Fat Cats

Oh dear! I’ve had such a telling off today. A very polite telling off, but a telling off all the same.

I took Jasper to the vets for his yearly vaccinations, and was told, in no uncertain terms, that Jasper needs to lose weight. The problem is that, like me, he loves his biscuits, and we have them “à volonté” – that is, always available, help yourself…And Jasper does indeed help himself.

In fact, I’m too ashamed to say how much he weighs, but let’s just say the Vet said he should lose at least 3 kg. It felt worse than the doctor telling me that I was overweight, because we are supposed to be looking after him, but instead, we’re slowly killing him.

When he arrived Chez Nous, he was a reasonable size, but we don’t know his background. I wonder if – like people who have been deprived of food for a long time, and then are able to eat what they want – he is uncertain that he will be fed again, so he eats as much as he can whenever he can!

So, we have to reduce his food intake to 40g of biscuits a day and nothing else. At the moment he has two sachets of wet food and as many biscuits as he wants. That in itself would be difficult, but we have three other cats to feed at the same time! As Bib is a tad on the porky side we’re going to reduce her food too, but Millie and Pomme are OK. So we think each cat will have its own bowl, with the specified food in, which will be put down when requested, and picked up afterwards; and we’ll start by reducing gradually (1 sachet a day and a fixed amount of biscuits)

We also need to encourage him to play more, so we’ll root out the laser pointer, and some other toys to chase. Hopefully if we can give him 5/10 minutes a couple of times every day that will help…but he isn’t very interested in playing – although that could be because it’s all too much effort for him.

Well…we are going to have to help our Fat Boy become Slim.

Life After Covid 3: Planning ahead

Our other planning ahead is for w-a-a-a-y in the future (well, next year…) One of our favourite bands is touring again (with the now familiar proviso about Covid-19) next year, so Mr FD – as a member of their fan club (doesn’t “fan club” sound so teenager-y?!) – got priority booking. We have two tickets to see Big Big Train at the London Palladium in March 2022

We saw them live once before – I’ve been trying to work out if it was 2019, or 2020. Usually I can scroll back through my blog and find out, but I seem to have been silent on this. We visited friends in Frome, in Wales, went to a concert, met my family at my brother’s, saw my MiL…upon which I have said nothing to you! Apologies, dear readers. We had a great time though, whenever it was! So, there you go.

So I’m looking at booking accommodation nearby – on the assumption that the sooner one books it the better. I looked on airbnb, as we’ve had good experiences with them, but somehow (and this is totally illogical!) I am wary of booking a private room/ studio in London. I’m not sure why – there were no qualms with Strasbourg or Budapest! I found a hotel room advertised at 60€ but on exploring further (by googling the hotel, rather than using the airbnb site reviews) soon found some very off putting comments – hairs found in the bed, cold coffee, dirty and mouldy bathrooms. I think I may be looking at too low a budget. There’s a Mercure hotel within two stops on the tube, at 100€ which might be better. But if any readers have any recommendations, do please let me know.

It’s quite exciting to be thinking about going further than the borders of our department! We do hope to get across to the UK before March though – I think Christmas this year will certainly be one date to think about! Of course, there’s always the niggle of whose family we see: with my mum in Liverpool and MrFD’s mum in Canterbury, the logistics of seeing both is difficult. Do we fly (to Manchester, in which case we’re seeing my mum), drive (to Calais, in which case we’re seeing MiL) take the train (to Ashford, in which case we’re seeing MiL)? If we fly, we have to hire a car; if we drive, we can’t drive up to Liverpool without losing two days of seeing people – and it’s a long way to drive; if we take the train, it is expensive and complicated…And then, I start to think about environmental impacts – flying isn’t good. It’s also not very healthy infection-wise…Oh dear.

But MiL hasn’t had a good confinement, being alone, so we ought to get to see her soon. And I want to see my mum who, although she is in good health, is now in her 93rd year. It’s a quandry. Anyhoo, it’s not your quandry, so let’s move on. Nothing to see here.

Stay: A blessing for Ascencion Day

Sorry it’s so badly aligned…

But I love this poem by Jan Richardson

Life After Covid 2: Planning ahead

We had planned a break just after Easter – five days in a gite not too far from here. About an hour’s drive, in an area we don’t know very well. Here it is:

But of course, with the Covid numbers in France firmly refusing to fall, M.Macron announced a new confinement, with rules forbidding travelling beyond one’s department. So we had to cancel, happily without losing any money on the transaction.

However, it looked a very appealing place, and, as I say, although it’s not too far, it’s an area we don’t know very well, near the town of Issoire, and in the National Park of Puy de Dome. So we are planning to go in June…Because MrD won’t be fully vaccinated, we won’t be able to go back to the UK (we don’t think) so we thought a change of air would be good.

I think we have – like many people – found this confinement the most trying. I don’t want to say we (Mr FD and I) have had it bad: not at all! We’re both able to work, I’ve been able to go shopping, we have not been ill (in fact, I don’t think I’ve had even a cold this winter!!), and the vaccination programme is (finally) rolling out in France. But just the fact we’ve not been able to spend time with friends, to go out after 6 pm, to go to browse the clothes shops, to travel beyond the department, to meet students face to face, to go to a restaurant…all these things have been mildly frustrating. So the idea of going somewhere else, to spend time not thinking about work and to just do something different is very appealing.

There will be lots of nice walks to do as well…My walking challenge isn’t going as well as it might, although I’m happy with what I’ve done. I think the 1,000 miles might be a bit too much, as it’s difficult to get out every day, and I can’t do more than 7 miles without feeling completely knackered. My fitness level seems to have plateaued there. Well, if I’m honest, 7 miles wipes me out. I managed 4 yesterday and that felt quite enough, thank you!!

HOWEVER, I am still doing more walking than ever before, so that in itself is A Good Thing. I am having some associated foot problems though so I’m seeing the podiatrist today. Let’s hope they don’t mean I have to stop walking!

Life After Covid 1: Planning ahead

I can’t think of a title – maybe it will come to me as I type – as I don’t really know what to write about! I just feel that I should write something…I have neglected my poor little blog. For so many years I have been an enthusiastic blogger, but now I worry that my life is so unexciting that actually why do I bother? But I know I have a handful of kind readers, who comment and keep track of what I’m up to, so for you I’m grateful. I don’t know if you’re really that interested in my mundane life, but I do appreciate you! (Title has been changed. See below)

How other people write witty, erudite, varied,interesting and quirky posts every day is beyond me. But I’m here. Which is something.

We are beginning to think a little of life beyond Covid. I’m due for my second vaccination in a couple of weeks (on our wedding anniversary!) and MrD for his second in July. We have booked to go to a restaurant (and sit outside – I hope it doesn’t rain, although showers are predicted at the moment) next Wednesday,as a friend from Church is in the process of opening a restaurant, and this is the first day that he’s open and restaurants are allowed to serve sitting down customers in France. It’s brave to open a restaurant in these uncertain times – they have been doing takeaway/delivery for a few months, but this is the first time they have been able to serve as a restaurant. It’s called Vinyl Bar – you can read the menu at the link.

We’ve also been supporting the restaurant next door through lockdown – we usually have a pizza or a takeaway dish every fortnight. But this week their “specials” are tete de veau (yes, really: calve’s head) or ris de veau (sweetbreads) – neither of which float my boat one tiny little bit. So I’m cooking pulled pork instead.

Having sorted the courtyard and balcony out a bit yesterday – thanks MrD – I’m also looking ahead to warmer evenings (please…) and asking friends for a meal taken out in the courtyard. Last year I put up fake leaves to hide the bin, and the grotty storage area, and to block the view for passers by through the gate, and it became a very nice place to sit. It gets the sun (in the summer) until about three o’clock, but if the day is warm, it stays warm until later. MrD and I enjoyed sitting out in the early evening reading and sipping cold drinks last year.

The balcony gets direct sun and can get really hot – agan until mid afternoon. We’ve planted tomato plants up here, and put the extra strawberry plants (the others are in the courtyard) plus some pretty flowers. I’m hoping the dying lavenders can be coaxed back to life – I bought them in Lidl, and then I forgot about them. They weren’t well potted and when I next looked at them they were on their last legs. I repotted them and gave them a good long drink. Hopefully they will survive.

So having Friend Alison + husband, Friend Cathy, Friend Richard (before he moves back to the UK) (Sad face) for a meal is on the list of Food related plans.

Now, I started to write about a different subject, but then thought, wait a minute…If I am changing subject I can write another post, and schedule it ahead. So that’s what I’ll do. Thus I have changed the title of the post, and will write the next post for tomorrow.