I'm still here too, but not been posting much. Nothing much going on. Except my little grandson is the most adorable child anywhere, ever!
He was a year old on New Year's Eve. Not walking yet, (and has never slept through the night, nor slept in his own cot, but thankfully, that's not my problem!) but has several words, and even without, can express himself very well! I had him out in his buggy this week, while dau was at the Osteopath and grandson took great interest in a flowerbed full of colourful primroses that we passed. "Ah! OooOOoo!" he said, pointing at them!
And as we walked up an otherwise deserted street, a man suddenly came out of a doorway and walked toward us. "MAN!" grandson shouts, pointing!
His dad and older brother speak to him in Bulgarian, so he's growing up bilingual.
My hens (five commercial hybrids, now just over a year old) have thankfully remained in robust health, and continued laying all Winter. They slowed down a little for about three weeks before Christmas, to an average of three eggs a day, and then picked up again, and we're back to 4/5 each day again.
And the two rescue kittens I took on in October are still alive! And growing. Both are, however "special needs" and so are house cats. The tom, Atticus, is
huge! He's coming up 7 months old, and bigger than many adult cats. We're not sure exactly what his problem is, whether it's a neurological/mental problem or what. He has intolerances, so is on a grain free diet (yup, expensive food!), which means the other one is too, as they share everything, including food bowls! He's very lovable, and very laid back, and gentle. And dumb. And very, very awkward. He can't really jump well, or climb well. He sort of clambers. Getting to the windowsill is a three stepping stone journey. Chair to radiator to windowsill. And sometimes he misses. And he's a beauty, a big silver grey tabby.
The other kitten is a bat out of hell! :mrgreen: A tortoiseshell. She's about three weeks younger than Atticus, and less than half his size. Toria has fought and struggled for every gram she has gained since she was found alone and desperately ill, with a ruptured eye and very severe cat flu, and dropped into my Vets office. She was, they reckon, no more than four or five weeks at the time. So tiny, they couldn't operate to remove her eye for over a week, because they didn't have a tube small enough to go down her throat. I happened to be in chatting to the receptionist when Toria was brought in, so I told them that if she survived, I'd take her. So, she's got one eye, zero sense, she's still very undersized and skinny, although she's growing, very slowly. She's everywhere, and into everything. And although she's healthy herself, vaccinated, and over her cat flu, she still sneezes a lot. Vet says there's no infection there, it's just her. However, it means she's a carrier, and is shedding cat flu, so she can't be mingling with unvaccinated cats. So, they are both house cats. Not quite what I'd bargained for. But they are really good company. And keep me very busy!
