Team Work

We made it through the holidays without any cat-astrophes, just the odd hiss here and there.
Tom-Tilly insists on 'rushing' Oliver the minute he walks through the door, she just wants to play, but Oliver being an older cat, won't have any part of it.
To my surprise they do seem to have developed a buddy system between the two of them, one leads, the other follows.
Oliver went looking for that proverbial Partridge in a Pear Tree, with of course Tom-Tilly following close behind.

Under The Weather

I've gone and picked up some kind of delurgy, fever, chills, aches and pains, even my hair hurts.
Sod's  Law has a way of appearing, most often when we least expect it.

I'm off to the doctor tomorrow, hopefully he will root through his trusty medicine bag, and produce a potion, putting me to rights.

In the meantime I should heed my own words......

 

 

 

I don't 'do sick' very bravely.

What The Dickens

 

Several years ago, our small town, was graced by a visit from Gerald Charles Dickens, great-great grandson of the author 'A Christmas Carol '.

It was the highlight of the town's Victorian Christmas Festival, a seventy -five minute on stage performance and one-man show of a descendant of the beloved author Charles Dickens.

Gerald Dickens performed the dramatization with just a chair, a hat stand, a candle, his top hat, and a walking stick for props. The rest of the show was brought to life with his voice, facial expression, mannerisms, and energy.
Since the story is so well known, Dickens said he didn't have to worry too much about explaining the plot.

Everyone loved the story, and a closeness and camaraderie developed in the audience as we watched a talented storyteller enact his great-great grandfather's story with love and passion.
Fortunately for me, the audience struggled to understand the actor's Cockney accent. It created dead silence voids, where an appropriate applauding should have followed a punch line.
Mr. Dickens had been making note of this, and asked if I would accompany him on stage and help the audience participation, with a few prompting gestures.
*Gulp*
Would I accompany him on stage ?

Needless to say it was the best Christmas gift I could have received, and dare say, everyone in this town, is still talking about it to this very day.......
I know I am
*Wink*.

 

 

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."

A Christmas Carol ~Charles Dickens, Ebeneezer Scrooge,

 

 

"To Josephine

 my Warrington friend".

~ Gerald Charles

And The Rains Came

We have been deluged with rain today.
Cold, wind-driven rain, the ground is soaked, the creeks are overflowing their banks.

Winter is in the air....

 

Being Thankful

Tom-Tilly has not taken her eyes off Oliver since he returned home, even as he sleeps at the Thanksgiving table, she's not letting him out of her sight.

It's so sweet.

 

We have so much to be thankful for on this day, we hope you share a wonderful meal and spend time with those you love.
Many blessings my dear friends.


Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.

~Author Unknown

A Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours !

Thanksgiving Joy

Our boy has returned home, a little worse for the wear, but we had to share the happy news !
Thank you for all of your kind comments and well-wishes.
Your support encouraged us not to give up.
A Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families.
We most certainly have a reason for celebrating.

Sad Days

Our beautiful ginger Oliver cat has been missing for three days now.

We are busy putting up posters and knocking on neighborhood doors.

I can only hope he has gone walkabout, and will return soon.

Our hearts are heavy.

 

New Discoveries

Tom Tilly has just discovered that sleeping and playing in a brown paper sack, is much more fun than playing with plastic balls.

 

 

Lest We Forget

 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

In Flanders Fields ~ Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

Dedicated to all the brave men and women whose unselfish sacrifices and bravery shall never be forgotten.

Thank You.

Cottage Love

The cottage homes of England
   By thousands on her plains,
They are smiling o'er the silvery brooks,
   And round the hamlet-fanes.
Thro' glowing orchards forth they peep,
   Each from its nook of leaves,
And fearless there the lowly sleep,
   As the bird beneath the eaves

~ Felicia Hermans  1793 -1835
 

 

 

Lilliput Lane : Double Cottage.

Part of the BLAISE HAMLET COLLECTION : http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blaise-hamlet/