Jane & Jack & Karre the Emperor
Member Since 2009
Hello LL Oldbies! (Sorry Newbies, hello to you too, it's just that you probably don't know who we are!)
His Majesty the Emperor Karre is doing splendidly, we're thrilled to report. Two months from now, a mere two days before our wedding as a matter of fact, he will reach his very special 2-Years-OTJ Milestone. Catnipinis and tunaritas will be had. Nanners will be distributed. We couldn't be happier for our gorgeous black (with a hint of grey but barely noticeable and verra distinguished anyway) royal boy.
He's been struggling a bit with his knee where he had surgery five years ago, but we're thinking we might try MSM to help his joints move more smoothly. (Anyone had experience with that? Good? Bad?) Other than that, he's enjoying the fact that it's slowly becoming spring here in South Africa - the wintry lawn mushrooms have made room for proteas, irises, cape aloes and hundreds of sunbirds and sugarbirds having raucous nectar parties into the wee hours. The other day we say a couple of straggly-feathered fellows who'd obviously missed the breeze back to the home tree, lying on their backs in the middle of a massive king protea, wings tangling, heads dangling from the edge of the petals, beaks open wide, little bird snores emerging... Well ok, we didn't but we wished we had. (Sometime it'd be nice if life were a cartoon.) Last weekend we spent the Sunday building a birdhouse for those of the birdies who prefer seeds - alas, so far they've not cottoned on to the fact that there's a grain silo at their disposal. Or maybe it's the fact that Maggie and Pepita have been lounging silk-tailed and sassy-eyed in the bushes below it, waiting for the bird buffet to open...
Big queen and little queen are both enjoying their queening. Pepita thinks she is a tomcat. She walks like Gottfried (irony of ironies - lit. "God's peace"), the biggest silver tabby tomcat I've ever seen and the resident ruler of DARG, our local animal shelter where he recently picked a fight with a newly rescued great dane. And won, we're told. Other than her, well, I'd have said delusions of grandeur but she's sitting on the chair next to me so I'm going to go with her spot-on assessment of her own magnificence, she is perfectly happy. She still hides behind the shower wall in the morning to be able to scamper out in full swing to attack the enemy (our ankles). She still spends two thirds of her life in trees. The Magpie continues to grow in both poise and panache - she's taken to soundly chasing off the naughty chocolate girlcat next door when she saunters nonchalantly into our garden and all the way into our living room, even! The Magpie is having none of it. A few weeks back, we came down to the pool at four in the morning, after having heard the tell-tale screeching of a cat fight, only to find Maggie sitting pretty by the poolside, daintily licking her paw, next to a path of paw-shaped puddles made by the cat she'd obviously pushed into the pond! Thank goodness the flagstones around both pool and pond are level with the water surface, so no danger of any hapless unwilling swimmer not managing to scramble back out again! I swear she was grinning.
Jack and I are well and looking forward to our wedding. We're also beginning to understand why Ambrose Bierce feels about mothers the way he does. Ah well. No life is perfect!
We think of you all often. Check in, if you fancy. And keep well, all of you
Many sunny greetings from Cape Town!
Jane, Jack, Karre, Maggie and Pepita
His Majesty the Emperor Karre is doing splendidly, we're thrilled to report. Two months from now, a mere two days before our wedding as a matter of fact, he will reach his very special 2-Years-OTJ Milestone. Catnipinis and tunaritas will be had. Nanners will be distributed. We couldn't be happier for our gorgeous black (with a hint of grey but barely noticeable and verra distinguished anyway) royal boy.
He's been struggling a bit with his knee where he had surgery five years ago, but we're thinking we might try MSM to help his joints move more smoothly. (Anyone had experience with that? Good? Bad?) Other than that, he's enjoying the fact that it's slowly becoming spring here in South Africa - the wintry lawn mushrooms have made room for proteas, irises, cape aloes and hundreds of sunbirds and sugarbirds having raucous nectar parties into the wee hours. The other day we say a couple of straggly-feathered fellows who'd obviously missed the breeze back to the home tree, lying on their backs in the middle of a massive king protea, wings tangling, heads dangling from the edge of the petals, beaks open wide, little bird snores emerging... Well ok, we didn't but we wished we had. (Sometime it'd be nice if life were a cartoon.) Last weekend we spent the Sunday building a birdhouse for those of the birdies who prefer seeds - alas, so far they've not cottoned on to the fact that there's a grain silo at their disposal. Or maybe it's the fact that Maggie and Pepita have been lounging silk-tailed and sassy-eyed in the bushes below it, waiting for the bird buffet to open...
Big queen and little queen are both enjoying their queening. Pepita thinks she is a tomcat. She walks like Gottfried (irony of ironies - lit. "God's peace"), the biggest silver tabby tomcat I've ever seen and the resident ruler of DARG, our local animal shelter where he recently picked a fight with a newly rescued great dane. And won, we're told. Other than her, well, I'd have said delusions of grandeur but she's sitting on the chair next to me so I'm going to go with her spot-on assessment of her own magnificence, she is perfectly happy. She still hides behind the shower wall in the morning to be able to scamper out in full swing to attack the enemy (our ankles). She still spends two thirds of her life in trees. The Magpie continues to grow in both poise and panache - she's taken to soundly chasing off the naughty chocolate girlcat next door when she saunters nonchalantly into our garden and all the way into our living room, even! The Magpie is having none of it. A few weeks back, we came down to the pool at four in the morning, after having heard the tell-tale screeching of a cat fight, only to find Maggie sitting pretty by the poolside, daintily licking her paw, next to a path of paw-shaped puddles made by the cat she'd obviously pushed into the pond! Thank goodness the flagstones around both pool and pond are level with the water surface, so no danger of any hapless unwilling swimmer not managing to scramble back out again! I swear she was grinning.
Jack and I are well and looking forward to our wedding. We're also beginning to understand why Ambrose Bierce feels about mothers the way he does. Ah well. No life is perfect!
We think of you all often. Check in, if you fancy. And keep well, all of you
Many sunny greetings from Cape Town!
Jane, Jack, Karre, Maggie and Pepita