Mummy said it’s not the season to be jolly just yet but it’s sure the season to be snuggly. Well, for us kitties it’s always the season to snuggle but here in our new home the days are getting colder and so we’ve started really and truly practicing our various snuggling techniques. If we start practicing now then when winter really arrives we’re fully prepared and ready for it and know exactly where the best spots are.

Snuggling is not as simple as you may think, there’s a fine art to it, you can’t ‘just snuggle’. You’ve got to suss out the best spots for every time of day, decide on the best blankies, figure out if it’s better on lap or off lap, do yew snuggle alone or buddy up? There’s so many things to take into consideration to find the purrfect snuggle spot for every occasion.

It’s a very complicated and exact science calculating the exact right place to snuggle into at that exact time. Sometimes by the time you’ve done all the calculations to make sure your in just the right place the moment has gone and that spot is no longer the best one anymore. Sometimes it’s just best to go with what you feel, what just feels good at the time, it doesn’t always look comfortable I can assure you, sleeping and snuggling is something that us kitties are very good at. I always know when I’ve got the right spot as it just feels good, really, really good, it feels safe, cosy and warm, like a big soft hug. Let me tell you, having spent my early months on the street back then I didn’t even know what a snuggle spot was let alone that big, warm hug feeling. There really is no other feeling quite like it.

Most people think that a snuggle is only good when you’ve got someone to snuggle with but I don’t think that’s true. Sometimes the best ones are actually when you’re all alone, quiet, peaceful and content in your own company, all curled up on your favourite blankie just enjoying life and being content. I dream of things that make me happy, remember how lucky I am and try to imagine if life really can get any better than this. This is the luxury of being able to have your own private snuggle space, after all we can all do with some alone time occasionally.

Sometime though you need company, someone to curl up on or next to, someone to just be there, to let you know that you’re not alone, that you are loved and that you’re part of the family. Nothing needs to be said, you don’t need to ask for permission, you can just hop on up and snuggle in, here in our house, there’s no right way or wrong way to make a snuggle puddle.

If you are going to cuddle with a buddy, you’ve got to consider how. Do you do head to head, bum to bum, nose to tail, side by side or even single decker or double decker (we’ve never gone for the triple decker…yet)? Each one has its advantages and disadvantage, bums can make comfy pillows but you’ve got to hope there’s no windy bums, specially with my super blindie sense of smell. Then there’s face to face which often means you can get a wash for those hard to reach parts but then one wrong move or a nibble in the wrong spot and it goes from cuddles to fisticuffs in the blink of an eye. Then there’s the expectation that you return the washing favour and change from washee to washer. Side by side gives extra body warmth for when those extra cold days come along, then, for me, it’s a matter of where’s Millie? She’s the floofiest and therefore the warmest so a great real life snuggle blanket who you can bury yourself right into but you’ve just gotta be careful as the downside of burying yourself into long floof is that it can tickle your nosey.

Obviously if it’s a lap cuddle we’re after then we hunt out mummy or daddy’s lap, each one is different so you’ve gotta choose depending on what your mood is. Mummy and daddy’s choice of blankie is a key element as it’s not all about the lap, it’s the combination of the two. This is what I mean about there being so many things to consider when thinking about where to nap. Of course whoever’s lap is chosen they have to stay completely immobilised for as long as we want to nap, no tea, no coffee, no food, no drinks, no toilet, no moving, stretching or fidgeting. How could they even consider disturbing the biggest pile of cuteness that could choose them as the purrfect place to settle down. Deciding to curl up on your humans lap is one of the greatest compliments a kitty could give, it’s a sign of contentment, trust and love, its part of the special bond that exists between a kitty and their daddy and mummy. I don’t just settle down on anybody that turns up…well not unless they’ve got an extra special blankie on their lap as bribery! A pawents lap isn’t just for when you’re already feeling good though but it also provides reassurance, its a place of safety and security in times of anxiety or when you’re feeling uneasy or unnerved, somewhere that you can go that makes you feel better.

I’m sorry I’m late with this post but I always take my blog very seriously and had to do a lot of research to make sure I only tell you the true facts about how to snuggle properly. I might have got a bit too involved with doing as much research about snuggling as possible and before I knew it I had napped for a little bit longer than I probably should have…ok well a lot longer than I should have. I hope you enjoy the photos mummy took of my research.

Just to let you know that we all love you so very, very much. Since we’ve moved to our new house and mummy has to go to work everyday you’ve been there for us. Been there to play with us, keep us company, chat to us, keep us safe from the people that come in and make lots of noise but above all love us.

Mummy got us and told us that it was your special day before she went off to work and I really hope that my extra special morning love made a little difference. I try to give you a love every morning but I tried to make this one extra special to show how much I love you. Of course we all love you every day but birthdays are extra special days so I tried to make every effort to make you feel extra loved, specially as mummy had to go to work and abandoned us all.

Well daddy, it’s me Angelin, you’ve got the most snuggly lap so sit down and I’ll shake my tail at you until you give in to your little princess and pick me up and let me give you a big birthday lap snuggle. I know it’s your birthday but even if it is your special day I draw the line at jumping when I know you’ll pick me up and give me a cuddle in your arms before letting me have your lap all to myself for as long as I want. We all love you daddy but I really loves you the most so I hope you enjoyed just sitting back and enjoying the snuggles. I know my snuggles stop you doing anything including have any breakfast or lunch or have a second cup of coffee or use your litter tray until I get off. I love you daddy, from your little foo foo princess.

Whilst we’ve been chatting all week I know that you were worried about your daddy, my Granda, who I have just started to get to know, coz he’s been poorly and in the people hospital. I really hope he didn’t have to have a sting in his bum like I do when I go to the v-e-t as that is really not very nice at all. Plus they don’t play with you much when you have to stay there, the food is different and it’s hard to sleep with all the noisy animals and people coming and going. Being at home is much better and just being with furramily makes you feel so much better already. Granda is always so nice to us all when he and Nanna come to stay, perhaps I could come with you when you go to see him, we could take his favourite toys and I could play with him for a bit to make him feel better, or maybe we could take blankie and I could snuggle on his lap for a bit to keep him warm and cosy. “That’s so sweet of you Jenny but it’s a long joirney in the car and you don’t really like travelling or being in new places” daddy reminded me. Well, maybe if I was a bit of a braver adventure cat that’s what I’d do but maybe I’ll just save it for next time he comes here instead but you can take some of our toys with you when you go to see him if that would make him feel better. I’ll just wait for him to come and visit again and do it then instead, I’m sure he’d still like that and blindie cuddles are the best cuddles of all – not a meow Millie! Yes, floofy, tripaws snuggles are pretty good too.

I know I don’t snuggle on you very much, normally it’s mummy’s laps that I go to but as it’s your birthday I’ll hop on up as a special treat and as a thank you for playing with me and being such a great daddy.

Anyway daddy, we tried to make your special day as fun as possible and show you that we really do appreciate all you do for us. You play with us when we’re bored, you snuggle with us when we’re tired, you give me damp hands when Im meowing in the kitchen, you clean up our sickies and make sure we’re feeling better, you scoop our poop and make sure mummy always has time to take me walkies. You keep us safe when we’re nervous and always make sure there’s plenty of boxes to sit in and make sure our pile of crinkle paper is just how we like it. You don’t move us from the bed when you’re sleeping even if it does make you all achy in the morning. “Jenny,” “Yes Angelin” “don’t forget to say thank you to daddy for always rescuing me when I get stuck up high somewhere or in the kitty bath and can’t get down” “Oh yes, good idea, I’ll add that in too”. Daddy always comes to rescue us.

Mummy edit – Just to explain, the kitty bath is the bidet which Angelin climbed in and couldn’t get out of again. Daddy and I found her sat in there looking so proud of herself but waiting patiently and silently to be helped out.

We also wanted to thank you for sharing your birthday present from mummy with us, more paper and a fun crinkly bow to play with. I wonder if mummy deliberately wrapped it like that so you could share it with us and enjoy your day even more.

Happy Birthday Daddy

There we all were one evening sitting quietly in the living room together when mummy suddenly shouts “bats” “no were quite sane” says daddy, laughing but mummy was being serious. “No” she said, “There’s bats flying around outside.” Everyone got up to have a look and sure enough flying around outside were two little bats.

Bats are mythical creatures to me, mummy saw them very occasionally at our old place if we were out for walkies a bit late but I don’t really get them. I don’t really think they exist but everyone tells me otherwise. Why don’t you think they exist? I hear you ask. Well, you all know that I have super blindie senses and that I can hear even the tiniest sound, even when it’s way down at the other end of the garden, well I can’t hear these creatures. They’re completely silent and that’s just not natural. I get the odd shift of a strange smell but round here that could be anything and I’ve yet to find anything else that doesn’t make a noise. It’s just not normal.

In our new house these bats come out nearly every night, always just as it’s starting to get dark, as soon as mummy or daddy spots them they say “our buddies are out” and Millie runs to the window to watch them. According to Millie they’re agile little things flying this way and that so fast that by the time she turns her head to follow them they’re back going the other direction already. Mummy says they’re like little flying acrobats, twisting and turning, looping and diving, like the two of them are dancing around the garden. They all seem completely entranced by them and look out the window for ages just watching them until it gets too dark to see them properly, I think these mythical creatures have cast a spell over them.

The other night, mummy got home from work very late and even though it was time for her to make dinner daddy said that they could wait and mummy had to take me for walkies. Just after we went out mummy said daddy had text her to say our buddies were out so she dragged me round to the front of the house where the bats are apparently most active so she could see them. Hey mummy I meowed, this is supposed to be my special time with you, not the bats walkies time. Still I was dragged anyway and mummy kept making funny noises as the bats flitted around past her, just a few inches from her head but completely silent – I told you they’re weird. “Look Jen, there’s Millie watching from the window” yeah, whatever mummy I really don’t get what all the fuss is about so let’s get on with walkies please. “Hang on Jen, let’s play with our buddies a little bit longer” I sat, sulking, waiting for mummy to finish my walkies with her buddies before I headed for the back door to go in. “Wasn’t that fun Jen?” “Meh!” was my reply. “Oh Jen, are you sulking? you’re not jealous of our new buddies are you? I know it was our special walkies time but we’ve got to be nice to all the other animals too, we’ve got to appreciate them all and each of their differences. Help them to thrive and live the best lives they can, like we do with you girls.” I thought about it for a bit and mummy never asks for anything from me and our new buddies seem to make her, daddy and Millie happy so I’ll try to be more excited about it from now on, even if it is difficult coz I don’t know they’re there!

It’s hard for a blindie to get excited about something that you can’t hear or really smell, to me, really if I can’t sense them they don’t exist. It’s also tough for me to admit that despite how good my senses are (I mean I always thought I could hear everything) there is actually something I can’t hear, I’m not used to not being able to do something. If I can’t hear these buddies what else can’t I hear? What other hidden creatures are there out there that I don’t know about? It makes the mind boggle and the imagination run wild. Still, Millie seems to enjoy their playtime and having a bit of evening Catflix to entertain her will help stave off the evening Millie zoomies, paws crossed 🐾.

I think I’ll just leave Millie to the bats, it’s quite appropriate that she likes them as she is completely bats too. I’ll just stick to what I know and just keep hunting and chasing proper things and just let my imagination run wild dreaming of what other mystical creatures exist in this world that I haven’t met yet that mummy has also told me about such as unicorns 🦄 , the Loch Ness Monster 🦕 , Bigfoot, werewolves 🐺 and not forgetting the Beast of Bodmin 🐈‍⬛ – yeah right mummy 😹

One day mummy and I were out on walkies and I heard a rather unusual chirruping bird sound from inside the hedge, it wasn’t a bird noise that I recognised but it did sound a bit like Millie when she’s talking to the birds in the garden. Anyway, I though it must be some kind of new type of bird that only lives up here in the North and doesn’t travel down to the big cities. Well, I thought I’ve gotta catch…I mean…befriend one of these so I engaged my stealth mode and crawled over towards the hedge with my tummy as close to the ground as I could so so I didn’t scare it away. I crawled closer and closer and then, just as I was about to jump up to say hello, my blindie senses started to tingle and…wait a minute…I smell kitty cat, those noises weren’t a bird at all but an intruder cat, in my garden, hiding in my hedge, hunting my birdies and trying to fool me! The cheek of it!

Still mummy said I should be polite and say hello so I cautiously went over to introduce myself. Well the intruder cat wasn’t very polite and growled at me, when I tried to get closer to say hello it ran away! Well, I’m not one for confrontation so I backed off over to the other hedge to give it a bit of space, after all I’m a lover not a fighter. He didn’t go very far, just past the gate, watching us from, hopefully, a respectful distance. Mummy was talking to the intruder cat but it wasn’t very friendly towards her and it wouldn’t come very close, so we carried on our walkies and left the intruder cat to carry on with the rest of its day. Come on then mummy, stop paying attention to the stranger and let’s get on with our walkies and playing with the birdies. This way, follow me.

So off we went but there was a strange feeling that I couldn’t shake, like I was being watched and sure enough when I stopped and listened I could hear the patter of paw steps in the distance. When mummy turned round there was the intruder cat following along behind us, this time at a respectful distance. I reckon he was just trying to suss out mummy and I on our walkies. I don’t think it’s a normal thing for a cat to see another cat on a lead going for walkies, let alone a blind cat. Sometimes other cats don’t quite get me, as a blind cat I don’t always react the same way to meeting another cat as sighted cats would. I don’t react when they fluff themselves up to try to look bigger nor do I pick up those small body movements that most cats use to show how they are feeling. That confuses most other cats but I pick up on other more subtle things, the tiniest of sounds that another cat makes, their smell and how that can change with their mood, how they walk, the movement of their paws, I can pretty much hear what they’re going to do before they do it!

I’ve got my own technique for pinpointing where sounds come from, no matter how quiet they might be. Mummy says it’s like I’m scanning the area in front of me and she’s right, I move my head very slowly from side to side, with each sweep of my head, getting the best angle I can to hone in on my target. Mummy says that my ears are like two radar dishes helping me pinpoint the exact source of any sound no matter how quiet the noise or how loud the surroundings are. When I’m really listening, really listening hard, I’m completely focussed, everything else fades around me, the surrounding noises disappear into nothing, all I can hear is what I’m intent on, nothing else matters, it’s like the blindie version of tunnel vision. Then all of a sudden, once I’m done, everything comes whooshing back and I can hear all the surrounding noises again and “oh, hello mummy I’m back.”

Anyway, back to my story, then I think it decided it liked me, it was still wary of mummy but he came up onto the patio and rolled around. “Oh look Jenny, I think it wants to play with you” said mummy happily, “I don’t think so mummy I think it’s trying to tell me that it thinks this is it’s patio and it’s trying to show me it’s da boss cat. Well I’m not having it, this is my patch and I’m the queen of this garden” and I let out a little growl to show him I wasn’t having any of it. Then off he ran behind the wall and I meowed quietly “yeah! You’d better run, don’t mess with a blind kitty on a lead!” I’m not sure he heard me but I was proud of myself for standing up to the intruder kitty. I hope one day though it might want to be friends with me, as long as it knows I’m da boss cat in my garden but I don’t mind sharing with a polite kitty once in a while.

With all that excitement there was nothing else for it….come on mummy I’m starving is it time to go in for dinner and a nap yet?

What an exciting week, mummy and I have been exploring the neighbourhood. One day I just decided to engage my adventure cat mode and crawled under the gate and ventured off down the road. Mummy calls it the curl-de-sac. Little by little, pawstep by pawstep we walked slowly down the road and along the hedge, listening to the birdies flying around inside. The end of our neighbours hedge was enough for our first outing but I could tell that this was going to be a fun place to explore.

Other than the birds in the bushes I could hear other exciting noises further down the road, even when went back into our garden I couldn’t help thinking about what exciting things might be a little further past the hedge. Maybe the next time I’ll go a little bit further, I’m sure I could hear a tree in the distance and it sounded big.

The next time I fancied going out of the garden, I was feeling pretty confident so with mummy following along behind I engaged my adventure cat mode again and off we went. I was off trotting along with mummy saying “wow Jen, you’re what’s got into you, you’re off like a shot, like you own the street” There were so many interesting smells on the way, mummy let me take the lead, no pressure to go anywhere in particular, just wherever I wanna go and at my own pace. She does keep mumbling something about needing to walk on the pavement and that not polite to go walking in other peoples front gardens. Hey I’m an adventure cat I can go anywhere!

The curl-de-sac was very quiet so we just gently carried along down the road bit by bit, exploring every new scent and stopping to sniff most of the bushes. It was so exciting and there wasn’t anything to interrupt our expedition so we just kept on going a little further each time. I really wanted to dart off this way and that each time I discovered something new but I was very controlled and despite my urge to run off at every direction I kept going systematically. I needed to map the area first and then once that’s done, I can run around this way and that, knowing where I am, where my safe places are and more importantly how to find my way home. Even how the ground feels different under my paws helps me, sometimes it was hard but even, then some bits of it were all cracked and rough and some bits were even a bit soft and squishy. Along with all the new sounds and smells the different feelings on my paws just adds to the excitement and helps me to map the area better.

After I’d had a bit of an explore and been round most of the gardens, we came across a little area where there was some grass that mummy would let me walk on (finally). I could hear these very strange noises so I stepped forward cautiously with mummy gently reassuring me. I could smell strong smells that were familiar but just stronger than normal. The noises gradually got closer and closer, it was a kind of munching, snuffling, dribbly noise with an odd snort. I could hear that they sounded like biiiig animals from their noises and the sound of their big paws on the ground which made a thudding noise as they gradually come closer. They weren’t soft and quiet like mine are, there’s no way these giant animals could sneak up on any birdies.

I stood close into mummy legs, just for reassurance as mummy told me that these were the animals I could hear moo-ing in the background from our garden, she called them cows 🐄. Mummy said to me that we’d be brave together, whilst mummy loves all animals, she’s scared of cows so together we protected and reassured each other. Then when they started to get quite close , even though we were behind a little gate in what even I could tell was an overgrown hedge where there’s no chance they would really even see us, they got too close for mummy’s comfort and she was the first of us to say, “Come on Jen we’ve seen enough now, let’s head home”.

“Ok then mummy, let’s go, I’m not so sure about them yet” so off we went heading back up the road towards our gate. Mummy kept telling me how brave I was and that even though she knows me better than everyone, she was surprised at how I just wandered off to explore. “If I didn’t know you were blind Jen I really wouldn’t believe it. You’ve done so well today.” Then, just as we were heading back up to home the door of the house with the big, interesting tree opened and a lady came out and started talking to mummy. I could hear mummy chatting and whilst she stood there for ages and ages I carried on exploring up the street and down the street and listened to what was in the big, beautiful tree. Then mummy picked me up and I heard a strange voice saying “hello Jenny, aren’t you beautiful” then a hand giving my head a lovely couple of strokes to say hello. I meowed hello to the lady and heard her telling mummy that she had watched us from her window and just had to come out to make sure that it was a cat that mummy was walking on a lead down the road. Mummy of course explained that I was also blind but that didn’t stop me from exploring and going for walks. I

It reminded me that when mummy and I first went out on walkies all those years ago that mummy got asked quite a lot if I was a cat on a lead. Then we kind of forgot about it as everyone around us got used to seeing us every day but here mummy is back to being a ‘mad cat lady’. So far everyone who has said anything when we’ve been out in the garden or now down the road seems to think it’s just lovely and calls me cute. I like being cute so that’s fine with me plus now I’m showing a whole new group of people that it’s ok to be blind and that us blindies can do anything any other kitty can do.

Then we headed home for some well earned dinner and to tell daddy all about our exciting adventure. When I meowed excitedly to tell him that we met a cow and daddy just laughed and said “well, mummy must love you if she went anywhere near a cow! She’s petrified of them 😂”. I slept well that night snuggled into mummy’s tummy and giving her a big hug right the way around. I’m pretty sure mummy must have slept well that night too after seeing the cows.

It was so exciting, a box arrived with my name on it all the way from America. Daddy took the delivery during the day but said we had to wait for mummy to come home before we opened it.“But daddy” I meowed, “it’s my package, it’s got my name on it not mummy’s I wanna open it now!” Daddy said that I just needed to be patient he said that he didn’t believe that I would ever want to open a surprise package without mummy there and when I calmed down a bit I realised that daddy was right and I really didn’t want to open such an exciting box without mummy there to share the excitement with. I tried so hard to sneak a little sniff to try to figure out what was inside but daddy quickly put the box up on the side out of reach. As he moved it I caught a whiff of something that was very tantalising, something irresistible but then the scent was gone.

It seemed like forever before mummy came home. Finally I heard the car pull up and the key in the door and ran running to meet her. Angelin and Millie came rushing too and before mummy had even got the door closed behind her we were all round her feet asking if we could open our present. “Hello girls, that’s a lovely welcome but what are you all clamouring about?” She said. We meowed back, all at once telling her that we’d got a surprise box and that we wanted to open it. “Hang on girls, one at a time, what’s going on?”

Millie: “We’ve got a surprise box mummy”

Angelin: “Daddy was a meanie and wouldn’t let us open it till you got home”

Jenny: “It smells of catnip mummy, there must be something good inside, can we open it now, now, now? We’ve been waiting ages”

“Ok girls, let me get my shoes off and put my bag down and we’ll see what’s in the box.”

Then we started ripping the box open, oh the smell of catnip came out like a tidal wave, it was irresistible and I just couldn’t help myself so in I went, straight into the box even before mummy could see what was inside. As mummy rummaged around inside the box, moving the crinkly paper this way and that way around me she started to pull things out. Well, the pieces of crinkly paper was the first things mummy pulled out, Angelin couldn’t resist these, crinkly things are her favourite so she was straight onto those. Then out came toys, one after the other, daddy was trying to get them out of the packets but Millie was too quick, she was all over them before daddy could even get close to them.

The gifts kept coming, then mummy found a note, it said “To Jenny and family, you’ve been flocking waffled. Enjoy your gifts, your secret waffler” It was from some of my lovely furriends on Instagram who are part of the @secretwaffleclub and send boxes of gifts to their furriends. I feel so lucky to be part of such a wonderful community who send gifts to kitties like me just because they want to.

There were even a couple of presents for mummy and daddy in the box but we weren’t bothered about those too much we were just concentrating on finding the best toys for each of us to play with. They’re so fun that we might have dribbled on them a bit (well maybe a lot) but when you’re having this much fun you just can’t help yourself.

Then, the best thing was that there was a brand new bandana for me to add to my collection, so mummy straight away put it on me and we went out for walkies, leaving Millie and Angelin to fight over the crinkle paper and toys with daddy as referee. I just loved showing off my new bandana, it had tickly bits round the edge which were fun to feel as I ran around and climbed my tree. It was a slightly different style to my usual ones which fit ont my harness but this one went over the top so mummy said I should share it with Millie so once we came back indoors Millie got to try it on too. We didn’t leave Angelin out but she doesn’t like wearing bandanas so mummy didn’t put it on her coz that wouldn’t be a very nice thing to do. Anyway she was happy playing with all the other toys.

There were so many toys that we played all night long, mummy and daddy left them out for us to play with. We all played with everything so much that we got really peckish, specially Millie who had a big case of the munchies so we egged her on and bet her that she couldn’t get into the treat bag. Well, she savaged her way into the treat bag, ripping a hole in it like the crazy catnip charged kitty she was, munching on the precious bounty inside. Once we had all gorged ourselves and eaten as much as we could and with full tummies it was time to finally rest and get some sleep after our exhausting play marathon.

When mummy got up in the morning she said it looked like a bomb site, like there were multiple flamingo paper puddles strewn across the hallway. I’m not sure what that means but we did play long into the night whilst mummy and daddy were sleeping but you just can’t resist those catnip toys and just have to keep going back for more until you’re so tired you just can’t move anymore. As you can see from the photos below that mummy took before she went to bed we just kept going and going and going.

Thank you again secret waffle club you made us so happy.

Well, I’m not so sure if it’s secret or not but we found it so we’re claiming it. It’s the perfect room for us kitties, it’s warm, got lots of things to climb on and according to Millie a great place to watch the birdies from. Mummy and daddy call it the conservatory or ‘cons club’ but we call it the C3 headquarters. It’s where we can go in private to hold very impawtant board meetings to mostly discuss how we can get extra treats and cuddles from daddy whilst mummy is at work. we’re very diplomatic, we all get a say and a vote and then I as Queen get to implement whatever I want and the others completely ignore me and do what they want anyway but at least we all knew what each other was going to do! It’s just how kitty diplomacy works and it’s just the right way to go about things to keep everything moving and for us to each get our own way. Imagine the chaos of having to actually agree on everything, we’d never get anything done!

Of course when we’re not discussing and voting on impawtant topics the room can be used for other, much more informal but equally as important things such as bird watching, napping and sunbathing. It also makes a great warm up room for my climbing activities as I can get my leg muscles moving gently with a quick, easy climb on the furniture and I can practice my balance by strutting my stuff along the narrow windowsills. All the while in my mind I’m pretending that I’m exploring the branches of the biggest, highest tree in the worlds largest forest. What fun adventures can be had right in your own home, you’ve just got to let your imagination go.

Then, one day we were sitting in there discussing some very important issues, like how do we get mummy to stay home more and who is going to have the comfy chair for the day when…ping….ping…..tap….tap…..tap..tap..tap.tap.taptaptaptaptap oh my Catness the noise is so loud it’s making my ears hurt, what on earth is falling from the sky? We’d better get outta here in case something falls on us. Then Millie looked out of the window and just as daddy came in she meowed “hey! It’s raining.” Then daddy came in and said “it’s ok girls, it’s nothing to be scared of, it’s just the rain but it’s really pouring down and those raindrops sound so much louder in here, bouncing off the cons club roof, it makes quite a racket.” “Well daddy, that’s the loudest rain I’ve ever heard, I thought something terrible was happening” I meowed. Then as we all sat together and listened to it, with daddy telling us it was ok and nothing was going to hurt us, the noise became kind of soothing, repetitive and just blended into the background. Once I’d got over the initial shock and my ears had adjusted to the noise I felt kind of safe and secure, knowing that outside was getting all wet and rained on but here were were with daddy all together, warm and dry and just listening to the natural world around us from the comfort of our own home. Daddy was right it was nothing to be worried about and it’s just another new noise that we have to get used to as part of our new country life we’re living now. Then as quickly as it came it went away again, leaving behind it that lovely fresh smell that’s so exciting on my nose, “When’s mummy coming home so we can go out for walkies and enjoy the wet garden smell” I asked daddy, “She’ll be home later on to take you out and by then the grass will be a bit drier so your paws and tummy won’t get too wet.”

Our new room is also great for playing, after all we can’t be all work and no play, mummy put some toys in here that we were given by our lovely Instagram buddies @turbomantomcat and we just love them. You can hide in them, climb them, sleep in them and best of all play together in and on them, plus they make a great viewpoint to hear all the outside noises. All in the comfort of our own special room, mummy also said that if we get bored of them she can just take them apart and move them around so it is a gift that just keeps on giving. Thank you so much, we feel very honoured to have such kind furriends around us.

As it turns out the ‘cons club’ is also a great place to watch and judge mummy when she’s outside doing manual labour. Apparently not all outdoor activities are appropriate for us to join mummy in. Whatever mummy was doing was very noisy so I was glad I was inside and able to supervise her from there. It was fun watching mummy and every so often she’d tap on the window and say “How am I doing Jen, am I doing a good job?” “Of course, mummy, you’re doing very well” I shout through the glass, I know that humans need a lot of praise to keep motivated when doing manual labour tasks.

I thought I’d lived quite an adventurous life so far but who knew there were still so many new things to listen to, to smell and to experience. I didn’t realise life could get even more adventurous that it already was. There’s some things that are so new and exciting like the rain on the C3 club roof but also things that are every day that I can just get used to, like the cars and tractors that I had met before in London but mummy kept me away from them as much as possible because they’re so loud and scary and came so close to us but here I’m gradually getting used to them (as long as they stay on their side of my hedge) as they go past the garden all the time. I guess learning what you really should be scared of and what you think you should be scared of is all part of learning to have a happy and fun life, we can’t always live in fear and sometimes facing the fearsome metal car monster you realise they’re not so bad after all. Maybe I’m growing up?

This thing that mummy and I invented called gardening turns out to be quite fun, plus I’m really good at it!

When mummy doesn’t have to go to work she says “come on Jenny let’s go and potter in the garden.” I just love it when she says this or even when we are on our regular walkies and we stop around he garden to ‘do gardening’ we can pull out a weed here and another one over there and it keeps mummy occupied if I’m chasing birdies. We seem to do so much pulling out of leaves and things that I get to pounce on that I think our whole garden must be just weeds, weeds and more weeds! If we carry on for much longer I don’t think there’ll be any plants left which would be sad as there wouldn’t be anything left to help mummy with outside and I like helping mummy very much. Mummy reassured me though, she said “It’s ok Jen there’s lots to do now as the garden was left to just drop for a long time before we moved in but we’ll make it pretty again there’ll still be lots you can help with. Just wait till we start digging.”

Then, when it was really hot and sunny mummy went outside for ages, I didn’t go out with her the whole time as it was apparently too hot for us kitties. When I did go out to help though mummy brought out something new to help her, it sounded like she had claws like me, she stabbed them into the ground, just like I used to do when I used to help mummy dig our planters on our old balcony. She stabbed the ground over and over and each time she pulled out more big weeds, “Get them Jen” mummy said so I jumped on them and pawed them until they were shredded and mummy put them into a big bag, as she moved them I chased the leaves as they dragged across the ground just as one last effort to make sure they were properly dead.

All this hard work outdoors makes mummy very dirty and when it’s hot she gets all sweaty. “It’s hard work Jenny but it’ll help keep us fit” she says so I don’t think she really minds too much but as I’m mummy helper I try my best to make sure she doesn’t get too dirty and give her a wash from time to time whilst she’s having a little rest from pulling stuff out of the ground. I think mummy likes it as she always says thank you to me and says she feels better for having a clean spot…then she said “what about the rest of me Jen?” Well I meow back that would take far too long so I’ll just do the dirtiest bits, you’ll have to do the rest mummy.

Daddy washed out the old planters that came with our new house ready for mummy to put some plants in. You know what humans are like though, you’ve always gotta check that they do it right so I inspected daddy’s handiwork. It’s ok mummy, daddy did a good job, the new planters are spick and span , they’re ready for some new plants and a new life with us. Can I dig them now mummy? “Soon Jenny, we’ve got lots to do elsewhere in the garden, then daddy and I can go and gets some pretty plants for us to put in them. Then you can practice your digging.”

Then after a hard days work doing this gardening thing outside mummy said it’s time for walkies. Even though I’ve been helping mummy I still get to have my walkies time outside, doing what I want to do and chasing the birdies and climbing my trees. Once we’ve had enough relaxing it’s time to head indoors, have some dinner and settle down with mummy to enjoy a well earned nap.

What an exciting couple of weeks we’ve had.

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks settling in and getting used to our new home. Exploring every nook and cranny, finding out where everything is, which is really difficult when mummy and daddy keep moving things around. There aren’t so many box mountains as there were in our old flat before but instead there’s a whole sea of boxes. It very strange as some things smell of us but other things don’t so it’s quite confusing, plus our new home is much bigger so mapping is going to take a bit longer than before.

Once my grandpawents had gone and we’d settled in a little bit more mummy took me out for my first walkies. The air smelt different here, clean and fresh but with a funny smell sometimes, something that I didn’t recognise. It was very quiet outside, no people noises, no planes, no trains but there were some of those metal monsters that mummy calls cars . Then there was a noise like nothing else I have ever heard, it was LOUD and deep and I could pretty much feel the ground shake. “It’s ok Jenny” mummy said “It’s a tractor, it’s very noisy but it won’t hurt you.” Well I think that tractors must be very angry beasts to make such a noise, I’ll make sure I stay away from them for now. Then, over the next couple of days I heard other strange noises, this time I recognised them as animals but I had to ask mummy what they were, apparently we have cows and sheep around us which make funny noises and they make the funny smells I didn’t recognise. I’ve also met a horse, clip clopping along the road past our house one day.

As well as the house I’ve been mapping the garden too, but by bit I go a bit further each time, it didn’t take me long to find not one but two trees to climb, even better they’re all mine, my own personal climbing trees, complete with birds to play with. There’s loads of birds around here, tweeting and fluttering about in the hedges. I’m going to have great fun trying to make friends with all of them.

There’s been lots of people coming and going in and on the house. It’s been quite stressful as we hadn’t really had the chance to map the house for safe zones. There’s been people delivering things, people in the house, outside the house and even on the house. There’s been loud noises of all kinds, I didn’t even realise there were so many noises that I hadn’t heard. There’s been watery noises, drilling noises, banging, rattling, sawing, scraping, crinkling, rustling, rasping and pretty much every other noise I could ever dream of. It’s ok though daddy’s been looking after us and making sure we’re ok when it’s noisy and whilst it was every day to start with it’s gradually tailed off and become a bit more infrequent which is much better for us as we get to relax a bit in between. After a while I’m sure the noises won’t bother us and bit by bit we’ll get used to them.

Whilst daddy is looking after us we’re looking after mummy, she has to go off to work every single day. She first deserted us after only two days in our new house, I missed her terribly, I need mummy around to help me relax and find my way at home, daddy does a good job but I have a special bond with mummy. Daddy says it’s very tough starting a new job and when mummy comes home she says her brain hurts. So, that’s when I take mummy out for a nice relaxing walkies, we chat away about what we’ve been up to all day. I know mummy enjoys our time outside together as much as I do so we explore together and I show mummy that I’m getting to know my way around the garden a bit better every day. I love helping mummy in the garden, I’m specially good at weeding, mummy pulls the weeds out and then I pounce on them to make sure they’re dead – Ha! Gotcha Mr. Weed, you’re deader than dead now! “Good girl, we’ll done Jenny, you’re a great helper” Then after a bit more running around, it’s time to go in.

Mummy makes the dinner and then her and daddy move more stuff around and unpack more boxes, then before we can say let’s have a cuddle it’s time for bed. So just to make sure that mummy gets a good night cuddle we all pile on and snuggle up to make sure we all get a good nights sleep.

As much as moving house was very stressful and not something I enjoyed and certainly not something I want to do any time soon I love my new home. There’s so much to listen to, hear and smell that I haven’t experienced before. It’s an exciting time to be a blind adventure cat.

I’m sorry I haven’t written for a while but it’s just been so busy that I don’t really know where to start. I’ll try my very best to tell you everything and hopefully I won’t leave anything out.

It all started in the middle of last week when some men turned up to start dismantling my box mountain range. It was so noisy and disruptive and mummy and daddy kept moving us from one room to another as the men moved everything around and then out of the front door bit by bit. Then it all went quiet and the men left but mummy and daddy carried on making new box mountains and all we had time for at the end of the evening was a little bit of time with mummy on the balcony before it was time for bed. Wait a second though, where are we going to sleep? All our scratching posts have gone, most of our beds have disappeared and the spare room where I go for quiet nap time is bare. I guess mummy and daddy will have to budge over and we’ll just pile on the bed but it’s a bit warm so maybe we’ll just see how it goes. There’s still some empty boxes that make good napping spots.

Then morning came and mummy came through as she had to go to work, she said she wouldn’t be long as she was just giving all her stuff back before heading home at lunchtime. When she came through to the living room there we were with a box each. But mummy you can’t leave us like this I meowed but mummy said daddy was here to look after us girls and she’d be home soon. Then a little while later the men came back and started all over again, this time the sofa went and mummy and daddy’s bed, everything. By the time mummy got home, most of our stuff had gone into the back of the big truck I could hear every so often outside, we all sat round the flat and had a little chat and by then I was so used to the two men that I even went over to say hello to one of them! They had been so good making sure we were safe and secure before they opened our door to take all the stuff out I thought I best say “Thanks”.

Then finally they left and all our stuff was gone, or so I thought, until I heard mummy making some very scary noise in the bedroom, it was like very loud windy noise, when it stopped I went in to explore and bumped into a strange firm, squishy thing. Daddy said it was what mummy and daddy were sleeping on tonight, like indoor camping. Then there was a knock on the door and my Aunty M turned up to see us. Mummy and I took her out for a quick walkies and then we went home and daddy and Uncle M had gone out so they went to join them and left us girls to chill out for a bit.

Without the stuff in the flat Millie and I realised that our meows sounded all loud and echoey and so that night once mummy and daddy had gone to bed Millie and I had a competition to see whose meow could echo the loudest. It was great fun but I’m not sure mummy and daddy enjoyed it though it really did make me feel better demonstrating how upset I was at all the disruption.

In the morning mummy and daddy were rushing around when another strange man turned up, he was called Ian and he came in to say hello to us. He introduced himself to each of us in turn and then chatted a bit with mummy and daddy before he left again. Millie knew there was something odd about him, she really wasn’t sure, she’s not very good with strangers and so she went and hid under kitchen units just in case, having pulled off the bottom bit so she could squeeze in. Mummy managed to find her though and got her out and picked her up and went to the front door which I heard close behind her, that’s odd I thought, why is Millie going for walkies and without a harness and lead? That really is odd, I don’t like this very much and then through the door I heard Millie wail, it was the kind of wail that she does when she’s put in the carrier and taken to the v-e-t. Then mummy came back in and a short time later she scooped Angelin up and took her out as well. I was getting a bit scared now as one by one my sisfurs were disappearing, was I next? Then mummy did something very strange, she put my harness and lead on and out we went too but this time daddy came with us. I meowed and meowed as mummy picked me up and carried me downstairs and outside. This was in no way, shape or form a walkies. I was really scared and confused as mummy and daddy gave me a big hug each and lots of kisses and told me to be a good girl and look after Millie and Angelin. Mummy’s voice sounded strange as I was handed over to the strange man who put me into a strange smelling cage where the others were waiting for me. Then the door opened and I head mummy and daddy talking and saying they’d see us soon. Then the door closed, I heard the noise of an engine start up and we moved away. But where’s mummy and daddy? I meowed, where are we going? I was scared and we all cuddled together, Millie and Angelin were asking me what was going on, where were we going? I thought mummy and daddy loved us? Have we been naughty? I remembered when I had come to first meet my pawents, all those years ago and wondered if now, we were being moved on to another family but then I remembered what daddy had told me when Millie had hurt her paw. We’re a family and we always would be, we would never be separated and they had made a promise to look after us for ever no matter what. Mummy had said before that she needed me to be brave and I think this was the time that she meant so I mustered all my strength and courage and despite being scared I still trust mummy and daddy with all my heart. They would never do anything to hurt us so I reassured Millie and Angelin and we prepared ourselves together for whatever might lie ahead.

It was a long time before we stopped and Ian came back to check on us, we were all ok but a moving vehicle isn’t easy for two blindies and a tripaws to manage in but we did our best and tried to chill out as best we could. Millie was unusually quiet but at least we were together and Ian was very nice and looked after us really well, he chatted away to us but we weren’t at our final stop which was still a long way away. After a whole day travelling with a couple of stops we pulled in somewhere and Ian told us that we had arrived. He left us in the van for a bit by ourselves and then one by one we were put into a carrier and taken inside somewhere. There were lots of strange voices but I recognised a couple of them as the men who had taken all our stuff, the others weren’t familiar and I was listening out for mummy and daddy’s voices but I couldn’t hear them, even with my super blindie senses turned right up. Maybe I was wrong, maybe this was a new family, maybe mummy and daddy had left us. Now I was really scared and very confused. Still I clung onto the feeling in my heart that mummy and daddy would never leave us and tried to be strong once more. I could smell familiar things in the room where we were put and having explored a little bit I found our scratching posts, litter tray and food and water, beds and toys so I know we were at least going to be comfortable. Outside the room there was similar noises to what we had heard a few days before with footsteps going backwards and forward all the time but we were kept quiet in our room together. Then after ages and ages the footsteps stopped and we heard less voices. Then after what seemed like forever, the door opened and I heard the familiar voice of mummy. “My girls” she said, “I missed you, are you all ok?” “Mummy!” I meowed I delight as loud as I could from the top of the scratching post. With all the disruption I couldn’t quite figure the way down quick enough but it didn’t matter as mummy scooped me up in the biggest cuddle ever. We all had a big group hug on the floor and from then on I knew we would all be ok. After a while mummy left and then daddy came in and we had more hugs and cuddles.

Over the next few hours they kept popping in to check on us and then one time mummy came in with someone new, mummy said she was my cousin and she stroked us gently and played with our toys but we were still a bit nervous so not really in the playing mood. Then we met more people, one by one and always with mummy or daddy with us, they said this was our family and they had all been dying to meet us. Eventually though, things quietened down and all that was left was mummy, daddy and two other people whose voices I had heard all day since we arrived. We were let out of our room to explore and we met, for the first time our grandpawents. They spoke funny and I didn’t quite understand them but they were calm and gentle, it was their voices that I had heard through the door. They also stayed the night and to make us feel better mummy and daddy slept on the funny mattress in with us in our room.

We slept well that night, Daddy, Mummy, Me, Millie and Angelin all in the same room, it had been a very long and tough day but as long as we’re together we’ll be just fine.