A sad,sad day for us....

Today has been a very sad day for us at home. Our quirky, funny cat Felix,aka Stinky Pinkerton has died. She had not been well for a while with repeated bladder problems and she rapidly deteriorated today and had some sort of stroke/fit and I took her straight to the vet this afternoon. I brought her home and this evening we buried her in the little garden patch where our beloved dog Blue is buried,under the Lilac tree.

We don't know exactly how old she was as she was a feral cat that Dan rescued......he was the manager of a scrap dealers yard in Clydach quite a few years ago and there were a lot of feral cats. It took him nearly a year to make friends with her, first throwing her a bit of ham and gradually getting her to come closer until she came into the office. Once a trust had been forged she would let him pet her and she even sat on his lap. He left the yard to work elsewhere and after a couple of weeks was told by a friend that the new owners were having the feral cats exterminated the following week. He was anguished about the little cat and drove up there on the Sunday morning with a cat carrier to bring her home. To his utter dismay the yard was shut,metal gates padlocked and no way in. He took the cat carrier out and put it on the roof of the car while he walked the perimeter to see if he could see her and get her to come to him, but with no luck. He walked across to the workshops opposite to say hello to the guys who were working there and had a chat for a little while. On returning to the car he saw, sat as bold as brass in the cat carrier the little cat!! He closed the flap and brought her home and we all thought she was grey and black but after a while in a clean environment she turned black and white!

He named her Felix as she was the image of a cat on the TV of that name and equally as mischievous. Our dog Blue learnt to love her and they were very close, the cat went into a real period of mourning when Blue died and was never really the same again. She hated the new puppy little Tink and left home for a bit in protest (only to Dan in the cabin).

She came home eventually after a couple of weeks and an uneasy truce ensued. 

She was a real independent character and was really only ever Dan's cat, she kind of tolerated the rest of us but she adored him, rolling on her back and purring to have her tummy tickled. He is very upset at her passing and will miss her greatly. We will all miss the sassy madam too, she made us laugh so very often, even if it was tripping Andy up first thing in the morning as she demanded her breakfast!

The end of an era....sleep tight Felix. XX

 

The railway cycle path walk with little Tink....

On a happier note today I went with my super cute little Chonzer dog, Tink to do a few errand, we went in the trusty Gert and she rode shotgun in the passenger seat wearing her seat belt of course,she has a booster seat too so she can see out of the window. We eventually finished all the errands and pulled into the Railway Inn car park and set off in a westerly direction (I think) we turned left anyway onto the path and set off at a brisk pace. Tink had her coat on as of course did I and we needed them it was murky and cold and there was a real chill in the breeze. We started to jog for a while and then slowed back to a brisk walk. I find this is a great way to excercise without getting too exhausted & sore on tarmac. About 2 kilometres along I was struck by the lovely woodland either side of us and stopped by a beautifully still pool of water to just breathe in the rich, damp, earthy smell.

The still & beautiful pool

 The deep covering of leaves was now turning to a leaf mould and no longer crackled underfoot, so I just stood in silence. Something caught my eye on the right and I watched in astonishment as a greyish brown animal with a darker stripe running all the way down it's back was trotting along a fallen log, it moved quickly so I only saw it for a moment or two but I am pretty sure it was a Polecat(wild relative to the domestic ferret). It was definitely NOT a squirrel!

I am pretty sure this is the kind of animal I saw 

What a treat.We  carried on for about an hour and then turned for home and I stopped to take in the magical feel of the trees in winter. 

We arrived home muddy and cold and both of us had a warm bath (not together of course) and a hot chocolate before getting dinner on the go. I thoroughly enjoyed my jaunt and feel energised and refreshed and yes....I am blessed.

Oh no not another burglary on Sandy Lane!

I cannot say how angry I am about the latest burglary on Sandy Lane. It seems that Dai & Helena's shed had the door kicked in and a chainsaw was stolen. Cartref is being rebuilt and the chainsaw is one of Dave's tools that he uses frequently. This awful situation has to stop! Can everybody be extra vigilant and maybe go for more frequent strolls around the lane to keep an eye on things. I hope the culprit is found soon as this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. For those that have been the victims of these dreadful crimes the impact is obviously much worse and must shake your sense of security and safety when your home has been violated and that's what it is, a violation of people's personal, private space by someone who is uncaring or unmoved by the distress that is being caused. Whatever the reasoning behind this, whether it is someone who is just greedy, desperate or just too stoned and lazy to do it for themselves or too proud to ask for help, the resulting distress is not to be trivialized. 

Watch out, watch out...there's STILL a thief about.....