Samson a much loved family member 1994- 2012

Samson spent his last morning in the kitchen getting in the way as the harvest loaf was being made. We trod on his tail several times, and he got covered in  flour. At one point he tried to get upon to the table and see what there was to eat. He died peacefully on Saturday Evening, a much loved member of the family.

Samson is under the table out of picture, BUT VERY MUCH THERE

The praise is going nicely to my head

Everywhere SHE goes, in certain circles, people tell HER how much they like this,  my blog.  Most read it in its paper form I suspect ,in that famous publication The Filey Envoy. 

I think I might be in contention with Hilary Mantel. HE has read 'Bring up the bodies' , and says its very good. SHE wont read anything HE suggests. SHE doesn't do History except Prehistory, and especially doesn't do anything to do with the Tudors. SHE has had 40 years of HIM doing the Tudors, and says if SHE sees another codpiece or picture of  Hever Castle she will start watching Eastenders and Coronation Street. If I do win a Literary Prize SHE will be able to get an ipad, whatever that is.

I am really going to try and get a prize for HER. I do appreciate that my fame is spreading further the Filey Pets and Gardens, and Filey Veterinary Practice, both of whom are allowed to carry the Samson Coat of Arms above their doors, By Appointment to etc.

I am going to have to deal with FAME before the paparazzi find me sunbathing next to the manhole cover. I must learn some modesty and make sure that I don't say anything which may be taken out of context, or anything  else mentioned in James 3. I do want my reputation to remain that of a popular but perfect puss.

You shouldn't have seen this one!

The need for repentance..

THEY are keen on the word REPENTANCE. I listen to THEIR conversation sometimes on Wednesday evenings. I do know it is an inclusive group, I know that Rev Liz Kitching is blessing pets at Cloughton, but I still feel an outsider in my own home sometimes. There's just too much talk and not enough out in the world doing stuff. I've heard THEM say that too.

I am using a small r in my title. I dont feel the need for the BIG R.What I have done doesn't make me a bad cat. After all , I've lived a good life and not hurt anybody much. Lots of cats are much worse than me, scratching things and leaving a mess and getting up to no good at the dead of night. 

BUT I feel tonight I had better just apologise for a few things, just because I am a well mannered feline, and need feeding every day , and a place to lay my head.

• I have erred and strayed- only into the shower room , but (let the reader understand) its is out of bounds in the interest of Health and Safety
• I have eaten all the bread put out for the sparrows, and the stale butterfly buns left over from an OCCASION
• I have misled you all with the business of the BLUE FLAG. Sorry we have not got one anymore. It was taken away from us 10 days ago, and it WAS NOT MY FAULT. I did not pee in the sea and our drains all go down the right pipes- THE VERY IDEA
• I have done a few more things I ought not to have done, and the burden of them is a bit intolerable, but only a bit. 

So you can see the that a small r is quite ok. And I am sorry. I am working up to the big R, but am going to have to listen in to a few more Wednesday nights, read a bit more Corrie ten Boom and listen out for the PNEUMA*  whatever that is !

* I am not a Hebrew Scholar, but can look up Greek in  my Teach Yourself Greek Book, Ruarch is the Hebrew word. I don't mind which comes to me first.Actually SHE likes 'The Shack' , it explains Holy Spirit quite well. 

My Triathlon

I didn't quite swim, but I got interested in the concept by  looking at the sea from the Cottage. I know we have a blue flag here, I know the sea is visible from my front door, but I cant get over the idea of the indignity of it. The nearest lake for freshwater swimming is the Boating Lake, not quite the Serpentine but certainly the Filey Equivalent. No, I wont find my way there.I haven't got an entourage, just HIM and HER and they are more interested in sitting at their Beach Hut watching their grandchildren on the beach. After all , it is their 40th WA and  The Big Forest have immortalized me in felt.

Poor me, my training on the road with wheels has been all in my mind too. I have been to Cayton Carr so many times in the last months, but only on wheels propelled  by internal combustion, not energy from Jelly Whiskas.

The running , well that is where I have triumphed.

I managed to get out of the front door yesterday. 

 I did a few circuits of the footpaths, ran along the ravine, and then had a long rest in the undergrowth for 2 hours, I am old you understand . and not on anything. I could hear THEM calling my name. I could hear neighbours of THEM calling my name,  but I was enjoying the moment, my uniathlon success. 

50 shades of..

Just as Nick Baines has been standing outside East Croydon Station for 4 years I have been sitting by a footstool in the cottage for over 4 weeks.

Time has not stood still really for me, its just that for HER days have gone by before she has had time to look at Google reader let alone be my amanuensis.




I have been in and out of Cayton Carr for the last couple of months whilst SHE goes with HIM to carry out family business . They do not confide in me but I have over heard the words Nursing Home, Estate Agents and Hearing Aid Batteries. I do not need any of those things , neither does HE. SHE needs Hearing Batteries,I have heard her say a Day in Bed with a book would be nice and meals on a tray, But I don't think SHE is ready to pay a £1000 a week for the privilege, and I know she doesn't want to read 50 shades of Grey, after all ,she has not got over The Lonely Shore by Anna Weale yet.




I am ok Thank very much.




I have been to the Lady in Green for my injection, but now she is a Lady in Pink. I have wandered a little into the alley at the side of the cottage, but wasn't keen.I have also been allowed out of the front of the cottage to the corner, but the path is strewn with dubious dogends . Vet lady thinks I am more than 17 human years old, and my scraggy thinness is perfectly acceptable for a venerable feline. I will keep u posted .

Just wanted u to know I am not dead

Is ok! OUR first night in Cottage

I quite like it. It smells of home anyway.
I was taken from Kiaora this morning to the Vet Lady (who I adore). She gave me something to calm me and then got her assistant to take out all my tangles on my tum with scissors. I had my teeth done too. I had had nothing to eat so was quite famished when I got to the cottage. SHE had to go and get me the prescribed Chicken . Thank God HE didnt really hear vet lady say give him some scrambled egg but only the or chicken bit. It was pouring with rain but still SHE went in search of a cooked Chicken, SPAR no,Butchers1 no,Butchers 2 no, so SHE had to go to T...... Never mind your Principles say I , It was DELICIOUS.
Ive had a good smell round the cottage. There are plenty of hiding places for me. I've already hidden under the desk, and in the shower room. I can see out of the new cat flap on to the yard. I think I'll manage, I heard THEM say that when I can go out THEY might just cut a flap out of the back gate so I can go into the wilds of the Ravine.
SHE is just getting the snacks ready for HOMEGROUP tonight,  Healthy ones of course, pineapple and grapes and stuff, and whilst HE is going upstairs to get something I am going to sneak up and see what its like in the rest of my NEW HOME.

Not dementia but downsizing

You will have heard of not waving but drowning. **I am doing not dementia but downsizing . It too involves the presence of onlookers who can do absolutely nothing. I am an old cat now, 16 at least, which makes me about 84.

I am getting a bit thinner and more fussy with my food. Chicken is my favourite. Infact I can smell it from 15yards when the fridge is open. SHE waves bits around in the air to get me back into the kitchen at night. I humour HER and saunter to my bed.

I am moving. It is making me very anxious. Here I have a garden, a position in society, an outlook and quality visitors. What will become of me? There in old cottage  THEY do not even have any soil or grass for me, just a yard. I have seen the unspeakable plastic box thing they have purchased. How are the mighty to be fallen ?

I have been thinking positively and being focussed as Sulina says. I am after all a Christian Cat. So  like HER though I have been much too far out all my life, I am going to leave Kiaora with calm  and count my blessings.

** Stevie Smith