September Photo A Day Challenge

I'm going for it! Prompted by Delyth, I'm going to take part in the Photo A Day challenge. The list is quite convoluted, especially for my skills (none) and I will be taking pictures on my Android phone. So, not sure what the outcome will be. Suggestions for what I can try to capture for each day welcomed.

I will be posting each day's photo to FaceBook, using hashtag #FMSPHOTOADAY, but plan to post all 30 pics in here at the end of the month.

Waiting for Mumu

It's a New Year, the first time in over 10 years that we've welcomed the new year without one or more mumu. It's strange. This year, 2013, is when we will decide if and when and how many cats we will adopt (hopefully some will be mumu). The big decision will be later in the year, after summer. There's quite a few rescue centers near here where we will look, one the decisions have been made.

Until then I will continue petting any cats I come across on our walks and, of course, keep an eye open on the Critter Room for any new fosters at John's on the Livestream feed. We took a walk out today, around Stroud. Only a bit of a leg stretch, but we enjoyed the fine weather and local cats. No pics of cats, they didn't stay still long enough!

We walked through the underpass at Wallbridge, it's been painted brightly and there's no graffiti over it, which is pretty cool.

 It was some sort of countryside scene I think. There were references to the countryside and organic living.

The underpass was painted in 2008, and looks just as good today. Stroud News & Journal wrote about it at the time.

There's various sites around Stroud that have been painted by graffiti artists, to depict numerous images. Specifically to stop the cruder graffiti that blighted many spots.

That said the organic sausage (or whatever it is) is a bit odd, we couldn't work out what it was or the meaning of it. 

Still, it made us stop and look and have a chat about it plus the paintings were colourful and good to look at, so it was all good.

Recently, another underpass was transformed by pupils at a local school.

The part of the canal we walked was interesting, in that parts of it have been restored and renovated. Cotswolds Canal Trust have done lots of work in the area of Wallbridge, I hope they continue to restore the canal.

I was amused to come across this gate, no fence either side (though there was a wire fence along the length of the canal). This gate was padlocked and led to what looked like a boggy wilderness. Clearly an access point once upon a time!

We were met by some swans, swimming quite hard upriver. 

The river Frome and the canal run very close. I think the swan were after some food (we had none, maybe next time). They were pecking at the water making scoffing noises. 

Here's a question, how is it that the body of the swans was lovely brilliant white, yet the neck and head of the swans looked grubby and in need of a good wash?  

We strolled round through Lodgemore Mill, there's lots of small offices and industries there. At WSP textiles, on the road leading onto the A46 Bath Rd, we could see how high the water was. The Mill (WSP) used to use the river to power the factories and the river still runs very quickly through the sluice gates. In some places only a couple of inches will start to cause flooding. 

Lots of the little Lodgemore cottages had sandbags at the ready. 

Lastly, I saw this pretty little flower growing at the side of one of the bridges. Any ideas what it might be?

Hopefully I'll get some cat pics next walk out, wherever that is.

Came home to an empty house

We've been on holiday, 10 glorious days touring mainland Europe. But my, coming home to an empty house with no cats was very difficult. The house feels cold and empty. There's no lap cuddles, demands for petting and treats and accusing stares. We miss them.

Kipling would often sit on the garage waiting for one of us to get home, he thought it was a great hiding place. Also, the garage roof was a lovely sun trap. What more could King of the Mumu want?

Another favourite waiting place for Kipling was the side of the house, he'd poke his head round the corner to check out who had arrived home.



Tikki was always a more leisurely cat. Older in years and wiser with her affections. She would wait for us to come to her.

She'd often be found in one of her nests. The nests were often ones she'd made herself. Without a doubt her favourite was the Ikea bag full of odd socks. We were never sure if she was guarding us from the socks or claiming them as her own. Suffice to say that, once she's spent time in the bag, the socks needed to be washed again.



I've been getting a cute fix from Miranda's Kittens. They'll be going to their Forever Homes soon, sad to see them go but happy their new lives will be starting.  As for paws for us, there will be some soon. Very soon!

Big Mu R.I.P.

Sadly, Kipling was P.T.S. on Tuesday 20 March. We found out, after a couple of visits to the V.E.T. that he had an inoperable tumour behind his left eye. This is what was causing the running nose. Even worse, his left eye was swollen and being pushed out of the socket. The left side of his face was swollen. We had time to say goodbye to him and had a weekend of feeding him all sorts of lovely Mu treats. We've lost both cats this past year and it's very hard. We miss having paws around the house. We will get more, but need time to get over Kipling and Tikki. I hope they're settled at Rainbow Bridge.

Kipling didn't start life as Kipling or as a Mumu. He was a rescue cat, he chose me when he was in Teckels Animal Sanctuary. The staff at Teckels thought he had been a pet, possibly when he was a kitten, but then had been feral for at least a year. A kind lady befriended him and rescued him to Teckels.

Initially named Baggie, short for Bagheera, I wanted a name that better reflected his personality. My lodger at the time commented that naming him would be difficult, he was very much A Cat Who Walked By Himself. Clearly this name was too long, but the obvious link between his personality and his past name was Rudyard Kipling. So, it was decided that Kipling is his name, coupled with the fact that he made exceptionally good cuddles. The name proved very apt when, 3 years later, Tikki came to live with us. The literary link was complete. More on Tikki later.

But where does Mumu come from?  This is slightly more convoluted. Mou is the Greek for 'my', as in My Love or My Cat. So, for me, Kipling became Kipling Mou. An affectionate term for My Kipling. My OH pointed out that Mumu are black cats, and Kipling was the King of the Mumu.

Sneezy Time

Kipling suffers from a runny eye and a snotty nostril. Yes, nostril - not nose. His left eye and nostril run. He's been to vet and suffered all sorts of flushings and meds, but they still run. He's just sort of got used to it. It's harder for us to take in, I think.
It doesn't, however, detract from his joy of life. He still takes much pleasure from owning the controls and the best viewing seat.
Even when he's not actually watching, he commands the top seat.

He's getting on a bit, though. While not ancient, or even old, he's iro 14 (real age unknown due to him being a feral rescue) and starting to show a little more white on his black fur.