Big pussycats!

Bruno (a.k.a Boonie) looking just like himself

On Sunday, we went to see Jessie. I walked into her front hallway and Mitsi was in there. We always refer to Mitsi as a “little black cat”, but she looked so big to me after being with our kittens all week that I didn’t think she was Mitsi and I thought that there was an intruder in the house!

I took a picture of Mitsi indoors with the flash turned on but she got “green eye” and it wasn’t very good, so a picture of Mitsi will have to wait.

However, while outdoors, I got a picture of Boonie in a typical Boonie pose. He was making a rare foray outdoors and was reposing on the lawn, but deigned to lift his head and open his eyes to look at the camera. He is one gorgeous very large pussycat.

Sam among the grass - alert and ready to spring

No, this isn’t the same grey cat. This one is Sam. He is a somewhat sleeker and more muscular cat than Boonie. The relationship is close, as their Persian mothers were litter-mates and they probably had the same father.

Sam is nearly as large as Boonie, but more active. He also ensures that he keeps his claws well sharpened at all times. Whereas you can do anything with Boonie, if you make a fuss of Sam, you need to watch what you’re doing at all times, because eventually he will decide to have you, and I can attest to how well he maintains his claws.

I was honoured by Sam last Sunday. I picked him up and put him on my lap and he sat up there and purred for a couple of minutes before jumping down and strutting off with his tail swaying slightly like a banner in a breeze.

Maidstone again!

When Stephen and I went to Maidstone a couple of weekends ago to hear Maidstone Winds perform on the bandstand in Brenchley Gardens, we didn’t expect to be returning to Maidstone again so soon.

However, to Maidstone we went, as Stephen’s Mum had a hospital appointment at the Maidstone Hospital. We picked her up and went to the hospital first. We had to pay for our parking as Jessie didn’t have her blue disabled badge with her. That was my fault, as she used her walker to get out to the car and her handbag was on the walker seat. I took the walker back into her house and didn’t notice the handbag on there and so it didn’t go with us! 😳

Once we were finished in the hospital, we headed into central Maidstone to visit the Chequers Centre, now renamed The Mall Maidstone.

I decided to have another four place settings of the stoneware crockery I bought last time we were in Maidstone. Stephen isn’t entirely happy about that as the plates are quite large and only fit in certain specialised slots on the dishwasher. They are really nice plates though: well glazed, plus they’re big enough that you can fit a decent cooked breakfast on them without bits hanging over the sides! 🙂

Stephen had various items of clothing, and so did Jessie and I. In fact, Jessie and I both liked one skirt and bought it in each of our sizes! Jessie and I both had trainer liners. I want them for actually wearing inside trainers, but she just wants them for putting on her feet at home.

Jessie also had some mugs and I had four glass tumblers.

Then we moved onto British Home Stores where I had some items I wanted to swap for a different size. It all got very complicated because I bought six on a “three for £5” deal but could only swap five as I’d worn one. The poor assistant took quite a long time to get it to come out right. I could have ended up making a £1 profit as the returns went in at full price and the replacements came out on the discount deal. At least I was in a good humour and so was the assistant, so we got it all worked out amicably. She did ring the bell and summon a second assistant as a queue started to form behind my complicated transaction! Just when we thought we had it all square, I noticed a size 22 tag on one of the items in my replacement pile and thought the assistant had got a return mixed in, but I’d picked up a garment which was displayed incorrectly sized. That entailed a bit more to-ing and fro-ing, but we sorted that glitch out too.

The one thing I didn’t manage to do was to visit Specsavers, where I was hoping to get some running repairs done on my prescription varifocal polaroid sunglasses. I was wearing them on a chain and they were hanging down on my chest when Stephen decided to hug me and bent the frames, causing one lens to pop out. It hit the pavement and now has a chip out of it. I suspect that I will be up for a new pair, but I’d really like some running repairs in the meantime as I need dark glasses next Sunday when I’m playing outdoors with the Beckenham Concert Band. If they can’t cobble those back together, I’ll need to get some clip-ons by Sunday…

I’d had enough of Maidstone by then, so we headed home. I took a wrong turning and we joined the M20 a bit further east than I’d intended to 🙂 but we got back to Jessie’s place eventually, having stopped along the way for a McDonald’s.

Jessie’s cats were pleased to see me, as usual. Minnie spent a considerable amount of time on my lap; Boonie had a couple of short sessions, and Mitsi landed when I was least expecting her, but moved off again once I’d acknowledged her. Mollie got her share of attention on the floor, and so did Sam.

Tomorrow’s a working day, and I think I’m tired enough to go to bed right now and sleep. Stephen would like me to pre-order Windows 7, but the site for doing that is currently down due to the high volume of traffic. Methinks that people are more enthusiastic about Windows 7 than they ever were about Vista. 😀 I should also check back through my book review file and make sure that the library book I’m about to start reading isn’t one I’ve already read. It would be annoying to sit down on the train tomorrow and find that my reading matter wasn’t something new after all.