Not for Arachnophobes!

As promised, here are some pictures of Nipper after his shed. Here he is in his tank and as you can see, he is going to have to move to bigger premises.

I have been looking on the internet and have found him a new tank and within a couple of weeks we hope to move him. Any volunteers to help?



This photo is not very focused, not helped by trying to take it through the side of the tank. You can see how hairy he has become. These hairs are getting redder with each shed and he is now living up to his name-Mexican Red Rump. This photo is a lot clearer. I can't get over how thick his legs are getting. Or over how big the crickets we have to buy for him now!
Nipper can move extremely quickly when he wants, but he looks really comical when he is slowly backing himself out of his hole.

And he looks so sweet!

You always expect that when the phone rings, and you pick up the handset, that you will be able to speak to the person on the other end of the phone. However, the other day, the phone was dead and I had to run upstairs to answer the phone before it stopped ringing.

Upon investigation, this is what we found...

And the culprit?
He is now banned from the front room if he is out. We shut the doors and let him run in the hallway and up the stairs. No hidden wires there.

Is this for me?

Whilst knitting last night, I needed a cup of tea, so down went the needles and off I went to the kitchen.

I think that was a mistake, as by the time I returned from the kitchen with my cuppa, any chance of me continuing to knit had well and truly gone.


I know the wool was soft, but I hadn't intended that it would be a cat's pillow!

Domestic Bliss

I love to see cats cuddled up together in harmony. It wasn't something I wouldn't have expected to see in our home after Mittens died, but I loved this today.

Not much chance of these two arguing!

With the sun out, we are now seeing more of the fish in the pond. The five that we bought have grown which is good to see, but we have discovered that there were four already in the pond.

We now have the five goldfish we bought plus an existing gold fish , a gold and black fish, a silvery one and a black fish. It's been great watching them bask at the top of the pond.

The boys are now eagerly awaiting babies.

Nipper has shed

Nipper hadn't been out and about while the boys were away, so I had a peep to make sure he was still alive. I thought he must be due for a shed as he didn't move when I lifted his bark. All he did was raise his fangs.

D has been back two days and Nipper still hasn't been out, so he wanted to check tonight he was ok.

We lifted his bark and he had shed.

The amazing thing about a spider shed is that it is a complete replica of the spider. It doesn't show on the photo, but you can see the sharp points of his fangs.

Nipper has now shed twice since we have been here and the sneaky look at him tonight shows the red colour becoming more prominent in his hair. As soon as he begins to move about the tank, I'll try and get a photo. It is difficult to pick up the colour through the side of the tank. We can't wait to see how big he is now.

I'm honoured

This was Pickles this morning. Doesn't it just beg to for that tummy to be tickled, so I did.

Now Pickles has never been a lappy cat. She is affectionate on her own terms. So I tickled her tummy and she went all soppy. As soon as I sat down, she came and sat on my lap.

I felt truly honoured, this is the first time she has sat on my since we have moved.
She even enjoyed being tickled under the chin. Not sure when the next time I will have the pleasure of her sitting on my lap.

Welcome Home

Misty our rat seemed really pleased that the boys were home. I had her out while the boys were away and she was very subdued. The boys got her out, and the whiskers are all quivering and she is running from one to another. It was really nice to see.

D seems to have a special relationship with her. I couldn't get a picture as D was sitting on my phone, but just before these pictures were taken, the rat was sat on his head having a wash. She looked really sweet.


She was quite happy sat on his head, gave her a good position to see what was going on.

The Great British Summer

Pickles has always been an outdoor cat in the summer, usually only coming in to be fed. However, it doesn't seem to have registered with her that it is summer.



As you can see, she has found herself a draught-free cardboard box! Glad it's not only me that thinks it's a bit cool for July.

Why would I be interested?

Pickles the cat has always been used to having small animals around the house and didn't show any interest in the rat when we first brought her back.

The last couple of weeks however, she has taken to sitting in the serving hatch right next to the rat cage.

Here it is almost as if she is saying, "I'm not interested in rats, or in hamsters. Why should I be?"


"oh maybe, just a little!"

Looking for me?

I had the fright of my life the other morning. D had Misty the rat out but had to go upstairs to get ready to go out, so he left her with me.

Now most of the time she will wrap herself up in my hair and stay on my shoulder. I was concentrating on doing things on the computer so I wasn't really aware what the rat was doing. After a couple of minutes it registered that she was no longer on my shoulder.

I looked under the cushion behind me but there was no sign of the rat.

Now, when there are two cats living in the house, and no sign of the rat you begin to panic. I shouted up the stairs to the boys to check they didn't have her, and as they didn't went back to check the settee.

I looked all across the back of the settee as she likes to run across there, but there was no sign. By this time the boys had joined in the search. We lifted the cushion and out popped Misty. She had gone right under the seat of the settee.

She looks as if she was saying, "are you looking for me?"

Think I Can Take A HInt

Cats can certainly pick their places to curl up. I was sat last night minding my own business and making the most of the peace and quiet to do some cross stitch. Kashka obviously had other ideas.

Here, as you can see, she has not only sat on my threads, she is sitting on the pattern and has no intention to move. I think she is telling I ought to be going to bed.



Maybe Pickles can get her to move. Up she jumps on the arm of the chair and so starts the hissing match. Almost as if Pickles is saying "she was my mum before she was yours"!


After a few minutes there was an uneasy truce, but that tail was twitching and Pickles was asking for trouble. Kashka must have been a angel cat last night though, she didn't give it a second look.


Maybe these cats will surprise me one day and end up sitting together without killing each other.