Memories - Relaxing Outdoors.

Both boys loved nothing better than relaxing in the sun after a walk around the fields.

The garden was always welcome too.

Although Flynn preferred the warmth of the concrete.

Eric loved to share the sun bed with his dad.

Flynn was happy to have it all to himself.

Eric in his Playboy cat pose.

Flynn in his favourite position on his back.

Eric liked relaxing amongst the load of hay bales.

But Flynn liked the comfort of the folded sun bed cushions.

Eric rolling in the sun.

Flynn on the hammock also enjoying the sun.

All that relaxing was thirsty work, so a drink was needed before going in for supper.

Memories - Tree Climbers

All of these photos can be clicked on to enlarge.
Both boys loved to climb trees.

Flynn made his first ascent of the elderberry tree when he was about 2 months old.

It was not long after that Eric joined him when they discovered they could climb up the inside of the Leylandii hedge.

Flynn soon went on to greater heights...

but Eric preferred to try closer to home hoping for a flying snack to arrive.

The higher Flynn could get, the better he liked it.

Sometimes Eric would venture higher, but it usually ended with me having to rescue him.

It didn't stop him trying though.

Flynn was fearless and would walk out on the flimsiest looking branches,

but even he would sometimes find himself in trouble, but always got himself back down safely.

Sometimes there was a queue to get back down.

Eric's favourite though was the tree stump where he could act at being King of the jungle.

Memories-The Plant Pots.

Everyone knows how much Eric and Flynn loved their plant pots, but they didn't always have them.

They always enjoyed a nap in the greenhouse, and when the fuchsias were cut back and brought in for the winter they decided they made good beds.

It must have been more comfortable than it looked.

One day I had been weeding and picked up some long cut grass and put it in the pot and left it in the greenhouse.
Flynn decided that was a much better bed but Eric had to make do with the earth.

So we found another big pot so they had one each and filled them with hay.

They were both very happy to have their very own pots....

But of course every now and again they would still flatten the plants in the other pots just to prove a point.

They always went back to their very own pots though, and Ivor even built framework for them so they didn't topple over when they got in.

Memories, Caturday Art-On The Blocks

The concrete blocks were stacked against the wall waiting to be used to build a garden shed. We changed our minds about building it, so the blocks stayed there for several years until they were used for a different project.
The boys were very pleased about that as they would lie on them at every opportunity as they made a lovely sun trap for them.
For more Caturday Art, visit Athena the Cat Goddess.

Memories-Caturday Art.

The photo used for Caturday Art was taken when the famous "Purrizen Fence" was being built.
Eric and Flynn used to have free run of the outdoors and would go off into the fields on their own and be back within a couple of hours.

In time, Eric started to go further and we would have to go looking for him. He would cross several fields towards one of the neighbouring farms. We started to worry for his safety, so both boys got grounded.

That meant that they could only go outdoors if I was with them. It upset them after having freedom to roam, and it upset us to see them fretting about it.
The solution was the purrizen fence. It was 8 feet high and the horizontal boards were on the outside so as not to make it to easy for them to escape over it.
As you can see, they wanted it done as soon as possible and helped out with it.

The fence meant the garden was completely enclosed so they were able to use their cat flap and go outdoors whenever they wanted to.
I am sure they could have got over the fence if they really wanted too, but they seemed more than happy with unlimited access to the garden. Of course I also took them for walks around the fields so they could continue their perimeter patrol and mouse hunting.

Visit Athena, The Cat Goddess for more Caturday Art.

Our 11th Blogoversary.

Eleven years ago today we started this blog. I wish our boys were still here to celebrate it, but I will continue to keep their memory alive here.

I have made so many friends over the past 11 years and I am grateful for those friendships and all the support we have been given.

The last blogoversary that Eric and Flynn shared was the 6th one which can be seen here. It also tells of our first ever post for those of you who were not following us back then.

Some Blogger trivia which was accurate when I scheduled this post 2 days ago.
Total page views - 677,929
Comments - 84,500
Posts - 2,519

Caturday Art - A Beautiful Gift.

I have a special submission for Caturday Art this week.
I had an email from Barb, Angel Nellie's mum saying that she was doing a painting of Eric and Flynn for us.
It has arrived and is so beautiful. It captures them so perfectly.
We can't thank you enough Barb, and will always treasure it.

Visit Athena's blog for more Caturday Art.

An Update.

I haven't put an update on how I am doing for quite some time on here, although I have put it on Facebook occasionally.

I have had two CT scans since the last time I updated. The first was not what I was hoping for and the cysts and tumours had grown very slightly.
My doctor had said he was not too disappointed as the pills are very slow working and he wanted me to stay on them for a further two months to give them more time.

I had my latest scan 2 weeks ago and went back to the hospital on Monday for the result.
It was better this time and two of the tumours were very marginally smaller and the others were unchanged.

Although it is not a huge difference, it makes a great difference to me to know that they are not growing any more, and that two have even started to shrink.

I am to stay on these pills for now and will have a full blood count in a further two months time which is mostly to check kidney and liver function, and also bone density.

I  have been asked how I am doing but don't want to bore people with my health problems, so will only update if there is any significant change, hopefully for the better.

I appreciate all of the good thoughts and prayers you  have been sending me.

I can't do a post without a photo, so here is one from 2009 of me coming back from a walk in the fields with the boys.