Scrabbling

Golly I can't believe it's been TWO WHOLE WEEKS since we last blogged. Ever so sorry about that; obviously we blame Rachel, she has been busy busy recently, and hasn't had time to help us with the typing.
The weather has taken a turn for the worse since the start of June - I thought it was supposed to be summer now? Instead it is windy, precipitating, and the mercury has plummeted. Brr. We don't like going out in the rain that much, so I've been catching up on my reading, but Mia has been getting a bit of cabin fever being cooped up so much. The other day she was just being so annoying that I just couldn't concentrate on my book (War and Peace, in case you were wondering). So I put my book aside (which took some effort, I tell you) and asked her if she fancied a game of Scrabble. Usually she'll wrinkle her nose at this suggestion but for once she was so bored that she decided to give it a go.

So we got the board out and started. Here's Mia thinking about her first go (or perhaps she's just caught a whiff of something tasty on the tiles...). We play by the PAWPADS word list which is standard for cats.

It went fairly predictably, to be honest - if I may coin a phrase, I whupped her fluffy little butt. 424 points to me!

And just 135 to Mia.

She is definitely getting better though, last time we played she didn't get any words longer than 3 letters. She's still a terrible loser, though, have a look at the video of the game below and just see what she did at the end!

Hunting

I caught a mouse!! It was so exciting!!

I was out in the garden and I saw it twitching and sniffing by a treetrunk and I stalked it silent as the night for ages for hours and hours as it scurried about looking for worms or something yucky and then I stepped on an old crunchy leaf and the mouse stopped and turned around and looked at me - right at me - right at me with it's beady little eye - and I growled at it and it looked scared as well it should I am terrifying and it shook like a leaf and ran away but then I found it again later on by the purple geraniums under the buddleia tree and this time I crept closer and closer and my paws were so quiet on the soil this time not even a rustle I avoided the leaves I was like a ballet dancer and eventually I was so close I could smell its stinky sweaty mouse smell and it was deep in concentration looking at something it was stock still not moving at all and I was just a whisker from its nasty tail and then I struck I pounced I leapt through the air so gracefully like a gazelle and BAM I landed on it and HUZZAH my paws closed around it - victory at last - and I put it between my sharp razor teeth still struggling and I ran down the garden like the wind dodging the washing line and the wheelbarrow whose wheel doesn't turn and the puddles of water from the sprinkler and the empty pots blown out of the shed by the wind and then I reached the patio where Lila was sitting by the barbecue and all I could see as I flew by was her wide eyes of surprise that yes I - silly little clumsy Mia - had been the first after more than a year to catch something other than a fly in the garden and then I was almost at the back door and I could see someone's feet and legs in the dining room and it was Rachel in her slippers I screeched to a halt as she turned to look down at me and I proudly laid my quarry at her feet brown and furry and dirty looking with its paws in the air and its body frozen in fear and its long long tail stretched out on the carpet I knew she would be so proud of me and tell me how I was her big scary tiger and so pleased to receive what a wonderful present from her clever clever Mia.

She did tell me how clever I was and what a wonderful present... BUT then...

She laughed at me! And she giggled at my savaged mouse! And she called Pete and he came downstairs and positively guffawed!

How RUDE!!!