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!!!

Mia and her Tongue

Remember last week I was telling you how worried I was because I thought Mia's wonky whisker had made her unusually evil and cunning? And that she was probably busy planning all kinds of naughty tricks?

Well, having seen this video of her that Rachel took, I take it all back. There is no way Mia has the brain cells for planning anything at all, evil or otherwise. The wonky whisker is just that, a whisker.

Make sure you watch closely - this video is onlya quick one!! Mia was in the middle of washing her paws when she got distracted... bless her!!

Evil Whisker!

Beloved blog readers, you've known us for a little while now, haven't you; you've seen lots of photos of us, and read lots of stories about us, especially cute little Mia. You think you know us well, don't you. You think I'm the only cat here with the cunning and brain power to plan mischief and naughty deeds. You don't think there could possibly be anything bad about sweet, roly-poly, adorable Mia. But you'd be wrong in thinking that, my friends. Because she has an EVIL WHISKER!!! How do we know it's evil? It points the opposite way to all her other whiskers, that's how we know (duh!).

I'm not sure if she is going to take advantage of this while it lasts, perhaps she could take a part as a James Bond baddie in the next film?

Humph, I thought I was cast in the role of villian around here. Maybe she's going to become a little chav cat instead. Look at her flipping the (rather furry) bird here! How rude!

Actually I think the whisker's malevolent force has already permeated her brain - I caught her the other day trying to bump off Rachel and Pete by tripping them down the stairs! Look how she's managed to sit on the one step that you can't really see from around the corner on the landing, and how she's spread out so there's barely a spare inch to tread on.

And lets zoom in here. Look at the whisker! You can almost see it vibrating, and glowing, with the evilness of her deed!

Luckily I managed to chase her away before anyone was hurt... this time! Ooh it makes all the fur along my spine stand up on end, I'm going to have to watch my back. Hopefully it'll fall out soon and then she'll go back to being the lovely sweet clumsy overgrown kitten we all know and love, and I can reclaim my rightful role as Chief of Mischief of this household.

An Anniversary!

Exciting times -  on Tuesday it was one whole year since we came to live with Rachel and Pete! Look at us when we first arrived, when we were Delilah and Pumpkin - weren't we teeny weeny?

I was ever so skinny; Mia was too but her fluffy fur hid it well (or that's what she says anyway...). Anyway, look at us now! Even I look a little portly! Hmph.

It's not just our looks and weight that have changed, you know. When we first arrived here, I preferred to sit on my own most of the time, and let Mia get all the attention, but now I like nothing more than a long evening spent lounging on a warm lap. I'll even join in with games, as long as they don't make me look too silly. Mia was the reverse, she didn't like to let the humans out of her sight, but now she's quite happy exploring the garden on her own. She still acts like an overgrown kitten though, I'm not sure that'll ever change...
I know you've seen a few videos of us over the past 6 months or so, but here's a couple of minutes of clips of us covering the past year, from Day 1 to Day 365. I know you'll be disappointed that it's mostly clips of Mia; what can I say. It's just good sense to avoid the video camera - you never know WHEN these recordings are going to come back to haunt you (yes I'm talking to you David Hasselhoff, Paris Hilton et al ...). Plus, Mia is REALLY good at jumping, look at her go! Anyway - enjoy it.

A Terrifying Monster

Mia here, and I'm feeling very brave. I have been battling a scary armoured monster in the garden! It was really awful but I had to protect Lila and Rachel. Of course Rachel could have beaten the monster pretty easily but she just sat there videoing me, typical!



Eventually she did remove the monster, which was good, as I was getting pretty tired of battling. So as everything was now safe and secure, I went inside and had a sleep. Zzzzz...

Kitty Climbing Frame

We've had to endure quite a lot of disruption these past few weeks, humph.  Rachel and Pete have been decorating their bedroom, so we got shut downstairs for a couple of weekends on the trot - apparently "gloss paint and cat hair don't mix" - whatever!

The first bit was fun - moving the furniture, so we got to sniff some hidden corners (cue a lot of sneezing from both humans and cats...).  However it went downhill when the humans started destroying the wardrobe; one of our favourite perches (you can see it in this blog post).  It had these great cubby holes to lie in wait, and there was also enough room on the very top for me too, if I jumped up via a bedside table and the door (this is another thing Mia can't quite manage).  So we were pretty gutted; but the next weekend when we were allowed back upstairs again, we found that Rachel and Pete had built us a new climbing frame!  It's so much better than the old one - let me show you.

Mia checking out the drawers - these are excellent as there is just enough room to squeeze in on top of the clothes, even when they're shut.  Now no item of clothing is safe from being enhanced by a layer of our hair.

Mia investigates inside.  This gap isn't quite big enough for a kitty - even a svelte one like me.

Even I checked out the opportunities for mischief - obviously keeping my serious face on at all times.  Plenty of room for me in here!

Here I'm noticing that these Ikea wardrobes are surprisingly good quality for the price.  But look - Rachel's been shopping at Primark again - I've told her there are more ethical stores.  I'm so disappointed in her.

And finally, you know that "fact" that a cat won't go into anything they can't get out of?  Well here's proof that isn't true.  Mia got in this wire basket, but couldn't get out again without Pete opening it for her... silly baby cat!