Sniffing the machine

Rather unexpectedly the cats love the sight and sound of small radio-controlled helicopters! They hang about on the arms of sofas, or high on the mantelpiece, their tails flicking as the micro machines hover and dance around the living room. Their heads follow each circuit of the room.

They are sensibly wary of the swirling blades, but when the helicopter lands or crashes they drop to the carpet to approach and sniff the machine...

Today I decided to get a slightly bigger helicopter - a Lama 5.

I must remember to take a photo of it before I have my first crash!

Zoomer on Putney Heath

I thought it might be fun to try the new 50cc Honda Zoomer on Putney Heath, so with Kyle's help we made this little video. The camera on the bike is an Oregon Scientific 'helmet-cam' whilst Kyle provided some steadier shots with my Panasonic Lumix.

The video was put together very quickly to teach myself how to use KDEnlive - a free video editor for Linux...

Bushka sees snowflakes

This was today, Easter Day 2008, in London, UK.

We awoke to snow falling. Both cats could barely believe their eyes; they jumped from the bed to the window to try and catch the dancing flakes with their paws.

I took the above video - edited it in kdenlive - and posted it to Googlevideo. This is my first link to a video.

Christmas Update - Bushka

Bushka is a beauty! She has a more interesting temperament that comes across in her moods. Sometimes she is loving and wants nothing more than a lap to lie on and purrs her appreciation.

Other times you can see that she does not suffer fools gladly and if you miss her twitching body language - she is not averse to a (scary) hiss or swipe of her razor sharp claws.

More power to her I say!

Christmas Update - Minibu

Well, our two cats remain happy and healthy. Minibu is the cuter as she seems to have no antisocial characteristics at all.

She loves to be brushed (just as well) and eats well, though demands only the best food!

Christmas turkey, for example, with smoked salmon on the side goes down well. She then finds somewhere to doze from the exertion of feeding.

This is a photo of her taken today...

Twin headlights!

Just thought I would show you a better picture of the bike. It's a funky design with chunky tyres and two powerful headlights that light the road ahead just as well as a car does. The bike can also be driven off-road - those knobbly tyres providing plenty of grip!

In case anyone is wondering, Minibu is on my lap as I write this. Bushka has been up on the desk, but her latest trick is to knock the lamp off, after which I normally knock her off!

New Honda Zoomer

We drove down from London to Portsmouth today to collect an almost new (immaculate) 50cc Honda Zoomer! I drove it the 70 miles back and barely stopped smiling - it was a sunny Autumn day, so I took my time, enjoying the scenery, and stopping in Petersfield for a coffee. The Zoomer growls along with an absurdly deep exhaust note, cruising at a gentle 40mph but sipping petrol - 100mpg should be easily possible. A perfect bike to run the 12 miles or so across London to work each day.

Technical aside - Ubuntu under Beryl

With all the hype around the launch of Windows Vista (putting the wow factor back into your PC) I thought I would share what can be done with FREE (open source) software on a 3 year old PC. This then is a Linux distribution, called Ubuntu 7.04, with 3d effects supplied by a program called Beryl (again free). Be surprised :-)




Cat content - both Bushka and Minibu continue to entrance us with their antics - for all her appetite Minibu stays mini sized (and cute). Bushka can be scary if you brush her too roughly!

Morning Cuddles!

I went back into our room, after breakfast this morning, to find these two furry friends having a quick snuggle and cuddle!

So cute :-)

We had to keep them apart a few months back as Bushka (Cecilia), the older Maine Coon, would stalk and hunt little black Persian Minibu. Now it looks like they will live happily ever after.

Fussy eating...

Minibu is the fussiest little eater! Only fresh food food and preferably people food. She is convinced that if she sees us eating something, then it must be good for her too. French bread? Yup! Marmalade on toast - yes please, but after the bacon, OK? Special persian cat food? No waaay!

We are hoping that she will grow out of this, but no signs yet. Bushka is mellowing nicely and it is so good to see the two cats grooming each other and cuddling up together on cold nights. That's when they aren't lying on top of us, of course. Bushka is now getting heavy whilst Minibu just purrs like a little engine, so when they tire of the bed it is actually quite a relief!

Minibu

Minibu loves to help me keep this and other blogs up to date!

Here she was this morning, carefully checking out a photo I had taken of her earlier checking out the Blog.

This is what is called "double-checking"!

Cat's eyes!

Can you spot Minibu - under the tree - in among the presents?

Lurking like a little ET among the packages, Minibu specialised in quietly removing gift tags from the presents - and making sure that all ribbons were OK!

Bushka keeps an eye on things from the doorway :-)

Merry Christmas!

From Bushka

This is Bushka keeping an eye on the Christmas tree decorations. It was her (and Minibu's) first Christmas, so all was exciting. The tree provided perfect cover for ambushes, the gifts were great opportunities for removing name tags, pulling ribbons, shredding any soft paper and otherwise fully engaging with the Christmas festivities :-)

Mangy Coon alert!

Both cats are now being treated for ringworm - which is not an intestinal infection but a contagious skin condition, which results in small patches of fur falling away from the skin - mostly around their ears!

Rare in this part of London - the vet had not seen a case for 3 years - we have concluded that she picked this up from her adventures outside, possibly from a mangy Fox! The good news is that she is expected to make a full recovery, and Bushka is even gracious about swallowing her daily pill! Even better, they both love their twice daily treatment of having cream rubbed into their ears - purring their appreciation of all this attention very loudly!

Reaching out!

Extending the paw of friendship...

Finally - Bushka realises that Minibu (even when she's asleep) is neither threat nor prey.

This moving moment (sob!) was the very first time she gently touched Minibu. Now they are firm friends and Minibu has become Bushka's "shadow" as she trots along darkly next to her!