Introductions

So the boxes are done. I'm waiting for Chris to come and collect them in his trusty little car to take them to the Post Office for me. He is good! And he's saved me carting 41 MASSIVE boxes around. There's been a series of mini disasters relating to the boxes over the last couple of days. I'll save the specific disasters for the show off blogs but one of them was that I ordered too big boxes! Which means that everything looks a little sparse. I wanted to make sure that the patterns weren't folded but really - does it matter if they're folded? I don't know. But it means that big boxes are BIG. Be prepared. Haha. They are still small parcels though, don't worry. Anyway:

That's just a few of them.

I've had an idea for the next lot. I'll do the same theme for knitting and crochet and then all of the gifts can be the same and I only have to write one introductory piece. I've got SUCH an idea but really, I need to not get ahead of myself and find out if you lot like them first. *NERVES* Probably ought to get my accounting done too...

Part of the reason that this week has been so hard is that we have a CAT! We collected her on Monday like I said but my parental units have been away with the nephew and I've been left in charge of the garden so I've been torn between spending time with CAT and spending time looking after their garden and one's in Beeston and one's in Wollaton and in between that I have to work and buses break down. A lot. Especially Trent Barton's. And Your Buses need to get their act together. Ugh. AND THE BOXES ARE BIG! Haha. Almost impossible for me to carry more than about 10 when they're done up and more than about 20 when they're not despite the fact that they're quite light - awks. At least I've learned something from this.

So, introductions.

 

This is Versace. She is the love of my life. :):):)

I'll start at the beginning. 

When me and Chris went on holiday to Norfolk we left a bloke in charge of the garden and feeding Cat. He left food down for Cat but didn't really see him. When we got back Cat was crawling (and I mean crawling *hurl*) with fleas. So I decided that we needed to find out if somebody else actually was looking after him and I went to buy some collars. We've been on about this for a while because although he spent every spare minute with us and he was raggedy like I've never seen before, he wasn't a thin cat or particularly mangy and I haven't noticed fleas on him so we've never really been sure if he had owners. But as soon as the put the collar on there was a note round to say that he did have owners and they love him very much. He's still got fleas though. Hmmm. Anyway, as soon as we knew for definite that he had owners we stopped letting him in and feeding him - I'd hate somebody to do that to my cat and it's only fair. 

At the same time as buying the collar though I got a load of cat food for dead cheap. With that and the stores that we'd accumulated through sales and specials and knock downs we were left with about 70 sachets. So Chris suggested we get a cat of our very own!!!! And I said no. But then I started looking at Bramcote Cat Rescue and got sucked in...

Versace caught my eye but then I saw that she was a house cat and got put off. I like to have windows and doors open in my house at all times. So I saw Suzie right at the top and fell a bit in love. Apparently people don't rescue black cats as much and she's fully grown and not a kitten. I think if you're going to rescue a cat then you might as well properly rescue one, kwim? So I rang the lady at the centre and asked about Suzie, she told me that Suzie came with Queenie (just underneath) who I hadn't even really looked at because she was too pretty and I arranged to meet her the next day. Then I rang Chris and told him we were going and he was just as excited as me!!!!

When we walked in the door Versace was right there! I hadn't even clocked that Versace was being fostered in the same place. I gave her a tentative tickle and then got chatting to the lady. Chris got right down on his knees and had a right old cuddle with her. She loved him!!! When we went in the room where Suzie and Queenie were I fell in love with Suzie. She was a beautiful cat, really loving and a bit quieter than Queenie. Queenie was all up in your face wanting treats and stroking and playing. Chris liked her. But we both loved Versace. 

So we talked to the lady about maybe taking all three. But we couldn't afford it really and then there's the extra food and vets bills and. and. sensible. Then we talked about taking two which would be V and S because V and Q don't get on but I didn't want to split S and Q up. So it left us with no choice really. Thing is, she's been abused. The lady told us that V had no claws because they'd taken then out and that she is scared of feet suggesting that she's been kicked and for the first few months at this lady's house she didn't leave the kitchen. We are both hoping that Versace doesn't actually end up a house cat because it is nice to throw the doors open and relax but it might be a possibility - I'll explain later. 

Bramcote Pet Rescue do home checks for all of their animals so we had to wait for that. On Sunday we spent some time tidying and sorting bits and the lady that came around on Monday said everything was good to go. And that was it!! That was the text that I was waiting for on Monday when I was writing the blog. I couldn't wait to get her so we traipsed all the way up to Mansfield Woodhouse on Monday with a little basket and then she was ouuuuuuuuuuuurs!!!!

On the way home we agreed that she'd probably run straight out of the basket and hide so I wanted to get the litter tray and food set up to release her in front of them so that she'd know where they were. But Chris had other ideas and by the time I'd brought my bits in from the car she was already running free. She didn't run and hide though which I thought was odd - she ran from place to place sniffing and checking and rubbing very urgently. I read an article yesterday - click here - that suggests that that's normal for an abused cat. She also suggests that it's normal for abused cats to not want to eat around people - Versace is a weird mix of that and waiting until we're in the room but can't see her to have some. Dreamies are another matter - she loves Dreamies. The other thing they talk about it cats weeing in funny places and this morning we found that she'd gone just next to the litter tray - don't know whether that's an accident or a weird cat thing (I don't know much about litter trays - feel free to chime in!). 

She does seem to have settled in well - she's playing and eating and going to the toilet, showing affection, waking us up by jumping on the bed every morning but she's still really nervous - she jumped out of her skin at my alarm this morning and had an actual hissy fit at the shower the other day. Versace does not like Kanye West. Which is a real shame because Kanye West really likes Versace. As long as she knows where the other one is, she'll follow us round the house until we get back together. Once we're together she'll go off to do some more urgent sniffing and rubbing and then if one of us gets up she's back trying to herd us together. The saddest thing is stuff like if she can hear somebody coming down the stairs she stops dead in her tracks with wide eyes. It's hard to imagine how anybody could be so cruel. 

I did a bit of research this morning about how to help her. It's early days and I think this is just a 'time' thing, but I would so like her to be able to relax and not sleep with one eye open. Lots of ideas like making sure she's healthy (had a vet checkup on Monday before we got her so no worries there hopefully), her food and water are full so there's no anxiety over whether she has enough, lots of interesting toys (Chris had been crocheting up a storm), some safe hiding places (it's been hard to persuade Chris not to bother her when she's hiding behind the sofa), some spaces up high so that she can climb, we're living life normally but quietly for her sake. This morning I left her food in little bowls hidden all over the house like an Easter egg hunt. Apparently that's a good thing for their instincts. And I'm going to invest in some of that hormone spray. Obviously she's getting love and cuddles when she wants them. Any more ideas to make her feel at home? Unfortunately Cat came back last night and was crying and scratching at the door - I felt like a right bastard but I used a spray bottle full of water through the letter box (which is down low) to get rid of him. Why is life so hard??? Any ideas for getting rid of him??? *sob* He's still so lovely and he loves us! 

I think that's the introduction done. She's lovely isn't she?! There's more to tell you but you'll no doubt be hearing lots about her - especially the first time she starts playing with wool, she's not been too fussed so far.

More about the boxes tomorrow. 

Love Eleanor. xxx