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MEWSLETTER 75 MARCH/APRIL 2010 Hi there and a very warm head-butting welcome to all the new subscribers who scrambled through the cat flap of the Daily Mews Mansion since the last Mewsletter. You are all very welcome and the Mewsers and I hope that you enjoy the delights that the Daily Mews website has to offer.
Here in the UK, spring has finally arrived. Puffing and panting slightly later than expected, it has caught up and the birds are preparing their courtship rituals as they get ready to nest; the big fat buds on the clematis are now all in full bloom and the scent is just heavenly. I stand at my back door in the early morning and late evening and just breathe in the almond perfume – it’s beautiful. Putting the clocks forward always makes me grumpy. I don’t get enough sleep as it is but the cats were none the wiser and woke me up at their 7.30 which was now my new 8.30. Do your cats do this?? It always takes me several days for my own body clock to adjust to the new routine but the cats just seem oblivious and keep their Rolex watches set at Stomach Time which bears no relation to GMT or BST! Of course, we know its spring by the torrential rain, hail stones and freezing cold temperatures we’ve come to know and accept. We’ve had warmer winters than most spring times, but once the sun decides it will come out and stay around, smiles start appearing on people’s faces and the world in general seems a happier place. Daffodils nod benevolently to one another as if in agreement with some higher explanation passed on by the tulips who, in turn, heard it from the crocuses. Sam had his 13th birthday on Valentine’s Day, and he goes about the place swaggering with that way that most teenagers adopt the second they hit the teens. Billy is 14 in August and Ollie will be 8 – how times flies and when I look back at the kitten who wrote his diaries at only a few months old, I’m amazed that he’s got this far, to be honest! When I’ve finished writing my book about my journey with leukaemia, I’m going to revamp Ollie’s diaries to hopefully get them into an acceptable format for publication. Everyone enjoyed reading them and I think the world is ready for Ollie’s view of life. If you haven’t already read his diaries, please click here: http://www.thedailymews.com/kittendiaryindex.htm Before I forget, thank you to everyone who voted for my story which was on the BBC website. Although the competition has now closed, and the finalists have been notified, if you didn’t see it, you still can on this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mystory/stories/survival/163488/ Thank you also to those of you who wrote with your experiences of cats and dogs living harmoniously together. I hope, a bit later in the year, to write an article about this and may call on you again for more examples, good or bad as I need to present both sides of the story. The Nutrecare competition was won by Mike Smith in the US and despite his requests for a set of jawbone book ends, he won a lovely prize donated by the sponsors of the competition: Nutrecare. The three runners up will all receive prizes in due course. Nutrecare have promised to sponsor another competition later in the year – so watch this space, as they say! Nancy in the US sent me this You Tube link in December and I forgot all about it. Having just seen it, I wished I’d remembered at the time because it’s a festive theme about dogs decorating a Christmas tree. I really loved it and hope you will too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUtPKbMwnRo When Biggles and Garfield were growing up they used to ‘help’ me decorate the Christmas tree by pushing baubles and ornaments in my general direction as we all sat on the floor surrounded by Christmas paraphernalia. They were always mesmerised by the lights and both of them would sit in front of the tree for seemingly hours just watching them as they twinkled. All that changed when Charlie (or Mog the Mutinous to give his alter-ego) came on the scene and after his first Christmas when he wrecked the tree four or five times in one day, tree decoration went out the window. Since then, and with up to 7 cats at any one time, it seemed an impossible task to have any decorations up for Christmas. Although it’s not the season, if you haven’t seen Charlie’s exploits on Christmas, please click on this link: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/ohchristmastree.htm An artist friend of mine, Drew Strouble, wrote telling me that a film crew from Animal Planet Network had filmed him at his home with his cats for a forthcoming episode to be screened later in the year. The programme ‘Must Love Cats’ will also show Hemingway’s famous cats. Nearer the time, I will send out a reminder to tune in. Click on this link to see Drew’s amazing lifelike pictures of his (and other people’s) cats and sign up for his occasional Mewsletter. Simon’s Cat now has his own website and you can catch up on all the latest shenanigans that that darned cat gets up to. http://www.simonscat.com/films.html I love the latest one about snow: http://www.simonscat.com/snowbusiness.html I owe Bridget and Russ Haggerty from Ohio an apology. Their three cats, BK, The Ginger Man and Pepper each wrote their three wishes in time for last month’s issue but I must have had a ‘senior’ moment because I forgot all about them! I’m really sorry guys. The link is the same for last time, but your three wishes have been added to the end so please scroll down the page: http://www.thedailymews.com/KittyBits/three_wishes.htm *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A hilarious and addictive game for you to play!!!! http://upchucky.com/games/hairball-bowling.html *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* By popular request, the BOOK QUIZ is back. Can you tell me the author to the book titles below and if you have a website you can nominate it, or you can nominate a favourite site. A modest prize will be given for the first respondent so hurry up and don’t miss out! Who wrote the following: 1. Cleo: how a small black cat helped heal a family 2. The Cat who’ll live forever 3. Angel Cats Send your answers to p.dewberry@ntlworld.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A’MEWS’MENT ARCADE: Clara Westerfer, (US) sent me the following humorous story about democrats and republicans: http://www.thedailymews.com/amewsments/free_kittens.htm Mike Smith, in the US sent me this funny story about what happens when a cat dies and goes to Heaven and God grants her heart’s desire: http://www.thedailymews.com/amewsments/the_cat.htm ARTICLES: Some time ago, Dan Weiss began writing a book about the exploits of his two rescue cats, Frankie and Johnnie. I recently heard from Dan with the devastating news that sweet little Johnnie had to be put to sleep because of fluid on the lungs and cancer. Dan spreads his stories of Frankie and Johnnie between my website and that of www.calicoscootz.com and once again, he gave me permission to publish his ‘Epilogue’ to Johnnie. You can read it here: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/epilogue_to_johnnie.htm Lynn Schiffhorst’s excellent new series starring Sgt. Pinky and her daughter, Rocky, continues with Rocky trying to find Gris-Gris. I love Lynn’s stories – they’re so well-written and incredibly believable. My heart was in my mouth while I read and I can’t wait for the final episode which you’ll be able to read next time. In the meantime, here’s the second instalment of this brilliant story: http://www.thedailymews.com/articles/life_of_feline_detective_2.htm BOOK AND PRODUCT REVIEWS: CHATS WITH CATS by Celia Haddon http://www.thedailymews.com/bookproductreviews/chats_with_cats.htm Also by Celia Haddon is THE JOY OF CATS – which I absolutely adore. http://www.thedailymews.com/bookproductreviews/joy_of_cats.htm COMPETITIONS: CAPTION COMPETITION: We had a phenomenal response to Dana Beaton’s picture of her cat Garfield in the snow in Scotland. And it was really hard to pick a winning entry because they were ALL so good. But Kindii Warner from the US had just an edge and she is the lucky winner this month. You can see a list of all the entries here: http://www.thedailymews.com/KittyBits/caption_competition_10.htm And for this month’s caption competition I found a picture of my own beloved Garfield in his youth. See what captions you can think up this time. Click here: http://www.thedailymews.com/KittyBits/caption_competition_11.htm GO CAT COMPETITION: The hunt is on for Britain’s most adventurous cat. If you haven't yet seen Bobo, the amazing acrobatic free-running feline, check out this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVm2I9t-ZIA To find out more, please click on the link below but hurry – the deadline is 7th May. http://www.thedailymews.com/KittyBits/bobo_awards.htm NUTRECARE COMPETITION: The answers to the questions were as follows: 1. What 2 designs does the Jolly Moggy Teaser come in? Answer: Mice and farmyard 2. In the Headlines section, what is the name of the Go Go hamster toy? Answer: Mr Squiggles 3. In what year did Nutrecare start? Answer: 2006 Well done and heartfelt purrs go out to the following sleuths: Mike Smith (US) Carol Turner (UK) Jared Kline (Belgium) Laura Jowalski (US) Nancy Breedlove (US) Prizes should be dispatched just after Easter. CAT CHAT: In response to my request in the last Mewsletter about dogs and cats getting along, Bernadette Barnett (Australia) wrote me a lovely detailed account of how she introduced her 7 cats to the family dog. You can read it here: http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/menagerie_of_cats_and_a_dog.htm I had some great feedback and hope to incorporate your responses in an article later in the year. Thank you all who wrote to me. This next story appeared in a recent Angel Animals newsletter and Lee Robie, the author, gave me permission to use it on the website. It’s a great story of how a starving stray feisty feral female found peace and made her home within his family. http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/sekhmet.htm Ham wrote to me after the last Mewsletter and told me a bit about his cats and the result is now in this nostalgic look back to almost 20 years ago when a pregnant female ‘burst’ out of a box and presented Ham and his wife with 5 kittens. http://www.thedailymews.com/catchat/hams_cats.htm MEWSERS’ MEWSINGS Over a period of time, we’ve been allowed a glimpse into the multi-cat household of a dear friend of mine, Sue Fallon, as each month one of her talented felines introduces themselves to the readers and subscribers of the Daily Mews – and ultimately the World. This time, we’re privileged to meet brother and sister Twinkle and Socks: http://www.thedailymews.com/mewsersmewsings/twinkle_and_socks.htm NAPPING ON A SUNBEAM: For many who are bereaved, the first year is always the hardest. With birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions all to be somehow endured, it can take a while before acceptance finally hits us, we breathe out, and somehow life goes on, not quite in the same way perhaps, but it just does. Bruce Erdman in the US, whose beautiful black cat, Kuhl Onyx who died last year, has written about just that, entitled ‘One Year Later …’ you can read it here: http://www.thedailymews.com/NAPPINGONASUNBEAM/Kuhl_onyx.htm If you have written a tribute to your cat in the NAPPING ON A SUNBEAM section and you’d like to add a postscript then please write to me at the usual address and I’ll add it with the next update and give you the link. MIDNITE DREAMS by Richard Jones is a beautiful tribute to a loving feline companion who revisited his human on the anniversary of his passing .... http://www.thedailymews.com/NAPPINGONASUNBEAM/Midnite_dreams.htm PURRFECT POETRY Earla Jean Hollon wrote the following poem quite a while back now and I kept overlooking it in my inbox I’m sorry to say. But it’s a sweet little poem that I know you’ll all love, so here’s the link: http://www.thedailymews.com/poems/jody.htm If you feel like putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard to write a poem about your cats or kittens, please do and send them to me in the usual way. And that about wraps it up for now. What is left of the Easter holiday, I do hope you’ll enjoy. And hopefully, the next time I write we’ll all be swathed and bathed in the warming rays of the sun. Until the next time, Happy Easter and all good wishes. Remember, your feedback is invaluable. Take care, Pauline, Billy, Sam and Ollie BACK TO THE MEWSLETTER Archive Index
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