November 2013 The Lake District

We decided to go for a few days Autumnal holiday in the Lake District, as the Lakes are so beautiful at this time of year, with stunning scenery and a sea of brown, red, orange and gold leaves on the trees. We had booked a cosy lodge on a tranquil park overlooking a mini lake, with graceful swans and tribes of quacking ducks marching past our window every morning. Bubbles accompanied us and travelled beautifully in the car, curling up on her cosy bed in her secure travelling cage.

On arrival, we "ooohed" and "aaahed" at the lodge's lovely location and nice furnishings. Bubbles felt quite at home, which she demonstrated by doing happy, chirrupy forward rolls on the carpet!

She got a bit confused about how long we would be staying for and decided to pack herself.... just incase we should somehow forget to pack her!

But soon she settled happily and was discovered sitting up on the large, comfy bed, where she could command an excellent view of the local wildlife (mainly tweety birds and marching ducks). An ideal view for a curious cat

The weather was pretty mixed, with some torrential downpours and high winds but we were able to enjoy a refreshing walk at Arnside, where the winds had kindly stilled for us and the sun shone brightly, before finally disappearing into the sea in a truly magical sunset

October 2013 Grandma's House

Having been ill for several weeks during September and the first part of October, I went to stay with my Mum for a few days; for a change of scenery whilst re-cooperating and a bit of Mum's TLC and wonderful home cooking. Bubbles, of course, came with me.

Well, from the moment we arrived, Bubbles regarded it as a BIG adventure. She emerged, blinking, from her travel cat carrier, looked around then realising where she was, happily trotted off to sniff around the lounge. For tea that night we had some delicious, tender gammon, with mashed potates and green beans. Bubbles, of course, received a portion of gammon for her tea.

Now my Mum is pretty accomodating but the one stipulation she made about our visit was that the cat was NOT to go in her bedroom. Fair enough, she did not want cat hair everywhere! So the bedroom door remained firmly shut. at. all. times. This became a bit of an obsession for Bubbles, who wanted to explore each and every room in Grandma's House. She made it her mission to somehow become an SAS super sleuth cat, who would use all her intelligence and feline wiles to gain entry to said out of bounds room. This started with some energetic forward rolls on the carpet outside, with the hope that bumping into the door each and every time would somehow force it to open. This did not work. Neither did miaowing loudly outside. The door did not understand Bubbles' needs. Nor did trying to dodge swiftly past my Mum whenever she tried to gain access to her own bedroom! My Mum is not daft. She has had dogs and children for a great many years and was not to be outwitted by a furry feline! Bubbles' big chance came when I inadvertently left the door ajar when I had gone in to borrow something from Mum's room. She seized her moment, darted in and hid.... In Mum's bed!

"Bubbles!" I screeched in horror as I saw the quilt writhing about like a live thing. I flung the covers back to reveal a very pleased with herself looking pussy cat! "Out!" I wafted the quilt and Bubbles leapt out, raced out of the room and sat in the hallway licking herself happily.