Its been a while since I posted any cat pictures, so here is a couple.

Willow Playing with a tape measure.

Oscar fast asleep.

The mild spring weather has caused female hedgehogs to come out of hibernation early leading to an influx of orphans at animal rescue centres.

Cute baby Hedgehogs.

A butcher in Buckhaven has created an Iron Brew sausage (the name is spelt differently to protect the trademark) which he says are great in a fry up after a night out. Irn Bru is often used to help combat hangovers along with a fry up, so now you can have both things at once.

Analysis of cheetahs DNA found that they are also cheaters by nature. Litters of cubs were found to be made up of cubs from several different fathers. In fact 43% of litters contained cubs from multiple fathers.

I read this article about Odin the tiger (pictured) who has learnt to swim. It includes a video showing Odin in action as he chases lumps of meat thrown into the water.

Fees can really mount up when using your debit card abroad. It doesn't help when you think your card is free to use and then find out that you have been charged a fee after all. HSBC advertise the fact that their debit cards are free from transaction fees when used abroad. They do however, charge 2.75% on top of the exchange rate for overseas withdrawals which they say is not a fee, its simply how they calculate their exchange rate. It sounds like a fee to me.

Two Star Trek fans decided to get married in Star Trek uniforms. Even the priest dressed as a Vulcan. It's lucky my husband didn't see this before we got married.

An Israeli man woke up to find a leopard in his bed. He managed to pin it down for 20 minutes until help arrived to collect the leopard.

A footpath in Lancashire has been closed after a pair of nesting eagle owls started attacking walkers. The owls are thought to be protecting their nest from intruders. Signs have also been put up to warn people they may come under owl attack whilst in the area.

This weekend saw the annual cheese rolling contest held at Cooper's Hill near Gloucester. Basically the contestants chase a seven pound Double Gloucester cheese down a steep hill. The winner gets to keep the cheese.

I found this odd looking pear in my fruit bowl. I named him Peter the Pear.

I found this interesting article on the BBC website about how ants work together for the common good of the colony. Apparently when out foraging ants use their own bodies to plug holes so that their fellow workers can walk across them. They even go as far as to choose which ant is the best size to fit the hole so they can plug it more effectively. The ants can stay in place for hours at a time, staying motionless until all the other ants have crossed the hole. Basically these techniques allow the ants to create faster ways of bringing their food back thus benefiting the whole colony. How cool is that.

I came across this site called caterpillars creations who make custom made soy candles. Most candles are made from paraffin wax but all the candles made by caterpillars creations are made from 100% natural soy beans making them a much more environmentally friendly alternative. Not only are they a reusable energy source they also last three times longer than petroleum based candles and are virtually soot free.

The website has a variety of candle designs from tealights through to pillar candles and votives. Once you have selected which style of candle you want, you also have the option to fully customise your candle by selecting the colour and fragrance that you require. This is particularly useful especially when you are planning an event such as a wedding as it can be hard to find the right colour combination to match your other table decorations.

Scientists have come up with a "great" new way to stop cats having an effect on the local bird and rodent population. All you have to do is simply fit your cat with a brightly coloured clip on bib to make it more difficult for the cat to stalk innocent wildlife.

The first thing that strikes me about this experiment is, do any of these scientists have cats? Anyone that owns a cat knows that if it very difficult to keep anything attached to it. We found this when our cat Ollie hurt his tail and had to wear a plastic collar so he couldn't lick the stitches. We tried everything to keep the collar on the cat with no success. With this is mind I don't think a cat bib will be very successful, cats are too intelligent when it comes to getting rid of unwanted clothing.

These giant pants might not look very attractive but according to their creator they can help you lose weight and reduce cellulite in just four weeks. This article puts it to the test with four women trying the pants out for a month. They all lost some weight using the pants so there could be something in the claims.

A rare Scottish Wildcat kitten has been born at Wildwood Discovery Park in Canterbury. It is thought there are now only around 400 Scottish Wildcats left in the wild as the species has declined due to interbreeding with domestic cats.

A Scottish Wildcat.

No I’m not joking it really did happen. Bags of goldfish left in the middle of a road in Paderborn Germany caused a pile-up when Marianne Schmitt slammed on her cars brakes to avoid them and four other cars piled into the back of her Fiesta.

A goldfish.

On a day when Barclays have announced a jump of 15% in their profits for this quarter it has also been reported that they plan to impose a £20 fee on customers who don’t their credit card often enough. This move is likely to hit a lot of customers as one in every five cards used in the UK is a Barclaycard. Just another unfair charge the consumer has to bear.

I found this chocolate voodoo doll on Amazon. Perfect for when you need revenge. Just bite its head off.

I read this interesting article on the Daily Mail website. Researchers at Warwick University carried out tests on 200,000 people to see how good they were at locating objects and came to the conclusion that women are better at finding things. I’m not sure whether it’s true or not but my husband certainly has a habit of losing his keys or his wallet because he tends to leave them in random places around the house. I always keep mine in the same place so I know where to find them, perhaps that’s the difference.

I came across this useful website pethealthforums. It has lots of useful information and advice from other pet owners. I was actually looking for some information on what to do when your cat gets stung by a bee and although I didn't find anything about this (it appears other peoples cats are more intelligent then mine and don't play with bees) I did spend a lot of time reading through the other posts.

Still on a holiday theme I came across this article on thisismoney about the cheapest destinations for UK travellers taking into account the current exchange rates. Apparently you can currently get the most for your pounds by heading to countries such as South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. This is because the pound has strengthened greatly against those local currencies within the past year. For example a pound will now get you 12.8 rand, 10% more than this time last year. It’s a different story though if you are thinking of heading off to Eastern Europe you are 13.6% worse off than last year.

The same article has an interesting section about using credit and debit cards abroad. Last time I went abroad I was aware that there would be a charge for overseas transactions but didn’t really pay much attention to what the charges were. It was a bit of a surprise to see how the charges had mounted up just in one week. The article contains a handy table comparing what providers charge for overseas transactions. Interestingly enough if you have a credit card from the Nationwide or the Post Office they do not charge you at all. Most other credit card providers have a 2.75% charge when used overseas. Likewise with debit cards most companies charge not only for making card purchases but also to withdraw cash. This is where I got out with my Bank who charges 1.5% on every foreign withdrawal. Once again Nationwide does not charge its customers for overseas transactions. It might be time to open another account to use when going on vacation. I’m sure in the long run it will help save a lot in unnecessary fees.

I came across this site www.myfitnesspal.com. It’s free to sign up and provides an easy weight loss plan. Just enter your current weight and the weight you would like to be and the site works out long it should take to reach your goal weight, taking into account how many times you expect to exercise every week. I typed in that I would like to lose a stone in weight and I would try and work out for 30 minutes three times a week. The results were that if I managed to do this I would lose 5.0 lbs by the 26th June.

The website includes a free calorie counter. You just search for the food you want to add and the meal you need to add it to and the calorie counter works out how many calories you have consumed during the day. I was surprised, having never bothered with calorie counting before, how many calories I actually consume in a day. Most of my intake seems to consist of cheese and wine, two things I love which I find very hard to cut down on.

Looking at my meals today I have eaten 434 too many calories but because I went to the gym I earn an extra 291 calories. It all seems very complicated but the website makes it easy to manage. Myfitnesspal also includes several handy reports so you can check your progress, see what your fitness is like and check whether you are eating a nutritious diet.

I have always trusted the supermarkets when it comes to buying food, assuming that it is fresh when you purchase it but this article has made me think again. The BBC’s Whistleblower programme (to be screened tonight) sent some reporters undercover in branches of Tesco and Sainsbury’s after an anonymous tip off from some members of staff.

What they uncovered makes for some distressing reading for the consumer. Staff at both Sainsbury’s and Tesco were found changing the sell by date on food, by simply deleting the old one and replacing it. I regularly use items when they have passed their sell by date but that’s because I know the dates are used mainly to cover the supermarkets, and that the items are fresh when I buy them, well at least I thought they were. One staff member even admitted to mixing batches of food, taking a few slices from a fresh batch and some from an older batch in order to resell it. In addition to this temperature checks on the fridges, which should be closely monitored, were regularly faked by staff, and surfaces and meat slicers were left uncleaned. To be fair the reporters were sent to just two branches of the supermarkets but these measures were mainly used in order to cut costs and seemed a part of normal working practices. It makes me wonder how widespread they are.

This was my first trip to Ireland and although most of our time was spent at a friends wedding, I left with the intention of going back again for a longer stay. It definitely wasn’t the weather that made my stay enjoyable, it basically rained on and off all weekend. I did however find it refreshing to be surrounded by beautiful countryside instead of feeling rather crammed in as we tend to be back in London. One thing that immediately struck me was that every person we came across whilst in Ireland greeted you with a cheery good morning or a friendly wave. Back in London, things are slightly different, if you even so much as glance at another person on the bus or train, you are met with a blank, unfriendly look.

During this visit we hired a self catering cottage from Dream Ireland. The cottage is located in the grounds of the Mount Wolseley Hilton Hotel. It included a double room with en-suite bathroom, two rooms with twin beds and a third room with a single bed. It also had another bathroom and toilet as well as kitchen and large living/dining area. In fact it was much bigger than our house and cost 420 Euros, that’s about £287. I was very impressed with the accommodation offered for the price and you also had the option to use the hotels pool, spa and gym. The cottage also had the advantage of being located within an easy five minutes from the main hotel which has several restaurants serving food for most of the day and several bars which were open until very late.

The atmosphere in the hotels bar was a welcome change from a smoky pub; smoking having already been banned in public places in Ireland. On the night we arrived, at nearly midnight, we were surprised to find the hotel’s main bar still open and the locals enjoying a good singsong well into the early hours of the morning. In fact they were still singing when we left at three in the morning. In all it was an enjoyable few days and I will definitely be going back.

Views of the living area in the cottage.

I didn’t get chance to post this before I went to Ireland, but here it is now. Rory made me a birthday cake (pictured the cake that is, not Rory) and was also kind enough to only put one candle in it.

A cat in Folkestone caused twelve homes to be without power when he got stuck on a pylon. Flash the cat had climbed the 30ft pylon and then found he was unable to get back down. In order to safely rescue Flash, the electric company cut off the power supply to the surrounding homes whilst an engineer in mountaineering gear climbed up to get the cat.

I just got back from my trip to Ireland during which we stayed in a shared cottage. It's always so nice to be home. All the cats were pleased to see us and Rory's father was kind enough to trim our hedge, whilst he looked after the house for us. I really missed home, but most of all I missed my nice new TV.

I am writing this from a bar in Ireland after connecting to BT Openzone. You simply pick up the local wireless network and purchase a voucher from BT for the time you want to spend on the internet. A great tool for geeks everywhere.

Back in March I came across this gale proof umbrella and I decided to purchase one. Surprisingly I have managed to get through two months without having the need to use an umbrella. Today the umbrella was finally put to the test. I did use it in a fairly strong wind, although I'm not sure whether it was quite gale force 10 and the umbrella stood up quite well keeping its shape and keeping me dry, whereas my friends using conventional umbrellas ended up considerably wetter due to the fact theirs collapsed in the wind.

I and my husband are heading off to Ireland this weekend for a friends wedding. It always occurs to me when going away how much easier it is for men to pack. They simply pack a pair of jeans and a pair of trousers and a couple of tops. My packing dilemma goes something like this. We are going away for 4 days. The first day we are at the wedding, so I have my dress and shoes, but what if it is cold, I might need a jacket. The next day I will need something casual to wear during the day, so I pack jeans and trainers, but wait I am going out in the evening, will I need something smart? So I pack a skirt and top, but what if it’s too cold for a skirt… I pack trousers. The thing is trousers require different shoes to a skirt so I pack my smart boots as well as my strappy shoes. Ok, the bag is starting to get heavier at this point and thats before I think about day three. Men have it easy. 

I found this odd looking spider in my house today. It was crawling on the ceiling and was a reddish brown colour. When I crept forward for a closer look it jumped off the wall as if to attack me. Now I'm not great with spiders, even the regular kind, so after I had finished screaming, I did what I usually do. I got a glass and placed it over the spider and waited for my husband to come home. When he arrived he slid some paper under the glass and we examined the spider more closely. Looking at it, and comparing it with many spiders on the internet we finally came to the conclusion it was a hobo spider and not native to this country. I'm not sure where it came from but strongly suspect it might have crawled out of the bananas in the kitchen.

This picture is of a female hobo spider, not the actual spider we found because Rory squashed that one.

Another year, another birthday and its getting to the point where I am not going to say how old I am today. I received a nice new TV from my husband and although it did actually arrive a few days ago, it was still a nice surprise.

A bank robber in Florida was caught after he was found drinking beer, opposite the bank he had just robbed. Not the best getaway plan ever. After robbing the bank he simply walked to the car park, changed his shirt and went to get himself a well earned beer. He was quickly arrested.

We hear about people being mugged every day. This mugging story has an unusual twist. A student walking home was set upon by three vicious geese. In his haste to get away he dropped his mobile phone, which one of the geese promptly seized in its beak before making its escape. It is not yet clear whether this gaggle of geese have struck before or indeed how they intend to use the mobile phone with no hands. One thing is for sure no phones are safe when there is a goose on the loose.

A goose.

Cats just love boxes. This is Willow helping to unpack the new TV.

A lucky cat managed to survive 35 days trapped in a cargo crate after it chewed its way into a box which was then loaded onto a ship going from the US to Shanghai. Apparantly it is possible for cats to survive for long periods without water because they are able to live on the moisture that comes from condensation. Amazing.

I found this article about a rare white alligator that lives at a zoo in Knoxville. The 12 year old alligator is kept in a special enclosure with a heat lamp, as she would burn if she went out in the sun.

We all want our pets to be well looked after when we go away. We have to plan our holidays’ carefully to make sure we have someone to come and take care of our cats for the duration. No cat care means no holiday. However, even I think the idea of a Pet hotel is a little extreme. The Wag Hotel in San Francisco is just that. It features a number of creature comforts such as plasma screen TV's, toys and rugs and also has a pet chef and massage parlour for the pampered pets. With all this, why would they want to go home?

I came across this article about this cute albino hedgehog. He lives in Cumbria at a nature reserve and is the offspring on two African Pygmy hedgehogs. Apparently only one in ten thousand hedgehogs are born white with red eyes.

Researchers studying Loch Ness found not a monster but a common toad. The amazing thing being that they found it at a depth of 98 metres (324ft) down, much further than they usually expect to find amphibians. Still no monster though.

Are you looking for an excuse to eat beef jerky? Or perhaps drink alcohol and eat chocolate? Well apparently all of these things can be good for you according to this article. Beef jerky is not only high in protein; it also contains omega 3 fats most commonly associated with oily fish. Alcohol on the other hand can lower the risk of a heart attack when drunk in moderation. The most beneficial alcoholic drink has been proven to be pinot noir, a good excuse to go the bottle shop. Lastly chocolate can help improve blood flow to the heart. Now I just need to find an excuse to eat cake.

I found this cool hedge monster on the BBC website. Apparently it has taken John Dobson 17 years to perfect it.

Further to my post about Lucy's attack on Rorys hand, Rory had been been feeling hot and generally unwell for most of the weekend following the attack. When he went to the doctors he was told his hand was infected and given a huge dose of pills (pictured below) with the instructions to take one three times a day for a week.

Lucy is not a very popular cat.

Lucy the evil cat.

Having four cats I find one of the worst jobs is cleaning out the litter box. It needs doing a twice a day and sometimes even more often. It can also be an issue when we want to go away for a few days. Whilst it is easy to find people to come and feed the cats, not many people want to clean the litter tray. With this is mind I have been investigating some alternatives to the basic litter tray.

I came across the Littermaid. This handy device is an automated self cleaning litter tray. The litter tray itself has a large open design enabling and includes an automated cleaning rake. Basically what happens is the cat uses the littermaid. When the cat exits the tray it triggers the sensors, setting the timer for the cleaning cycle. Ten minutes after the cat has left the tray the cleaning cycle starts and the rake moves the clumps of waste into the receptacle. If a cat should enter the tray before the tem minutes is up then the timer simply resets itself and waits an additional ten minutes before starting the cleaning process, meaning that there is no risk of cats becoming trapped inside during the cleaning cycle. All of the collected waste is deposited in the disposable plastic trays.

To clean the littermaid you simply need to remove the sealed plastic trays which are sealed to close in any bad smells. The disposable trays are available to purchase separately but you can always line them with plastic bags to prolong their life. The littermaid is also available in several sizes to suit different households, such as the LitterMaid LM900 Mega which is designed for people who have four or more cats. This model features a larger tray area to hold more litter and the disposable trays are also deeper to hold more waste.

In all it’s a very good idea and should cut down greatly on the time spent cleaning the litter tray. It also means that when we have other people looking after the cats they would only have to replace the plastic tray every couple of days rather than cleaning the litter tray itself which is a much more pleasant experience altogether.

These cute orphaned owls have a new mother in the form of a cuddly toy. They don’t seem to mind though cuddling up to the stuffed owl for warmth.

We have had our cat Willow for four years now, since she was a kitten. She follows us with the devotion you would usually only associate with dogs.  Willow follows me around all day, everywhere I go in the house or garden she is there. When I go to the bathroom she waits outside the door, I sit on the sofa she sits next me, I go in the kitchen to make a sandwich she sits and waits for treats. She also knows exactly what time Rory gets home from work. When the time approaches she sits by the front door waiting for him. As soon as he comes in the door she is there to greet him. She waits for him to take off his shoes and then runs upstairs past him and jumps on the bed as he opens the bedroom door to change out of his work clothes, just waiting to have her ears scratched. Such a loyal pussy cat.

A picture of Willow trying to look cute.

Cats can be very unpredictable creatures. You just think you are getting along and they turn round and attack you for no reason. Lucy did just that today leaving Rory with two nasty bites and several scratches, making it the worst attack yet from one of our cats. The only previous attack that involved biting was when Ollie bit Rory’s hand several years ago. That particular attack did not really come as a surprise, as we had only just got Ollie from the cat home and he was slightly feral. With Lucy, however, what caused her to attack is a mystery. One thing is for sure, if this becomes a habit it will take a lot to convince Rory not to send her to the cat home.

Rorys hand after the attack.

Lucy (left) and Willow.

They look so cute but this friendly behaviour ultimately ends in a fight for the beanbag. It starts with Willow (Grey) sitting on the beanbag. Oscar then comes along and decides he wants to sit with her, so makes himself comfortable. This leads to a prolonged cleaning session with Willow and Oscar fighting to be the first to clean each other. After a while they stop cleaning each other and start biting each other until one of them gives up (usually Oscar) and leaves the beanbag.

Willow and Oscar pictured before they start attacking each other.

A mouse mouse is exactly that. A computer mouse made out of a dead mouse. Full instructions on how to make one are here. It does however involve cutting up a dead mouse.

After running a red light a train driver mistakenly announced the fact to the passengers. He said to the guard I've run through a red signal, I'm talking to the signaller. Don't tell the passengers”, not realising the tannoy was switched on. A great way to reassure them.

According to an article on The Daily Mail’s website eating two eggs for breakfast every day can actually help you lose weight. Apparently starting the day with eggs for breakfast makes you feel fuller for longer so you eat less throughout the rest of the day. I’m not sure if there is any truth in this but I like eggs so will give it a go. 

Fishermen Chris Earl and Tony Allsopp got more than they bargained on a trip to check their lobster pots. Finding a large deer swimming past them in the sea, they lassoed it and took it back to shore. Quite a catch.

Could this be the oldest fridge in Britain? Sally Garrod who owns it thinks so. She has had the fridge for 50 years and it still works.

We all know its stupid to drive a car whilst drunk. One driver in Switzerland not only drove whilst three times over the legal limit, he also managed to crash his car into a police station.

Do you like a sauce with a bit of "kick" to it. Perhaps you should try Snake Bite Sauce, made by Mark McMullan, he claims it is the world's hottest chilli sauce. It is only slightly less potent than pepper spray, not for wimps.