Thank you

Dandy would like to thank everyone for their good wishes. He is currently enjoying life being a naughty boy just like cats should.

A Nightmare in My Street

We all had letters yesterday informing us of a planning request to demolish the house opposite me to create an access road for some new houses they want to build behind the remaining houses.

The land in question used to be allotments, but haven't been used for growing in the 29 years I've lived here. They belonged to the Rail company, and there is a railway line running alongside. I assume the people who bought the house managed to get the land as well. It is currently only accessible from a gate in the garden of the house they want to tear down, and over the years it has become a piece of urban woodland. It's a wildlife site, with foxes, squirrels and birds finding a haven there, including house sparrows, a species which is declining in numbers elsewhere.

The demolition will leave the house it's attached to with a road for a neighbour instead of a quiet garden. The noise, dirt and disruption will make life a misery for the rest of us. The road is narrow and stuffed full of the cars of people who want to use the nearby stations and shopping centre. When some people had to move house temporarily the other day for repairs to be done to their home, the removal van couldn't park, so no-one could get through.

Into this fragile mix in a Victorian street they want to add a buiding site and heavy plant.

Shame on them.

We'd better win the case.

Turn On Don't Switch Off

This is my current wallpaper, so it's a turn-on to turn my computer on, and a struggle to switch off.

He's solving the horse vet murder tonight. One thing's for sure - he wouldn't need any of that fertility drug the murderer gives her husband. He's so obviously all man. And as there's a lot of him, there's a lot of man.

I'm rambling. Looking at this picture does that to me.

Puffins

There's a great picture of baby penguins over on DNYER. Because Penguin Books had (still have?) a children's arm called Puffin Books, it seems some confusion has arisen and some people think a puffin is a baby penguin. So here are some pictures of puffins for you to amuse yourselves with. They're like adorable little clowns.

Good News

Dandy's tumour was benign. It was a reactive lymph gland, no apparent reason why it sould have gone haywire, but no cancer or other ongoing problems. Phew!

Not a Puma

This is my friend Susanna's Abyssinian, Amal. I know that when Vincent was with Carin he had a couple of Abys, but I don't know who got custody. They are beautiful cats.

Happy Accidents

How could she not just lean forward and kiss that arm, barcode and all?

Vincent really is an unhairy man, isn't he? There's a little chest hair visible here, but his armpits look fairly clear, and his arms and legs are practically hairless. But then there's that stubbly face and the groin from Guy. Ooh, lovely thoughts.

Happy BIrthday

I hope Julie doesn't mind my publishing this photo of her 40th birthday in 2004. She still looks exactly the same, so I think you can see what I mean about her being 42 and looking 25. The right age for Vincent, and someone you couldn't resent if she actually caught him. Damn!

Vincent's Bum

There's a dispute over on Elizasplace as to whether the picture of Carl is Vincent or his body double. Here are some pictures for comparison so we can make up our own minds. My view? Can't decide!

Head Over Heels

When Dandy was a kitten he found he could do this balancing act on his back legs and play with his tail with his front paws. Luckily he never fell and landed on his head.

He got a good report from the locum vet for the way his operation scar has healed, but the histology report is still not in. The regular vet has had some bad news from Oz and has had to go winging back. I wish him and his family all the best.

For Julie

My friend had never heard of Vincent D'Onofrio, so I thought I publish a stack of pictures of him in some of our favourite roles.

Frisky Fun at the Zoo

I couldn't get the whole giraffe in this frame, so I asked him to bend down a bit for the top one.

The trip to the zoo was packed with fun, but the highlight of the day was the Macaque monkey. There he was, just behind the fence, facing the crowds, teasing out his todger and wanking enthusiastically. He then started to lick the tip, his tongue coming away covered in a sticky substance, the identity of which was in no doubt to the observers. I was too transfixed to get out my camera and record the event for posterity.

Later on, I saw two keepers near his enclosure peering in (he wasn't still at it) and I mentioned his performance to them. To the female keeper I said, "Imagine if men could lick themselves like that." Pointing to her male colleague, she replied, "He can." I thought a bit and said, "How do you know?" We laughed too much for her to answer.

Montsegur

Montsegur, a Cathar castle in the south of France, was besieged and destroyed, and the Cathars inside it slaughtered, in the 13th century.

Believe it or not, this coward, terrified of heights, climbed up to this castle in 1982. The wall at the front right of the third picture is right over a 1500m drop. The stone steps up to it are still in place, and I climbed up to see the view. Couldn't climb down again though - I had to bump down on my backside! The 10-year-old with us held on to a metal spike in the corner and leaned right out. Brave boy.

Carcassonne

Welcome to Grail Country. Carcassonne is a medieval walled city in the south of France. Although there has been restoration over the centuries, much of what you can see is 12th and 13th century. It was at the heart of the Cathar heresy which was wiped out by the extermination of the Cathars. Dan Brown didn't go there, as far as I can remember, but Kate Mosse (not the model) did in her book Labyrinth.

This is where I parted company with Rat Scabies' dad when we went on our 1982 grail quest.

Yes, Sir.

If I'd had a teacher like this, I would have stayed behind at school every night.

There was a tradition at my school of ex-pupils marrying the teachers they'd had crushes on.

Unfortunately, as I'm older than Vincent, he would have had to have a crush on me.

Well, I was quite hot back then - or so some of my ex-pupils tell me. Bless them.

I made my bed...

...now I have to lie in it.

Shelley the beautiful blue point Birman hooked out the kitchen drawer, threw out the excess towels, and made a comfy bed.

A Day at the Zoo

I'm taking a friend to London Zoo tomorrow who hasn't been there for years. She's the cat lover who was owned by the tragic Bengal kitten, Mewli. If she wasn't such a lovely person she would be really easy to hate - she's 42 and looks 25!.

Appropriate Ads.

There's an ad on UK TV at the moment which has someone strolling around very much a la Cholo - black hat and matador suit. He's advertising insurance. The company? Hiscox. Oh yes. Please.

Hello Henry

Henry, my African Grey, just climbed down from his cage and across the floor, then scaled the heights of the sofa just so that I would scratch his head.

Ah!

Wrong again. All he wanted to do was intimidate the other two parrots.

Beano on the TV

With Gene Wilder.

He was about 4 months old here.

He's about 6 months here. With - is that The Village People?
How did that happen?

Beano on the hi-fi speaker

I've always loved the white tip to Beano's tail. He waves it like a little flag - such a lovely greeting.

Worth Every Penny

Two weeks running, Dandy had to go to the vet's because he had a lump in his neck. He had two courses of antibiotics, but the lump was still there, so last Tuesday I left him there for a lumpectomy.

The vet found a tumour, which he removed and sent off for analysis. I'm still waiting for the results, and hoping for the best.

The total bill so far is about £450, but if Dandy is fit and healthy at the end of it, it will be money well spent.

Who could resist?

The lucky owner of those arms has just been on TV (as Mrs Weston in "Emma"). I wonder if she could ever have known, when she accepted to do "Fires Within", what a life-changing effect it would have on her life?

If I'd been there in her place, I couldn't have said no to his charms.

Trials and Tribulations of a Cat Owner

First Beano stole the washing-up brush...
Then he dragged it along the passageway, where his older "brothers" and "sisters" had already made cat's-paw height inroads into the wallpaper. He was such a naughty kitten. He's such a naughty cat.

Smile, Bobby!

He doesn't smile nearly enough in LOCI, but when he does...