A different Hat today.

Today was our meeting to move forward our plans for FASE 5.  Fraserburgh Art Group (FAG.) holds an Annual Exhibition of Visual Arts.  I am the secretary of the committee.  The DP is the chair.  We went off to the meeting with another member of the group and as we were early, of course, I pulled into the Prom.  As it takes an age for me to get out, get chariot, coat, gloves, hat.  I suggested the DP got out and took photos of the Oystercatchers which I said would be there .  And there they were!

So, no walk for me today.  But while he was away taking the photo I took in great lungfuls of sea air.  Then to to the meeting.  Having COPD and talking - a lot - left me exhausted!!

Also I have a lot to do clerically, research, booking of rooms for future meetings, and plan the Community Challenge 'Fraserburgh Flyers' etcetera.  Makes me feel - useful!

So down the shedudio on our return.  Bit of painting to wind down.  Joined by Sith Cat.  Who leapt onto the table and knocked over everything.  When I shouted at him I got that cat inscrutable look.

Knocked over the painting?  Who me?  No.

Nae a bad day.

A sunny day!  Yes it was still breezy, but so good to see the sun.

My walk on the Prom .  This is much shorter than I have done before.  I do hope to make it longer when I am fully better!

The sea was wild.  Huge waves and the wind whipping up the surf.

The Surfers made the most of it.

Black Headed Gull having a paddle.

Redshank.

Back home.  The DP has a new friend.  This is Hoover.  A wild Pheasant.  A clever Pheasant.  As most Pheasants I have come across wait till a car is coming and then cross the road I have never applied the adjective intelligent to any of them.  But there you go!

Afternoon in the Shedudio as always.  Finished Black Headed Gulls.  Ongoing Grey Seal.

Evening, out of the Dining Room windows.  Beautiful evening.

Cait Sith giving me the look.  I am doing what I am told.  But not happy.  I like the chair without the blanket......

The DP is away at another photographic society - a competition.  Sith's routine has been upset.

I have been watching a taped Virginia Wood -with an invited celebrity audience -
with tears of laughter rolling down my face.  Interspersed with amusement how young the celebrities look, some of them dead now too.  She was brilliant.

Nae a bad day.

Cats.

Cait Sith.  Gaelic for Fairy Cat.  He was a small skittery kitten when we got him from the Cat Protection League.  Together with 

Minerva McGonagall.  His foster sister.  

I have had cats since I became a property owner in my early twenties.  (Ah those were the days.)

Sith is the last one.  

Sith grew and grew and could hardly be described as fairy no longer.  A huge cat.  Then one day we went to Aberdeen Uni zoology department for an RSPB lecture.  There in a glass cage, stuffed, was our Sith.

The Kellas cat is described as being twenty-four to thirty-six inches (61 to 91 cm) long, with powerful and long hind legs and a tail that can grow to be around twelve inches (30 cm) long; its weight can range from five to fifteen pounds (2.3 to 6.8 kg)  Wikepedia.

Even the measurements fitted.  Apparently the Kellas Cat is from a Scottish wildcat and a domesticated hybrid.

Our Sith however is a total wimp.  Minerva was the boss.

I wont bore you with tales or pictures of the cats who have gone before.  

The reason for our wee spinney

is under some of them - is a cat.  Dead of course.  We have always planted a tree over them. This can cause problems on selling the house. 
"Oh if you are thinking of remodelling the garden, under that bush/tree is....."

It became even more of an embarrassment when my children kept guinea pigs when they were small and a whole walled bed was virtually full of them and other small rodents......

But we have kept up the tradition.

Sith is not joining them yet.  Vets this morning in some trepidation, he is 14 now.  Ear infection and upper respiratory causing the sneezing.  Although it was a problem listening to his chest as he would not stop purring.

76 quid lighter he ate all his tea and is now snoring - without sneezing - on the bed.

Aberdeenshire - and cats.

Anyone get to see Countryfile on Sunday?  It was about the area I live in, Aberdeenshire.

Macduff Marine Aquarium we have visited many times.  It is open all year round so somewhere to visit with grand children - or without.

Crovie, pronounced Crivie , has no road to the cottages so everyone has a wheelbarrow. This is used to transport shopping from the car parked at the bottom of the road to the village.  This transport mode was not mentioned at all !

Gardenstown is another village further up the coast from us.  Bryan Angus, fellow artist, lives there .  He and his partner run the Creative Retreat and have courses in Art.

It was a great programme with lots of other interesting stuff. We recorded it but those of you who know how to use catch up things - do it.

Our cat, Cait Sith, really enjoyed it.  Here he is with the Dawn Patroller.  Then he had to get closer.

Cait Sith is possibly a Kellas cat.

His double (stuffed and in a glass case) we saw at Aberdeen University Zoology department.  Very large black cat  Sith was a few centimetres shorter from nose to tail.  The Kellas cat is thought to be a cross from a Scottish wildcat which is currently subject of a lot of hoo ha of protection, and a feral cat.  Feral cats and any loose domestic ones are being neutered.....

Today I walked my .59 of a mile before lunch instead of after.  Daylight is very short now and I really wanted to paint.  Never seen so many Oyster Catchers having fun as the tide came in.

My granddaughter wants a painting of a cheetah.  Sadly not found in Aberdeenshire, except on my drawing board.

Proper Dawn

Now that Summer is almost over we have a proper dawn.  In that the Dawn Patroller can go for a walk at a reasonable time (tho not for me) 5 - 6 a.m.

The best time to see, and photograph, the local wild life.

Whooper Swans. Also arrive at this time of year to overwinter here.

Pheasants we have year round.  Although we have noticed this year a reduction in numbers.  And no sign of any young ones.  Hope (?) Ptolemy is surviving this dearth Jessica.

This delightful puss we viewed at a later hour while having dinner.

Although the same colour as our Sith, Sith was snoring in the sitting room.

My time for going oot and aboot is after lunch.  It generally takes me at least two hours to come round and get washed and dressed.  Up at 8 the DP brings me breakfast, toast, rhubarb and ginger jam.  A Cappucino.  So after lunch is when I go out, drive to the beach and record the wildlife.

The long way back to the car.  I sometimes wonder how I do it.


Tonight we have lit the wood burner but have had to also switch on the liquid gold burner.  It is freezing.  Tomorrow will be misty.  But when I venture out sunny, warm and no wind.  Proper Dawn !

Cats.

Ten days ago this wee cat made a determined onslaught to move in with us.  And won.

We had havered as to whether to get another cat when Minerva finally had a tree planted in her memory. (With her underneath it.) (Quince).  But for various reasons, one 12 year old remaining, we not getting any younger, etc. we didnt.  

Along came this pretty thing and Sith was happy about it.  We realised that altho he and Minerva were never cuddle pals he missed another cat's presence.  

To cut a long story short we contacted the Cat Protection League and she was a stray and claimed very quickly by an overjoyed family.  She didnt come from that far away, but far enough away for their to be a mystery as to how she had found her way here.

So with no more ado. We got back in touch with the Cat Protection and here is Martha.

Settled in very well.  One thing we did not know is a cat door is something new for her.  So just waiting for the weather and my health to improve before we show her how to use it.......

Now see here.

Every day, unless its blowing a gale,(forecast tomorrow 30 mph winds gusting to 45 mph) I walk on Fraserburgh Esplanade. The locals deride the Esplanade term despite it being on all the sign posts. 

To them it is the Prom.  

Now I can and have managed to walk 20 gusting to 30mph although it was hard work.  If I let go of the chariot which I did when pausing to take a photograph the chariot goes off on its own and leaves me stranded until kind dog walkers fetch it back.

The pink balloon  is part of my rubbish collection on my walks.  I hate and detest balloons and want them banned. They damage wildlife and farm animals.  Why people let off balloons in memory of someone is beyond me as they are just sending up something that will kill some more.  Add to the banned list the flaming lanterns or whatever they are called. That do even more damage such as setting things on fire.

Today I did not manage my usual .58 of a mile as yesterday I went for my (ir)regular blow job check up at the chest clinic.  They could hear a 'crackle' .  Which indicated yet another chest infection/pleurisy start of. Now I had gone into that clinic feeling as high as a kite.  I was going to knock that blow job into the stratosphere but was not then allowed to blow.  and am back on antibiotics AND told to take it steady.  So I did half the walk and found out that I could take a video and download it.

So here it is for your delectation.

Turn the sound up and you can hear the wind.

At the end of the day the central heating goes off and the wood burner is lit.  Cait Sith our 13 year old cat Sith enjoying.

Cait Sith is Gaelic for Fairy Cat.  When we got him from the Cat Protection he was a wee skittery thing - hence the name but then he just grew and grew. So now he is Sith.  Being from Yorkshire I now call him Sithee which means now see here.  

Oh boy do I need that.

Some of my readers will remember I have attended Pulmonary Physiotherapy Sessions which have been of great benefit to me.  I really need that.

The good news is that I am on another round.  

It was picked up by the physiotherapist that I was now using my shoulder muscles to breathe instead of the chest ones.  How come I never noticed it?!

So I got plastered.  

Which 2 days later was removed. This hurt......I did not need that.

Verdict after much tapping of muscles was it was working.   So I was replastered. ( I had also noticed that I was 'better'  - more puff.)

I had to remove this second lot myself.  Advised to use baby oil.  This I had to google.  As I didnt know whether you soaked the plaster in it or what.

 Apparently you put the baby oil on afterwards to remove any bits and to sooo-ooothe. And boy did I need it.  The soothing.  The plaster goes right up to the back of your hair line and above.  My hairdresser was horrified.  She could not do the usual neck clipping.  She didnt need to worry, when the plaster is removed it does a more thorough job than any clipper. ....Plus you have to be very careful not to aim the hair dryer at the plaster.  I can only assume it sets it in concrete.  Which would be even more painful.

Furthermore baby oil is the most difficult thing to remove.  The removal of plasters  was carried out on Valentines Evening.  I then  dropped the bottle of wine......just slid out of baby oiled hands.  And boy did I need it.  

Fortunately my reflexes are still good and the bottle was regrabbed before too much spilled.  

Red wine is very good for getting rid of baby oil too - now who would have known that! Unless they dropped the bottle and quite a lot splashed over ones hands.

So no plaster but my sub conscious is in play and I remember to drop the shoulders and breathe from the diaphragm.  Though I have to have the plastering re-done on Thursday. Better make sure the Dawn Patroller takes care of any bottle pouring when we remove the next lot.

I have had to remember whilst painting to stay erect, not slump, and use the diaphragm and not the shoulders.  (Another bit of useful info is that with my disease your diaphragm thins and is not as effective. My knowledge of the human body knows no bounds.) 

Not sure my painting is any different.

 
This Whooper Swan landing seems to have everything controlled.

And cats always appear to have everything under control.
 
And boy do I need that. 

What happened after.

Here is hoping you all had a wonderful Festive time in whichever way you do it.

 Minerva McGonagall received her present a bit late. Yesterday. 

For some strange reason our Argos does not hold the same stock as our near neighbour, Peterhead, so had to travel the 10 miles from there to here, which we didnt want to, and strangely they didnt drive anywhere on Christmas Eve, or Day, and then took their time yesterday.

Though I doubt she knew that.  As soon as it was unwrapped and laid on the floor she was in. Curled up and purring very loudly. The cardboard box she had taken over was swiftly removed and now houses the tv the DP removed from the kitchen wall.  

Should explain that this house, when we moved into it had tvs in every room apart from the bathrooms.  

Now I dont know about you but I can only view one screen at a time, and when I go to bed I go to sleep, not to watch t.v. And when in the kitchen, I and the DP have other things on our minds than Jeremy Kyle or whoever during the day. 

 So when the dear friend recently departed, TO A NEW JOB , gave us a magnificent wine rack we both said , 
"Kitchen t.v. - remove."  

When we eventually work out the safest way to remove the electrics and aerials I will show you it.  But now the t.v. is in the cardboard box waiting to be freecycled.  And Min has her cosy cave.

Sith got booted out of his favourite chair for the present opening but didnt seem fussed.

As you can see the steroids have done their job and he is back to being a b-i-g cat.  Being weaned off the steroids now.  And blood tests coming back fine so whatever was wrong with him, although very expensive to neutralise, has gone. Well, fingers crossed.

The Dawn Patroller and I have had a good Christmas.  Just the two of us.  Not sure why we didnt have our ritual of Christmas Eve with friends.  We have shared this for years and years.  But perhaps as well as along with the lovely pressies from Santa et al, I recognised my old friend pleurisy had come to call.

So battling that, thanking my gp for giving me antibiotics always in my drawer, ibuprofen and paracetemol, and yes, at certain times, red wine (sadly not on prescription) I am slowly considering a shower tomorrow and actually getting clothes on I can go outside in.

My main present was this.

 

 

 Which quite frankly scared me to death.  I have been moaning for some time at the poor quality photos I take of my paintings and nagging the DP to do the photographing for me with his state of the art camera.

Well here I am full of painkillers, trying to focus, let alone focus a camera with all the different buttons and being told just squeeze then hold, so I will let you judge.

The above was taken with the old camera.

Ok, the picture is now finished as in background done and mounted, but is it a better zingy colour?

Hopefully better after.  As I will be.

 

 

Phew.

Not that good a start for our NEOS week.  Wind and rain.

As I was doing some tweaking and putting up the labels....at the other side of these display boards, with my back to them down they came, crashing on to me.  There had not been sufficient angling done to make them stable.

Hey ho.  Slightly bruised legs but not beaten.  Two paintings lost their glass but that was it.  Phew.  

The DP was away to Edinburgh moving a daughter from one flat to another - again.  

Sith decided to have another bust up with the feral cat.

Here he is with four working legs.  Saturday morning front left not working.  Now I can light a fire, cook me tea, but no way can I carry him in a cat box to the car and then to the vets.  After a phone call to the vets to find if I went in with him it had gone up from £60 to £80 before we even started,  the vet and I took a gamble, which then kept me sleepless.... Dosed him with painkillers, he was eating like a pig, purring, and  made an appointment for Monday   Then I phoned the DP.  Daughter moved so he could return in time.  Phew. Phew.

I feared the leg was broken,  turned out to be infected and after first dose of antibiotics already much better.  Phew Phew Phew.

I so wish I could be more laid back......Phew.
 

To Cat Lovers - everyone else sorry.

Update.  Minerva McGonnagall.  She who had leg dislocated from hip by feral cat has patiently endured house arrest for weeks.  The reinsertion (?) by vet has held up. In. Today was release day.

 This is Minerva some time ago with my granddaughter, who was being introduced to A CAT.

Min had her collar replaced with magnet to open cat flap and after some considerable sniffing ever inch of the outer door ventured out - and disappeared.  She has returned, exhausted.  But with four legs working.  Presumably been checking out that the fields are still there.

Cait Sith is still on steroids, eating, eating, eating.  He has gained weight.  But his red blood cells have not increased as much as they hoped.  Further blood tests await.  But he seems happy enough.

I am gearing up for the North East Open Studios where our Art Group exhibits at the Lighthouse Museum.  Lots of paintings been mounted and framed.

"I was just having me tea."  one to be mounted.

 And, "Oh We Do Like to be beside the Seaside - not.." another.

Painting of which takes ones mind off worrying about cats.