Another long period between entries because there’s not much happening out here in the country. It’s been cool with a bit of rain over the past week but it’s on the mend now, so much so that I’m writing this poolside.
Today’s title refers to the cats. They are both starting to fill out nicely and are at the gawky, adolescent stage of long legs and feet with slim narrow bodies. Louis especially so and thus, we are now referring to him as “Sausage”. Smeagol continues to earn his name which has been shortened to Smoo (not sure how exactly but it’s very apt). There are also many combinations of Smeagol and Smoo, my favourite being “Smeagly Smoo”, which works really well when sung to the tune of Scooby Doo. I don’t want to be one of those people who goes on and on about their cats, but you know what, I’m going to be that person for a moment. I was never a cat person in my youth and only started to tolerate them because I ended up living with one in London for 4+ years but these two have completely won me over. This is partially because they’re so cute but mostly due to their playful personalities.
They really enjoy their outdoor time and have been a bit better about not getting stuck up in the trees. Louis has been stalking lizards and the Smoo caught a mouse the other day that Will freed immediately. They tend to turn a bit violent after they’ve been out for a while and Will has some nice scratches to prove it today. Apparently they’re trainable so we’re going to see if we can teach them to fetch for starters.
Lastly, here are a few other choice names that we’ve come up with: PaDoMoCa, which describes the breed. It’s a compound word made up of the first two letters of parrot, dog, monkey, cat; they love to sit on shoulders, can be trained, enjoy climbing and can pass as cats. The other fitting name for the Smoo is Oedipus, not for the ancient Greek but more as in “Id, a puss”, or “A puss named Id” since he is all instinct and is basically a stomach on legs. Oh yeah, we also refer to him as “Dr. Leon and Mr. Smeag”, mostly because he can be a real sweetie for about 5 minutes, just after waking up. Dr Leon is all affectionate and is happy to be held without attacking you and then, without notice, Mr. Smeag takes over and he turns into a real terror fighting you with tooth and claw. Ok, paean to the cats over now.
Socially, we’ve had a few dinners this past week. On Thursday, we had Richard (sans Brigit), Belinda and her two daughters and a friend of hers, Ollie. The girls spent most of the night in our place watching DVDs while the grown-ups wined, dined and smoked over at Sharon’s. They are very well behaved and polite girls, about 7 and 9 years old at a guess. They loved the cats and Smeagol spent some time on one of their laps. I made mexican lasagne and Sharon made leek and potato soup and a nice salad. I brought back a bag of one of my favourite candy bars, Pearson’s Salted Nut Rolls, that I shared around before the cheese course. Suffice it to say that they’re delicious, the guests agreed and if you’re ever in MN, I suggest you get yourself one. The meal was washed down with bucket-loads of red wine so we all had tender heads the next day.
On Sunday, we were joined by Keith, Julia and her daughter Caddy (sp?) who is here visiting for a few weeks. They came over in the late afternoon for a bbq. The ladies had a swim, which was very brave considering the pool was only 22C and it wasn’t much warmer outside. We served a pork-fest that included gammon, sausages, bacon and rib chops. Sharon made a few different marinades for the various meats and they came out nicely. She also made a stellar potato salad and a green salad too. The three of them are travelling for a week but invited us to their place this coming Sunday. They bought some land with an old barn on it a few years ago and Keith spends the summer doing work on it. He now nearly has the walls completed and will be putting a roof on it soon. I’m looking forward to seeing it since I’ve heard a lot about it but not done so yet.
The garden is flourishing at the moment; I think it appreciated the rain. We’ve harvested a few beans and still more spinach this past week. The tomatoes continue to come along nicely but so far, haven’t been able to eat them. In the back plot, a few of the squash plants are getting really big, so much so that they will likely crowd each other out, even though we replanted a few last week. The transplants are recovering, some better than others. I’m looking on the bright side and imagining this is a good thing since it means a staggered harvest. I brought some corn seeds with me from MN and the crop is coming along nicely. It will require a mild autumn if we’re going to see any produce but if we get one, we’ll be swimming in fresh corn so I’m being optimistic.
Other than that, I’ve been spending most of my time on the prototype. I’m finally making some real progress and have recovered quickly from the few bugs that I’ve found so far. Will is working on the site for his latest client; it’s going well but not as quickly as he’d like. We’re both back to our exercise routines; I’m at the pool three times a week and Will is working out at least that much. I’ve got a new router to install today so if all goes well, we’ll soon have internet access from the pool.