Among the Flowers

There has been some warm, sunny weather so I asked my humans to take me out to enjoy the graden. Usually this means I get to sit with the humans on a comfy garden chair getting a cuddle but this time they took me to have a picture taken with pretty flowers. I like flowers. I do not destroy them. My character may be a cartoon cat but not all cartoon cats act like Garfield!

Mikki tried telling me I could stand on the ground and that the earth was clean. I am not taken in that easily. I had Andrew hold me.

These are dahlias. They are especially pretty. The flower throughout the summer and you can keep them over the winter and re-plant them (as Mikki has done this year). I have been told this variety of dahlia may be better known in the US than in the UK. Its name? Let me think. Oh yes, Figaro.

Today, it's raining so I am back in the house writing my Blog. Can I have my cuddle now, please?

Characters 5 - Geppetto

I thought it was time to see me with another Disney character. This time it is Geppetto. I always like seeing Geppetto and I think he likes me too. After all, Geppetto the wood carver made Figaro his own little wooden bed but didn't seem to mind when Figaro moved to Geppetto's bed after opening the window.

For one thing, Geppetto always knows who I am. This picture was taken a couple of years ago in Walt Disney World and I notice I am wearing my name badge. Geppetto would not have needed it.

Geppetto reminds me of one of the differences between Disney parks in the USA and Paris. In the USA, we all get in line to meet characters like Geppetto. In France, they laugh at people who do that (i.e. Brits and Americans). There is a crowd of childen round a popular character and they push their way to the front as best they can. It was lucky for my humans that they had me with them when they met Geppetto in Paris. As soon as he saw me, he was the one who pushed through the children to get to me! It's nice to be famous and popular.

Prrrr.

Great Fete

Our village had its Great Fete last Saturday. I didn't go because the humans were very busy and might not have had time to cuddle me - or even to watch I was safe. There were lots of things that worry me - like sticky cakes and ice creams and children. Still, I am a little sorry I wasn't there because it was a great success. There were lots of people, lots of fun and lots of money was raised to help with the restoration of the church building. The church building is very old - and I mean what British and other European people call "old": hundreds of years.

I have no picture for this post - but I have something better. Mikki make a video and put it on "YouTube". Try going to "YouTube" and doing a seach for "Beckingham village fete". The highlight is "The Red Arrows", the RAF aerobatic team, flying over in formation leaving smoke. They agreed specially to fly over our Fete on their way to salute the Queen on her Birthday Parade.

I must explain some background. The traditioal English village (like ours) has a church and a large house next to it for the vicar or (as in our case) rector(and No, I don't know the difference: I'm a toy cat). So the traditional Church Fete used the grounds of the house (the Rectory). Well, the Church of England does not have as many clergy as it used to. One person now serves several parishes and a lot of the old houses have been sold. So now you need to have someone living in the Old Rectory who will allow their garden to be used for a Fete - and this year we do. The ownsers of the house were also very active in the organisation. Someone said this is the first such Fete in the village since the 1950s - which is quite a long time ago in itself.

There were lots of other villagers working on the Fete but my humans did their bit. Mikki sent publicity messages to local newspapers and radio stations as well as making some of the posters. Andrew made signs for the day for the various stalls, car parks and so on. On the day they joined with some neighbours selling general donated items. A lot came from Andrew's mother - who is about to move flat (apartment). There were absolutely no cuddly toys from this family - and I don't like to be reminded that someone else did give some.

The Fete raised over £2,000. That's very good for a small village like ours. It may not sound much when you have a church to restore but fortunately there is a national body called English Heritage that is giving a lot of money.

Oh - just one other bit of really good news. Mikki has booked the first few days of our WDW holiday (vacation) in January. We will be in Bay Lake Tower. So look out for your favourite kitten having his picture taken there.

My humans are worn out. Time for a cuddle.

Tennis Season

Mikki likes tennis a lot. She likes to play and she likes to watch. So she is very busy at this time of year. She is a member of 3 tennis clubs (and on the committee of two of them). Most weeks, she plays several times a week. She also plays for club teams. She hasn't (yet) ended up playing against herself!

It is also tennis season on television. For the last couple of weeks it has been the French Open. Satellite channels and "red button" give Mikki lots of choice. I think she watched Roger Federer's semi-final 3 times over. She was very pleased he won and made lots of knowledgeable comments about his play (well, they sounded knowledgeable to me).

The French Open is played on clay. Mikki doesn't like playing on the clay surface - which is not very popular in England. She thinks it is slow - and you get your clothes dirty! Mikki is amused that when there is a challenge in the big matches on clay, the umpire gets down from his chair and looks at the marks on the court. How does he know which is the right one? She never understood why Disney seemed so proud of how many clay courts they have at Walt Disney World. Do you remember when they used to mention it specially in the monorail commentary?

This week it's grass court season and preparations for Wimbledon. Mikki has tickets and will be going. Of course, we used to live there but my humans don't miss it much. There is only one thing Mikki says she misses. When she is away and people ask her where she normally plays tennis, she can not answer, "Wimbledon".

Well, of course I had to add a picture of my Mikki playing tennis in Florida. Yes, this is one I have played with electronically so it looks like she really can be everyone on the court at once. In fact, she was getting coaching at the time - which is why she wanted some photographs taking to check her action. The people she plays against now know she keeps in form even when she goes away on holiday (vacation).

And talking about holidays, here is the really good news. When not playing tennis - or preparing for the village fete on Saturday - Mikki has booked some flights to Florida. We are all going to be there again in January 2010.

Another Holiday Weekend

Just a few odds and ends of what has been happening since I last posted on my Blog.

It's been a Holiday weekend. My humans tell me that in the USA it is "Memorial Day" when everyone remembers the contribution of people who serve in the armed forces. In England it is "Bank Holiday". I'm just a toy cat so I don't pretend to understand why the British make it a public holiday just because the banks are closed. If the banks closing was a reason for celebration, you would have thought everyone here would have been very happy over the last year. But then, I'm, just a toy cat - and I am getting off the point of what I have been up to recently.

My humans had two nights away seeing Andrew's mother - who is moving flat (apartment). There are lot of things to sort through!! Andrew's mother has a Figaro toy too. She has one of Floppy cat's brothers and I like to visit and see how he is. For some reason I don't know, Andrew's mother has named him "Mischief". I am sure he doesn't do anythig naughty to deserve that or break any rules. Most of the time he just lies along the back of her sofa. He is rather cleaner and softer than Floppy. I suspect he doesn't get as many cuddles.

We also celebrated Andrew's brother's birthday at the weekend. The whole family of humans went to a nice restaurant for lunch. They didn't take me even though the restaurant specialises in fish. Only joking, I am a toy: I don't eat.

I am not sure whether he would want me to say how old he is on the internet: it was one of those birthdays with a "0" at the end. Let's just say he is still younger than my character (70 this year, isn't it?).

Another feature of Bank Holidays in England is that the main tv company (the BBC) seems to hand over a lot of its air time to the Walt Disney Company. The main channel shows "Freaky Friday" followed by "National Treasure" while the second channel has just shown "The Moon Spinners". I still miss the old "Disney Time" shows when you would get clips of really great movies - like the one of a wooden boy setting off to his first day at school while a certain little black and white cat played round his feet.

Then, there has been sadness in the house over the holiday too. We were all sorry to hear that The Mouse has lost his voice. Wayne Allwine was like so many people at the Disney studio. His name may not have been known to many but his contribution to the happiness in the world was immense.

So my picture is of the original "Speak for Mickey" statue from the "Mickey InspEARations" set. My Mikki has a miniature but this is the big one. The 75 statues were created for Mickey's 75th birthday and we saw them outside the Magic Kingdom in December 2003. The decoration of this statue celebrates Mickey's first voice - that of Walt Disney himself. It was designed by the (then) current voices of Mickey and Minnie. If you can't read it on the photo, it says "I speak for Mickey and Mickey speaks for me: Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor".

Welcome Big Fig

Here he is: the latest addition to our family of Figaros. He was rushed over freom someone who bought him in a Disney Store in the USA. Like "Long Tail", he has a patch sewn onto him saying he is a "Disney Store Exclusive". It's on his back left leg so you can't see it in the picture.

He is very soft and - yes - he is big. I like being in pictures but I am not sure I wanted to be in this one next to him. I am standing up and he is lying down but still as tall as me. His head seems especially large but we are too kind to make any comments about that. After all, we are all cute, adorable Disney characters so our heads are larger than life in proportion to our bodies and our eyes are larger than life in proportion to our heads. This new one's eyes are as big as my paws (yes, I did test it but I didn't hurt him really).

He also has a tale that manages to be soft and stand up at the same time. I suppose those Disney designers are getting cleverer and cleverer over the years.

Mikki has named my new cousin "Big Fig". I am not sure she isn't getting a little less imaginative with her names, but I'm sure he will get to like it here soon. He is new. His fur is fluffy, his black is very black and his white is very clean and white. I point out to him that if he wants to stay that way he will have to avoid getting cuddled (all the more for me).

Characters 4 - Tigger

It's time to remember another character I met in Walt Disney World. This time, it's Tigger.

Tigger is very friendly and nice. He is an animal from the cat family - and he is also based on a toy! Those both seem to me to be positive characteristics.

This picture was taken at breakfast at Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom. I like going to meals with characters because of the chance to get pictures without having to stand in line. I do get just a little worried at some of the meals when the humans put me on the table with all their food and drinks. They haven't got me messy yet: I just get nervous. Fortunately, Crystal Palace has larger tables than some restaurants. The characters must also get a bit nervous as they go round tables while guests are moving about with plates of food. That probably explains why Tigger isn't as "bouncy" as he could be. As you can see, he was very gentle with me.

This was on a Saturday morning last December. We were up early because we wanted to get to Crystal Palace at 8.00 a.m. to meet some friends in time for the booking. One of our party was actually the very first guest to be let into the park that day.

Because we got in early, we were also able to get some lovely pictures of Main Street, Cinderella Castle and the Hub with no other people there. Actually, there must have been some other people there because one of the pictures has both my humans in it. It must have been a cool day too: they are wearing sweaters.

It's a good thing I get on so well with other cats who are bigger than me. And that will probably be my next post. The latest member of the Figaro family has arrived sooner than expected - and he is big!