Lovey Time in Bermuda

Yes, I am back home from my trip to Bermuda. It was a great trip (Mikki even gave me a cuddle on the flight out) and we all had a lovely time. There's so much to tell that I expect to need several posts. I'll start with the super hotel we stayed in - which is where I spent most of my time - and the very hot weather.

I mention the weather because there's been quite a change since we got back. I started writing this as the wind blew here and the rain beat down on the roof. They say it is the remnants of Hurricane Bill. Bill was due to go past Bermuda last Saturday - and we left on Wednesday evening. The prediction then was that wind speeds would only get up to 60mph (only!). I hope everything was OK for Mikki's family's houses and boats but most of the family are off the island too so we have no direct news. Mikki's sister and father have gone to Canada and her brother is on his honeymoon in Europe. The wedding is one of the things I'll have to tell you about in another post.

So, back to the sunshine and the hotel. In the picture, I am sitting on the balcony of our room so you can get an idea of the view we had. The hotel rooms were all in low blocks dotted about a hillside so I think they all had good views. Mikki may have been right that we had a good room because it was also convieient for all the hotel facilities but that didn't bother me. I didn't need the restaurant or bar.

The weather was hot. We were all glad that the hotel had good air conditioning. The humans used to come into our room in the afternoon or evening and collapse (good chance for another cuddle). The hotel also had two cool dark caves. They were also damp, so I didn't like going there. We were told that was also what had spoiled the management's idea of setting up a night club in one of them. As it was, there were some clever flat areas includng one that looked like a stage. Mikki went swimming in the other cave. Everyone who swam there agreed it was cold! I stayed well clear of all that water and I think even Mikki preferred swimming in the pool with the bar at the edge and the bar stools in the water!

The humans also liked the frozen daiquiries at the pool-side bar (non-alcoholic version preferred). I got more concerned about the large black cat that wandered about there. He didn't look very welcoming to other cats like me. When he started scratching Andrew's chair, even he decided to move to another table.

I think tht's enough for today. Nice to be home.

Nearly Ready

Mikki has finally allowed me to talk about it: we are off to Bermuda again. This trip is for her brother's wedding.

I have just been reading my old post about our visit in March. All I said was that my human Mikki was visiting a family she didn't know she had. Well, you can guess there is a lot more to tell. Mikki was adopted as a baby and the family in Bermuda is her birth family. They hunted her out and the first contact was around Christmas. The big - and wonderful - surprise was that after Mikki was born her father and mother got back together and married so the sister and brother she has in Bermuda are full blood relatives. And the brother is geting married in a week's time.

In March, we stayed with Mikki's sister. She has a lovely house, only slightly spoiled by having a - real alive - cat and dog. Fortunately, Mikki's sister has them permanently banned from the guest bedroom, so it wasn't too worrying for me! This time we are taking a package trip to a hotel because there will be a lot of family visiting the island.

The hotel looks very nice and is actually just across the road from Mikki's sister's house. The hotel is on the beach and also has pools and other facilities. Most interesting, it has a cavern you can visit and sit or swim in it. We are all thinking that might be nice and cool this trip.

Well, you may have guessed that we have all been very busy in the last few days getting ready. The humans are trying to travel light (they always say that but this time they may mean it). The trip will be much shorter than our usual ones to Walt Disney World and they think they can be confident they will not need many warm clothes in Bermuda in August. Of course, they will need their special smart outfits for the wedding. However, I think it was unkind and unfair to suggest that they might try saving weight by not taking me! I try to get used to them teasing me but for a moment I almost thought they were being serious.

Mikki's sister has two young daughters. Mikki feels she has a lot of spoiling to catch up on, so there will (again) be a lot of presents in the luggage (mostly Disney of course: the older daughter is into Hannah Montana). In March, they even got a black and white plush cat (a brother of my cousen "long tail"). I will have to check that he is still all right.

So, to the picture. This is a picture we took in March of the place where the marriage ceremony will take place. Apparently the moon gate is considered to bring good luck so the bride and groom will exchange vows under it. I guess there will be a lot more people there then than there are on the photo.

Characters 6 - Silvermist

I'm still looking forward to my next Disney trip and so I thought it was time to remember the last visit again - and especially those sweet Disney Fairies we met.

We met Silvermist during an evening party at the Magic Kingdon. We thought the special event might make the line for the Fairies a little shorter. Well, it may have done, but they were still popular. It was worth the wait. Even the line was fun, especially the shrinking woods. Silvermist was the first one to greet us as we got into Pixie Hollow. This time I have my humans with me in the photo. I had a look but don't seem to have any of just me with Silvermist - can't think how that happened! I can remember she was very kind and attentive - but not quite as attentive as Tinker Bell was with Andrew when she saw he was wearing a light up pin of her!! Have I got a picture of that? Perhaps another time.

Meanwhile, back here at home, the humans are sorting through boxes of Disneyana they have in the garage. I am pleased to see some has come out to be displayed in a cabinet they have acquired from Andrew's mother. She was moving to a smaller flat (apartment). I am not sure I want to know or think about what is going to happen to the rest. For some reason I can't explain, Andrew has got it into his head that they don't have to fill the house with more and more ornaments and pictures. Well, I suppose that may be right - that way there is more room for the toys.

Love to everyone from Figaro the toy cat

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.