'Why bark, if you've gotta dog?'
Well, this morning all sorts of plans have been shattered.
My mountain bike meet was cancelled, Beth couldn't get to work, and hubby has a dark cloud above him having sorted out his bike for a trial. All cancelled, due to heavy dumping of snow.
In all my life, I cannot remember a winter such as this one for snow fall on the island. True, the forecast was for wintery showers on high ground, but that rarely falls to our level, near the coast. That Gulf Stream keeps the Isle of Man within a certain temperature and we are usually damp instead of snow bound. This is the second time this winter our cottage has been snowed in.
The nice boys who look after the roads, have even removed our salt box because its never in use! So no salt to keep the lane clear.
Having ridden in snow before on my mountain bike, I was not to be put off, I hadn't ridden a cycle since Thursday, and my legs needed to work. But riding on slushy roads in thaw isnt very nice, I fell off twice as there was ice beneath the slush, and gave up. Don't fancy an injury to stop my cyclin' fun, so carefully rode back home. Na, this snow stuff on the roads is best for those in the 'know' on how to handle it on a bicycle – my skills were not enough to cope.
Albert, my cat was there as usual to greet me.
He is an amazing cat. He knows the sounds of each car or motorbike engine, and knows if its us or not coming up the lane. If it is either myself or Chas, he sits patiently to greet us with kitty headbutts and a warm purry body as we step out of the car. He even knows the sounds of my touring cycle. When I return from work, even in the depths of darkness, he pops out from behind his hedge to greet me and walk next to me as I park the cycle in the shed.
Today though.... ohhhh it was cold, wet and very very uncomfortable for a cat.
The snow was at least 5 inches deep, and he struggled to get to me. Each paw carefully placed into the deep crisp powder, then to be picked out and shaken before being replaced. He had a very 'Bag Puss' look on his face. He was not impressed with today at all! What could a girl do, other than give the lad a carry.
Hummmm... not impressed with this!
His world changed instantly, his purr developed into a deep rumble of pleasure and he found the nice place around my shoulders to stand and admire the landscape, which by now, seemed to have lots to look at from the height of a human. He gripped with his claws to prevent a cat-astrophie (sorry couldn't resist), and punctured my nice waterproof jacket with some small holes – its an old jacket thankfully. I was his 'knight in armour' this morning and his 'carry' continued into the cottage, where he felt safe again to alight to the floor. How things have changed for Albert.
Albert is a Manx cat. We don't know his age. When we lived at our last cottage, we lived in the middle of nowhere. No tv signal, no mobile – very remote. We had this troublesome tom cat who used to beat up our other house cats when ever he could and rape and pillage our female kitties, to the point of one leaving home. This went on for 7 years or so. Then, one day, this fearsome creature sat in the far corner of the garden for several days without flinching or running off. Normally, we just caught sight of his white feet as he bounded away. Rosie my youngest, put out some cat biscuits and well, the rest is history.
Here is a picture of Albert just about a week or so after being fed by us, he was still a tom cat in this picture, he used to help me round up the ducks. (I used to breed Campbells for eggs and meat).
He had to lose his crown jewels to stay with us, and his once skinny scrawny flea and tick ridden body is now round, sleek and fat. (Used to be plump, but well, I did say the rest was history). It took some time for the other 'inmates' to fully accept that their bully and tyrant was now living with them, and for a while the fights in the kitchen had to be damped down with a spray of water (literally) but all is well now, and since moving house last year, all the cats are comfortable with Albert – Albert is of course the boss.
He is a very special kind of cat. There is just something about him that marks him out from the crowd.
Hope you like his pictures.
He even would sit on my bike for a 'cat-on-a-bike' pose... What a cat!
Sorry this blog is not more cycle orientated, you can blame the snow for that.
Great pictures! The last one is hilarious
We have a cat called Clio, rescued from an animal centre a few years ago.
She hardly ever leaves the house but lies around various special places like this vantage point on a window sill (sunbathing) or inside a wardrobe or in front of the fire. We sometimes joke about putting her in a basket on the front of the bike. No chance. She does absolutely nothing to help around the house. Definitely no match for Albert, but lovable all the same.
It's snowed here too. So that makes three of us doing no cycling this Sunday.
February 21st, 2010 at 11:10 am
If you scroll the picture of Clio up and down she blinks!
She is beautiful, and is doing exactly what our cats would be doing if it were warm enough. I too have a pure black cat. Dhoona (Manx for dark maiden). She is the female cat that Albert was rather forceful with, and so she left home. No sign of her for 4 years – I had mourned for her, grieved for her assuming the worst. She suddenly turned up at our old cottage 6 months after we left it. She now lives here with us once more, but she doesn't leave the upstairs of the house these days, preferring to lie in her basket in the bedroom all day long... Life must of been tough on her. She is in total retirement now. And Albert is scared of her! She must of said some bad words to him at some point....
February 21st, 2010 at 11:21 am
Meet Blaze:
He is a Labrador cross and had a problem with ingrowing eyelashes. Here he is last week after a trip to the vet's and his 'brow lift'. The swelling has gone down around his eyes, but his right eyelid is a bit droopy and he now looks a bit like a dog version of a Bond villain, I think. He's happy, though, and enjoyed a scamper around in the snow this morning without his cone.
February 21st, 2010 at 11:50 am
Ouch Blaze, that sounds really sore, glad he is on the mend now.
February 21st, 2010 at 12:45 pm
I've the same carrier bag as you! They're very good. They're not fully waterproof apparently, but mine is unaware of that. It's never let a drop in. I've had mine maybe 10 years.
February 23rd, 2010 at 4:40 pm
My Carradice bag is but a baby, Ive had it just over 2 years and it was the first bag I purchased when I stepped into the world of cycling, as I needed something for work. Its commuted with me every day since then, been on several cycle tours, and done Audax rides with me as well, some in the UK.
I did water proof mine, not because it had leaked, but because I wasnt taking any chances of a leaky bag when I had some electrical stuff to move about in bad weather. For this, I used Babour wax as recommended for wax cotton. Heated it in hot water, painted on the wax – it behaved like paraffin wax. Then when coated generously, I used a hair dryer on hot all over the bag for about 10 minutes or so, basically until I could no longer see the wax coating anywhere.
Its never let in a drop with me either, and I like you Garry, will have met up with some horrible weather conditions over the years.
Mine is having a wee holiday at Carradice for a small repair to the velcro, they could not be more helpful or more cheery to do business with, and their repairs are very reasonable. Postage costs are more than the repair cost to be honest, but I am looking forward to its return. At least in this icy weather, and me not cycling for the time being, I have not had the chance to miss it very much.
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:57 pm