Saturday 30 June 2012

SEIturday Secrets!


Sei-Chan: First of all, a huge thank you to all our wonderful friends who left such sweet comments on yesterday's Blogaversary post! We were so touched by all the kind words! A very special thanks goes out to Ms. A and Ms. H who offered to double the stakes on the Commenthaton! It now looks like we will be able to send 100 Euros' worth of goodies to the Mayhew Animal Home from their wish list! We will keep you posted, of course. And we will do the draw on the goodie bag winner early next week.

Now, there were quite a few comments "demanding" to know whose head it was back behind Violette in the last photo. That is our secret for now (it's NOT Vidock, by the way!) but we promise that all shall be revealed tomorrow.

So, it just remains for me to share my photos of the week with you as it is, after all, SEIturday!


Did you need my help with something, #1?


Hanging out on #1's bed:


A little interlude in the cat run:


Trying out this new location under one of the skylights in the study:


Back to my regular supervisory post!


Have a great SEIturday everyone!

Friday 29 June 2012

Fourth on Friday! Our Blogaversary!!!


Tom: I always do the honors on our Blogaversary posts because I am the common thread running through all of our blog posts. We are really excited to be celebrating our FOURTH anniversary today! In the last four years, the Poupounette Gang has sadly lost two members, Sen-Chan and Yuu-Chan, but we have also expanded from two to seven!!! There used to be one woofie and one kitty. Now we are one woofie, four kitties and two horses (really? only two horsies? hahaha!).

When #1 was a child, she already loved all animals but her parents never agreed to having a pet, so she is now getting her own back big-time and loving it. And she loves the blogging. It has been truly special to make so many wonderful friends around the world with whom to share all the joy and sadness. So, thank you, all our friends for being there!

Since our third Blogaversary one year ago, we have added two new members, GENJI and VIOLETTE. Genji was planned and Violette just stole our hearts and moved into our lives. We love having them both with us.

Here is a walk down the memory lane of all of us Poupounette gang members, including those who are no longer with us.

First came IKKYU (Sep. 1992 - Aug. 2007), well before blogs even existed. Born in Japan. Lived with #1 on 3 continents. Her first window into the world of the Abyssinian:


Then came Sen-Chan (Sengikumaru) who inspired the blog with his nickname "Poupounet." He was with us such a short while (Jul. 2007 - Jan. 2009) but his sweetness will never be forgotten:


I (Tommy!) arrived not long after Sen-Chan and he and I were best buddies right from the start!


We were then joined by Tama-Chan (Tama-Hime) who was terribly scared of us at first but quickly understood how much we loved her!


Sei-Chan (Sei Shonagon) came to live with us (along with her Mummy, Viña, who later left) when she was only a few weeks old!



And she became best friends with Yuu-Chan (Yuusuke) when he joined us. Sadly, he was just a shooting star who lit up our lives for a short while before joining Sen-Chan at the Rainbow Bridge aged only 15 months (Jun. 2009 - Sep. 2010). He will be forever missed.


When Mama-Tama had four kittens, none of them were supposed to stay, but Bibi-Chan (Ebisu) decided different and #1 simply could not say no...


After Yuu-Chan left us, #1 was totally bereft and she decided that, instead of going out and getting another cat, it was time for her to realize an old childhood dream. And that is how Vidock (Vidock d'Albe), the Percheron colt who became a stallion, joined the family!


It was around the time of our Third Blogaversary that #1 decided that Bibi-Chan really needed a brother who would play boisterous  games with him, and that is how Genji came to us, by plane from South West France!


And last but not least is our sweet Violette (Violette de l'Aumone), the Percheron mare. Left in the field next to our house all winter with no hay or other food, she and #1 became friends and she was eventually invited to become one of us. She is a gorgeous girl and we are very proud of her!


But whose is that black head up behind Violette??????

Thank you for sharing this celebration with us. We are hoping that this wonderful blogging experience will go on for many, many more years! In concrete celebration terms, we have decided to do two things:

• We will have a draw on the comments and send a goodie bag to the winner, wherever in the world he/she/they may be.
• We will donate 1 Euro for each comment we get today to the MAYHEW ANIMAL HOME. They have a wish list on amazon.co.uk and we will round up what we get and send them something they really need!

Thursday 28 June 2012

Tightrope Thursday


Bibi-Chan: As you can imagine, all of us here are training fiercely for the Cat Olympics this July. You were most impressed, and quite righty, by the recent photo of Mama Tama on the high beam, but I, The Beebs, am training for the tightrope walking competition!!!




I can hear the crowds cheering already!

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Wings on Wednesday...



Tom: Tommy here with some rather sad news from my family in Normandy. My aunt Harrie flew off to the Bridge whilst asleep a couple of days ago. She had been having problems with her kidneys and was a lady of a certain age at 13. We shall all miss her terribly. She was my Grandmama Katie's first baby and it was a litter of one, so Harrie grew up with the love of both her parents, plus Mr. K and Ms. A. She was a lucky girl!

She was also a very beautiful girl!



Whereas the rest of us are all rough and tumble working spaniels, Harrie was in fact a show spaniel.

She was such a gentle soul who got along with everyone. Here she is with her half-sister Cora:


And her half-sister Minnie (my mummy):


And showing off our family love for kitties:


And here she is, hanging out with her gang:


FLY FREE, SWEET HARRIE! And say hello from all of us to your Daddy, Monty!

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Tama-Chan Tuesday


Tama-Chan: I know we are beginning to sound whiny and boring but it's a fact: the weather stinks! It is still wet. It is still far too cool for the season. In short, it is depressing.

Still, we do what we can and we have been venturing out into the run between raindrops. #1 even managed to get a bit of a photo shoot of me!





To be honest, though, the only place to be at the moment is here:


Monday 25 June 2012

Manly Monday


Genji: Today, I would like to introduce our newest piece of furniture! Actually, #1 had bought it in January but it had been sitting in its box until yesterday, when she finally decided to assemble it!




I give it four paws up! The others haven't really started to explore it yet.


In other news, #1 took this pic of me this morning and I am wondering whether I should enter the Fierceful Yawning competition in the Cat Olympics with it?


Not sure, though, as I am entering several other categories...


Bibi-Chan: Maybe I should enter the balance beam competition?




Or the competitive napping?


Decisions, decisions...


Tom: I managed to nick one of my toes this morning, so #1 tells me I am going to have to take ita little easy whilst it heals. Bummer! But I do have some manly photos to share with you today:





Vidock: We hate this weather. It's boring not to have any sun puddles to gallop in!


On one of the days it didn't rain, I did get an outdoor mani-pedi:


Other than that, always ready to give #1 smooches!


Sunday 24 June 2012

Snuggles on Sunday


Tama-Chan: We are finally quite back to normal and so can return to our regular SoS post. Phew. It is still cool (positively cold some evenings) so that is perfect for power snuggling.

I do enjoy snuggling with my Tommy!


And also snuggling up to #1 in bed!


As does my Boy Bibi:


And we all know how much The Beebs loves his Tommy brother!



Tommy's bed is right at the foot of #1's so she can reach down and give him a cuddle anytime!


Needless to say, Sei-Chan has been spending time with Tommy too...



Genji has also been hanging out with Tommy:


and gluing himself to #1, as usual...


As for #1, she got a big smooch from Vidock!