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!