Tama-Chan's Tuesday Thoughts

 

Tama-Chan: Hello, Dear Friends. I am sorry we have remained MIA, despite all good intentions.  We know we still owe you an account of the great adventure of Violette, Vidock and Heloise, but here is the situation. #1 gave her everything to organising this for some Japanese friends who are also her clients. She poured all her energy into this project, and the clients ended up being really, really nasty to her. She is heart-broken and exhausted, both physically and emotionally, and she just can't find it in her to blog regularly at the moment, nor help us comment. Please give her a little time. We are all working hard to make her feel better. And today, she has gone to Paris to see another eye surgeon in the hope he can repair the damage caused by her cataract surgery in March. We are crossing our paws for her. Thank you for being understanding.

Thankful Thursday (The Short Version)

 

Violette: Pretty Neighs, Everywhere! Violette here. #1 had an incredibly hectic and exhausting week last week and the pinnacle of the week was last Sunday when we, I, Vidock and Heloise, paraded down the Champs Elysées in PARIS! Can you believe it? Now, #1 is getting ready to take off again, to the French National Percheron Championship, so we will not be posting again before next week, but we just wanted to say hello, that we are thankful for the experience and all well, and to share one teaser photo with you:

It's me at the front, and can you see what is at the back? It is the Arc de Triomphe. It really was Paris!

Snuggles on Sunday

 

Tama-Chan: Since we know for sure that there won't be a snuggle post next Sunday, I managed to convince #1 to prepare one for this week ahead of time. It is important to channel her energy, you know!

I made sure to get in plenty of snuggling with #1 whilst she was still available!

The kitten boys, Benny and Momo, do a lot of snuggling, of course:

Would you call this snuggling by tail proxy?

Ollie and  Benny are the two stalwarts who always curl up with #1 in bed:

We have a full round of horse snuggles this week, starting with Miss Violette:

Followed by Miss Heloise:

And rounded out by the Big V:

And with this, we go into our hiatus. We may be able to do a quick post on Thursday, but make no promises. And we apologise in advance for non-commenting. Things should start returning to normal from September 20th.

Sei-Chan's Souvenir Saturday

 

Rainbow Sei: It was nice of #1 to  help me put together a post for this week, as there definitely will not be one next week. We decided to opt for an outdoor theme this week, and I hope you will enjoy the photos:

So, we have Ikkyu who was quite acrocat:

Sen-Chan (yes. that is the roof of our house!):

Yuu-Chan:

Baby Beebs looking fierce!

Me, looking cute!

Tommy, looking happy (as always):

Sweet Genji:

And our beautiful Hotesse, looking mysterious in the mist:

#1 is going to be away again the weekend of Sep.23-25, so I may not be back until early October!

Family Friday

 

Tama-Chan: We decided that it would be nice for those of us at Poupounette Central to pose all together, so #1 could take our picture, and show it to all the people she meets on her travel. We are family!

And here, we have a kitty triptych on and around our new cat tree:

PS: We were all very saddened yesterday to learn of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Our #1 has always had boundless admiration and respect for this remarkable woman who embodied dignity and dedication. May she rest in peace, and may King Charles III follow in his mother's footsteps. Long Live the King!

Thankful Thursday

 

Ollie: Today, we are thankful for our very own Mr. G! Now that you know what #1 ill be embarking on starting tomorrow, you will understand how incredibly important Mr. G is. Without him, there is no way that #1 could go gallivanting off hither and thither. He gives us a continuity, takes excellent care of us and loves us!

Whirlwind Wednesday

 

#1 here. As promised, today is the day that I reveal what the approaching "storm" consists of. Fear not, it is all good stuff! And it is a project that all three horses are heavily involved in.

As you know, #1 does a lot of work with the heavy horse world in Japan. From September 12 to 18 will take place the Route du Poisson (Fish Run), the biggest heavy horse event in Europe. Thanks to contacts that I made whilst in Tokyo last summer, the heavy horse association I work with in Japan (Japan Horse Logging Association) has received funding from the JRA (Japan Racing Association) to send a small team to take part, as invited guests, in a couple of the events. A full team requires 20 horses and at least seven or eight drivers, which is not a possibility for Japan at the moment. But they will take part in the horse logging special competition, on September 14, and will also drive the last stage of the road race, which will take place in Paris on September 18. As an aside, they will also reproduce Japan's largest and most famous heavy horse festival, Chagu Chagu Umakko, in Amiens on September 17, and on the Champs Elysées in Paris on September 18. The latter is where the Poupounette horses come in as all three of them will take part in the festival.

The Big V was slated to do the logging special competition, but he has had an adverse reaction to one of the needed booster shots and has a swollen neck, just where the work collar would go. We have therefore made the decision to replace him with another horse, belonging to a friend of Ms. C's. But he will be able to take part in the festival parade.

Those of you who have been following us for a long time may remember that we staged a mini version of this same festival in the summer of 2015 and Miss Violette took part. She was a real star and absolutely loved it! Here are some photos from back then:

It will be the first time, however, for the Big V and Heloise. So, Ms. C has been working to get them used to the sound of the bells that decorate the amazing costumes that are worn by the horses.

The Big V, having done many events outside, is pretty cool about it all:

But Miss Heloise is much younger and has little experience of being out and about, so we have been working with her a lot more:

The first batch of Japanese for the event arrive tomorrow, and others will continue to trickle in over the following days. There will be some 25 people in all coming over. Starting tomorrow, and until September 19, I am going to be spending virtually all of my time with them as they travel, with the horses, to different locations, culminating in Paris on the 18th. There will be no time to blog, unfortunately. I will prepare a few more posts through the weekend, but there won't be any next week. For those on Facebook, there will be the occasional photo. The horses will tell you all about it once it's over. Please cross all paws and fingers that everything will go smoothly and the weather will be clement. Mr. G will be on duty at Poupounette Central!

Tama-Chan Tuesday

 

Tama-Chan: It's Tuesday again already? Where does the time go? We've had a relaxed and quiet few days, what #1 is calling the calm before.....! Yes, she will tell you all about tomorrow.

In the interim, the two kitten boys raise hell together and leave me in peace:

I can relax by the kitchen window:

Work on my dangles:

And sunbathe...

Manly Monday

 

Ollie: I would like to start with a demonstration of a perfect "Springer Sprawl:"

Momo: OK, so here is a "Momo Sprawl"!

Benny: These days, #1 mostly works at the dining room table downstairs, but when she goes upstairs to the study, I like to sit in the basket which she says was a favourite of Sei-Chan's:

Vidock: I got to see the osteopath on Thursday last week. It felt really good!

We hope our friends in North America are enjoying the Labor Day holiday, and wish everyone a good week. #1 says she will tell you all about the coming "storm" on Wednesday, so stay tuned!

Snuggles on Sunday

 

Tama-Chan: Greetings, Dear Friends, and welcome back to our weekly round-up of Poupounette snuggles.

Those two kitten boys spend half their time wrestling and the other half snuggling:

As you can see, little Momo is growing fast! And he is beginning to snuggle with Ollie!

A slightly sideways pic of #1 snuggled up in bed with Momo, Benny and Ollie:

Here is one of Heloise with #1:

This goes back and bit but we had some nice snuggle pics taken on #1's birthday, which we have not yet shared with you. Here I am, with Ms. H:

And Ollie with Ms. H:

And last but not least, here is one of me sharing a snuggle with #1 as I help her with her work:

Remember to snuggle with the ones you love!

Sei-Chan's Souvenir Saturday

 

Rainbow Sei: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to our weekly post for those of us currently in residence at the Rainbow Bridge. As you know, we recently acquired a new resident, the gorgeous Hôtesse who galloped into our midst like a magical vision. She was so sad to leave #1 and her two daughters, but she is young and healthy again. No more aches and pains. You should see her doing zoomies! She was so happy to see Tommy again, and even Sen-Chan whom she had met wen he wandered around her field once or twice. And the best news? She can carry all of us on her zoomies! Imagine that!

I would like to start with a photo of her and #1, one that was not included in last week's snuggle post as #1 only rediscovered it a few days ago, when she was going through old photos. It was taken by her nephew when he came to visit in 2016:

Isn't it just beautiful?

I thought it would be nice to do another rainbow snuggle post in honour of Hôtesse's arrival, so here goes. I shall start with myself. First, a photo of me snuggling with #1:

And one of me snuggled up to my beloved Tommy:

And a cute one of Tommy snuggled up to #1:

Here is one of #1 snuggling with Genji. He was always glued to her, as you may remember:

Going way back in time, here is one of #1, when her hair was not yet grey, snuggling with Ikkyu:

And the first Aby of the second generation, Sen-Chan (Poupounet), after whom the blog is named

Da Beebs fell totally in love with #1 when he was a tiny baby, and that never changed:

And to round things off for this week, here is a teeny tiny Yuu-Chan snuggling with #1!