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Posts Tagged ‘cats’

So the gluttony of the season continues. Last night I cooked two ducks (Donald and Daffy) with all the traditional trimmings – orange sauce, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans and plenty of wine. After we’d finished dinner and watched the Queen’s speech, there was only one thing to do – head off to the pub. It was a great way to celebrate my last official English Christmas for a while.

Both Daisy and Calypso seemed enthusiastic about some of their presents (mostly the toys) but Daisy refuses to go inside her new carrying cage, preferring instead to sleep on top of it. What can I say – cats are weird.

Daisy is very excited about her new Christmas present

Daisy is very excited about her new Christmas present

Never a stupid cat, Daisy figures out quickly that it's safer to be on top of her cage than in it!

Never a stupid cat, Daisy figures out quickly that it’s safer to be on top of her cage than in it!

Calypso looks on cautiously from the sidelines

Calypso looks on cautiously from the sidelines

Relaxing after dinner

Relaxing after dinner

Putting the final touches on Donald and Daffy before they're served for Christmas dinner

Putting the final touches on Donald and Daffy before they’re served for Christmas dinner

Daffy a l'orange

Daffy a l’orange

A little later than usual due to my extended stay in Singapore, this weekend marked our annual Christmas-tree-decorating party (my annual Mark Twain excuse for saying “come decorate our Christmas tree, it’ll be lots of fun!” and watching as others do all the dirty work).

There was mulled wine and mince pies, good friends and a lot of swearing at some very stubborn Christmas lights. Still, it’s what makes Christmas what it is, right?

Struggling with the Christmas lights

Struggling with the Christmas lights

Sandro sensibly takes a seat and watches the mayhem from a distance...

Sandro sensibly takes a seat and watches the mayhem from a distance…

Matthew demonstrates a novel approach at untangling the Christmas lights

Matthew demonstrates a novel approach at untangling the Christmas lights

Matthew & Anne-Laure, hard at work on the lights

Matthew & Anne-Laure, hard at work on the lights

A candidate for "Stuff on my Cat" if ever I saw one. Daisy didn't really enter into the Christmas spirit this year...

A candidate for “Stuff on my Cat” if ever I saw one. Daisy didn’t really enter into the Christmas spirit this year…

Neil "supervises"

Neil “supervises”

Anne Laure, hard at work decorating the tree

Anne Laure, hard at work decorating the tree

Neil ends up being decorated himself. Awww, pretty.

Neil ends up being decorated himself. Awww, pretty.

We've subsequently reduced Aude's sugar intake

We’ve subsequently reduced Aude’s sugar intake

Neil didn't quite get the hang of "decorating the tree", preferring to focus his efforts elsewhere.

Neil didn’t quite get the hang of “decorating the tree”, preferring to focus his efforts elsewhere.

Not a happy camper.

Not a happy camper.

Finished at last!

Finished at last!

Satisfaction at last!

Satisfaction at last!

Jean Michel looks skeptical about the whole thing...

Jean Michel looks skeptical about the whole thing…

Daisy & Calypso

Daisy & Calypso, looking very sweet and happy that Daddy’s home!

Two little friends were very excited to see Matthew come home yesterday. After a prolonged sniffing session (just to make sure that I wasn’t some impostor), the girls decided that Daddy was indeed home and spent the rest of the day glued to my side.

Happiness is having your belly rubbed

Happiness is having your belly rubbed

I’ve finally discovered what’s causing that strange noise in my stereo.

The source of the troubles...

The source of the troubles…

After fighting with British Airways for her luggage, Dara finally made it down to Canterbury around 3pm yesterday. Looking surprisingly sprightly despite her long flight from the States, we decided to do a little bit of shopping in the afternoon, followed by dinner at home – then out onto the town to celebrate St Patrick’s day in style.

Matt and Dara

Matt and Dara in the back yard, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather we’re having right now

Dara

Dara relaxes after a long journey…

Daisy

Daisy spent most of the weekend looking slightly alarmed

Cameras

Like all of our favourite guests, Dara has just bought a new camera. There were more flashes than the paparazzi.

Relaxing after dinner

Aude relaxes after dinner

Champagne

Visits with old friends call for champagne. Matthew happily assumes his role.

We ended up at a local jazz club where we were promised jazz music with an Irish flavour – the only Irish flavour I could find was the Guinness spilled on the floor. After an hour of that, we headed out to our local Cuban bar to catch a little salsa music and a few mojitos – having given up entirely on the Irish theme.

Having lured Dara down here on the basis of a proper Sunday roast, I had to drag myself out of bed this morning to deliver the readies. I bought an entire cow – well, 3kg of cow in any case, so we threw an impromptu dinner party for a few friends to help us eat it all. We locked Daisy out of the kitchen, and she spent the entire two hours we were eating staring through the door at the rib of beef. Poor thing!

Highlights of the meal included me setting fire to a napkin and Aude dousing the table with a pitcher of water. Never let it be said I don’t throw an interesting party.

Also noteworthy was Daisy’s long-running hatred of Dara, the reasons for which we still cannot understand. But there was loads of unprovoked hissing and baring of teeth – most uncharacteristic!

Daisy

Daisy seems to have reverted to kittenhood.

A rest...

A well-deserved rest after cooking the Sunday roast.

Hard work

Guests are hard work. The girls take a break after a weekend of entertaining.