Rolo sitting on Stephen's pajamas

Rolo is a very pretty ginger cat. In this picture, you can see that he has spots rather than stripes on his flanks. A bit of Bengal in his chequered ancestry, maybe?

When he sits up on the kitchen windowsill, he is starting to look very handsome indeed; and he’s probably now a miniature version of how he’s going to look when he reaches his full adult size.

I do hope his voice breaks before then, as his current pitiful little mew would not only sound wrong on a big handsome ginger cat: it would probably drive me nuts every time he begged for food – which is likely to be often, as Rolo is the talkative one!

Monty on the sofa

I had a few weeks when I didn’t take any pictures of Rolo or Monty. After they returned from the cattery, Monty was very thin, and I suppose I should have recorded that, but I didn’t. However, he’s gained back the weight he lost; and when we weighed them both by putting them in a carrier bag suspended from a spring balance, they each weighed 2.5kg. It’s encouraging that Monty’s caught back up with Rolo again, as we thought that Monty was smaller, but it’s probably just as the vet says: that his black colour makes him appear smaller.

Having taken some pictures, they then stayed in the camera for a couple of weeks, but I had an uploading session and found I had several photos to share in my next few blog posts.

I took this picture at a bit of a weird angle and I’ve rotated it slightly. Monty was lying on the sofa looking relaxed. He likes lying in my place on the sofa, and when I’m sitting there, he likes lying in my lap instead. He’s much more of a lap cat than Rolo, although I do occasionally get Rolo. Rolo tends not to stay for as long, though.

This afternoon, I had both of them in my lap! Rolo climbed on first and was occupying most of the space, when Monty decided to climb on and settled on top of Rolo. Eventually Rolo decided he’d had enough and slithered out from underneath, leaving a rather satisfied looking Monty in sole possession of the lap!

This is all pretty much word for word. Infact, while typing, Jack has just said it again so we can make sure the quote is correct.

As a back story, Jack went to a gay bar last night. Just now, he said “I’ll tell you what I had yesterday that I didn’t know existed” to which Byron hilariously asked “a massive cock up your arse?” Jack then told us about a man with a massive cock he saw “in the pisser” last night and then said:

“Some people with proper big cocks choose to be gay cos they can’t get full penetration with a woman so it’s easier to get full penetration up the arse…..ah yeah, I didn’t know Rolo cookies existed.”
Cue me and Byron laughing a lot and then “I knew Smartie cookies existed”

Chislehurst Rotary Fireworks through a telephoto lens

This evening, Stephen and I went to our local fireworks display at the Chislehurst Recreation Ground. It’s run very efficiently by the local Rotary Club and was very well attended this year.

The gates were open from 6pm and there was a funfair for entertainment until the bonfire was lit at 7pm. To get a good view of the bonfire, you need to gravitate towards it soon after 6:30pm. I left it a fraction late and didn’t have quite the angle of view I wanted, but it worked out fine in the end as I got some interesting smoke pictures which I might put up later.

The fireworks were about 10 minutes late starting as there were still people coming in through the gates at 7:30pm and the stewards correctly decided to get them all in before allowing the display to go ahead. This year’s display was accompanied by music, and lasted a little over 20 minutes.

I usually photograph the fireworks with an extreme wide angle lens. It allows me to capture the flower-like patterns made by the light trails from their launching point to where they explode; but I decided that I’ve done that several years running and I wanted a change, so I used a telephoto lens this year. The success rate with a telephoto lens isn’t as good as it doesn’t cover as great an area, so you’re more liable to miss some of the fireworks, but the images are quite different from those captured with a shorter lens. I decided that I didn’t trust my Sigma 28-300 as the zoom on it is loose and it won’t stay where you zoom it if you point it up in the air. So I got out my old Tamron 85-210 lens for the occasion. I’ve had that lens for over 30 years and it fits right onto my digital SLR. It only works in manual mode, but as I was shooting by holding the shutter release open as long as I felt like, that hardly mattered. I just set the aperture on the aperture ring and got on with it!

Once the fireworks were over, Stephen said I owed him a burger and that he was cold. His hands were certainly cold. We patronised the burger van, but in the end, he paid! Then we walked home, and got wet. Somehow, between the fireworks display and finishing our burgers, the stars we could see in the sky had all disappeared, and rain had crept up on us!

At least our pussy-cat boys have been growing up to the sound of external bangs and have learnt to pay them no attention, so we came home to two nice relaxed cats. In fact, Rolo actually spent an extended spell on my lap! That’s usually Monty’s perch!

Brannon Howse backs our SHEALDI and says that ‘it is a major advance in Discernmentalist technology in our Absolute Truth War.’ 

Absolute Truth Facts about SHEALDI:

• SHEALDI also stands for “defense Sheild for Discernmentalists and their Absolute Truth ministries in the Absolute Truth War.”
• SHEALDI also stands for “Salvation Heals only Discernmentalists as only Discernmentalists are True Christians and of God’s True Elect.”
• SHEALDI also stands for “the Sheild Dyes emitted from Uncle Ken Silva’s Missives being fired off for our protection.”

Don Jobson—SHEALDIfied Discernmentalist.

Não perca hoje no programa que será exibido pela Rede TV, Pânico na TV, uma matéria (que os editores do programa garantem) sobre o Zina, desde sua apreensão por portar cocaína (dia 28)  até seu aniversário (dia 30). O programa começa as 20h45.

Twitter de um dos editores do programa Pânico na TV:

Para quem não sabia, vai mais uma do Zina:

ZINA É BARRADO NOS TREINOS DA SELEÇÃO BRASILEIRA

Ele queimou o filme com a CBF (Confederação Brasileira de Futebol) e não pode mais ir aos treinos para gravar. O Pânico não está mais sendo credenciado para acompanhar a seleção.
Tudo começou quando Zina xingou o jogador Adriano, que por pouco não partiu para cima dele. Neste dia, a equipe do Pânico foi expulsa da Granja Comary.
Outro episódio desagradável foi quando o integrante do programa da Rede TV, cismou de acender um cigarro dentro do restaurante da Granja Comary e foi colocado para fora, foi fumar na calçada. Sabrina Sato, que estava com ele no dia do barraco, confirma que há uma saia justa entre Zina e a CBF.
- Não vamos mais levar o Zina. Ele é incontrolável. Fala só o que quer. Do BrTv.

(Outubro 2009)

So I just bought some beer – No, that has nothing to do with this blog. But as I was waiting in line to pay, my roommate Kyle and I got into a heated debate about the candy they have waiting for you at the checkout Isle. He proceeded to grab a “Rolo” and I remarked that why would he, amidst the entire selection, settle on having a Rolo. His reply was “I touched it”

Obviously we both found this very funny at first but then I really started to think about it. Who does want a Rolo? Not that they’re not good but when you weigh the options there is almost always something better. Wouldn’t you rather have a delicious Snickers bar or a creamy piece of Hersey’s chocolate? Maybe its just a sign of effective marketing and perhaps I’m underscoring Rolo but I really want to know how some of these other companies manage to compete for shelving space.

The new age candies aren’t helping matters either. I love gummy snacks and Lifesavers just put out a new “Sweet & Sour” product but it just looks like over kill. There are so many exciting new candies that either market themselves along a famous cartoon character to catch kids eyes or are some kind of electronic gimmick with an edible component that I have to sit here and blog about my disappointment in the candy industry

Yes – I’m taking it as my personal responsibility to compel the candy makers of our country to make a new headlining candy. I don’t want any “Well if you don’t like it why don’t you do something about it” because it’s not my skill set. I’m trying to entice the big wigs with the know how to bring Americans a candy product that they can be proud of. Sure M&M’s are great, Skittles will always have a place in my heart and God knows I can’t go a week without Starburst but I would love for a new rival to compete with the candy Gods.

Agência: R.E.F. Comunicação
Produtora: Conspira Express
Audio: Studio Angels
Direção: Renato Jabuka
Montagem: Daniel Polacow
Finalização: Renato Jabuka / Jorge Luis

Monty reclining on Stephen's Clothes

We tried to keep the kittens out of the bedroom, but our resolve has been slipping – and they have been getting better at slipping in!

Here Monty is reclining on some of Stephen’s clothes.

Rolo in the middle of the duvet

Rolo has found himself a spot right in the middle of the duvet. The very nice Catherine Lansfield duvet, to be exact. I think it suits him, too!

Rolo considering the qualities of Quilted Velvet

Both of our kittens have a fascination with the downstairs loo and will slip in there any opportunity that they get.

Here Rolo is on the cistern inspecting a roll of Quilted Velvet. I doubt whether he would know how to use it for its intended purpose, but he’s bound to think of an alternative use for it.

A artista Anastassia Elias cris cenas do cotidiano dentro de rolos de papel higiênico através de recortes e colagens! Trabalhosa reinvenção!

Homem solteiro, bem empregado, bem-apessoado, bem resolvido, na faixa dos trinta, procura moça nas mesmas condições. Parece fácil, não? Com a escassez de homens héteros disponíveis, é claro que esse mancebo encontrará facilmente sua cara-metade. Mas não é isso o que acontece. Pergunte-lhe qual é o problema e ele responderá: “Todas as mulheres estão enroladas!”.

Muitas de nós protestarão: “Isso é mentira, não tenho ninguém, estou so-zi-nha!”. Tem certeza? Você pode dizer com absoluta segurança que é livre? Saiba que hoje em dia é muito difícil encontrar uma mulher solteira que não esteja enrolada de alguma forma.

O ex-namorado é um homem que recupera seus atrativos logo após a separação. As horríveis discussões tornam-se briguinhas saudáveis de casal; seus defeitos de caráter, antes intoleráveis, agora são manifestações compreensíveis de uma natureza humana falível; suas traições viram momentos de fraqueza; seu gênio de cão é apenas personalidade forte; o sexo egoísta e sem preliminares torna-se selvagem.

“Pôxa, mas não era uma droga?”, indagam os amigos ao ver-nos diante do telefone, os dedinhos coçando para discar o número do ex. “Talvez eu tenha sido muito inflexível”, respondemos, se fomos as autoras do pé na bunda. Se, no entanto, fomos dispensadas, nossa explicação para rastejar atrás do ex é perfeitamente lógica: “Ele só queria ficar um tempo sozinho, para repensar a relação, entende? Acho que três dias foi tempo suficiente”.

Nisso, passam-se os anos e o namoro intermitente prossegue, até que ele resolve se casar – com outra. Só então vem a constatação de que esse vai e volta roubou-nos um tempo precioso, durante o qual poderíamos ter encontrado alguém que valesse a pena. Isso se já não encontramos e descartamos, preferindo o sapato velho. Parece insensato? Mas muitas de nós interrompemos um novo e promissor namoro para nos reconciliarmos com o ex. Ou nem mesmo começamos outro relacionamento, deixando claro logo de saída que estamos presas a uma relação mal resolvida.

Acontece também de nosso rolo não ser com um ex-namorado, mas com um quase-namorado. Conhecemos um homem interessante num barzinho, ficamos. Dali a uma semana, ele nos liga, nos chama para sair, ficamos de novo. E de novo. E de novo. É namoro? Não! Só ficamos quando ele está com vontade (nós estamos sempre, é incrível) e nos contentamos com isso. Não o pressionamos para assumir compromisso, para dizer se é namoro ou amizade. Isso o assustaria. Então continuamos ficando, achando que, à medida que ele nos conhecer melhor, se apaixonará perdidamente, nos pedirá em namoro e, no devido tempo, em casamento. Se aparece um homem interessado em compromisso, em apresentar-nos para os pais e para os amigos, revelamos nossa condição de enrolada assumida.

Não somos burras: agimos burramente. Afundamos na ilusão e no autoengano, e deixamos de enxergar o óbvio: ex-namorados e quase-namorados são atraso de vida. Casos de reconciliações bem-sucedidas e de “ficadas” que viraram namoro sério são reais, claro, porém menos frequentes do que imaginamos. E enquanto estivermos enroladas, permaneceremos fechadas à possibilidade de um novo relacionamento.

Dê um basta aos rolos! Quanto àquele número de telefone que não sai da sua cabeça, empregue seus dedinhos em algo mais prazeroso.

Rolo with the oddest expression

Rolo and Monty enjoy climbing up under the central heating boiler. We’ve more or less stopped Rolo from doing it, because he isn’t much of a jumper and we’ve taken away his “stepping stone” articles, but Monty is an excellent jumper and can still reach these places.

Here is Rolo on an occasion when he was up there and was walking along the top of the microwave. I’m not sure whether he was mewing or just had his mouth open, but this is certainly an odd picture of him!

Rolo being his kittenish self

This one, however, is Rolo being his usual photogenic self.

Rolo emulating The Sphinx

Rolo is certainly a good-looking kitten. It’s pretty difficult to take a bad photo of him. Here he is, sitting very Sphinx-like on the hall carpet.

Eu já contei pra vocês que eu não edito muito os meus textos? Pois é. O texto flui sozinho. Eu me sento aqui, dá uma vontade de escrever (se surgir um tema) e eu escrevo. Óbvio que depois de postado talvez eu corrija alguma coisa. Vocês merecem ler, pelo menos, textos corretos. Tento, ao máximo, corrigir os erros de português e pontuação. Mas, como agora vocês sabem que o texto na maior parte das vezes sai sem edição, se ficar ainda algum errinho, peço que me perdoem.
Pra começo, era isso.

Agora, eu vou falar de um assunto que não me agrada. Sentimento e o jeito que eu gosto de levar uma relação. Leitores, tem um texto já prontinho que eu ia postar, mas ontem eu estava com uma amiga no msn e sei lá, acho que ela precisa ouvir alguma coisa. Não gosto de dar conselhos porque se fosse bom, não era de graça. Só que uma dica de direção de vez em quando pode ser interessante. Percebam que eu não falei isso por msn mesmo pra não parecer uma imposição do que ela deva fazer, sei lá. É só o meu ponto de vista que, talvez, pra ela, seja bom ler. Não preciso, nem vou citar nomes.

Caso: você tá saindo com uma pessoa e acha que se preocupa muito mais com a relação do que o outro. Termina, depois volta, mas acha que nada melhorou. Obs: vale ressaltar que isso é o que eu defino como rolo e acho que nem pode ser nada mais que isso. Concordam? Então prossigo. Em primeiro lugar: quando ninguém assume um namoro de fato, é porque não quer ter responsabilidades.

Tem gente que acha que engatar num relacionamento significa que o outro tem que ligar todo dia, te procurar pra saber como você tá e etc etc. Eu discordo. Aliás, me traumatizei com relacionamentos que exijam demais de mim. Essa história de ter que ligar todo dia, ter que isso, ter que aquilo me irrita. Detesto amarras. Qualquer ação minha é uma vontade e não uma obrigação. Aliás, eu não sou e nunca fui fiel porque era obrigada, porque era uma namoro. Nada disso. Nunca traí um namorado, fui fiel porque eu quis. Enfim, querendo ou não, assumir um namoro é assumir umas outras responsabilidades que não tem nada a ver com encher o saco do outro. É se importar de verdade com ele, não com o que ele faz ou deixa de fazer, tá sempre junto em momento bom e ruim. Enfim… me entenderam?

Então, friend, se ele não quer um namoro provavelmente é porque ele não quer que você ligue de cinco em cinco minutos, nem ter que ligar todo dia, nem ter que ficar só com você. Nossa, mas como tem gente chata nesse mundo hahaha. Admita. É um direito do outro não querer ser amarrado. E um seu, também, não amarrar ninguém. As pessoas, principalmente mulheres, precisam aprender a manter a felicidade sozinhas. Sem apoio de pai, mãe, irmão e muito menos do parceiro. Eu, que sou mulher, não gosto de cara muito carente. Imagina se um garoto gosta de uma menina no pé (mimimi, você não liga pra mim). Acho que, depois que a gente aprende que a felicidade é intrínseca, carece menos da atenção dos outros. E aí que tá a graça. Quem me quiser, tem que me deixar a vontade, solta. E acho que o mesmo vale pra maioria das pessoas. Quer alguém? De verdade? Deixa ele quieto, livre pra fazer o que ele quiser. Parece fácil, pra mim, falar, né? Mas eu não vejo outra forma de alguém notar você. Como vai sentir a sua falta, se você tá sempre perturbando?

Um monte de amiga minha fala que eu sou coração de gelo blablabla. Eu discordo. Eu só não quero ninguém comigo pela metade. Se está comigo, é porque quer. Não é nem porque precisa de mim, nem porque eu preciso dele. Eu não sou coração de pedra, só aprendi a pensar, “Mas aah, quando a gente gosta é assim mesmo”. Discordo de novo. Coração serve pra uma coisa: bombear sangue pelo seu corpo. O resto, tudo, quem faz é o cérebro. Então por que deixar o primeiro resolver mais que o segundo? É questão de lógica. Eu acho, aliás, que eu sou uma maria mole, intensa demais e, por isso mesmo, faço o que faço. Eu não quero ninguém pelo meio, pra me completar. Eu quero +1, já que sou um inteiro também.

Enfim, olha o clichezão: A felicidade sempre fica em você. Não faz sentido procurar por ela em outros. Quando a gente faz isso, se decepciona. Aprende a procurar a felicidade no lugar certo. Pô, a menina é mó gata, gostosona, simpática e ainda não achou a felicidade nela? Eu tenho pena das gordinhas feito eu xD haha

Beijo, gente. Desculpa o texto sentimetalóide. ;*

There hasn’t been much time for blogging lately.

My www.wuronga.me.uk webspace got hacked. I’ve taken out the bad stuff and changed my passwords, but I’ve had to submit it to Google for reconsideration as Google has flagged it for malware.

I finally got rid of the priority-2 items on my work queue. I’ve been working on a variety of items with lower priorities, and have cleared up a couple and am well on my way with a third.

Waverley was in London between 7pm and 7:45pm this evening and I hauled my camera and tripod up to town to take pictures. It’s a pity that she wasn’t there a half hour earlier as it was a bit too dark for good pictures. Now I want a Pentax K-7 as I reckon that has a high enough ISO setting that I might have got my pictures this evening!

The Beckenham Concert Band are doing a memorial concert for Ken Messenger on Saturday. It’s in the Hayes Free Church on Pickhurst Lane and it’s for a good cause: the kidney charity associated with the hospital where Ken received dialysis for the best part of a decade.

I’m supposed to be getting music to practise for a massed bands concert on November 11th up at Central Hall, Westminster. It will be interesting to participate in, and being the daughter of a returned serviceman, taking part will have considerable personal meaning for me.

The kittens continue to grow. They look like proper little cats to me, although Stephen has seen his Mum’s cats today and that cuts ours right back to size for him! Monty is the better jumper. Rolo’s success rate is much lower, and sometimes he sits of the floor and mews pitifully when his brother achieves a more elevated position.

Rolo asleep on the sofa

Rolo asleep on the sofa with a grin on his face

Rolo asleep on the sofa

Rolo in repose can be very cute. He curled up on a cushion on the sofa, partially obscured by a large envelope, and the parts of him that remained exposed exhibited a very large cuteness factor.

I think the top picture is the cutest, but I do like the grin on his face in the second picture, and who could resist the little pink pads on his paws in the third picture!

The fleck of hot pink on his coat is not a fault with the camera. I was just about to take the Rocket Blower to my sensor when I realised the pink dot was only appearing on pictures of Rolo, so I investigated him a little more closely and found a very small piece of a hot pink feather boa on his coat. He obviously doesn’t know that boys aren’t supposed to like pink…

Rolo, our 'little lion'

Rolo is a fun kitten. He just relaxes into you, purrs continuously, and loves having his tummy rubbed. You can do this without getting scratched and he just looks ecstatic.

When he sits up and looks, he’s got a definite “lion” look about him. I’m not sure that I’ve quite captured it here. It’s undoubtedly something to do with his colouring, though.

2 1/2 C flour
3/4 C unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
1 C margarine
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
48 rolos chocolate covered caramel candies
1 TBSP sugar, reserved

1. Preheat oven to 375*
2. In a large bowl combine sugar, brown sugar, margarine, eggs and vanilla
3. Add flour, cocoa and baking soda, mix well.
4. Chill dough for 30 minutes
5. Roll dough into 1″ balls and place one Rolo in the center of each dough ball.
6. Roll each finished ball in reserved sugar
7. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes
8. Let cool on pan for 2 minutes then remove and place on cooling rack.

Yield 48 cookies

Rolo and Monty on the sofa

Rolo and Monty like curling up together, and they have taken a liking to “Mum”’s place on the sofa. It isn’t unusual to see one kitten almost on top of the other, as in these pictures, where Monty is the kitten on top. Monty will also do this if Rolo is on my lap and Monty wants the spot. He doesn’t do anything drastic: just sits on Rolo until he moves a bit and then gradually takes over the lap position until he’s in his favourite position along the channel created by my thighs. This is a position which is safer when I am wearing a skirt: if I go to sleep on the sofa with Monty in this position and my legs flop apart when wearing trousers, Monty is apt to get deposited onto the floor!

Rolo and Monty on the sofa

Monty is still the silent kitten. He can make himself heard if he wishes to, but generally he doesn’t wish to very often unless he strongly disagrees with something, like the day when he had something unspeakable on his back paw and I decided to wash it off for him! He had plenty to say about that – and also has a great deal to be said about being confined to the cat carrier.

However, it’s Rolo who has the more frequently used vocabulary. He’s been doing a purry chirp almost ever since he came to live here. It seems to be a call to Monty. Occasionally Monty makes the same noise, but it’s usually Rolo.

Rolo has also perfected the tiny and pitiful meow. This has to be loud enough to be heard, but soft enough to give the impression that he’s small and defenceless and probably neglected! I’m occasionally the recipient, but Stephen has been getting it when he shuts himself in the back bedroom where his computer is. Rolo and Monty are not allowed in there as there are things in there which they could damage, and they therefore badly want to get in there. They know Stephen is in there and Rolo turns on the little mews until Stephen can stand it no longer and emerges to see what’s the matter with Rolo.

Monty is the smart kitten. As well as knowing how to make Rolo move over for him without Rolo realising that he’s doing it, Monty is the one that understands the finer points of litter tray etiquette and how you need to turn around to where your bum was before starting to cover up. Rolo still hasn’t quite got the idea of that! Peeuuuw!

When it comes to food, Rolo prefers moist food, although he will have a bit of dry food. Monty is getting through a lot of dry food, and sometimes walks away when offered moist food. One of them drops IAMS in the water dish, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s Rolo. He’s the one that picks his food up to eat it outside of his feed bowl. It’s odd that it’s mostly IAMS that ends up in the water dish. Maybe its 4-pointed star shape is harder to manage than the shapes of some of the other dry foods. I’ve stopped offering IAMS for the moment. I don’t need to, as there are plenty of other choices available – and many of them are in this house, as our pussycats seem to be getting nothing but the best. They are dining on a choice of Hills Science Plan, James Wellbeloved, Royal Canin and Purina One. Today, they had cleaned up practically all that was down for them – and it was a not inconsiderable amount. Their capacity is definitely expanding!

Garden of Remembrance, Biggin Hill RAF Chapel

The weekend just gone was London Open House Weekend. I had lots of plans, including some of the places with connections to Napoleon III, who lived in Chislehurst, but in the event, my plans were bigger than my capacity for carrying them out.

On Saturday, we visited the Oakley Hotel for Cats, where Rolo and Monty will be taking a holiday while we are taking a holiday in Wales. We wanted to have a look at where they will be staying. It comes very well recommended and they look after the cats very well there. I think that Rolo and Monty will prefer it when they get back home, though – although one never knows: they might enjoy the chance to socialise with other cats!

Then I delivered Stephen to the Harris HospisCare shop in Biggin Hil and I went to the pet shop in Biggin Hill for some dry kitten food. I stopped off in the library as well and selected some library books. I still haven’t finished reading the Michael Jecks book I bought at Polhill. It’s a hardcover book with a pristine dust jacket and I don’t dare chuck it in my backpack or it won’t stay pristine. So I really need some reading matter for the train.

I then decided to visit the RAF Chapel of Remembrance. It is a participant in London Open House, but it turns out that you can visit at any time. Anyway, I was going right by, so I turned in and found it to be very interesting. The picture at the beginning of this entry was taken in the Garden of Remembrance, where there is a rose garden planted completely with one variety of yellow roses. There is also a huge wisteria there. I will have to make a return visit in the spring, when that will be absolutely gorgeous.

Altar and honour rolls, Biggin Hill RAF Chapel of Remembrance

Having strolled around the garden, I went inside, where the caretaker had no objection to me setting up my tripod, although he did tell me to take care of the floor. I ensured that the soft feet on my tripod legs were screwed down! There was lots of interest in the chapel and I will make a return visit at some time – possibly when the wisteria is out in the Garden of Remembrance – as I didn’t photography nearly everything of interest.

As you might expect, the predominant colour scheme was red, white, and Airforce blue. There was also a lot of Spitfire and Hurricane symbolry to be seen. The caretaker told me that the large candles on the altar were a gift from Australia. There is also a memorial to American airmen who volunteered to fight in the RAF before America entered WWII.

The stained glass in the main chapel is themed, with windows of matching colours on opposite sides of the chapel. I only photographed one of these windows, but may return to photograph some more.

There is an area to the rear of the chapel where a display was set out, where I found out that several Biggin Hill streets are named after women who were decorated during WWII. I also found out that the Spitfire and Hurricane replicas which guard the chapel are 20 years old and showing their age and an appeal has been launched to replace them. There is some stained glass in the rear area which I would like to go back and photograph: in one window, women radio operators are depicted, while in the opposite window, parachute packers are shown.

I spent so long in the RAF Chapel of Remembrance that I didn’t have time to go back to Chislehurst before Stephen was ready for collection from the Harris HospisCare shop, so I returned to the High Street and went into Waitrose to pick up some shopping and Stephen met me in the car park. We went home and spent a quiet evening with Rolo and Monty.

The Sunday agenda involved a car boot sale in a field on the outskirts of Biggin Hill. We were rather late arriving and ended up splitting up and doing the boot sale separately. I came home with 6 paperbacks (I’ve got plenty of train reading now!) for £2, some plastic cooking utensils (Stephen wanted to know why I bought them and I said it was because I could never find a clean utensil when I wanted one so we obviously needed some more ) and a small one-cup black cat teapot which can join Jessie’s teapot collection. My carrier bag also had a few things that Stephen found. Stephen seems to find larger items at car boot sales than I do. He lugged a couple of briefcase-sized items back to the car!

The car in question was the VW Golf, as Stephen was having some 4-wheeled driving practice. We need to start making sure he goes out in it as near to daily as possible. He should be ready for “finishing” by a driving school soon – provided that he takes his theory and hazard perception tests. I would have thought that as he already holds a motorcycle licence that those could have been dispensed with, but apparently not.

We returned from the boot sale via a garden centre where we stocked up on yet more dry kitten food. On arrival home, we flopped on the sofa. Stephen ended up with Monty and I ended up with Rolo. Eventually I left the sofa and cooked two of the three beef escalopes that I bought in Waitrose on Saturday. Stephen had microwaved vegetables with his, but I had a salad with mine, and the salad took longer to prepare than I had anticipated and the steaks therefore ended up a bit more well done than I’d intended. There’s a third steak left which Stephen can eat. I have a load of smoked fish to keep me fed for several days. I succumbed while I was in Waitrose, and it’s making a tasty kedgeree-type meal for me.

Rolo has learned how to do a tiny but definitely audible and very pitiful little mew. He was using it on Stephen when he was shut in the back bedroom where there are far too many things for little paws to get into for Rolo and Monty to be granted access. I think it may sometimes mean “I’m hungry” but I’m not altogether sure. Sometimes it might just be a call for attention. He does have other calls. He’s been using a vocalised purr-type chirp almost since we’ve had him. Monty can do it too, but Monty is usually silent until he is angry about something.

And on that note, I’d better say a final goodnight to our two little hooligans and take myself up the stairs to bed, where I should have been at least an hour ago!