Wear it Pink

Wear it Pink Breast Cancer Awareness month is upon us, which means lots of lovely products are on sale with a Trinny London Pia Lip2Cheek, £25, (Donation - 10%), www.trinnylondon.com percentage being donated to this great cause, here’s some of our favourites.

Jo Malone Peony & Blush Suede Cologne, £102 (Donation - £20 per purchase), www.jomalone.co.uk Pink Bezel Bracelet, £75, (Donation 100% of sales in October), www.withlovedarling.co.uk

Pink Sweatshirt, £16, ASDA

Midlife Madness

A couple of months ago we made the decision, fuelled largely by grandsons desire, to get a kitten. Yes, he is incredibly cute, (kitten as well as grandson) and in terms of the kitten, just as well. In terms of pros and cons, the pros, probably, on a good day at least outweigh, the cons BUT that is not to say there are no cons!!!

In line with my determination in all things in life to focus on the positive, let me start with the pros. I can’t think of a nicer way to wake up than with kitty jumping on our bed and purring madly as I stroke him. Even if it is before 6am!!! He is such a loveable bundle of fun, and watching him play and explore, well, not a day goes by when he doesn’t make us smile, or laugh out loud – usually while rushing to his rescue. Like the time he upturned a washing up bowl that trapped him – in fact we wouldn’t have known he was under it if it hadn’t been that our rational brains knew that washing up bowls don’t move around on their own. And even though we’ve only had him a few months to come home after being out and have him coming bounding over to say ‘hi’ is wonderful.

I have however, concluded that kittens are cute for a purpose, some of their other antics could be life threatening (to the kitten) if their human folk weren’t completely besotted with them often because of their cuteness!

Let’s start with fleas. Sadly, when we got him he had them so as responsible kitten parents we got some fleas stuff from vet, he was too small for a tablet so they gave us something to apply on the back of his neck. Didn’t do a bit of good but we didn’t realise at first being sucked in by the view that vets like doctors probably know best – definitely not the case. I had had a few flea bites notice the ‘I’ – I still don’t understand why I am so very attractive to every biting insect that exists yet hubby isn’t. About a week after the treatment I must have had 100. We started combing him and got gazillions of fleas. Thankfully a couple of weeks later he was old enough for a tablet and though we kept combing out a lot of fleas they were deceased. But isn’t it crazy that I would keep stroking and cuddling this cute bundle of black flea infested fur, well that’s love I guess.

The financial cost of that wasn’t great but the cost of one of his less desirable habits is mounting. He loves wires and to date has bitten through numerous headphone and phone charging wires, fairy light wires, a standard light wire and goodness knows what other as yet undiscovered, wires. I assume he hasn’t had an electric shock but if he has it certainly didn’t teach him anything!

But the trickiest thing is coping with what is turning out to be his adventurous spirit. He is still a tiny thing but has had vaccinations and the ‘snips’ so is ‘allowed’ to go out, but we are far too worried to let him stray beyond the garden. He has however learned to climb the trees in our garden, well up them anyway, down he’s not so good at, but a carefully positioned ladder usually does the trick, yes, we mollycoddle the wee bundle. But he can also get over our back fence into an area of garages- literally over the fence but getting there without vaulting the fence is quite a long distance and he can’t get back over the fence so we end up walking round to rescue him! But just like any other young thing he thinks he knows best so does it again but doesn’t know his way home and like a pair of mugs we keep rescuing him – why because he is cute and we love him. But seriously we need to toughen up or it will be a dogs life for us!!