Archer

  It has been almost 4 months I think since Archer came in to this house to join our band of furry creatures. Since then he has found his place amongst the others, clearly below Boots, more than likely below Daisy, even with Lucy and actually plays with her and unsure about Fudge. In fact with Fudge in his cone/collar thing Archer is actively scared of the most timid cat in the house and goes away when Fudge gets too close to his face. Fudge in turn has no idea why Archer is hissing and running away, poor little guy.

  Anyway, Archer is a cat that could eat the world. He loves eating all the food we put out so we have to be careful with how much we give him. With us keeping food out of reach for most of the day now so we can control what Fudge eats he will come up to us very often and head butt us over and over while chirping to get us to feed him. All the while he will be purring and looking up at us to see if we have his attention. We have never really heard him meow though, just lots of chirps. A bit like Daisy's squeaks that she does since she really doesn't meow either.

  Even when we have our own food Archer will come take a look. We will be on the floor eating food watching TV (don't ask, we just do it that way) and he will be on the sofa behind us and then his face will come leaning past the side of your head as he tries to get a look at what we have. Either that or he will wander around on the floor looking at the plate of food wondering if he can have some. Also given his size he can stretch up and just about reach the kitchen counter and has been known to do that a lot of some piece of food that takes his attention is up there. God help us if he ever gets to be able to jump up there like the girls can. He even came up to me today sitting in my desk chair eating a ginger snap my wife made and put his paws on my legs to take a look. That cat seriously loves his food which is not surprising given his weight when we got him.

  Right now he is laying back on the floor looking at us wondering if we are going to feed him, although looking at him let him know we know he is there so he has come back to try a few more head rubs against our legs. Sorry dude, no food for you right now.

Some Updates

  Well Fudge has recovered from his two day ordeal at the vets in being emptied of poop. He has started eating again, taking his medicine and very soon now should poop normally. He even had his stitches out today and another injection for a bad joint in his spine that could be rubbing and causing pain. Throughout it all he was happy as can be once he was over the trauma of what happened to him. He spends the nights in the bedroom with us and purrs all the time until he falls asleep between us or down by my wife's feet. The woman who took his stitches out at the vets even commented on him being so relaxed and easy. That is just how Fudge is. Hopefully he poops normally and we can get him the chemo he needs soon and he can get better.

  In other news we picked the perfect time to get out of California it seems. The worst winter drought in 100 years of records and water levels dropping badly everywhere with people being asked to cut back by 20% of their usage. All this in a time when most sprinklers aren't being used in the state. Sure it isn't exactly drowning in water where we are but we have enough and there is more on the way. So many people in California really has made that place a mess despite all the good things made there, living there really isn't worth it now.

  On to something else, my wife has become a cookie baking machine. There is a pile of them to eat again after she made lots this morning. Some went to the vets for them to have and another pile went in to our cool cookie jar. Then there is a book turning up soon that has more recipes for her to try and me to eat :). Life with my wife is such a hardship :| .

  And a final piece of so important news. Platinum trophy number 22 arrived last night and my overall total is up to 2920 now. Some Lego Marvel led to that along with more free games with my PS Plus subscription. Now just to see which 4 games I get next month and if I already have some of them which has happened. A nice steady supply of games to play that I didn't want to buy but are nice to try is a good thing to have.

Coming Home

  Fudge gets to come home in a couple of hours after spending the last two days at the vets. After his surgery last week he needed the muscles reattached to his bum hole which meant he couldn't poop very well. In the end he stopped completely and got backed up so the vets had the fun of giving him enemas and clearing him out. Right now though he is clear so we get to bring him home again and keep him somewhere we can keep clean easily while he has the runs for the next while. Then once he is over that he gets to start chemotherapy to treat all the cancer parts that couldn't be gotten out via the surgery since it had spread out so much. Poor guy.

  It is has been strange not having him here. The only time when we are not with him for any long time is if we go away somewhere. Being at home and not having Fudge here, especially at night, is a strange thing to feel. He has been away during the day at the vets for a teeth cleaning for example but to not have him there first thing in the morning when we get up to greet us and not having him come up to us and just want to be near us all the time is weird. Not something I want to get used to. If the chemo goes well then he will have several more years. We are not ready to say goodbye to Fudge and he is not ready to go, he still enjoys life so much and acts like a kitten still despite being 14. Even the vet commented on him being so active and not acting his age.

Old Men

  Poor old Fudge is having surgery again today since a lump of cancer is growing back where it was growing before. There is not as much this time but they are going to be more aggressive with the surgery to make sure it doesn't grow back. While we were there though the vet still seemed amazed at how old Fudge is and how healthy he is for his age. I suspect Fudge being an indoor cat helps but both him and Boots are old men now that seem to just keep going. They are slower and sleep more than they used to but are still with us. It is hard to remember a time when they weren't here. They are such a part of our lives along with the other three.

  Other than my wife I don't think anyone else has been such a big part of my everyday life since I was growing up. Even with my parents I only remember the time from being a toddlerish age to being a teenager where I wanted to do my own things and not spend time with them. I've spent so much time with Fudge and Boots that it will be so strange when they are not part of my life. Still Fudge will be back with us this afternoon and get to wear his cone of annoying licking sound again (Fudge doesn't really get the fact that licking the cone doesn't lick the fur underneath). I'm sure he will be well looked after and fussed over for weeks to come until the cone comes off and he is running around again and snuggling with us on the sofa.

Until Next (Well End Of This One) Year Christmas

  We just packed up all the Christmas decorations, it being roughly the right time to do it being close to the end of the twelve days of Christmas. The only evidence now are the icicle lights outside (which are still there due to it being extremely cold and frosty this morning), the extra loot around the house and the big pile of chocolates and sweets still to be consumed. Given our slow rate of eating the sweets to keep calorie counts down they are going to be around for most of this month I suspect. Not a bad thing to be honest but wow we did quite well stuff wise this year.

  We definitely need to come up with a way to get away to somewhere we can do snorkeling again soon now I have my special goggles with a camera in them. Hopefully when I use that the pictures and films I take will be a bit better framed and stable. It just gives us the perfect excuse to go somewhere really nice again and get better pictures.

  I did actually "work" last week but it was so quiet with half the people out that most days I got what I needed to do in a couple of hours and then just stayed online in case anybody needed to ask me any questions. The real hard work won't start until next week and in to the new year as we ramp up with the next release (and the other small release we are going to sneak in before that one). It has made relaxing over Christmas and New Year easier since I didn't have to use up too much of my time off to do it all.

  As for game playing, I have done my usual playing a fair bit over my time off along with the usual film and tv watching my wife and I do when we get new stuff. I even managed to get another platinum trophy out of the new smaller Ratchet and Clank game that was a load of fun so that makes 21 now. With the Lego Marvel game I'm also playing that will make 22 once I finish that one although that seems to have a lot in it like some of the more recent Lego games.

  All in all another very good Christmas, nobody bothered us, it was nice and quiet and we got all the good food, loot and relaxing time that we deserve. Even the cats enjoyed their presents as well. Roll on the next one (only 355 days approx to go).