For The Love of Cats

August 20, New Moon in Leo
For the love of cats

On Tueday July 14 we bought home two 10 week old kittens. Having cats has been one of those things I have always wanted to do – well as an adult at least. We had a family cat growing up for a while, and my brothers cat, Puddha, now lives at home with my parents. He’s got to be the fattest cat you’ve ever seen. But this blog is not about him.

Enter Merlin (the tabby) and Venus (the grey). Yes totally appropos names for kittens growing up in home where an astrologer and tarotist live. As they were so little when we got them, they’ve gone missing, hid under couches and behind washing machines. We ‘lost’ them one afternoon – for over three hours!! – when they hid inside one of the kids beds. But at their most recent vet visit (who knew how expensive kittens were in the first year of their life?!?!) they’ve almost doubled in size – from the tiny 770grams Venus was to her hefty (by comparison) 1.2 kilos and Merlin, growing from 990grams to 1.5kilos.Now they’re big enough to jump on things higher than a foot stool. Which we discovered last night included our almost waist high king size bed. (Another dream fulfilled!)

It could be said when you get a dog you get a pet, but when you get cats you become a slave. And that’s how we felt last night, with the kittens revelling in their new found strength, jumping up onto the bed, wrestling together, then progressively jumping off the bed, landing with a thud. To only do it all over again. To stay that kittens are playful is an understatement. They DO NOT STOP MOVING. Never having had toddlers, I’m beginning to understand the constant watchfulness required. (I know that kittens don’t comapre to toddlers in many, many other ways.)

This was fun (for us) for a while, but waking up with two kittens bitting your feet or dive bombing your knees is not what I had in mind when I imagined two purring cats sleeing peacfully at the end of the bed, warming our toes through cold winter nights. (Yes it’s officially summer here at the moment, but in Canada there are only two seasons, or so I heard on the radio the other day – Winter and July.)

And so under this potent New Moon in Leo energy, we got to see the regal, ‘I’m in charge’ side to our new additions.

Ottawa 1

We had the kids for an extended period in their summer break and spent a couple of days in Ottawa, Canada's capital and then at a friend's cottage just south of Bancroft. Ottawa reminded me a lot of Sydney - a major city that's not overwhelming in size or scope.

the peace flame outside Canada's parliament house in Ottawa

I'm pretty sure this is the Canadian seat of government

random streets in the Ottawa - I love old buildings

Standing outside the Canadian equivalent of the Reserve Bank

pretty flowers street side in Ottawa

the mall

Maid of the Mist

Joel after the cruise with all our raincoats in his belly

love this shot (above)

so much water and mist, sometimes it was hard to see! Mostly a lot of water. Apparently a child fell over the falls a few years back (a 7 yr old!) and survived!

Joel and Kelly

getting closer

More Niagara Falls

all these photos are taken from the walk ways above the falls.

Niagara Falls are on the border between Canada and the US - it's weird to look across the river and see another country on the other side.

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls are spectacular, there's not much else to say really!

the spray (above and below) is huge - walking around at the top of the falls is like walking through rain, there's so much of it.

this boat is called the Maid of the Mist and we went on it! They give you raincoats to wear to stop you getting wet. The power of water is so immense.

more niagara-on-the-lake

Amongst all the gorgeous shops and boutiques was this fabulous looking fudge shop - we avoided buying (eating was one thing we did well!) but it looked amazing!

Niagara- The -Lake

Part of our travels whilst Joel and Kelly were here included a day at Niagara Falls, which meant stopping in Niagara On The Lake - a picturesque town near Niagara falls. Stunning! Obviously by the water - beautiful homes (we dreamed!).

The park where we had a picnic lunch.

Traveling Snips

Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City - a stunning building, which Joel described as a real life fairytale castle - it has a fairmont hotel in it, (we didn't stay there!) but we went in and walked around

this is the french embassy in Quebec - apparently it's the only embassy outside a nations capital in the world! Was kind of cool.

Shots from Quebec city - the gate is the old town, the original city - I didn't know Quebec is the first continually settled north american city - over 400 years old! It felt like being in Europe - and of course the main language is french too. The wall above is part of the town wall - and run in front of the battery which was in front of our hotel.

these two are some of the mosaics in the St Anne Basilica in Quebec City - the detail was spectactular. There were also a series of the twelve zodiac signs (yes in the church!), most of which I have posted on my website - http://www.kellysurtees.com/

So the summer has been full of trips away and time with family. We are just back from a few days in Ottawa (Canada's capital) - a city that for some reason felt a lot like Sydney - Peter liked it too, though of course he has been there before. We had the kids with us and they loved it - none of us wanted to leave. We had a great hotel deal and if we could have extended through the weekend, would have. However we did have other plans - heading off to visit friends at their boat access only cottage. So plenty of snaps to come.