Hogmanay

So, the end of the year and Project 365 has over-run by, um, a bit. I rather like this blogging malarkey.

This afternoon Miss Mouse and I went out sledging with Morag and her kids. As we were standing around shivering and attempting to keep the girls from falling in their faces in the snow every two minutes, the moon came up. Photographing the moon is tricky for the photographically-useless-but-enthusiastic such as me - in reality it was big and apricot-coloured and striking. In my photo it's small and white. Oh well.

edit: Apparently it was a blue moon, which is to say the second full moon in a month. Or maybe not. Whatever it is, it doesn't happen very often.

Photographing knitting

I just couldn't seem to get this right today. Usually natural light (dining-room window) leads to fairly faithful reproduction of the colours of the yarn - not today. Possibly there was too much cold snow-reflected natural light - certainly the colours are rather cool. I should probably find time to read the manual for my camera properly!

A good brisk walk

Well, maybe not a brisk walk, more a trudge really!

I went shopping today and decided to walk home. I hadn't reckoned on quite how slippery the pavements would be - it had thawed a bit but the pavements of course have well compressed snow which will take a good while to go. So it took me a while to get home, but it did feel great to stretch my legs a bit after being stuck inside so much of the last week.

Feline groovy

Arty cat-on-windowsill shot.

Cat Two turns local Borg to sentimental mush. Do I hear an 'awww' from the back?

Sparkly fairy

Miss Mouse flouncing around in a party dress!

I don't usually use the flash because I don't usually like the results, but with this pic I'm quite pleased.

Ultima Thule

It thawed a little today - it certainly felt a bit warmer when I went for a walk this afternoon. It was good to get some fresh air and escape the construction of toys, the finding of batteries, the mending of near-instantly broken toys, and so on.

General contentment

Happy little cherubs.

Meanwhile Toby had discovered Irn Bru. He didn't drink it, he just liked watching the bubbles.

And in a scene that would warm the cockles of James May's heart, the Boy worked on a model Spitfire.

Not a creature was stirring

Not even a mouser.

They'd had a busy evening, or one of them had at least.

And then it snowed some more.

This was taken when I let Toby out to take some air (i.e. miaow pathetically at the snow but then take the huff when I took him back in) - he only got a couple of minutes, too cold!

Winter wonderland

Chilly, but pretty.

Watching snow fall

Hester's not been out yet, but she likes watching things out the window. The snow however was annoying her - she kept meerkatting on the window-sill, tail twitching. I don't think she can figure it out at all.

Toby on the other hand is allowed out as he's a) desparate to go out and explore and b) has had his bits lopped off. He's still keen to go out but remains unimpressed with the cold wetness of snow.

Uncle Hopalong's Christmas Extravaganza

For the second year Uncle Hopalong made the incredible nutty jewel cake. Mmmmmmmmm...

Hollyhock

Hollyhock? Cottage garden flower, redolent of all things summery and English? Well, it's a bewildered Scottish hollyhock that flowered at the end of autumn. And here it is in the ice and snow. Bless it, it tried.

Merriment

I make no apology for the fuzziness, she was too close to me for the focus to be right - but isn't she brilliant? She's laughing because one of the cats (sitting on my lap, hence being too close for decent focus) was licking her hand and it tickled.

An even more wintry thing

And I've just been informed by the Boy that tonight is the school Christmas disco so I've got to take him.

A wintery thing

One of my favourite decorations for the Christmas tree!

A lady is always well-groomed

'Course no-one ever said she had to do the grooming herself.

Arboreal

So I read this and thought 'nah, our cats won't... oh'.

To be fair Hester hasn't bothered with the tree (but then again she's a much smaller cat so it wouldn't be so much of a problem), but Toby has scaled the tree several times now. I've had to remove the red peacock decs I'd put on the tree. Naturally he can't resist little birdies, eh?

Frosted Glass

This is my car windscreen from the inside. I never thought I'd see frosty glass looking quite so much like, well, frosted glass. Weird patterns.

"my fam'ly"

by Miss Mouse.

From left to right: the Boy, Miss Mouse, Mama, Skinny Afterthought Daddy.

Skinny Afterthought Daddy is resigned to this.

Arty, eh?

I was parked next to this. I couldn't decide whether it was arranged that way for picturesque effect (it was outside a local moderately posh hotel) or whether it was just chance. Either way it makes a nice picture!

Study in Red, Black and White

Not just a random Cute Kitteh picture, oh no..

Stre-e-e-e-e-e-etch

Self-explanatory really. I haven't been taking many photos recently so it's a bit repetitive!

St. Andrew's Day

And Mr Borg wears his kilt to work. He went to work in the car rather than on the bike though!

Cuddly

Drying off in front of the television :-D.

Red

Red red red red red.

Funicular Kittehs

Monorail Kittehs are so passé!

Fuzzy

Looking a bit soft-focus. Funny how that makes the young and perfect-skinned look older, yet for the rest of us it has the reverse effect!

Gravity pulls especially hard on cats

In the words of Mr Bill Watterson:

How much is that tiger in the window?
The one who does nothing but sleep?
We'll spread him out flat in the rec room
and have a new rug if he's cheap!

Reading with Granny

A flying visit from Granny, Grandpa and Uncle Hopalong today - things were very chaotic but I managed to get a couple of pictures of Miss Mouse with her Granny.

Well I never! (for Phil)

A break from the norm here - but to explain for those who don't know the background to this, my friend Phil's daughter has landed the role of Mary in her school nativity play. The script reads thus:

Gabriel: You are going to have a baby, a very special baby.

Mary: Well I never!

Apologies to Fra Angelico!

Hypnotized

You know when somebody gets hypnotized in Scooby Doo and their eyes go all swirly and weird?

I had an ophthalmology appointment at the hospital today and they put drops in my eyes to make my pupils dilate. The effect was somewhat disorientating as it affected my vision, and also made me look oddly spaced-out. My Beloved tenderly described me as 'looking creepy'. Hmph.

Hmm. Close-ups of eyes don't do anything good for the skin do they? :-D

A Big Day in the Borg household

Miss Mouse graduates to a Big Bed. Cat 1 approves. Those aren't bullet holes in the wall, they're the holes where a lamp used to be attached to the wall. Perhaps some Polyfilla might be an idea..

A good sitter

Patient and doesn't fidget.

Party dress

Miss Mouse just about to head out to her friend C's party.

A head for heights

Also a body, legs and a tail for heights.

Hester dusts the curtain rail for me.

Monorail Kitteh

Apparently forgot a carriage.

Meanwhile, back at the farm...

It was an Inservice day at the school today so I took the Boy to the farm.

The sheep were mooching around looking picturesquely sheepy.

Don't cross the tails

- Why?

- It would be bad.

G. Fawkes

That's Giraffe Fawkes obviously!

Relaxation

Make yourself comforable, eh?

Snooze

There are probably better places, but who's to fathom the mind of a cat?

The Red-Eyed Knight

The Boy's Hallowe'en costume.