To All The Abers, Lotus Eating In The Balmy Spanish Sun, Feliz Año Nuevo...

[sandyRoe]

To the rest of us shivering in the northern cold, Happy New Year!

[wolf63]

I thought that you said 'locust eating' - I presumed that it was an Irish delicacy.

I have just had bangers and mash for my breakfast - Tesco ready meal.

[sandyRoe]

That sounds a substantial breakfast. :-) The bangers+ mash, not the locusts

[Sqad]

LOL...Felix ano nuevo to you too.

Bloody great black cloud approaching our island from the North.

[sandyRoe]

Black clouds on the horizon, it's not all sun, sangria, and sex, then?

[wolf63]

sqad - the kitties had Felix :-D

[Sqad]

sandy........no, it's not all it is cracked up to be........only the sex remains ;-)

[Sqad]

LOL wolf.....funny you have mentioned cats, as Mrs sqad has just returned after feeding 20 ferrel cats who live on the wild. However they have all been caught and neutered in an attempt to control the cat population.

They always come, same time for the food and " cuddle"......all appreciative, not like our two pampered " prats."

[wolf63]

sqad - do you have problems with any of the neighbours? Some people consider cats to be mere vermin.

My two were caught (with their mother) when they were tiny babies. Mum was feral and was probably released after neutering. You can tell that they are siblings - they look nothing alike, completely different characters and they hate each other. :-)

[ChillDoubt]

Blwyddwyn Newydd Dda.

[Sqad]

wolf......no, it doesn't seem to be a problem as the cats congregate on rural areas or in areas where the properties are built for summer rental. This is itself a problem as during the summer the cats are well fed, but come October and the properties are empty for the winter! then the cats are struggling.

There are many people, mainly ex Pats who take on a rota system to feed the cats.

Yes, some 20 years ago, there was some resentment from non cat lovers, but this has now dwindled and is not a problem.

[wolf63]

chillli - Google says to check your spelling of the first word.

sqad - I think that many people think that cats will be able to fend for themselves but if they are being fed by tourists part of the year then they will get into lazy habits. But they have humans to care for them.

They are fascinating and frustrating animals.

[ChillDoubt]

Yes, one of my infrequent typo's, you'll get used to them!

[Dee Sa]

I lived for 14 years in Sharjah just outside Dubai, to come back here to live with four different seasons was magic sandy, nowadays 20 years later I am not so sure !

[sandyRoe]

Most of us could do without Winter. Three seasons would do nicely. Coming back to an English winter after the heat of the Middle East must have been a real shock to the system.

[Eve]

Bit chilly in Manchester. Still, you can just head into the shopping centre, like a sauna in some of the shops in there! I'm wondering if we are in for a colder spell with some snow, especially with what's been going on in the States and the doom-mongerers going on about it being the worse winter in a long while.

I got in yesterday to miaows from outside my window and our local wanderer sitting looking pitiful outside so let him in for a bit of a fuss. He's been around for years and I'm yet to work out who owns him, definitely not a stray. He's a lovely boy though I do so miss my girls. Not quite the same coming home without some little furry faces coming to greet you.

[netibiza]

Chilly here in Ibiza today although the sun has just come through.

And don't talk to me about cats, they are the bain of our lives here, feral cats everywhere making smells, we are encouraged to feed them, and care4cats comes over a couple of times a years to trap and neuter them but they are never ending.

[netibiza]

And I for one, miss winter, we have a couple of chilly weeks, and we suffer the damp, but I love winter.