Movies, Cat Litter Boxes and Collages

I was sitting in the corner with a book when Mum had this brilliant idea.

"Sophie, why don't you make a film and put it on your blog."

"Could I be in it?" I asked immediately.

"What kind of film?" Sophie asked.

"You could get something out and tell people about  it," Mum said. "Maybe you could post a film once every few days."

We were all full of ideas.

"You could tell people about your sewing or the books you are reading," Mum said.

Sophie found a box that used to hold bags of cat litter.

"What are you doing with that?" I asked.

"I am going to put some books in it for my show and tell," Sophie explained.

"You can't put a cat litter box on film," I said.

Sophie shrugged.

"I will decorate it for you," I said taking the box off her.

"We could make a collage," Sophie suggested.

"Good idea."

The next day Sophie and I found some glue, old wrapping paper from my birthday, coloured paper, ribbons and sticky tape. Sophie ripped up the paper and I stuck it on to the box. In a surprisingly short amount of time we had finished sticking the paper to the box.

"Hand me the ribbons please, Sophie," I said.

Sophie handed me two gold sparkly ribbons. We tied one around the box and secured it with some sticky tape. Sophie cut the other ribbon in half and we glued them the top of the box. I tied them together so that the two flaps on the box stayed closed and we stood back to admire our handiwork.

"Looks good," I said.

"This is our Mystery Box," Sophie said.

"Cool title for the box," I agreed.

In the afternoon Mum put her film camera on the tripod. Sophie and I walked into the living room and waited. We discussed what we should say before Mum turned the camera on.

"Welcome to Sophie's Show and Tell. I am Sophie and this is my assistant, the Great Gemma-Rose and this is our Mystery Box..." Sophie began.

Sophie started to tell people about a book she had read but couldn't think of the right words.

After a few tries we got close to perfect except Sophie didn't know how to end the video.

Finally we had an okay version and Sophie went to edit the film while I packed up the Box of Mystery.

I think we did rather well. If you want to watch the film please go to our blog, Mother, daughters, sisters. It's called Sophie's Show and Tell (Episode One).

A Very Soggy Battle

                                                               
I grab a towel and the cat shampoo before trotting into the laundry. It is bath day. That means that I wash the cats while trying not to get wet myself.

I fill the sink with warm water and march off to find my first victim.

"Meow," Jenny says as I scoop her up from the floor.

I grin evilly and dump her into the sink.

"I don't understand what is going on!" Jenny wails.

I tip cups of water all over her back, completely ignoring her complaints.

"STOP," Jenny screams as I rub shampoo into her fur.

I smile as I rinse the shampoo out from her fur. Nearly done.

"Where is my water going?" Jenny asks as I pull the plug out from the sink. I then haul the cat out of the bath and onto the closed washing machine.

"Stop, that tickles!" Jenny squeals as I rub the towel up and down her back.

"First cat done," I say, dumping Jenny on the floor.

I fill the sink again before walking off to find the next cat.

 Sammy is always easy to find. He has two regular hiding spots. Behind the settee or Mum's armchair. I open Mum's bedroom door and head to her chair. There he is, cowering behind it. "Got you," I say, pulling him out.

We march over to the operating room. "In you go," I say gently lowering him into the sink.

"Help!" Sammy screams and grabs the edge of the sink with his claws.

"Get back in there!" I shout, unlatching his claws from the sink.

Sammy reaches his claws out for the next nearest thing. They sink into the towel I had put on top of the washing-machine.

"Stop! Stop!" I cry as he claws his way out of the sink.

Sammy smiles he is winning the battle. With an extra spurt of energy I pull him back down.

"Why are you so mean?" Sammy asks.

Cup after cup of water gets thrown at him.

"Stop! I am dying," the wet animal screams.

I grab my next weapon. The shampoo bottle.

"That stuff smells," Sammy moans as I squirt the shampoo all over him.

A few minutes the animal is clean. I lift him out of the sink and onto the washing-machine. I smile.What a good job I have done. But Sammy isn't giving up.

"OUCH!" I scream as Sammy digs his claws into my chest. But there is no time to spend feeling sorry for myself while there is still one animal left standing.

I find Poppy sitting in Charlotte's wardrobe, looking as grumpy as ever.

"Why do you always bath us and make us smell of shampoo?" Poppy asks. "I way prefer my stink."

I wrinkle my nose at her statement and think of the horrible odour that usually follows her about.

"I way prefer this nice clean smell," I say, waving the cat shampoo bottle in front of her.

Finally the cat is shampooed, rinsed and rubbed sort of dry.

I am done!

When I look in the mirror though I discover that my victory has come with a price. On my neck is a cut from Sammy and my T-shirt is soaked. But the cats look worse than me. They are miserable, soggy balls of fur.

Have you ever bathed a cat?


Image: by onyx by paparutzi, (CC BY 2.0)

Dad Gives His Consent

When I was tiny we used to have lots of pets. Our house was overrun with birds, mice and even a mean ferret. We also once had a dog called Rocket. He was crazy. One day somebody fed him curry and the results were not pretty.

A few years ago we got a cat called Poppy from the pet shop and I was overjoyed. Then a while after that one of Callum's work colleagues gave us two more cats called Jenny and Sammy.

But since Rocket we have not had a dog. For some reason Dad didn't seem to want one. But Sophie and I always did.

Yesterday it was Callum's birthday and we were all in Mum's room chatting about dogs and how we always wanted one (Dad was at work).

"I love dogs," Sophie said dreamy eyed.

"Casey is trying to give away her moodle or her huskies," Callum said. Casey is Callum's girlfriend.

"We would need a fence to have a dog," Mum said. (Our garden doesn't have fences all the way around it.)

"I'd make one," Callum offered.

"You would also need Dad's consent," Mum said.

"We could make the fence first and then suggest we get a dog," Callum said.

"You would also have to suggest a kind of dog that Dad likes," Mum said.

"Easy, just ask him what kind of dog he would like," Callum said.

"You should also see how much this fence would cost," Mum said.

So Sophie, Imogen, Callum and I went to a warehouse to see what kind of fence we would need and how much it would cost. After trotting around a few warehouses we decided on a fence and went home to tell Mum.

"We think that we should get the colourbond one," Callum said.

"Okay," Mum said. "Now you have to tell Dad."

In the afternoon Callum's girlfriend came over and then we had to wait for Dad to get home. After what seemed like forever he finally arrived and we sat down at the table for dinner, trying to hide grins.

When we had finished eating Callum turned to Dad and said. "Today we have been looking at some fences and have found one that we could buy."

"Hmmm," Dad said suspiciously.

"Tomorrow I can start putting it up. It would only take three or so days," Callum said.

"This doesn't involve anything four legged does it?" Dad asked.

We exploded into laughter.

"How did you guess?" Sophie asked.

"WHAT?????? I was only joking," Dad said, turning accusingly towards Mum.

"Don't look at me. It was their idea," Mum said.

Dad's eyebrows hung low over his eyes.

"We have worked out the cost of the fence," Callum said.

"And I can give you some dog examples," Casey said.

"What?" Dad asked.

"Well I could give you a moodle..."

"What is a moodle?" Dad interrupted.

"It is a cross between a poodle and a maltese," Casey said.

"And what is the other example?"

"Two huskies," Casey said.

"How much does a husky cost?" Dad asked.

"Usually a lot of money but these ones are free," Callum said.

"Please," I said shooting Dad my puppy eyes.

Dad sighed and said he would talk about it with Mum.

After dishes Mum appeared and announced that Dad said we could have a dog.

I can't wait to see what we are going to get. Mum wants a dog she can take for a run with her. Imogen wants a German shepherd and Callum wants a pit bull but I don't think he will get it. Duncan doesn't want a dog.

I wonder if we are going to get a small dog or a big one?  
                            

   

A Three Times More Pretty Picture of Who?

A little while ago it was my birthday. My eldest sister Felicity rang to tell me she was sending me a present and it has arrived.

"Gemma-Rose," Mum said.

I hopped off the piano stool and peeked over Mum's shoulder at the computer screen on her lap.

There grinning at me was a very beautiful girl. Felicity had emailed me a very stylized and three times more pretty picture of who? ME.

"Do you want read the email?" Mum asked.

"Of course ," I said, taking the computer off her.

Felicity wrote that she had a professional artist draw the picture for me.

My smile stretched from ear to ear. It is always special when Felicity remembers our birthdays.

"You could write  a blog post about your wonderful sister," Mum suggested.

I think about it. Yes I could do that.

Thank you Felicity. It is a very nice picture.