@ jeannie...that's Oipe, my dancing Queen...despite her size she's very nimble and does a little dance for her bowl of dinner. She's a Norwegian Forest cat. In the winter she grows another coat on top of her shorter curly woolly one...not FUR but a long straight coat of waterproof wool! Here sh'e in between seasons so no "Puss in Boots" UGG BOOTS and no gaucho pants! Can you imagine that!? After one litter she decided she wasn't doing that anymore...and I was sort of glad too....with all that wool around her nether regions! She gets shaved mid Spring, looks very funny but its more comfortable for her. Her favourite red mate 'Yodle' is smaller. Oipe is classed as 'red' ( ginger) even though her coat colour is much closer to a pale apricot. Have a friend who collects all Oipe's wool from her periodical groomings and her annual shear, spins it, crochets baby clothes and sells them...much in demand, better than Alpaca and as rare as....cat wool! I think Oipe weighs a bit more than 22lbs. Everyone is taken by her and she's such a " lol-about and couldn't give a darn" that she allows all the attention and loves it. My lifestyle is every bit as fantastic as it is just plain hard Aussie 'yakka'. I planned that this house would be where I lived and died. All sounds so romantic and close to Nature...and it is...but one can get really muscle sore, and brain weary working oneself into this lifestyle. Thankfully I am quite a strong Aussie country woman now..but getting here from being a thin city lizzy with not much strength, let alone country naus, was an ordeal I thought I would not survive. I've needed every bit of brain and braun I could accrue... and all on my own. I've met some wonderful country folk who have taught me bush skills I never knew existed. Did you know, for example, that we should never kill ants? Black ants are the natural enemies of the white ants or termites. You need to know where your black ants live and keep them fed so they'll stay outside and hunt the termites. If you find termites just surround them with a handfull of sugar and bring a clump of dirt and black ants to where they are...you won't need to spray...ever! Once they know they'll alert all their relatives near and far and anything wooden in your dream home will be safe. Glad you all like my story..THANKS...it makes all the hardship all that much more worth it! Oipe reaps the full benefit of my, at times, sore, tired body. When I'm flaked out on the lounge from hauling in the heavy ironbark firewood for the night...she just ambles up and plonks her voluminous self right in my lap and up my chest and decides I need grooming and exfoliating with her raspy tongue. Then I get a massage! She purrs and vibrates like an idling diesel engine...its kinda relaxing! P.S. Never thought anyone would catch me wearing Jeans! The only place I wear a skirt is to church..and sometimes I'm too tired to be botheredironing it...so have a pair of Sunday jeans ...there's no such thing as a day of rest...but time for the gentler jobs...like cooking enough to last the week! All the girls get together for that...NICE. I think I'm one of the lucky people!

The house was in the best street, the pictures were immaculate... heaps of people came to view ....the moment you reached the front door the smell of curry was so strong that some people started coughing. I was not deterred and inspected the entire house and it was even better than the pictures but the smell of curry was extremely strong in open kitchen area. Apparently it is almost impossible to get rid of the smell once it's that bad without major work.

yes Wuff it was extremely upsetting. I used to go to my car after every visit & cry & cry! My little guy is the apple of my eye & just the most fun lovable thing that even people who don't like dogs warm to. He's so used to being with people & having people fuss over him.Not the girls at quarantine though! You could see in his eyes he couldn't understand what he'd done wrong to be locked up & shunned & he used to howl & cry whenenver I got up to leave. The last week he was there he stopped eating. My 2 cats were rescues. My Maine Coon, Mr Bubba Coon was dumped at San Diego County Animal Shelter because he was the runt of the litter & deemed to be not big enough to be saleable. It was the height of the GFC. I brought him back to Sydney with me. My other guy, Spooky Cat is black & he & his sister were dumped at a vet in Five Dock here in Sydney aged 4 weeks. He stayed locked up in a cage at the shelter until he was 16 weeks old as black cats & tortys are the hardest cats to find a home for. When i took him home he just sat on the couch for a week because the concept of being free to walk about wherever he wanted was so foreign to him. He is the sweetest, loveliest little guy with beautiful yellow green eyes.

We have two cats that are indoor pets. Sadly the male took a jaunt outside and got a few sctratches and tears from a large neighbour cat. He began territorial peeing on any cushion, stray coat, laundry basket, no matter it was on top of a piano or speaker or even a bed. Our piano varnish ruined, so very much washing.. (Thank God for Nature's Miracle). Now we have to keep him incarcerated in the laundry area which has an enclosed porch and cat tree and so forth. He comes in for supervised visits and we take him outside every other day to run and play. When we move we will be planning an area specifically for him. It's so sad as we never would treat him like this if he could break the habit, but we've tried everything and he's hooked like an addict. He isn't as happy as he used to be.