Cromwell Trip, Kitten on Heat & Sore Joints!!

Well hopefully the title got you interested in reading more! Lol. There was a couple of birthdays in Craig's family who are in Cromwell so we left Timaru round 6.30pm Friday - we decided this was the best time to miss the snow as it's snowing quite frequently down there at the moment, especially through the Lindis Pass.

I must say it was the most beautiful night to travel, we went through the Lindis around 8.30pm and it was clear skys, snow on the mountains & up to the roadsides & was also nearly a Full Moon so the light from the moon reflected off the snow and made it so bright we could have driven with our headlights off! I would have stopped and taken photos however it was -6 at the top of the pass and just a tad too cold for my hip etc!

Photos from the weekend can be seen on my online gallery under the Canon EOS450D folder - www.aspiregallery.smugmug.com

Takes 3 hours from here to Cromwell with a good run on traffic and since it was night time we managed to miss all the camper vans & tourist buses, Yay! So it was a good trip there.

Saturday we went to Queenstown but it was raining and slushy so we just had some lunch and made out way to Arrowtown which was clear just overcast and managed to get some nice photos there and through the gorge on the way back to Cromwell. Sunday morning we woke up to it snowing in Cromwell and left for the journery home around 10.30am. Took some lovely photos of the mountains reflecting off the lake just out of Cromwell - it was soo still & beautiful! Also stopped at a few points in the Lindis and got some more lovely photos.

Was good to get home though as this was my first big trip since my op and my hip was protesting a little at all the travelling and not being in our own bed.

My mum came in Friday night and looked after the cats till Sunday & when we got home we were greeted like we had been away for a week! So lots of cuddles were given :) That night Elli (who is 8 months now) meowed a lot more than normal and from 2-5am meowed non stop and kept jumping and flicking the door handle in her room and thumping back on the floor. We let her out and she just wanted to play so I gave her some food and she stayed calm till the alarm went off at 6.30am. During the day she wanted constant attention (more than usual!) and during the night kept meowing crazy sounds. I heard her a few times during the night but she was more settled. This morning though she was really crazy, meowing CONSTANTLY, needing lots of cuddles and sticking her bum in the air - oh and sitting her bum on our other cats head! Not lady-like at all! So you can see where this is going..... my baby's not a baby anymore and is ON HEAT. She was too young before my operation to get her fixed and there has not been a good time till now to get it done. She isnt an outdside cat yet and our other cat has had his snip snip so no chance of her getting pregnant. Rang the vet and have booked her in for next week, though I don't want to take her as I don't want to cause her pain :( Has to be done though as we can't take this through the season every few weeks or so! At least I can look after her now as I am pretty mobile.

My cleaning lady who is supplied by ACC came this morning and she has cats.... Elli sniffed & sniffed & sniffed her then proceeded to follow her around crouching down and sticking her bum up and meowing weirdly at her! Luckily she loves Elli and has a good sense on humor lol. Poor wee kitty, she is currently zonked on my lap (finally) so I have a little peace from the meow's. I have set up lots of toys like a jungle gym to keep her occupied so hope that helps keep her mind off the breeding track!

Lastly my finger joints have been playing up - swelling up and very tender. I had this last winter and was tested for rheumatoid arthritis but the bloodtests came back neg. Come summertime my joints went back to normal but they are very painfull while they are inflammed & not helping me as I am studying Massage Thearapy & makes it hard to practice on people with it like that! My thumbs are the worst and as I am still using my crutches (down to one mostly) it's not that easy getting around at the moment. Roll on the warm weather...... PLEASE!!