It's already March and the year is trickling through my fingers already.  I am studying hard at the moment, working towards a Certificate in Web Applications Development with the Open University.  So you may see some interesting changes to this site as I apply my newfound skills!  My aim is to rewrite the site from scratch using code, but it will be quite a big project so we shall see.

I'm hoping to do more original work this year; I'd like to start doing wildlife pictures.  I did a lovely robin last year (see above) but couldn't bear to sell him so he is up in my dining room.  My husband has just sent off for a really powerful digital zoom camera so I'm hoping I can get some good wildlife shots and build up a nice set of work.

After documenting the hourly nonactivity of my own cat (see earlier blog entry), I had to share this news story of a cat with a routine so rigid its owner has to go and pick it up by car every day!

Cat's daily routine baffles owner

A cat is baffling his owner by wandering off at night before expecting to be collected by car every morning at exactly the same time and place.

Sgt Podge, a Norwegian Forest Cat, disappears from his owner's home in Talbot Woods, Bournemouth, every night.  The next morning, the 12-year-old cat can always be found in exactly the same place, on a pavement about one and a half miles (2.4km) away.  His owner, Liz Bullard, takes her son to school before collecting Sgt Podge.

She said the routine began earlier this year, when Sgt Podge disappeared one day.  Ms Bullard rang the RSPCA and began telephoning her neighbours to see if anyone had seen him.  An elderly woman who lived about one and a half miles away called back to say she had found a cat matching Sgt Podge's description.  Ms Bullard collected him but within days he vanished again. She rang the elderly woman to find Sgt Podge was back outside her home.

She said a routine has now become established, where each morning she takes her son to school before driving to collect Sgt Podge from the pavement between 0800 and 0815 GMT.  It is thought Sgt Podge walks across Meyrick Park Golf Course every night to reach his destination.  Ms Bullard said: "If it's raining he may be in the bush but he comes running if I clap my hands."  All she has to do is open the car passenger door from the inside for Sgt Podge to jump in.

Wandering the streets

Ms Bullard also makes the trip at weekends and during school holidays - when her son is having a lie in.  She does not know why, after 12 years, Sgt Podge has begun the routine but explained that another woman who lived nearby used to feed him sardines, and that he may be on the look-out for more treats.

"As long as you know where they are you don't mind as a cat owner," Ms Bullard said.  "I know where to collect him - as long as he's not wandering the streets."

Back at home, Sgt Podge has breakfast before going to sleep by a warm radiator.

(Copyright bbc news online)

I can't believe it's the last half term before Christmas!  (As a mother I think of time in terms of terms - the year is segmented into three terms instead of four seasons and winter ceases to exist altogether.)  I'm really getting into the seasonal rush now, so if you desperately want a portrait for Christmas please contact me ASAP.  I have eight currently waiting to do but I may be able to juggle some around so don't despair until you've spoken to me.

I have just completed a cute portrait of two guinea pigs, which I mistakenly thought would be fairly easy - serves me right.  I had no idea how incredibly complex the patterns on their fur can be, and as for capturing their expression, I defy anyone to say guinea pigs are easy to read.  They would probably make great poker players in fact.  So anyone with guinea pigs who is short of cash - try entering them in a poker tournament.  Let me know how you get on.

Louise

Yesterday I attended the Herts & Middlesex Cat Show at the Luton Regional Sports Centre.  It was a great day, and my first experience of a cat show.  As I arrived at the car park I was met by the sound of mews and cries as a large queue of people waited outside the building, holding cat carriers.  Some had several carriers and had stacked them up on trolleys.  Inside three vets were checking all the entries before referring them on to their allocated cages, of which there were hundreds.  I have never seen such a variety of cats in my life!  From small and fluffy to thin and hairless, pointed faces to pug noses, there was every variety you could wish for, including my favourites, the dependable old moggies or 'non pedigrees', who were holding their own against some very chic competition.

There were plenty of kittens too, one of whom cheekily tried to bat a cup of tea out of my hand from the bars of his cage.  I wasn't sure how happy the cats would be under these rather stressful conditions, but I only saw one who was nervous.  Most were very sociable and came to meet any visitors, sometimes even calling nearby passers by over.  They rubbed against their bars or winked contentedly.  On my second tour around the cages later that day, ninety percent were asleep, some on their backs with their legs in the air as though insistent on still performing, while others had curled up in their litter trays.

Congratulations to all the champions, and I hope they all got a special dinner that night for being so good.  I wish I could have entered my Bubble, but at age thirteen and slightly obese with an increasingly disgusting dribbling habit, she's not really up for such excitement.  But I'm sure if I'd have taken her she'd have won every class!

After discovering the delights of the Mr Lee Cat Cam site, I decided to conduct a low tech cat cam experiment of my own, and photograph my cat Bubble once every hour throughout the day.

What I discovered changed my view of my cat forever.  I was aware she had reached new levels of inertia in the past few years, but I was unprepared for the totally stunning level of inactivity I uncovered.  You can see for yourself by clicking here.

Three hours sitting in the hall!  A four hour sleep on the bed followed by another hour's sleep on the floor on the way out of the bedroom!

Yes, I'm JEALOUS.  Do you hear me?  JEALOUS!