Flora, Warwick Castle, England

kjnohr Posted Aug 16, 2007, 1:57 am	My friend Hudson and I are just waiting to get our tags so that we can be sent to hosts.  I can't wait!    This is us, on the balcony of kjnohr's apartment.
sleepybirdy Posted Sep 8, 2007, 8:06 pm	Hi! I am sooo glad to be out of this little envelope, even though I really didnt have  that far to go. The first thing we did was go outside-it was so hot and humid out! I was drawn to the big patch of yellow in the front yard-its supposed to be a yellow M in a field of blue, like the U of M logo. Im hiding near the flagpole. I wanted to see everything at once, so I climbed way up high in this batch of flowers to take a look. From my vantage point, I spied a new friend who shares my philosophy-"stop and smell the flowers!" I had to go say hi. Jamie says we might go to a birthday party later...and I may even get the chance to meet a feline friend, too! Well, turns out we didnt get to go to the party, but thats ok...I'll stay here with Jamie where all the attention is on me! To make me feel better, Jamie brought me home a present from the mall. See how pretty I am in them; they match me so well!
kjnohr Posted Sep 13, 2007, 12:44 am	Here I am, all ready to go to sleepybirdy's.  Blanche was so distraught at being left alone that she couldn't even pose for the picture with me.
sleepybirdy Posted Sep 15, 2007, 12:13 am	Sorry I havent written much, I've just been so busy. Jamie's been taking me to work with her everyday so I could help cheer up some of her clients, but because of the nature of her work, we couldnt take any pictures. One day, I burned the midnight oil with Jamie and helped her stay awake when she had to work the midnight shift. I wouldnt want to do that all the time-How's a perfect little kitty like me supposed to get her beauty sleep? Another day, we visited "Angela," a woman in her late 20s whose father got mad at her and threw her against the wall when she was an infant, causing permanent brain damage. We gave her a bath and read and sang to her, and did some chores around the house to help her adopted parents, who're both over age 60. "Angela's" mom, "Kari" had a lot of pretty flowers out back that i got to help water. "Angela" couldnt say thank you, but i could tell she enjoyed the attention, as she was very relaxed when we left. Later that night, we visited "Roxanne" and "Terra," her mother. "Roxanne" is in her late 70s and has cerebral palsy, and her mother is in her 90s so, as much as they try to maintain their independence as they have for so long and so well, they do need a little help now and then. We helped "Roxanne" onto her recumbent bike and visited with her and her mother, then helped "Roxanne" take a bath and get in bed. I got to meet their gorgeous white cat,  "Snowball," and their little tuxedoed chihuahua, "Millie." We also took a young (minor) man with asbergers to the mall and the library, and took a charming woman in her 70s out for dinner. It's been a busy week. Its not something I think I could do, or would like to do for the rest of my life-its a lot of hard work and physical labor to take care of people, especially for such a sweet little kitten such as myself, but you should have seen their faces when they saw me! Their eyes lit right up and wanted to know who I was and what my story was. Maybe someday when Im rich and famous, I'll open a charity to help those less fortunate then me.
sleepybirdy Posted Sep 15, 2007, 12:31 am	After all that hard work, Jamie got a chance to go up north to visit her fiance. When I heard where she was going, I begged to go too-Garden City, Michigan! What a perfect place for a rose-decked cat like me, right? Jamie explained that it wasnt very pretty there, and the place didnt have a lot of flowers. What a let down! Jamie explained that natives actually refer to the place as "Garbage City" which is a bit more acurate. We had a lot of fun together today, but I learned one important lesson-dont let a man take charge of the camera! All the pictures Dave took didnt even show up on the memory card! But the ones Jamie took turned out ok. Go figure! This is us at lunch at Olga's. Jamie let me share her food. The sandwhich looked kind of like catfood, but it tasted pretty good, and the mustard sauce for the fries was really good, too. We had a picture of me at Dairy Queen with a pink blizzard in a flowerbox...but Dave took that one.  I met his sister's animals-a daschund named Kal, a black lab named Sophie, a black cat named Shadow and a very pretty tabby named Ash, but no pictures with them, either-the dogs thought i was a new toy and wanted to eat me! The horror! Jamie kept me safe and sound, though. The cats were too shy as the dogs were tearing about the house and the cats dont like a bunch of noise and commotion. This is me driving a racecar at the mall. Dave took a picture of me going to the moon in a rocket, but you know what happened to that one! Do you recognize these two fellows that I met in Dave's car? The one Im snuggled up to is Mario. He's very friendly and protected me from Bowser. I wasnt too sure of him, his teeth are SO big! Mario explained to me that he and Bowser help Dave deliver pizza for Dominoes. Mario has had previous pizza experience, being italian, and Bowser makes sure everyone tips Dave REALLY well.
sleepybirdy Posted Sep 15, 2007, 9:07 pm	I was very excited this morning because Jamie said we were going to release her tv friend Bugsy  into the wild and I had never been part of a wild release before. We went to the park for Temperance Community Days and [Bugsy] climbed onto a motorcycle in search of an exciting adventure. I decided to give him a kiss on the cheek to send him off. Jamie and I walked around for awhile visiting all the booths. All that walking around was really tiring, so I hitched a ride. We even found 3 toyvoyagers to rescue! There were many more  than just 3, but Jamie said we couldnt take them all . On our way back to the car, who did we see but poor Bugsy. It seems he was cast aside and his motorcycle stolen. Lucky Jamie and I spotted him and could take him home safe and sound! Jamie says she'll try another release with Bugsy someday soon. This is me with our new friends and soon to be tvs! After we had all sat and chatted for awhile, I sat on security duty with Sadie the guard dog for awhile. She likes to watch the neighborhood from the front door to make sure everything is the way it should be.
sleepybirdy Posted Oct 3, 2007, 9:28 pm	Flora left today for Oz
kjnohr Posted Oct 10, 2007, 11:20 pm	kjnohr took Blanche and me to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago today.  kjnohr thought the museum opened at 9:30 am, but it didn't open until 11:00 am, so we arrived early.  We used that time to take some pictures around the outside of the museum, which was built as the Palace of Fine Arts for the 1893 World Colombian Exposition.  It opened as a museum in 1933. Don't we look tiny on the steps of this huge building? After taking the pictures outside the museum, we still had time so kjnohr took us across the street to see Lake Michigan.  Here I am after getting my first glimpse of it across Lake Shore Drive. We took the path underneath the road and came out by the lake.  Here is what the museum looks like from the lake side of the Drive. On the way back to the museum, I took time to smell the pretty pink flowers. Finally we were able to go inside.  First we went to see the Great Train Story, a HUGE model railroad with Chicago at one end and Seattle at the other end.  The Sears Tower and the Space Needle are just dozens of feet apart! Before leaving the train area, we sat on an old-fashioned trolley. We then walked through the Streets of Yesterday.  It looks like an old cobblestone street with all kinds of old shops and buildings.  There is even a theater that plays silent movies.  It was a very dark area, so it was difficult to take many pictures, but we did get one in front of the doctor's office and one on top of a mailbox outside the post office. I went into the mirror maze and pretended to be a hydrocarbon. We then went into the Toymaker 3000.  I was very excited to see another kind of toy being made.  Look at all of those top parts! There were a number of hands-on exhibits in this area explaining how robots work.  In this one, we got our picture taken and then picked dance moves for the robot to do.  Don't we look great?  We went in to see the baby chicks in the Genetics exhibit.  They are so cute!  Unfortunately, they made me hungry, so we didn't stay there long. At this point, I wanted to go upstairs to see all the airplanes.  On the way up the stairs, we saw many different kinds of gears. What a neat old plane! This is part of a United Airlines jet that was donated to the museum.  It was flown to Gary, Indiana, floated across Lake Michigan on a barge, dismantled and reconstructed inside the museum as an exhibit.  I bet I'll never get this close to a jet engine again! Flora and I were getting very tired, so we decided to rest on this bench.  Hey, is that the Titanic? After our short break, we continued walking around the balcony.  I looked over and saw the huge banner for CSI: The Experience.  Unfortunately, the exhibit was sold out that day, but kjnohr assured me no photography is allowed inside anyway. Finally we came to this 16 foot tall model of a heart.  Wow! We went downstairs to the Great Hall so that kjnohr could buy some postcards.  While we were down there, we took a look at the Pioneer Zephyr, a stainless steel train that once set a speed record for the trip between Denver and Chicago. We started heading back towards the door we came in, but first we stopped to see the circus parade and a stagecoach. Finally we ended up in the Henry Crown Space Center where we came in.  Most of the exhibits have been removed for renovation, but the Apollo 8 capsule is still there. Boy, I sure did learn a lot.  Flora and I were very tired, but we decided to pose for one last picture in the car on the way out of the parking lot.
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Oct 24, 2007, 10:28 am	Well, here I am in Australia! I arrived on a very hot, sticky day, feeling a little bit shy and nervous. There are other TV visiting here, and I was happy to find that another TV had arrived with me. His name is Strider, a fellow kitty! Rangler was the first to greet us both - he is also from the USA!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Oct 24, 2007, 10:34 am	I also made friends with Twinette Kani (don't you think she looks a little like Blanche?) As she says, us girls have to stick together! There are four other TVs here and they are all boys!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Oct 24, 2007, 10:37 am	Oh my...everything I've heard about the drought in Australia is true. Look at the cracks in Nik's yard. The only green things growing are some very stubborn parasitic weeds!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Nov 11, 2007, 1:12 pm	HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I had not realized that Halloween passes by barely noticed in Australia, but my host and Strider did their best to make a great Halloween for me! Nik hunted high and low and found some Halloween M&Ms, and even made me a passable Jack-O-Lantern! I was especially happy to see this Halloween postcard Nik received from a Postcrossing friend - it has spooky stuff all over it! Nik told me Aussies would rather tell you a "yarn" (a tall tale) than a ghost story. I was disappointed to hear that, but then Nik read us some true ghost stories, ghsot stories from the earliest days of Australia! Spine-chilling tales of penal settlements haunted by the spirits of convicts weren't enough, we scared ourselves long into the night with these other books as well!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Nov 21, 2007, 1:04 am	Welcome Alpina! It's a cat gathering! Today is the Melbourne Cup, Australia's biggest horse race. It's called "The race that stops a nation" Nik says it's true; just about every Australian stops what he or she is doing at 3pm on the first Tuesday in November to watch the race. Alpina was more interested in the field fashions. She was a bit disappointed about not having enough time to find something to wear, so I lent her my tail decos. Nik put a little bet on a horse for each of us, so we studied the chart to find out what our chances were! And we had the traditional Melbourne Cup lunch, just like in the corporate boxes!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Nov 21, 2007, 1:08 am	The race was so exciting! We didn't want to miss a thing.
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Nov 21, 2007, 1:09 am	Here is the winner, Efficient. None of our horses did any good
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 17, 2007, 1:44 pm	Oh! Look kjnohr! Nik found some photos she had forgotten to upload! Here we all are saying goodbye to Rangler and Twinette Kani!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 17, 2007, 1:49 pm	Today I am going to be part of a wild release! I have never done this before and I'm excited! Nik took me, Alpina, Strider and her Ziggy for a bit of Xmas shopping at Maitland Heritage Mall. Ziggy is going to be released. Although on the way up there Nik just about changed her mind because it was so wet and miserable (she didn't want Ziggy drowned just released )
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 17, 2007, 1:54 pm	This is a public loo. Who would have guessed! It's painted all over with Australian animals and plants.
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 17, 2007, 2:03 pm	This is a charming little mall. These outdoor strip centres are getting far and few between in Australia, Nik says. Most shopping centres are now in complexes. This one has some original 19th century buildings and these beautiful old lamp posts! They are in working condition, but the mall is now not open at night so they are rarely used The rain stopped, so we had some fun trying to climb the little trees while Nik fussed around looking for somewhere to leave Ziggy
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 22, 2007, 8:06 am	A new TV arrived from Taiwan today, and the poor little guy thought we were going to eat him! Mousy Mouse calmed down a little though, once all us cats assured him we wouldn't hurt a mouse that looks like a dog
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 22, 2007, 8:09 am	It's so hard to believe it nearly Christmas! It's so warm here in Australia. Most people have plastic Xmas trees because real ones just die in the heat. Isn't the tree pretty? We took a group photo under Nik's nan's tree, and peeked at the presents! I know what Nik's nan is getting for Xmas now
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 22, 2007, 8:11 am	We've been watching the cricket! Australia played New Zealand for the Chapel-Hadlee cup, one Nik says Australia has never won. A one-dayer, so Nik explained, is where each team only has 50 overs (an over equals six balls bowled by the fielding side) to score as many runs as possible. It's a confusing game, but Australians seem to love it! We all watched for awhile, but it's kind of boring! Australia won the match, by the way, so Nik was happy! See me with my flag! Nik was very pleased with me
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 22, 2007, 8:13 am	Nik thought some of us might be feeling a little bit homesick because it's near Christmas, and we're in a strange (and HOT!) country. So guess what - she made us some pretend snow to play with! It's called D'Ziner snow. It's like a florist's gel, but it really looks like snow. We had more than you can see here but it was so hot it started melting! It felt very strange playing with "snow" under the shade of a big tree in 35 degree heat! We tried making a snowman, but, well, as you can see, December in Australia is not kind to snowmen...even made from pretend snow!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 23, 2007, 2:09 pm	A summer shower finally cooled things down a little bit this afternoon...and look what came after the rain!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 23, 2007, 2:11 pm	Decorating your house with Christmas lights is very popular in Australia! Some towns and cities have huge displays which raise money for good causes, but Nik's house is pretty well lit up too!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 23, 2007, 2:12 pm	Tonight we all watched the traditional Christmas carols on television. Australia has two main Carols - one from the Domain in Sydney on Channel 7, and one from Melbourne on Channel 9, usually on Xmas eve...which automatically makes the Sydney ones better That's the ongoing Sydney Versus Melbourne conflict I've heard about!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 23, 2007, 2:14 pm	We saw the Wiggles (a very, very popular kids' singing group, and a lot of adults like them too!) and their friends Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, and Captain Feathersword! A friendly pirate with a feather for a sword!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 23, 2007, 2:15 pm	Look! Santa came in on a New South Wales Police helicopter!!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 23, 2007, 2:16 pm	Nik gave us our very own Toy Voyager-sized Christmas tree!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 24, 2007, 1:18 pm	CHRISTMAS EVE!!! Nik took us to see some of Stroud's Xmas lights tonight. It was wonderful - a full moon and a warm night. Feels strange to be experiencing a warm Christmas! The lights are hard to photograph, but we got this one of Australia's famous "Six White Boomers" A boomer is another name for a big male kangaroo, and in Australia Santa's sleigh is pulled by six snow-white kangaroos!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 31, 2007, 3:03 am	CHRISTMAS DAY!! Santa found us!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 31, 2007, 3:04 am	What could this be...
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Dec 31, 2007, 3:05 am	Look what I got!
Prowl_Worshipper gotham.city@bigpond.com Posted Feb 17, 2008, 3:55 am	Flora departed for Russia to her new host, kristl January 25 2008...
kristl Posted Feb 20, 2008, 9:05 am	Hello, he's Flora again! I've arrived to Moscow safely and quite fast, though my envelope was not very roomy.. But I'm not a fat cat, am I? At the post office I met many other TVs that are here now, we've already made some photos that I'll post very soon. I found out that Kristl is Strider's mentor! I'm going to tell her a bit about Strider's adventures when we were together in Australia with Nikki. Let's keep in touch! Flora
kristl Posted Mar 3, 2008, 11:58 am	Hello-hello! Today all the TVs went for a big visit! Kristl took us to another flat (where she had to wait while a new door was being installed). And there we met many new stuffed friends!! Rangler who has already been there once and knew some Toys there invited us to meet his friends - 4 Dogs. When I and Decker head that we're going to meet dogs we became a bit angry and didn't want to go. Then Rangler told us that these dogs are very kind, that they're his friends and that they'd like to make new friends. Only then they we calmed down and decided to go. When we came to the 4 dogs Rangler introduces them to us The light dog with light ears is called Sunny, the brown dog is called Cloudlet, the light dog with black ears is Glasha (it's and old Russian name) and the Dalmatian is Glasha too. That's so funny that two diffenet dogs with the same name live together!! Then Rangler introduced us to the dogs! I liked the Dalmatian Glasha very much and it seems that she likedme too. I'm sure we'll become good friends! I was so happy that even decided to let the small Squiggles ride on my back After visiting the dogs I ha another interesting adventure - I found some books on knitting and crocheting! Even more happy I became when I found some magazines with sekf-made hats! I couldn't keep from trying them on This one suits perfect for my ears! And this one could be a perfect souvenir from Russia cause it's colored as Russian flag! This one must be so sooooft! This one is veru colorful! Nice! And I like these flowers! It's made for me!! These flowers are nice too) This hat suits me not very good, but it is being created to Kristl. I can't keep waiting to see her in this hat!! She sais that there will be embroidery with cats! How nice!!
kristl Posted Mar 3, 2008, 12:00 pm	Today we went to the post office. Kristl is used to visit the post once or twice a week, but this time we were very worried Minerva had to come already, but she han't arrived yet. Can you imagine how happy we all were when Kristl got a box and there was Minerva!!!
Isobel&Neil Posted Apr 8, 2008, 10:18 pm	I'm here!
kristl Posted Apr 19, 2008, 7:15 pm	Hello-hello, today we went with Kristl to an Italian cafe! It was nice there
kristl Posted Apr 19, 2008, 7:16 pm	While walking in Zheleznodorozhny we found a very nice graffity May be it's not a graffity at all but I like it)
kristl Posted Apr 19, 2008, 7:19 pm	Hey-hey, today we've made a great sightseeing tour in the Moscow centre!! We walked in the small street right in the centre when we saw (just near us!!) a fire in a house (there were many fire engines and many people) - we went from this place as soon as possible. It was there - you can still see the smoke.. The photo is taken prom a small square near the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour This way is Kremlin: And in that direction is the Moscow-River:
kristl Posted Apr 19, 2008, 7:22 pm	Then we went to The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts: All the pupels are use to visit this museum, there are alot of interesting things there, but almost all of them are copies of famous artworks, good for studying, I think It's strange, but from here the Cathedral is seen very good!
kristl Posted Apr 19, 2008, 7:28 pm	We wanted to visit Kremlin, but it was closed cause it was Thurthday I studied the plan of Kremlin in details to be able to find there everything I want if I get there one day. Then we went to the Red Square Behind me you can see the Nikolskaya Tower and the State Historical Museum. Here is GUM - the most famous shopping centre in Moscow: In front of it there was a skating rink but now it's being removed. The walls of Kremlin: The Spasskaya Tower: The Saint Basil's Cathedral: Another wall of Kremlin and more towers:
kristl Posted Apr 19, 2008, 7:29 pm	After walking in the city centre we went to the post office, cause Curly, Snowy and Rangler had to leave Moscow. I wished them all a wonderful journey and many adventures!!
Isobel&Neil Posted May 21, 2008, 7:18 am	My visit to Cornwall - we arrived at St. Ives mid-afternoon, and spent some time basking in the May sunshine!
Admin Posted Aug 25, 2008, 6:05 pm	I visited Warwick Castle!  One Mission completed!

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