it's a SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! hwo many tortoiseshells do you know of
who are male? the phenotype is linked to the sex of the animal. I
think you call them calico inyour country, we call them tortie-and-
white, I just call her 'princess'

she is downstairs right now, reclining on a furry cushion, on top of a
bean bag, watching a late night movie, having just finished off a tub
of whiskas temptation treats, life's tough innit?

can be a male dominated sport, but more and more women getting into
all the time, and most regattas feature events or races for both sexes
but usually only women vs womens and men vs men. In less serious
competitions and regattas you can enter in mixed crews, men and women
in the same boat equal numbers of both which is a good laugh and
totally non-serious, usually end-of-season high jinks.

I suppose it is good for upper body but actually the main pushing
muscle used is the legs (thighs) and then the backs and you have to
develop good posture or you will screw your back up big time. it is
also a fairly low impact sport so apart from back injuries when peolpe
used incorrect technique (or are just vulnerable to joint problems)
and get bad backs and slipped discs etc you can go on rowing and
racing well into your old age. last year at princeton there was the
worlds masters champs for 'older' rowers (bit of a misnomer as you are
officially a veteran fromthe age of 37 internationally, 31 in the UK)
and they separate peopel and crews from all over the world into age
groups A to H to race against each other. eg age 31-36 is vet A, 37-41
years is vet B (i think) and so on up until vet H which is something
like 75 years +, and there is no shortage of entries into the vet H
races either, so lots of really old codgers kicking around who still
row and race a fair bit. hopefully I can injury free and still be
scullnig and racing when i am 70 something, I dont l think i could
even contemplate that with many other sports.

oh and you get to hang out with lots of really fit men too, and there
are usually loads of doggies hanging around at regattas as well, and
cake stalls,so it's all good really

i got the hammock from a cat show a while ago, £13 ($26?), she was
abit dubious at first but now she is rarely out of it. It seesm to be
good for old cats like her who do nto have the same covering of fat
around their joints and bones as it supports everything gently, and
they are right next to a heat source too.

we thought she was 14 when she picked me at the cat shelter which
woudl make her abuot 16 now, but I looked at her paperwork again and
the vet had written that she was actually 16 when i got her, so she is
18 apparantly. you wouldn't think it to see her prance around the
place and chase birds inthe garden (usually unsuccessfully), I am sure
they have got her age wrong as they did it on the state of her teeth
(rotten, most of them had to be removed) and from what the old dear
who handed her in had said, she is far too active to be 16 let alone
18.

when i picked her up first she was just about 2kg, now she is nearly
4kg and much more cuddly and her fur is much thicker than when I first
got her home. the vet at the shelter had only just diagnosed
hyperthyroidism and she had just started on medication for it so I
think her initially low weight was due to hyperthyroidism beign
undiagnosed for a long time. the previous owner was some old biddy who
went into a old people's home and left 4 cats behind so the cats
protection got them, jessie was the last to be chosen (don't know why,
she was much prettier than the others, and had a real snooty regal air
about her, as though SHE was doing the choosing of her new human
slave) probably because of the medical and fact she was the oldest
perhaps. I suspect the old dear who had jessie before never took them
to the vets or anything, especially thinking about how bad jessie's
teeth were when they first picked her up. It woudl not be out of
malice, just that the old dear could not manage it or even look after
herself let alone take a cat to the vets when needed

and I remember a discussion about not letting old people take home
kittens from rescue shelter but aoster an older cat instead so that
all vets bill and care is taken care of and the cat can be reclaimed
if the old person can't look after it no more...mmmm....wonder why
that is?

anyway i shall pass on your adoration to princess jessie-puss, she
will lap it up

bookie

thanks she is currently flopped out on the floor behind me, in her
usual "hello sailor" pose , on her back, hind legs splayed out,
expanse of white fluffy tummy exposed, front paws up, totally
disgraceful. If i can find a picture of her life that I will put it
up, very hard to resist tickling her tummy when she is like that, when
you stroke her in that pose she just stretches out and purrs for
england, she is such a flirt!

if there ever was an advert for adopting older cats she should be in
it, she is wonderful and I love her so much even though she is
completely daft.

bookie