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Thumper, Driffield (2024)

31/12/2023

Happy New Year! It may well be a cliché but let’s hope it is a good one. We know this is said every year at this time but we are two very optimistic kitties & hope is such an important thing in our lives. How was your Christmas? Santa Paws came to us & our stockings were filled with goodies. Thumper’s Daddy is rationing our treats- he says that just because Santa Paws brought us so much it is not an excuse for us to eat everything at once. Our humans on both sides of the Atlantic join us in sending best wishes to you all & we look forward to sharing so much with you in the year ahead.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

25/12/2023

It doesn’t matter where in the world you are today – our message to you remains the same: Happy Christmas! We are really excited. We think that Santa Paws must have arrived just as we fell asleep. No matter how hard we try to stay awake, it just never happens. Lots of presents everywhere, stockings too, but best of all will be all the wrapping paper & boxes. Which kitty doesn’t like these things to play with? Then, after a special dinner we shall probably be anti-social & just curl up, contented & with full tummies. We hope you all have a good day too & we will be back with you just in time to celebrate the New Year!

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

19/12/2023

UPDATE: Now just one, lonesome, calendar remains.

Can you help? We have just two copies of the 2024 calendar featuring Thumper’s U.K. furamily of kitties. The price is £20/$30 each & that includes postage & packing. They can be mailed out in time for the New Year to anywhere in the world. Get one for yourself (if you haven’t already) or gift one to a friend. You could even give one as a Secret Santa as we know of a couple of our regular friends who just can’t afford one this year. Make us purr at the thought of all the calendars sold. Send us a PM for payment info. etc.

Happy Christmas everypawdy. All our love, Thumper & Flower xx

17/12/2023

Do please excuse us if we don’t write much today but we are busy with our preparations as the build-up for Christmas gathers pace. We will, however, be posting a full length message on Christmas Eve (or purrhaps we’ll move it to Christmas Day). We are currently staying with Thumper’s furamily in England & last night we enjoyed watching as the local farming community held a decorated tractor run around town & the outlying villages to raise funds for charities supporting the underprivileged. We loved how the tractors were lit up with multicoloured lights although they were very noisy. Santa Paws was on a trailer being towed by one of the tractors. Wow, he really does get everywhere at the moment.

Flower says that she has heard there is to be carol singing this week but says she may need her earplugs. She asks if you have heard her Mummy Carol singing? MOL (& sorry for that joke!).

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

11/12/2023

Wow, we almost didn’t make it here today & it is thanks to Thumper’s human Mummy that we did. You see, the Daddy’s ‘puter died this week. Even the local repair shop that is always used said there was nothing they could do. The Daddy could only find a 14” screen laptop within the price he wanted to pay but then the Mummy found an absolute bargain on Amazon (yes, a plug for them today!). It is a 17.5” screen & had £700/$862 (yes, really!) off the list price. It is a brand we’d not heard of before – SGIN – but it had good reviews & arrived by lunchtime the next day. As you can see, it is up & running & the Daddy is getting used to it. Thanks to the cloud nothing important was lost – especially all the kitty pics! - but the Daddy says the best feature is a rubberised keyboard cover which stops things such as dust, coffee & biscuit crumbs from getting inside the keys. Oh yes, we forgot to add kitty fur as well.

So, are you getting ready for Christmas? Have you got your tree up yet? Have you written to Santa Paws telling him you’ve been good? If so, did you tell the truth? Really? MOL. We lubz Christmas & our tails are wagging with excitement.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

03/12/2023

THUMPER & FLOWER WRITE A LETTER.

Dear Santa Paws, of all the Anderson Kitties (yes, Flower is related by marriage to Thumper) we are the two who try our best throughout the year to post stories & news with a caring, social message so this would be the ideal time to ask you for all the big things in life. You know what we mean – world peace, an end to famine, sorting out climate change. Closer to home we would ask for financial security for all the work undertaken by Flower’s human family (Frosty the Frozen Kitten) in the USA & Thumper’s human family (Prancy Paws Cat Rescue) in the UK especially as the number of kitties both rescued & dumped on us continues to increase. Purrhaps you could send us a couple of money trees? Flower says she would also really like an invitation to have afternoon tea with Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace (after all, she did so previously with Queen Elizabeth) whilst Thumper would quite like to be knighted by King Charles. “Sir Thumper” has a nice ring to it.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

P.S. We still have two 2024 calendars available. PM us for details if interested. Thank mew.

26/11/2023

Thanksgiving went well here. We had great nums & really enjoyed ourselves. Now we must prepare for Christmas & that includes writing to Santa Paws, telling him how good we’ve been (Ed. Really?!). The best thing about Christmas is not all the gifts we receive – although we really do like them & chasing the string, wrapping paper & boxes makes for great fun – but in giving. It doesn’t have to be something in a box. It can be giving our time, helping someone who is worse off than us. It can be giving of our skills – cooking, baking, gardening, shopping for an elderly or housebound neighbour. You don’t need the two of us to lecture you as we know that you all care about someone, somewhere, & will be doing your best for them. It is through giving that we receive. Sometimes the best thing we can receive is that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing that we have done a kindness for someone else. So as we look to the beginning of Advent next Sunday let’s all make sure that we are ready for a truly special Christmas.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

25/11/2023

Thumper & Flower here. 2024 CALENDARS. Now we know how Frosty & Mom Carol feel. We have 4 – possibly even 5 – calendars still available for sale. Before going to print we asked for anyone interested to let us know so that a realistic print run could be placed. It is quite upsetting how many people who said “yes” have now seemingly been abducted by aliens. What other reason could there be for them not replying to our numerous PMs? If you said that you wanted one & then changed your mind – for whatever reason – do please do us the courtesy of letting us know. We don’t bite. (Well, not much & Flower may hiss just a little). There is not much – if any – profit in producing these calendars & they are printed mainly for a bit of fun, to put a smile on folks’ faces, but we did not expect to be facing a loss. If you would like one – either for yourself, as a Christmas gift for a friend, or even as a Secret Santa (yes, we do have some followers who would dearly love a calendar but simply cannot afford one) - then please PM us as soon as possible so we can ensure Christmas delivery. We will ship worldwide.

(N.B. This is NOT the Frosty calendar but one featuring Thumper’s furamily in the U.K.).

Lubz & hugz, Thumper & Flower xx.

19/11/2023

HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Great excitement in both households this week as Thanksgiving approaches on Thursday. Although Thumper’s family live in England, his human Mummy is originally from Los Angeles so the day will still be celebrated with a traditional meal. Flower has enlisted the help of Thumper’s sisfur Gracie Mary Grace the Christmas cat who is a Michelin starred, award winning, chef. Hopefully there will be some pictures to share this time next week. Needless to say, all the Anderson kitties are claiming they have American heritage, even though Seil, Polly & Moon ( - International Cat of Mystery) are from Saudi Arabia. Mention special nums & they will do anything for a place at the table.

The next day we have Black Friday. Whilst Thumper thinks this will be a great opportunity to shop for some bargains (not forgetting Flower’s Christmas present!) Flower whispers her concern that the event will be cancelled for being racist! “Hopefully not!, says Thumper, “surely this will not fall victim of the wokerati?”.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

12/11/2023

Please indulge Thumper’s human Daddy with this post as today he will return to his birthplace of Market Weighton, some 15 miles away, for the annual Remembrance Day service. When the names of the war dead are read out there will undoubtedly be a lump in his throat & a tear in his eye when the name of his uncle is read out. Reginald Jackson was that genuine mix of both academic & sportsman, excelling at both with equal skill & ability. At school he was Head Boy, a regular winner at the annual Speech Day, rewarded for his academic achievements, as well as Captain of the First XV rugby & First XI cricket teams. He was also a Captain in the school Army Cadet Force. He won two scholarships to read modern languages (he was also fluent in Latin & Ancient Greek) at St. John’s College, Cambridge University, where he was also awarded a “Blue”, a cap for representing the University at sport. At the end of his first year he voluntarily enlisted in the army. He joined the York & Lancaster regiment & fought as one of Monty’s Desert Rats at Tobruk & El Alamein. Strangely, in the middle of the African desert he met his sister’s then fiance (& later husband) - the Daddy’s Daddy! - even though he was serving in the R.A.F. Later attached to the Green Howards & promoted in the field to Acting Captain he was on the first landing craft into Sicily where he was killed by mortar fire on Primosole Bridge near Catania.

Named after his Uncle, the Daddy’s full name is Reginald Jackson Anderson & for many years he found it hard, feeling he had to live up to almost impossible standards of success although, as the saying goes, with age comes wisdom & in later years he has come to understand & proudly appreciate the sacrifice not just of a generation but of an individual who was “just doing his bit for a better world”.

We leave you with the words of the Kohima Epitaph: “When you go home, Tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow We gave our today”. Lest we forget.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

05/11/2023

It is fur (sic) to say that we are truly party animals. Flower says that Christmas is her favourite time & has even suggested that all of us kitties should write letters to Santa Paws telling him how good we have been (really? MOL) so watch out for these in the coming weeks. Last week was the big 10th. birthday party for Flower’s sister, Frosty (Frosty the Frozen Kitten) & it was enjoyed by all of us. Tuesday was Hallow’een & the little ones were busy with Trick or Treat, coming home with bags full of goodies. Thumper’s brofur Ollie ( Cat - Red 1) has written on his post today all about Bonfire Night in the U.K. although with all the bangs from the fireworks we don’t think we will be celebrating this evening. The next big day we have is Thanksgiving on 25th. November. Thumper’s humans may live in England but they will still be celebrating & sitting down to a special meal as the Mummy was born in Los Angeles. All the kitties will get to share in the nums.

Then along comes Christmas. Flower says she is not sure what is best – the presents under the tree or the actual tree itself. “Why can’t we have a tree in the house all year long?” she asks , “It’s really cool”.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

29/10/2023

10 minutes, 10 hours, 10 days. No 10 years. Wow. Flower’s sisfur Frosty celebrated her “unofficial” 10th. birthday this week. Many will already know her story but for those who don’t you can visit Frosty the Frozen Kitten. She was found frozen & close to death, given just a short time to live & even the best vets did not give much hope of her survival but here she is 10 years later thanks mainly to the never say never attitude of her human Mom, Carol, & the support of her followers worldwide. OK, so she has the occasional breathing problem but this is a small price to pay for her survival. As well as thanking Frosty for the great party we all had on Friday night (it was pawsome!) it is probably an opportune moment to also say a big THANK YOU to all the humans wherever you may be who go the extra mile to care for us. Particularly we must mention our own two human families who, this weekend, have each taken on a new arrival (Ed. Details coming soon!).

IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATE. Permanent resident or lodger? We shall have to wait & see but a new kitty has arrived. She turned up on Friday night. She is at least a ¾ ragdoll. The Mummy describes her colouring as being cream & cappucino. She sure growls a lot. The Mummy’s main concern was that everything pointed to her either being pregnant or having recently given birth. The Daddy searched the cemetery that we back onto yesterday morning but no sign of any kittens. A trip to the vettie later in the day showed that she was not microchipped & he concluded that her milk was drying up so hopefully her kittens have already been rehomed by the breeder who dumped her. The vettie is posting her on their social media pages as having been found. Watch this space for further news. For now, though, please say a big “HELLO” & welcome Tilly (as the humans have called her).

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

22/10/2023

After all the fun of the fair last week Thumper & Flower decided that it was best this week to set their preparations for Hallow’een in motion. This involved carving out pumpkins, creating scary faces & then placing candles inside to add to the effect. Flower thinks it best that she oversees the little ones when they go out for “trick or treat”. After all, everypawdy knows that kittens are mischievous at the best of times & need little or no excuse to create mayhem. Thumper has asked his sisfur Gracie (Mary Grace the Christmas cat) to be in charge of the catering as she is a world famous chef. He is sure she will come up with a great menu appropriate to the night. Flower hopes things don’t get too scary & insists that the emphasis must be on fun for all as she draws up the guest list before sending out the kittens with the invitations. “No,” she tells them, “you cannot use this is a practice run for trick or treat!”. Turning to Thumper she adds, “See, I told you they were mischievous!”.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

15/10/2023

Thumper & Flower have had a great week as it has been Hull Fair just 20 miles away from Thumper’s home in England. It is allegedly the biggest travelling fair in europe. Before arriving in Hull, part of the fair took part in another big event, the Nottingham Goose Fair. Flower is confused – she whispers that she thought geese had feathers, not fur! Whilst enjoying the big thrill rides they also made the most of the more sedate ones as well. Thumper introduced Flower to one of the traditional food offerings peculiar to Hull that is produced by Bob Carver & his family over many generations – they serve up pattie, mushy peas & chips (that’s “fries” for our American readers). The pattie is a deep-fried, battered sphere of mashed potato flavoured with sage. Flower found the whole thing rather greasy, preferring instead a selection of toffee apples, brandy snaps & candyfloss (cotton candy!). Exhausted from all the rides & with full tummies, our intrepid duo made their way home happy but very tired.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

08/10/2023

We must be careful with what we write today as we do not want to be banned from our very own Kittybook page but what we would like to understand is how inoffensive comments & pictures such as those of our sisfur Frosty the Frozen Kitten wearing one of her dresses can lead to threats of being banned yet Flower’s human Mummy, Carol, had to spend over an hour deleting pornographic posts one-by-one from Frosty’s page – posts which Kittybook did not consider to be problematic or dangerous.

Flower whispers that this is one of those rare occasions when she is glad she cannot see. Thumper decides to cheer everyone up. He was going to take Flower & Frosty out for lunch but his sisfur Gracie (Mary Grace the Christmas cat) – a renowned chef – has offered, instead, to cook them a Sunday lunch of roast leg of lamb with all the trimmings.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

02/10/2023

We have the sadz. We promised a few weeks ago that we really wanted to post some fun things on our pages to keep you all amused & to put smiles on everyone’s faces. Unfortunately since we wrote that we have been rocked by the loss of some of our great friends & supporters. We have said goodbye to Ruth McAfee-Scharbach's husband Kurt, then Sue Ann Kettelkamp Ornelas & now Sharon Morrison’s kitty, Poptart. What we should do is remember the good times with them, the things they did to make us laugh & know that they will be waiting for us over the Rainbow Bridge. They would not want us to be permanently sad – although it is only right & proper that we take a moment to shed a few tears. Now let us rejoice in their lives.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

25/09/2023

There is nothing better than a good party. The advantage of having two big families (the Infalts in Wisconsin, USA, & the Andersons in Yorkshire, England) is that almost every week there is a birthday or a gotcha day to celebrate. Flower says she also lubz Christmas because you get to exchange gifts & Santa Paws comes to visit whereas Thumper prefers Easter & a visit from the Easter Bunny. Flower claims she is not a kitty but a party animal (much to Thumper’s bemusement!). She does not need to be asked twice to get her party dress on. Thumper cannot keep control of how many “fur miles” they have clocked up criss-crossing the Atlantic. On every good guestlist they are the stars of social media, TV chat (or is that “cat”?) shows & sure to feature in publications such as Cosmopolitan Cat, Hello Kitty, Cat Chat Weekly & P***y Galore. Unlike another well-known Anglo-American couple (no names, let’s just call them “The Royal & the Actress”), Thumper & Flower have no social climbing ambitions – they remember their humble beginnings, how they were rescued - & they now travel the world raising awareness for kitty rescues, pawsing only to enjoy & share their enduring love story.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

18/09/2023

Christmas is coming! For many, a scary thought. Is it just us or does this seem quicker with each passing year? If Christmas is indeed coming then the New Year will not be far behind. This is to ask for a response to the production of a 2024 wall calendar. Our Aunty Carol (in the USA) may not produce a Frostyville calendar this time around so we will go for a Prancy Paws calendar instead featuring all of us UK kitties. Using the same printers as previously to maintain print quality etc. will also allow us to print in both the USA & the UK. Price will depend on quantity but our initial enquiries indicate a price of £16/$20 each plus postage although this will come down if there is a large enough order. Now you can see why we are asking for an expression of interest. If this goes ahead we shall ask for payment with order. Any profit will be split between Frostyville (USA) & Prancy Paws (UK). Thank mew.

17/09/2023

Thumper is a big football (soccer) fan &, like his human Daddy, he supports the local team, Hull City. Playing in black & amber stripes they are – unsurprisingly - called “The Tigers”. Thumper has really confused Flower as he has just read that an angry bear has been signed to play soccer for the London team, Arsenal Ladies. Bemused, Flower decided to investigate for herself. She is now trying to figure out if Thumper is joking with her or if he has misunderstood what he read. The reality is that an Australian lady, who starred for her country in the recent World Cup competition, has signed for Arsenal & she is called Kyra Cooney-Cross. At least Flower now knows where the “Angry Bear” name originated. Watch out for an angry bear near you!

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

12/09/2023

Having had such extremes of weather during what was allegedly called summer, Thumper & Flower are now firmly looking forward to autumn/fall. Already the green leaves on the trees are turning brown & the nights getting longer. Flower says she can hardly wait to go walking through the fallen leaves whilst Thumper is keen to carve some pumpkins! They are also planning on visiting RAF Coningsby (near to Thumper’s home in England) for the end-of-season display by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight when WWII Spitfires, Hurricanes & a Lancaster will all be flying. They may also visit Hull Fair (the largest in England). Whilst Thumper is keen to try out the big rides, Flower just wants to buy toffee apples & brandy snap (& will bring some back with her for the little ones to try). What are your plans for the autumn season?

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

03/09/2023

Having recently promised that we would bring some fun to our posts please forgive us today as we share some sad news with you. One of our biggest & longest supporters – Ruth McAfee-Scharbach – has lost her husband Kurt this week. We send Ruth & her daughter Kaitlin all our love & purrayers & we ask you to join us in keeping them in your thoughts at this sad & difficult time. We are sure that their kitty Snickers will be waiting for Kurt over the Rainbow Bridge. Sometimes words are not enough to express how we feel but a purr can say a thousand words.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

27/08/2023

The two of us have been playing host in Driffield, England, (Thumper’s home) to Frosty & many of the kitties from Frostyville. This week we took them to visit Burnby Hall Gardens in the nearby town of Pocklington. Trying to impress on the kittens how mewtiful the water lilies were (it is the largest collection in Europe) they were much more interested in the fishes swimming in the ponds. We wonder why?! MOL. We are also planning to visit the deserted medieval village at Wharram Percy (not far from us) although rather than being interested in the history & culture we reckon the kittens will be more interested in playing hide & seek amongst the ruins.

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx

20/08/2023

It has been good that this week over on Frosty the Frozen Kitten Flower’s human Mummy, Carol, has found time in-between caring for so many animals to post some fun adventures.

Everyone is over here in England where they have been learning about & celebrating the Beatles. Some of the group missed their train &, taking a shortcut, they have somehow ended up on the golf course in Driffield, home of Thumper & all the other Anderson kitties. Thumper’s humans managed to make room for them all & after a veritable feast served up by Chef Gracie (Mary Grace the Christmas cat) they were all bedded down for the night. Insisting on paying their way they put all the golf balls they had “collected” up for sale on the local Kittybook selling site. Wondering where all their balls had disappeared to, the golfers blamed their loss on a plague of moles, never imagining that a group of lost kittens might be the culprits. Pondering what to do with the kittens today – they get bored so easily – Thumper & Flower took them to Driffield Showground where the Annual British Flyball Championships were taking place. Flyball is a fast fun relay race for dogs of all shapes and sizes. The fastest dogs in the country were battling it out to be British Flyball Champions 2023. Finding stalls selling candyfloss & micecream & then realising there was a funfair with lots of rides to go on, all these things proved to be greater distractions than watching the dogs. Probably no bad thing!

For now & as always, all our love, Thumper & Flower xx