Since my school friends and I are all turning A Certain Age these days, I’ve been in a busy routine of meeting them for dinner or going to their birthday parties. My meet-up with my best friend from sixth form, with whom I have had a couple of joint parties as our birthdays are close together, was especially funny and quite the departure from our past celebrations:
⁃ Our 18th party: dressed inappropriately, got drunk, don’t really remember much else.
⁃ Our 25th party: dressed inappropriately, got drunk, don’t really remember much else.
⁃ Our “A Certain Age” dinner: dressed sensibly, drank water, one of us read the menu to the other who had forgotten their glasses, home by 9:45pm.
No such nonsense with Louis Catorze; the little sod is turns thirteen at the end of the month, yet he’s just as full of life as ever. We can’t believe he will soon be a teenager, which means he will be rolling in at sunrise after partying all night, treating Le Château like a hotel and generally taking the piss … OH WAIT …
And good grief: his thirteenth birthday is on 30th April and, from 21st April to 14th May, our good friend Mercury will be up to his old tricks again. I know. A creepy black cat with vampire teeth turning thirteen on Beltane Eve, during Mercury Retrograde … what could possibly go wrong?
I know that I say this every time he has a birthday, but we are astounded not only that he has made it to this age, but also that he is thriving and loving life. People who meet him can barely believe how old he is, because he looks and acts like a kitten. One of my friends, when meeting him, said, “Is he always going to be that size? Awww. It’s like having a KITTEN FOREVER!”
We are so lucky that our Forever Kitten is in such good shape at the moment. Here he is, captured in a very fortuitous photo opportunity, on a blanket of skulls and with a real rainbow shining down on him:

He’s a cutie 💓
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He’s not, he’s a psychopath, but thank you!
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I mean, he can be both 🤨
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We have that too 🙄
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A psychopathic cat? To be fair they all have it to some degree, don’t they?
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Good point
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Does he get presents?
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Cat Daddy says no, because Catorze’s whole life is one big present.
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Love him!! ❤️
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Thanks! Someone has to!
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Forever in my heart and whether you like it or not, forever in yours too 😹😻😽
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🤣🤣🤣
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Long life to your Forever Kitten.
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Merci! He will probably outlive us all!
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Let’s hope you throw in a great party for the King…
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I’ve already ordered the jambon de Bayonne …
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Now we’re talking… 🙂
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Ah, so good he’s healthy. Mostly. Except for that naked spot that pops up once in a while.
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It’s like the red spot on Jupiter, isn’t it? 🤣🤣🤣 None of us will ever understand it. Not even the vet does!
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The spot of doom! Useful to make your servants nuts.
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Especially as it identifies him! “It must’ve been some other black cat” doesn’t work when yours has a distinctive evil eye!
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13 is my lucky number, so I hope this new year will bring him lots of silliness and fun and cuddles and jambon de Bayonne 🙂
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Merci! I like 13 to. I’ve never found it a scary number (although he himself is scary). 🐈⬛
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Is Mercury in retrograde every year at this time ? Not much you can do about that.
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It’s three times a year, at regular intervals but not always at the same times …
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