Author: Fred

On Sunday November 19th the very first ever Dublin Cat Fair took place in Wynns Hotel just off O’Connell Street.

I had never been to a Cat Fair before so when Alice, the organiser, asked me to attend as an exhibitor and to give a talk on catnip, I was delighted but nervous about the presentation.

Well it was a great day for cat lovers.  There was a full day of talks on all sorts of cat related subjects.  Some were very interesting topics on cat health and nutrition. Cat lovers had come from all over the country for the day.

And then there was me!  Well I did my best and people seemed to like the pictures of Fred in my slides!

It was a great day and I really hope the Dublin Cat Fair becomes an annual fixture in my cat diary.

Well we have been cutting and hanging catnip for days.  We are about one third through the crop and all the plants look fabulous with lots of good size cream and purple flowers on nice clean stems.  The crop looks stunning in flower and there are thousands of bees and hundreds of butterflies feeding on the nectar from the flowers.

Today is raining so we are having a natural break as we can’t cut in the rain.  A day of rest and a very welcome chance for recovery for my old bones.  

I have been working in Quality Control all day and I am exhausted.  Everything is perfect with the catnip plants but I am very thorough and I like to do a very exhaustive series of hands on tests of the plants before I give my seal of approval.  As you can see it really takes it out of me.  Is there no rest for me?  I am supposed to be the CEO of this organisation but need to get paws on to keep on top of things.  Oh the stress of it all….

The first thinning of the 2017 catnip crop is underway.  The human is very happy as all the plants look really good.  The recent hot weather and rain seems to be working a treat on the plants as they are jumping out of the ground.  The smell in the field is wonderful and as the early flowers are out the bees have just started to arrive so there is a steady buzz all day as they work the flowers.  Looking forward to some lovely lazy afternoons napping in the meadow.  Hope you like the picture of the smiley human.  Getting a bit grey though so I shouldn’t really be working her quite so hard.  The best thing about the picture is the catnip she is holding because it is all mine!

Bees are in terrible trouble from disease, pests, loss of habitat and changes in farming methods.  However we can all make a little contribution to saving the honeybee.  My contribution is my catnip.  From my research and from watching my plants I can see that honeybees love catnip.

Catnip is a wonderful plant for bees because it flowers profusely for most of the summer.  Often the flowers only fade when the first frosts come.  The tiny flowers, carried is great numbers on the catnip stems produce both pollen and nectar.  From what I have read it is unclear if catnip pollen is much used by honeybees.  However the nectar helps the honeybee colony produce a substantial stock of honey for the winter months.

So here’s to catnip, a very talented plant, and to honeybees too!

Catnip Pillow

Fred likes to be stroked with his catnip pillow and is very laid back about it all.  But Minx gets a bit more paws on when playing with her pillow.  Every cat is different in how they react to catnip so basically you won’t know till you try!

Here is just a little demonstration of Minx’s technique.  Her reaction lasts about 10 minutes.  Then her pillow is put away for a few days before she has it again.  Minx is not a spring chicken and does not go out much now so this is a good way to get her to have a bit of exercise and she does love it.  She will sleep after playing with her catnip pillow for quite a long time.

Yesterday was the big day of the Limerick Cat Show and a very excited human set off at the crack of dawn to get there Unfortunately her navigational skills are nothing to write home about and despite her early start she got to the show late and frazzled.  So much for presenting a cool calm exterior!

However despite the tardy start she had a lovely day.  She met lots of lovely catnip lovers and their humans too!

A big thank you goes to the Midland Cat Club and the GCCFI for organising the show and a big thank you also to all our customers and friends who came along on the day.  The feedback on my catnip was great….of course but it is great to get the lovely feedback.