Diary of a Nobody

This was the title of a massive hit for Tom Jones, the Welsh pop-singer who went on to become one of the elder statesmen of popular music through his collaborations with other artistes, such as Carlos Santana.

It seemed like an apt title for this piece about cats and other pets (mascotas) that have featured in my life of seven and a half decades.

Tom Jones, young and old [Photo image: Wikipedia]    

Me, cats and other pets

When I was growing up in Devon we had dogs. I don't remember any cats. My dad kept chickens too when I was very young. And at one point I bought a couple of mice. I was going to breed mice, sell them and make a fortune! My pair of mice produced one litter of 10. That turned out to be a short-lived enterprise.

I remember a gorgeous, even-tempered boxer called Heidi; a toy poodle called Snowy and a mongrel with the name Chloe.

First felines

As a young childless married couple we moved to our second house in Thelwall, Cheshire. I was 30 and Jeryl was 27. We got a couple of kittens. They both disappeared. After that we started a family and were pet-free. Our two kids were enough of a challenge!

As Time Goes By 

After Jeryl and I parted I moved to North Wales to live with my new girlfriend, a widow called Maude. She had a dog. I was early retired, but Maude was still working, so I spent a fair bit of time with her dog, whose name escapes me.

My second marriage, lived entirely in Spain, has had its fair share of animals. Over 15 years of marriage we have had two cats and a dog.

The first cat, Cleo, was "murdered" (poisoned) by a nasty cat-hating German woman in Montejaque, where we lived at that time.

Our lovely dog, a pointer called Berti, was run over and fatally injured by a speeding motorist in La Indiana.

We currently have a female cat which, as a kitten, had been dumped at the "basura" near our home. It followed me to our house and the rest is history.

Berti relaxing by our pool [Photo: PW] 

Pauline (Paulinchen) is now nearly a year old. We took her to the vet, who de-loused her, got rid of her fleas, inserted a chip in her neck and, on a subsequent occasion when she was old enough, sterilised her.

Pauline is very much a domesticated cat. She has worked out the limits of our large garden; she is very aware of the traffic that passes by the front of our house.

Last week we acquired a second cat.

Three separate neighbours had seen it get hit by a car outside our house.

Three days later, on a Saturday morning, I found it injured hiding at the back of our garden. We took it into the house, fed and watered it and set up a "bed".

On Monday we took it (we still didn't know its gender, cos it wouldn't let us look).

"Turco" examined it, established that it was a girl, and that it had a dislocated hip. He thought it would right itself with rest and a course of antibiotics.

And then it ran off!

Yet, it comes every evening for the food we put out. Rita has photographed her a number of times.

This evening she was there again, along with several other cats from the neighbourhood, which have clearly realised there is food to be had.

We managed to feed and water her without the others. She gobbled up the wet food and the bowl of dry biscuits in double-quick time. But then she disappeared again.

STOP PRESS:

After a week away, we returned to find that the second cat was still hanging around our garden. Previously other cats were coming to our garden because they realised there was food to be had. I started to feed the cat in the kitchen and she did come in. Rita and I decided to get her sterilised, as we had no wish to have a litter of extra cats. We made an appointment at the vet for this to happen. Long story short, "Turco" discovered that she had had a litter some mongths earlier. He removed her uterus and we gave her a name: Fritzi, as we called her, is essentially our cat. She sleeps in the house and hangs around the garden all day. It looks like she has become domesticated.

© Paul Whitelock

Tags:

Berti, cats and other pets, Chloe, Cleo, Cocoa, elder statesman of popular music, Heidi, Jeryl, mascotas, Maude, Paulinchen, Pauline, Paul Whitelock, Rita, seven and a half decades, Snowy, Tom Jones, Turco, Welsh pop-singer, "What's new, pussycat?"

Lotta's confirmation and Paul's 75th birthday

May 18th, 2025

The date for the confirmation of our German grand-daughter and the 75th birthday of yours truly coincided. We were invited to the confirmation - it's a big deal in Germany - so, off we went.

Friday May 16th, 2025 - Departure Day

Our first trip of the year to Germany started on Friday. We were invited to the confirmation of one of our granddaughters.

Lotta is 13 and she was next up on Sunday.

She is the third of our four German grandchildren.

Anton and Madita have already been "done"; Lyra is not ready yet.

Cartoon: Lebenslauf Bremen Shop   

The journey

We got up very early and drove by car from Ronda (Andalusia) to Malaga Airport. Our Ryanair flight to Karlsruhe Baden-Baden took off late and we landed late. Nonetheless, we managed to catch our bus to Rastatt to catch our train connection.

That's where the chaos began. German railways, Deutsche Bahn, especially the regional trains in Baden-Württemberg, are now a huge construction site.

Everything is being expanded and renovated.

This means many delays and cancellations.The system that was rebuilt after the Second World War and was arguably then the best railway in the world is now a joke.

After decades of neglect, the federal government is finally catching up.

   Cartoon: Landon-Advertising

DB suffers from:

• Old infrastructure
• Poor disabled access
• Lack of punctuality
• WCs on trains out of order
• No drinks and snacks either on the trains or on the platform.

Compared to Germany, British Rail (UK), RENFE (Spain), and SNCF (France) are perfect.

Our train journey was exhausting and stressful. The train ride took longer than our flight from southern Spain to Germany!

Nevertheless, we made it to Bietigheim, where we were picked up by Katrin, Rita's daughter.

Footnote

In the train from Karlsruhe to Bietigheim, we chatted the whole way with two young Germans. She was 20, a university student studying Business Management, and he was 26, a single father of a 2-year-old daughter, unemployed and without money. The two didn't know each other. We talked about all sorts of things. It was fascinating.

Arrival in Talheim (B-W)

This pretty village near Heilbronn is where the Schröders live. Katrin is Rita's oldest child and the mother of Lotta.

The Schröders didn't have space for us this time, but Katrin found us an Airbnb right in the heart of Talheim.

Our Airbnb apartment in the village is perfect. Spacious, clean with Wi-Fi and a brand-new flatscreen TV, and much cheaper than the hotels in the area.

Dinner was at the Schröders - asparagus soup and spaghetti with vegetable sauce - all homemade. Delicious.

Kurze Gasse, 5 [Photo: PW]    

Talheim is important for Rita and me.

We got married in the Talheim registry office 15 years ago.

After the church wedding two days later at Maulbronn Monastery, we had our "wedding breakfast" at the Haigern Restaurant in the vineyards above Talheim.

    [Photo: Paul Whitelock]

Saturday May 17th, 2025

I woke early in our Airbnb after eight hours sleep (we went to bed at 9.00 pm following our long and tiring journey on Friday.

I did some work on the computer, while drinking two cups of tea and two coffees. Then it was off to Hauptstrasse 59 for breakfast - home-made muesli, followed by German bread, Wurst, Schinken (ham) and a choice of cheeses, all washed down with two more coffees.

Then I borrowed an electric beard and hair-trimmer and metamorphosed myself from Ernest Hemingway into an asylum-seeking refugee.

    Me as Ernest Hemingway [BBC]                                            Me as an asylum-seeker [selfie]

Everybody had different things to do, so I made myself scarce and drove into Heilbronn, 20 minutes away. 

Heilbronn

I wanted to go to several shops I like there, including Woolworth's and C & A, both Dutch companies long-since disappeared from the British High Street. Here both are still going strong and sell stuff cheap.

    [Photos: Paul Whitelock]

There are also other places I like, such as Tchibo, a coffee brand with coffee shops which also sell interesting things, such as clothes, books, camping gear, as well as coffee beans from around the world.

The Wurstbude around the corner from the Stadtgalerie, a huge indoor shopping centre, was my destination for lunch where I enjoyed a Riesenbratwurst mit Brotchen und Senf, washed down with a Paulaner Hefeweizen. 9 euros, 10 with tip.

    [All above photos by Paul Whitelock]

After that it was a visit to one of the best bookshops I've ever come across in Germany. 

So, what did I buy in Heilbronn?

Well, I spent 48,25€ in Tchibo, 7€ in Woolworth, 13.35€ in Nanu-Nana and 5€ in TEDI.

The Osiander-Buchhandlung relieved me of just 2.99€ for a book of difficult Sudokus for Rita and an unnamed outlet, next-door, 1€ for 50 paper place mats.

77.59€ in total.

I was very happy with what I got.

[Photo: PW]    

BBQ at Hauptstrasse 59

We got together at Katrin and Gero's for dinner. Gero's sister Stefanie and her daughter Klara had arrived from Dortmund (NRW), so we were seven people. It had turned chilly so we sat inside. 

What a super evening - great Wurst, tasty Maultaschen, Brotchen and pasta with vegetables. Washed down with some super beers, wine for the older women and soft drinks for the kids.

And best of all a great chat, mostly in German with a bit of English for good measure.

Also a linguistics lesson from me - involving ghoti and fish. See the illustration to the right.

Back home for 11.00, Rita retired at 12 midnight and I followed at 1.00 am after wishing myself a happy 75th birthday!

[Sketchplanations]    

Sunday May 18th, 2025 - The big day

Confirmation Sunday

This was the reason for our trip to Germany. Lotta was to be confirmed today in the Kilianskirche, the protestant church in Talheim. It was also my 75th birthday - I was born on May 18th 1950. So the extended Schröder family had two important milestones to celebrate.

Birthday breakfast

I popped to the local bakery when it opened at 8.00 am and bought breakfast to take away.

We shared buttered pretzels and a buttered croissant with Senseo coffee in our delightful little Airbnb apartment.

Very German and very perfect.

My "birthday breakfast [PW]    

Then we showered and got ourselves "togged up". Rita looked stunning as always, today in a dark blue "Overall" (jump suit) with green flowers. Even Rita conceded I looked smart too in my navy blue slacks, navy polo shirt and mustard pullover.

We walked the short distance to the church where everybody was gathered outside in the sunshine. There were 11 young persons waiting to be "done". The service was all very nice and very protestant.

Afterwards it was photo-shoot time. Lottas older sister Madita is studying photography, so she took the best photos with her proper camera, while the rest of us "snapped away" on our mobile phones.

[Awaiting photos]

Confirmation-cum-birthday lunch

Just a short walk from the church is the excellent Ristorante il Meloranci, owned and run by Sicilian married couple Pina and Pepe Ruggiero. It's our favourite eatery around these parts. I've been a number of times. Christenings, confirmations and even our eve-of-wedding dinner back in 2010 - our church wedding was the following day in Maulbronn monastery.

[Photo: PW]    

As always the food was outstanding. We shared a first course of selected shared dishes (a bit like Spanish tapas, in fact) followed by a main course we had chosen in advance. Rita and I opted for Wolfsbarsch (sea bass) on a bed of sliced raw vegetables and rocket. Absolutely outstanding.

Coffee and dessert was to be served later chez Schröder.

Birthday drink

It is the custom in Germany that "das Geburtstagskind gibt einen aus", the birthday boy or girl buys a round of drinks. After discussion the day before with our hosts Katrin and Gero, who were footing the bill at the restaurant, that I should invite everyone for a post-prandial drink.

So at the appropriate moment I stood up and made a short speech, before inviting all present to order a digestif. Most adults ordered coffee and the children a soft drink, which meant my bill was far less than I was expecting.

Kaffee mit Kuchen

Back at the house the 19 of us had a choice of great cakes, among them Apfelkuchen, Johannisbeer-Torte, and Tschoko-Torte.

I was replete from lunch, yet over the next few hours I managed to find room for all three. My dilemma was, what to drink?

I'd been on wine in the restaurant so had another glass of white. I fancied a beer really but "Bier auf Wein, Lass das sein!" 

Later I had a cup of lemon tea and back at the flat no alcohol at all.

Hauptstrasse 59 [Photo: PW]    

Quite a sober birthday, in fact.

Monday May 19th, 2025 - Vuelta a España

Home time for me. Rita is staying two-and-a-half weeks longer to catch up with friends and family, while I shall be de Rodriguez ("home alone").

The day started with packing my rucksack and checking out of the Airbnb.

Then we drove to Gero. We had breakfast and relaxed a bit. Then it was off to Stuttgart to the airport for my flight back to Spain.

I arrived home at 10.00 pm, where Paulinchen was waiting to welcome me. My journey to Germany was over.

From today on, I am "de Rodriguez".

Links:

... de Rodríguez? - Secret Serrania de Ronda

© Paul Whitelock

Photos:

BBC, Landon-Advertising, Lebenslauf Bremen Shop, Madita Schröder, Osiander, Paul Whitelock, Sketchplanations, Wikipedia

Tags:

Anton, "Bier auf Wein, lass das sein!", BBC, "de Rodriguez", Deutschland, Eurowings, Gero, Heilbronn, Joachim Baensch, Julia Baensch,  Katrin, Landon-Advertising, Lebenslauf Bremen Shop, Lotta, Lyra, Madita Schröder, Osiander, Paul Whitelock, Rita, Ryanair, Schröder, Sketchplanations, Spanien, Paulinchen, Paul Whitelock, Sketchplanations, Stuttgart, Talheim, Wikipedia

The last four weeks have been incredibly busy, with lots going on.

It all started with the death of a Pope and ended on my 75th birthday.

Let's take a look.

[Image courtesy of Posters]    

Monday, April 21st - Pope Francis dies aged 88
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936, died on 21 April 2025. Head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until his death. He was the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III.

[Image courtesy of ABC News]    

Pope Francis - Wikipedia

Monday, April 28th - El gran apagon

The longest and most widespread power cut in living memory hit Spain, Portugal and parts of France.

Read more here: 

Thursday, May 1st - Labour Day / May Day

Celebrated throughout the Western world. Often a public holiday.

For more on this, click here:

Sunday, May 4th - My dad's birthday

John Albert Whitelock would have been 108 today. Sadly he left us 40 years ago aged 68 after suffering a fatal heart attack.

Here is more: 

Monday, May 5th - Early May Bank Holiday (UK)

This is in effect May Day. The UK prefers to have its public holidays on a Monday.

Wednesday, May 7th - Papal conclave begins / India - Pakistan conflict / US - UK trade deal / Arsenal out of Champions League

What a news day!

133 cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel to choose a new pope.

Hostilities commence between India and Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir territory.

A US-UK trade deal on tariffs is announced by Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer.

Arsenal crash out of the Champions League after defeat by Paris Saint Germain in the semi-finals.

Thursday, May 8th - 80th anniversary of VE Day

In 1945, this was the day when the German surrender was announced, after six years of fighting during World War II.

Commemorated widely throughout the West.

Thursday, May 8th - New pope chosen

In the early evening, following the fourth vote, white smoke emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, in Rome, signifying that the world's 1.406 billion Roman Catholics had a new pope, the 69-year-old American Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome.

"Habemos papam!" - Leo XIV

Friday, May 9th - International Day of Europe

75 years old, this day was inaugurated in 1950

Saturday, May 10th - The "101"

Sunday, May 11th - Homage to and Romeria

Thursday, May 15th - Off to Germany

Saturday, May 17th - Christening of grand-daughter Lotta in Talheim (Baden-Wuerrtemberg)

Sunday, May 18th - My 75th birthday

Monday, May 19th - Return to Spain