The
company is named after our large black feline 'Felix'. I adopted Felix in 2003 and we both adopted Ellen a year later.
Prior to May 2003, Felix lived with Ian and Tracy Sydenham and their family in Poole,
Dorset. The Sydenhams were planning to move to Spain and intended taking their furry monster with them until it was pointed
out that Felix wasn't all that keen on English summers and might not appreciate the heat of the Spanish mountains.
Ian's lovely mum Phyllis (now sorely missed by family, friends and former
colleagues alike) put up a notice in the office where she and I both worked. This kicked off the chain
of events which culminated in Felix taking a ride on a train and a ferry back to Gosport to live with me.
The Sydenhams tell me that Felix was one of about 30 cats and kittens found in an
empty house that Ian and his brother had visited in order to renovate it. He was the runt of one of the litters and barely
alive. Ian took Felix home with him, whereby he, Tracy and their children nursed him to full health.
Apparently they named
him Felix because, as a kitten, he would fly at the television screen as soon as the advertisment for 'Felix'
cat food came on the telly. Not that he would actually eat the stuff, mind! (bit of a fussy one, he is.....)
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| Steinlen's iconic poster art |
'Le Chat Noir' (which is French for 'The
Black Cat') is a direct reference to the famous ‘fin de siècle’-era cabaret in Paris, perhaps most noted for the 'poster art' created by Théophile
Alexandre Steinlen (although Felix is considerably less scrawny than the cat in Steinlen's pictures). I sometimes talk
to Felix in French: he takes about as much notice of me in French as he does when I talk to him in English (i.e. not a lot).
Otherwise, Felix follows normal
feline patterns of behaviour: eating, pooing, sleeping and begging, interspersed with brief periods of random violence
and (even more random) affection.
If you're still unsure of what 'normal' cat behaviour consists of, then you should watch the 'Simon's Cat' cartoons (click
for link)
As you can see for yourselves, Felix grew up to be a handsome
boy and a bit of a bruiser to boot! Click on any of the pictures to enlarge.
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| Courtesy of C Burnes |
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| Courtesy of C Burnes |
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| Courtesy of C Burnes |
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| Courtesy of C Burnes |
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| Courtesy of C Burnes |
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| Courtesy of C Burnes |
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