The birthday boy, and another lucky cat

Yesterday was Gordon's B I R T H  D A Y,  so he took the day off (we always take our birthdays off!) We drove to Perth to have lunch with our friends Willie and Sue. We became friends with them back when we were all living in Nova Scotia. It's great that after we moved back to Ontario, they moved to Perth. It's about a two-hour drive from here, but it's closer than Nova Scotia!

Perth is a beautiful small Ontario town on the Tay River, full of gorgeous stone buildings.

We had lunch here at Fiddleheads Bar & Grill...

...and Gordon got his dessert free because it was his birthday!

Big old water tower!

The courthouse and other municipal offices.

Gordon LOOOOVES to look at real estate listings!

Perth is even prettier in summer, so we will go back for another visit then.

After lunch and  a stroll, we went back to Sue and Willie's and met their new cat, Dutch...

Dutch was at the Lanark Animal Welfare Society for 13 months while he waited for his forever home. As you can see, he has now found it and he's happy.

When Willie and Sue went in to adopt the cat, they asked who had been there the longest. That was Dutch. After his adoption, the shelter put a little notice in the local paper...

Dutch is a beautiful, mellow cat and I don't know why no one adopted him sooner. He does look a little cranky in his adoption photo but it's just the funny way his "eyebrows" are. He sometimes looks like he's furrowing his brow.

Hmmmm, maybe the fact that he weighs 20 lbs has something to do with it....

Willie and Sue did a weigh-in so we could check Dutch's heft. he is NOT a delicate flower!

But he sure is happy!

Gordon was smitten. Don't tell Emily!

Dutch kept running at my camera, wanting to head-butt it. He's very friendly and affectionate.

And he REEEALLY likes the propane fireplace!

His fur got very hot while he was lying here but he didn't seem to care.

Gordon has a new friend.

I am so glad there are people like Willie and Sue, who will give a chance to an animal who needs it most. Dutch has become great buddies with their other cat, Herman. Herman is 13 and has always been shy around strangers, so I didn't get any photos of him, but apparently he has been whipping Dutch into shape. ;)

 Meanwhile, back at home, the birthday boy had a little cuddle with our kitten Emily...

Two lucky cats! One who showed up in the bitter cold at our farm and was taken in, and another who waited patiently at a shelter for a year until the people he was meant to be with showed up.

A lovely day was had by all! Gordon also got a nice bottle of wine and two loaves of Willie's egg bread. Willie used to own a bakery in Nova Scotia and is a master baker. The last time we saw him, he brought us three dozen of his world famous cinnamon buns. YUM! 

Thanks for a great day, Willie and Sue.