Curiosity and the Cats

Curiosity and the Cats – and Lolly.

I think it is generally accepted that cats are curious and our Ocicats are certainly no exception. In addition, they are very attached to us, following us around the house. When we go to bed at night they all come up with us, choosing their spots on the bed, between the dogs. Somehow, Barry and I manage to carve out space for ourselves and some while thereafter the cats move on to our legs. They are heavy! Lenny the Somali, who is actually one of Susannah’s cats, comes to bed later and sleeps next to my head. He used to try sleeping on it but I dissuaded him from that.

Lenny is a very vocal cat and it is possible, even obligatory, to have lengthy conversations with him. He greets everyone, two-legged and four-legged, with enthusiasm. For a fairly small cat he has a loud and insistent voice.

Lenny speaks! 

We have two wooden buildings at the end of our garden. One houses the endless swimming pool and the other is a gymnasium. One morning recently, Barry stepped into the garden to be met by Lenny, vociferously miauing and running back and forth in the direction of the gym.  Barry chatted to him but Lenny was insistent that Barry should follow him. Naturally, one cannot disobey a cat and so he followed him. On opening the door he was met by Herschel and Jellicoe, who had slipped in behind him a few hours earlier and found themselves shut in. It was remarkable how persistent Lenny was. Clearly, he did not want his friends to remain trapped.

The next day Barry went to the swimming pool and when he opened the door Jellicoe shot out like a bolt from an arrow, desperate to relieve himself. When Barry had gone to check the water temperature the previous evening Jellicoe had followed him in, unnoticed, and had been locked in all night. We don’t allow our cats to stay outside at night and usually count them before we go to bed, leaving fresh chicken in the kitchen for their supper. Somehow, we had neglected to do this so poor Jellicoe was not only imprisoned but left to starve. Such cruel humans! He has been unusually attentive and lap-seeking since then.

In mitigation, we had been hosting Lolly the Labrador while her humans went on holiday, and had needed to ensure she went upstairs before the cats were fed. There were two reasons for this. The first is that Lolly is very good but not used to cats. She knows she must not chase them but sometimes the temptation proves too much. Our Ocicats treat her with disdain so she soon abandons her pursuit of them, although to be extra sure of safety they frequently take to altitude. The exception to this is Isambard, the most nervous and timid of our cats, who nonetheless does his utmost to make friends with her. Foolish Lenny and his brother Solomon run away and so Lolly is encouraged to give chase. Feisty Zula the Abyssinian, the smallest of them all, hisses loudly and wise Lolly keeps her distance from her. The second reason concerns the gate – a baby gate! – into the kitchen to prevent our dogs thieving the cats’ succulent raw chicken wings. It presents no obstacle to Lolly who is very athletic and leaps over with ease. She is not a greedy dog – for a Labrador! - but chicken is alluring and it is amazing how quickly a dog can siphon up food.

Frankie loves the dogs and enjoyed having an extra dog for a couple of weeks. Here they all are in Simons Wood, left to right : Gus, Jenna, Frankie, Bertie, Lolly, Roxy

Lolly has returned home now and life has returned to normal, or as normal as it ever is in our house. It is also a little quieter, because Lolly, being a London dog, is very protective of Bethan and her children and transfers that care to us when on holiday with us. She has a loud, penetrating bark and encourages the rest to join in. Five barking dogs are a great deterrent to potential intruders and much more effective than any doorbell.

Sadly, Lolly was getting used to the cats again and they were sleeping next to her, but next time she comes to stay we shall have to reinforce the lessons learnt this time – and last time – and the time before. Lolly is very intelligent but there are some things she pretends  - or prefers - not to understand.

What's been happening?

What’s been happening?

(Clicking on the photos enlarges them - usually . . . )

The days and weeks and months pass so quickly and when I look back I can’t see that anything much has happened. So, what has been happening?

In February and August of 2016, after years of increasing immobility and pain, Barry had two knee replacements. The result is that he is taller and can do so much more now. He was a very good patient and did all his exercises assiduously. His physiotherapist was extremely good and got the measure of him very quickly, recognising his very competitive spirit, and warning advising him not to overdo things.

 In February last year, 2017, Susannah treated us to a trip to Tromsø in Norway to see the Northern Lights. If proof were needed of the success of Barry’s knee operations, it was provided by that holiday. We went out at night into the fjords to see the Lights and Barry stood for several hours, filming them. The next day we went out again, in the hope of seeing orcas and humpback whales, though the majority had left the area, and again Barry stood for several hours taking photographs. We saw a couple of orcas and one humpback.

Aurora Borealis, Tromso

In the summer, Susannah and I went to Lucca in Tuscany. She was going to a friend’s wedding and I was going to look after Frankie. However, Frankie didn’t come with us in the end. It was very hot!

Villa Cheli, Lucca, Tuscany

Italian wall lizard

In August, our eldest grandson, Callum, came to live with us. He is on a year’s work placement from university. It’s lovely to have a young man in the house and beneficial for Frankie to have another good male role model. We see a lot of his girl-friend, Kat, too.

Callum and Kat at the helm of Appaloosa. 

In September Frankie started full-time school. As he had been attending pre-school in the same school since he was three, the staff and facilities were familiar to him. However, quite naturally, he was a little anxious and wanted to know if there would be toilets there! The uniform was a challenge for him. No longer was it a case of pulling on a tee-shirt and trousers. Now he had to manage shirt buttons. I have watched my husband countless times as he strains and contorts to fasten the wretched top button. Although Frankie had practised fastening buttons before term started, he could not manage the top button and found it frustrating. In fact, the thought of undressing and dressing affected his enjoyment of school and there were several occasions when he said, ‘I don’t like swimming/PE/school.’ It passed, of course, and now he is proud that he can get undressed/dressed quicker than his peers. Like his grandfather, Frankie is very competitive.

First day of school - so many clothes!

 The watchword in our house is, ‘Practice makes perfect’ and so it proves with many things. Frankie asked me the other day why I could write so quickly and I told him it was because I’d had lots of practice.

We hosted Christmas 2017, the first time we’ve done that for several years. Bethan and Robert and Charlie came, with Lolly, of course. It was fun and we were so well-organised, unusually for us, that we could have eaten lunch at 11.30. Susannah, a dedicated vegetarian, was in charge of vegetables and I was responsible for cooking the meat. The thing that delayed us and made us laugh was part of the vegetarian element. The Brussels sprouts were not ready! Even so, we ate at 1.00 which was just as well as small children cannot wait long for food without becoming fretful.

Charlie and Frankie

On the animal front the Labradors keep us busy and make us go out. We may sometimes be reluctant but the rewards are many, not least seeing the joy of our dogs playing. We both use walking poles as the ground we cover is rough and full of ruts and roots and often extremely muddy.

Retrieving sticks

The cats are six in number. We have our three Ocicat brothers, who will be six this year. Susannah’s much loved and characterful Abyssinian, Cleopatra, known as Pats or Patricia, died in 2017. Susannah already had two Somali brothers (Somalis are long-haired Abyssinians) and now has a tiny, exquisite Abyssinian female, Zula, who was one year old on 1^st February. The cats adore the dogs, Bertie in particular, and you may be sure that if you are making a fuss of a dog you will soon be joined by one or more cats.

Zula

All the animals love Callum and pile onto and around him and also Kat. I think they respond positively to youth!

Callum with four dogs and two cats

So there you have it. We have done very little other than look after our family. We are older but not much wiser and still look to the future though with less optimism about our lovely country. Politicians of both main parties, at least those in the headlines, the ‘leaders’, prove their incompetence almost daily. MPs of all persuasions demand that more money should be thrown at whichever problem is causing the most unease at any time. That is not the answer but it impresses the voters . . . maybe. Plus ça change!

The Twenty-Second Blog of Augustus Lazarus Cooke (Gus)

Hello everyone!

In case anyone was wondering where we’d all got to, the answer is . . . nowhere! We have been here all the time.

Callum came to look after us when Mr and Mrs H went away for a weekend. It was nice to see him. They went to a place called Hartwell House

A long time ago some men came to put up a special fence so that the cats could go into the garden and be safe. Well, this summer the cats were allowed to go out. Jellicoe was very bold and prowled around for ages making a terrific din, yowling. 

Jellicoe

Isambard was a bit of a scaredy-cat and stayed on the patio so that he could dash back indoors if he got too frightened.

Isambard

Herschel was braver and Solomon and Lenny were quite daring too. 

Herschel

Now all the cats, except Pats, who never comes downstairs, love being in the garden and they wait at the patio door, the first to dash out in the mornings, even before Roxy and Bertie. They stay out all day, chasing dragonflies . . . 

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)

. . . and watching the fish in the pond, or talking to the birds or just sleeping in the sun. 

Herschel soaking up the sun

Lenny is always the last to come in when Mrs H calls them for supper. He sits outside and cries until she goes out to pick him up. He’s such a baby.

Mr and Mrs H went out one day and took Roxy with them. The rest of us had to stay at home. We didn’t mind too much because we had all had our breakfast and then been out for a walk. Roxy was tired when she came home – she’d been playing with Lolly. 

Roxy and Lolly

 Bethan and Charlie

Mr and Mrs H had been to see Charlie ‘cos it was his first birthday. It’s my birthday tomorrow – I shall be seven.

Bertie and Gus (and Roxy)

Gus

Gillian and Marnie came to see us a little while ago with Isla and Fergus. The next day they went out and when they came back they were carrying two chocolate puppies, Bella and Bruno. 

Bella and Bruno

They are Roxy’s brother and sister. We enjoyed seeing them but were all quite relieved when they left – I don’t think us dogs and cats are ready for more puppies yet. Roxy is still quite a puppy as it is . . . she loves playing with Frankie. 

Frankie

They play ball together but Roxy sometimes destroys the balls.

Mr H went away for a few days and came back with a big plaster on his leg so he can’t come out with us for walks until his leg is better. He’s taller now, too!

Paul came yesterday to do some work in the house. All us dogs were very happy to see him.

So, it’s been quite busy in our house. Us dogs never know what’s going to happen next. Someone said something about the kitchen . . . I don’t know what that means.

I don’t think there’s anything else to report.

Be good.

Hwyl fawr am nawr! (That’s Welsh for ‘Goodbye for now!’)

Cheering ourselves up

After a dismal, dismayed weekend following the Referendum result on Friday it’s time to shake ourselves out of the gloom.

It’s Bertie’s birthday today – he’s five years old. He is a most affectionate and loyal companion. He is very sensitive – if Barry gets cross with a rugby referee, for example, (on television, that is) Bertie slopes off upstairs, out of harm’s way, just in case it’s his fault!

Bertie (left) and Buster

 Bertie poised to attack

Bertie all paws

Buster (left) 'helping' Bertie with the aqua kong

Purposeful Bertie

Bethan and Robert came home from Italy on Saturday and called to collect Lolly yesterday. Lolly nearly turned herself inside out with excitement.

Lolly: 'I'm ready, I'm ready'

Frankie was delighted to see his baby cousin, Charlie, and enjoyed playing with him. Of course, Charlie, ten months old, has no real appreciation of how to play, but Frankie didn’t realise that and enjoyed his company anyway.

Frankie (left) and Charlie

'Give me the moonlight . . .

Give me the girl . . .

And leave the rest to me.'

Frankie wearing his playhouse!

Desperately seeking . . .

Desperately seeking . . .

Yesterday I was desperately seeking inspiration. I tried two different prompts and wrote some very indifferent verse, even more indifferent than usual, that is. I gave up in the end, fed up. I was beginning to wonder if my brain was shrinking but actually I was tired and today is a better day so I turned to the photographs Barry took recently in Simons Wood.

I have been going to Simons Wood regularly in recent months because the ponds in Crowthorne Forest have been polluted by a heating oil spillage from Broadmoor Hospital. This is not the first time this has happened but on the last occasion, several years ago, we had Dalmatians who enjoyed the water but could be dissuaded from going in the ponds. This is not possible with the Labradors we now have. They make a bee-line for any body of water and will swim just for the sheer pleasure of the experience. I really wanted to have some photos of Roxy in the water when she first started swimming but I can’t cope with four/five dogs, the ball flinger, four (!) balls and a camera. She swam vertically! As Bethan said, ‘She looks as though she doesn’t want to get her hair wet.’

Jenna, one of the four balls in her mouth.

Left to right: Jenna, Lolly, Gus, Bertie, Roxy playing at being a hearth rug. The human is me.

My Master Photographer does not yet trust his new knee sufficiently to walk as far as the lake and his old knee, soon to be replaced, will not allow him to stand for extended periods. That makes him sound a poor old crock but he isn’t; it’s just that his knees got knackered through too many sports injuries. His left leg is now straight and soon his right leg will be too. The odd thing is that he lists to the right because that leg is shorter for the moment.

 Simons Wood is lovely – a mix of evergreens and broad-leaved trees with decades of leaf mould underfoot combine to produce a beautiful, calming environment. There are many different paths to take but the one the dogs like most is the one leading to the lake.

Lolly is staying with us at the moment as Bethan and Robert and Charlie are in Puglia in Italy. She is very good but I’m sure she misses her family. She heard Bethan’s voice yesterday when she called to see if Lolly was behaving herself and her ears pricked up excitedly. The compensation for her is having the company of our dogs, particularly Roxy. She and Roxy play together constantly and are exhausted by evening. When Lolly goes home next week she will probably sleep flat out for a couple of days.

Isambard, the dog whisperer

Lolly has not yet learnt that the cats have not been provided for her entertainment. She watches them closely and leaps on them when they move suddenly. Our Ocicats are tolerant – Isambard, the dog whisperer, makes every attempt to befriend Lolly and is gradually persuading her to accept his advances but Susannah’s Somalis take a very different attitude. They’re small and feisty with sharp claws and teeth. Lolly will learn eventually, hopefully not the hard way. J

This is how the cats expect dogs to behave (Jellicoe, back, Isambard fore.) Bertie is their favourite dog.

Bertie and Herschel

Herschel (fore) and Solomon. 

Solomon

 I am linking to Saturday’s Critters, hosted by eileeninmd and Camera Critters