“Ooooh Missus. It’s sooooo coooollld out here!”
Poor Baby Red did not look happy yesterday!
Which is admittedly, a rather foolish statement because squirrels don’t think like people. But animals do have an awareness of being cold.
Just ask any one of the cats that would not go near the front door.
“No thanks. Not going out any time soon.”
The doves were all huddled up.
“Going to sit here till Spring!”
.
“I’ve lost all the feeling in my tiny feet!”
“I think I’m frozen to the ground!”
“My husband exaggerates, but it is a bit chilly!”
The birds were certainly all fluffed up.
And hunkered down.
“I came for suet but it was froze solid.”
“I nearly bent my beak!”
Even the cats had been reluctant to rise and perhaps we would have all stayed warmly wrapped up if the ‘phone had not summoned me.
Pre-dawn calls are rare and I was in rather a tangle of cats and blankets when I picked the thing up. I was rather bemused at seeing the caller’s face and then realised to my horror that if I could see him, he no doubt could see me.
Bad enough at the best of times but my hair was full of static electricity, a real vision of loveliness.
Seriously, isn’t it out of order to wake people up using What’sApp?
It left me quite discombobulated!
Never mind. I was up and keen to find out just how cold it would be when I went out to greet the day!
The answer is quite!
Though mercifully the wind had dropped, so my five minute sortie was painless.
When I came back in, steam from the hot water kettle was freezing on a kitchen window.
Ignoring demands for cat breakfast, I watched the shape morph.
Rather lovely, the more so because it was momentary, like so many such visions.
After breakfast is when the “walkers” go out.
Lucy having become one of that club, she now clamours at the door. Yesterday though, she got one whiff of icy air and did a prompt about-face.
When I came to sit at my desk, there she was on my chair.
Why? I have a special cushion and none of the cats seem to care for it.
But the other day I couldn’t get comfortable and took the cushion off.
After lunch I had found Willow on the chair and not wanting to disturb her, I improvised. She soon went to sit elsewhere.
“Just keeping it warm for you!” she said.
But Lucy had noticed and that’s why she was sitting on my chair yesterday.
I placed her on a perch beside me but as you can see, she had comments to make.
“You didn’t make her move!”
Cats that live with me always participate in activities.
When I was able to exercise, I used to lie on the floor.
As soon as he saw me, Panther would insert himself inside my sweatshirt and stayed with his nose sticking out till I was finished, or till I decided cuddling him was more fun.
When I was at my computer, Panther used to perch beside me and poke my thigh, just to let me know he was there.
It was Panther’s thing and after he died I missed it so much.
But funnily, sometimes I still feel that little poke.
How many times have I looked down to see which cat it is, only to see that there is no cat.
I put it down to a nerve that twitches, or a vein.
Or whatever.
Yesterday as I was finishing my blog, a poke. This time it was Lily. Sometimes she wants to get on the chair behind me.
She used to do this all the time, but then she changed her allegiance to Grant. She’s a free spirit and it isn’t always convenient to be pushed around by a cat, so I really didn’t mind.
But in the past year, for whatever reason, Lily began coming to poke me again.
Could you resist such a face?
She used to want to climb up my back but she doesn’t do that anymore and she doesn’t stay long.
She just seems to want to say “hi”.
Later on she will be sitting with Sophia or racing about the house like a mad thing.
Or sleeping with her face buried in a pillow. How she doesn’t suffocate is a mystery.
For much of last year, Lily was serenading us. Every morning and other times as well. Usually it was her:
“I want to go OOUUTT! NaooooWWWW”.
or it could be one of those times when she was communing with whatever ghost is in the engine room.
(We have often heard cat “conversations” down there.)
Maybe the ghost is gone, since there has been a lot less singing lately.
Muffin sometimes comes around chattering, but this usually means she thinks you may have forgotten a meal.
And sometimes she just wants a bit of lap time.
Which I am delighted to accommodate.
Cats are like children in that you learn their habits and when deviations occur, it’s time to worry.
Well, sometimes you check and sometimes you don’t.
Last night I was enjoying my book, warm in bed.
There were noises. Downstairs.
“What the hell is that man doing?” I wondered.
Scraping noises. Metallic noises.
“Why is he moving furniture?”
There was a faint “meow”, also downstairs.
Maybe the cats were doing mouse patrol.
Though I was a bit surprised that Grant didn’t yell at them to stop the racket.
At 10 o’clock, I wandered about before settling down. The house was quiet. Then, as I walked through the kitchen, crash!
As I opened a cupboard a cat flew past, nearly knocking me down.
Dee Dee had been in there for over two hours and had taken the opportunity to conduct a thorough inventory.
“I got really bored.” she said
“So I decided to open the Friskies and check them too.”
“I think I may have lost count, though.”
“It says ‘before April’, so I wanted to help out.”
“April, Dee Dee. Next year, Dee Dee.”
“Oh. Well I needed to do quality control, you know?”
“Got to keep on top of those things.”
“And what else were you doing?”
“I re-arranged those plastic bag thingies. And pushed the metal bowls back in the corner. Don’t want them falling down and making a noise. I know how noises alarm people!!!”
“Cos you never know when one of your darlings might be in trouble.”
“Wouldn’t you feel just terrible then? If you hadn’t come to check?”
It’s always good to have extra help!
Thank you, Carolyn, for your cats musings, very lovely!
Joanna
Indeed, the birds have really put up a show to tell us just how cold it is outside! With that face of Lily she can ask me anything and I would be more than happy to do whatever she wants me to do 🙂. And it seems that Dee Dee had a party with those Party Mix!
“But funnily, sometimes I still feel that little poke.
How many times have I looked down to see which cat it is, only to see that there is no cat.”
🙂
A whole bag of that party mix must have made her very Frisky! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.