The solstice has come & gone which means the world has turned. The days grow shorter as the winter approaches. After days of humidity & stodge the rain is falling in big heavy drops.
Marlow is my shadow. He always knows exactly where I am & what I am doing. He is, annoyingly, almost always underfoot. He comes when he's called, his bushy tail held high, chirrupping softly his happiness that his person has spoken to him.
Only last night he was being unreasonably stubborn. I could see him perched on the verandah. I know he heard me, but come he would not. I went outside thinking he needed some encouragement as he is the most incredibly timid cat I have ever owned but he had disappeared under the verandah ~ which is so unlike him I was more than a little surprised. As I swung the flashlight too & fro looking for him I spotted another pair of eyes watching me in alarm ~ wide, terrified eyes.
*sigh*
Ongoing problem. We are always having stray cats show up but inevitably we can't catch them & paralysis ticks do for them. This one was very young & terribly, terribly scared. He was a lovely, dark smokey blue/grey so blended into the shadows perfectly. I put out food & water for him & if I can convince him we're non threatening I'll nab him ~ but by then it may well be too late. Why do people not care for their animals?!
Then there was Kirby ~ a cat of another colour entirely. Kirby is Mr Smooch~Bug ~ at his pleasure! He adores me completely but inevitably it is Kirby who is missing at bed~time, Kirby who refuses to come when called, Kirby who spooks at visitors. High~strung & super intelligent I have more trouble with Kirby than any cat ever. He opens doors & windows. He climbs the framing in the garage & hurtles into the ceiling. He hides & refuses to answer. His preferred sleeping spots include on the top of anything he thinks I can't reach. He quivers during storms, beats up on his brother, & has at least as wide a territory as Issi, who was most definitely an alpha male.
Yesterday as Caitlin was investigating the leftover sweets in the kitchen she let out an almighty yelp.
That's Kirby! He's chasing a dog!
Most of the dogs round here are of the lap~dog variety so I was rather surprised that my child shoved chocolate in her mouth & bolted out the door. Kirby is more than a match for any lap~dog! I followed more sedately to see what all the fuss was about. Um...not a lap~dog. It was some over large monstrosity that looked like it had pit bull in it & Kirby was hustling him down the road at a great rate of knots. *sigh*
The dog belongs to our neighbour's grandkids so when he reached here, he turned around to go into his own yard. Well, Kirby wasn't expecting that at all. And he didn't like it. Not one tinsy bit. He shot straight up the nearest tree & clung on for dear life like some strange koala!
I'm not much of a dog person. Being jumped all over & slobbered upon by some strange dog makes me sharper than I intend. The dog was promptly called to order but he is obviously not very well trained because Ryan found him in our yard later tearing the bait bucket to shreds. To say he was not impressed would be something of an understatement.
No such problems today. The rain is spitting sporadically & both cats are curled up inside sleeping innocently.
No comments:
Post a Comment