What I did on my holiday. I cleaned. Then I cleaned again. The End.

I’m a sucker! As I’m going to bed, Ziva wants back in … yeah, I opened the door for her. Sigh. I had to shut the fanlight in the bedroom, though, since she kept perching there. The problem with that is that the Mip Mips all try to follow her – and that involves climbing up my curtains! So, despite the heat, I shut the fanlight.

It was so hot and humid last night, it took me a long time to fall asleep. But I woke up nice and early. Well, first wake up was at five – to let Ziva out – but I went back to bed. I got up at six.

 

Ziva sitting outside, trilling to her offspring

It had rained during the night, and was still overcast this morning, although it has cleared up since then. I don’t know exactly why – it certainly wasn’t planned – but I found myself picking up all the scraps and bits of paper and feather in my bedroom, followed by a thorough vacuuming of the same. I guess I’d just had enough of looking at that horrible mess everywhere. I cleaned the passage and the lounge as well. Then folded up the laundry – which is quite a challenge when you have four curious kittens ‘helping’. They paw at the laundry, climb into the basket and disappear when I open the closet to put things away. I should still do the bathroom …

While I was vacuuming I couldn’t help wonder about the directions I had read on a product for eliminating fleas from carpets. It says to ‘work it into the carpet until it’s not visible’ – do they mean to sit with a brush and brush it into the carpet? The whole carpet? Ok, but then they say ‘do not vacuum for three weeks’. Hello? Three weeks? When you have pets? Who lives like that? Yeah, ok, so before I had this feline infestation, I’d sometimes leave a room for two, maybe even three weeks; but with pets? Who comes up with such directions? Needless to say, the product therefore has zero practical value! The kind of person who cares to have their home flea-free will not go without vacuuming for three weeks!

When I moved in here, the entire carpet was infested with fleas – I had red rings around my ankles for weeks! I just sprinkled flea powder everywhere and left that for about a week. Ok, so there’s white powder on the carpet, which doesn’t look very clean, but only for a week. And until the kittens were born, I never needed to do that again. I don’t know where the kittens get the fleas, though. I had treated Ziva when she first arrived, and again after they were born. I’ve treated the kittens a month ago, and again yesterday. At least I’m not affected – I don’t have a single bite on my anywhere, nor have I had in all this time.

Now it’s noon – Mip Mip Siesta time = fur-granny freedom! I really should take this opportunity to take the trash out – but I’m exhausted! I went into the room to get socks & shoes – just in case – and noticed Mewthos had settled himself in the tipped-over basin!

 

Mewthos

Where was I? Oh yeah, the Mip Mips were on their noon Siesta and I was too exhausted to take out the trash! So, guess what I did? I cleaned the bathroom before taking out the trash! Not spick-n-span clean, just the rough stuff. Remember those school essays “What I did on my holiday”? Yeah, that’ll be pretty short: “I cleaned. Then I cleaned again. The End.”

My life is a sitcom, the title should be something like “All I did was shelter a homeless cat … now I’m servant to four felines and a bird” or maybe “There once was a little old lady who liked cats …” or what about “One cat started it all” or perhaps “I used to have a life, then I let a cat in …” although it would be more accurate to say “One Servant, Six Masters”. Those may sound a bit too grim, how about “Help! I’m Cleaner to Five Cats!” or “Cats may clean themselves – but someone still needs to clean up after them!” or “One Cat, Four Kittens and their Servant”. Personally, I think “It all started when the cat walked in” gives just the right amount of mystery, allowing a lead-up to my suffering! He He.

About those cornflowers – maybe tomorrow. I’m still busy with the bathroom, the enamel in the bath has been gone for ages, so it doesn’t clean easy. Doesn’t clean at all is more like it – I’m throwing everything I’ve got at it, nothing works. I also still want to change the sheets. And clean the litter corner. And, and, and … it just doesn’t end.

When Rose visited, we came up with a new game: Treadmill! Turn that large flower pot on its side, throw in a toy and when any Mip Mip gets in, start rolling! Lizzy got in mostly and entertained us wonderfully!

Ziva and the Mip Mips behaved quite well while I cooked, then ate my dinner. Ziva is very restless again, insisting on going out. She jumped out the window onto the roof, but seemed hesitant to take the next jump. I called her back and let her out the door. She came back before dark – but continues to try to get out. Not tonight, sweetie, I’ve shut the fanlights.

 

See how they've grown?
Earl, Mewthos with Ziva behind him.

Ziva playing with Mewthos

Here’s something I don’t fully understand: Why is it necessary for some people to deny everyone the pleasure of fireworks? I don’t know any pet-owner who doesn’t bring their pets inside on the 31^st December. I don’t want to get into this, but when it was ‘Ban Fireworks because Children get hurt’ … I’ll shut up now.

The moonrise was quite beautiful at sunset, so I took a couple of photos.

 

Beautiful colouring from sky blue to pink to sky blue again then ocean dark blue

I re-filled the kibble dispenser with the Purina and they all fell on it like hungry wolves! Evidently they like it more than the Iams. I also gave them some wet food, which they, too, wolfed down. It was already half ten, and I hadn’t processed the photo’s yet, so I’m posting this first thing in the morning.

Happy New Year!

Early bird ... gets caught by the cat!

Lovely night! I slept well and woke up just after five! Ok, so I missed the sunrise – but there wouldn’t have been much to see anyway, as it’s completely overcast. And with the breeze coming off the sea (I can smell the salt) it’s going to be another humid day.

5:20 let Ziva out. 5:40 Ziva comes back bearing gifts! Sigh, this time it’s a Sparrow. Alive and well, just in shock. Shut Ziva in the bedroom with the Mip Mips, let the bird recover and hop out the front door. I find the sequence and progression interesting – first it was pigeons eaten in my bedroom, then a live pigeon (which recovered and flew out), then the Starling, then the dead bird on the doormat outside, and now the Sparrow. It’s as if Ziva is trying to find my tolerance – or my liking?

I spent some time playing with the Mip Mips – all sorts: fly-fishing (where I flick one of those toys-on-a-string from left to right), rat-race … and then they were too tired and decided to nap. Earl came for a cuddle-and-purr parrot-fashion extreme needy session. Later Ziva also came for her due of my attention – intense! She normally saunters off after about a minute, but this time she wriggled and rubbed herself against me for at least five minutes! And now Mewthos wants to play cuddle-parrot. I don’t know what it is with the boys not wanting to curl up on my lap, but insisting on climbing onto my shoulder, my head, walk along my arm before they jump off and saunter away.

Playing with one of the toys Rose made

I managed to hang the first load of laundry without endangering the bird – as in: no feline got into the room. As I’m loading the machine, I realise a Mip Mip widdled in the laundry basket! Sigh … I don’t know who the secret widdler is. I’ve observed every single one of the Mip Mips use the litter box. So what’s the problem? Why? Why these odd lapses of toilet-training? My bathroom mat was widdle-riddled, my magazine (which I’d left on the floor in the toilet) was puddled, the corner by the bath has the occasional puddle – I’m at my wits end! And no, that wasn’t a short stroll!

I decided to use this beautiful day to take Mip Mips for a walk. Since Earl is almost the first at the door, he was my first test subject. Snigger. I tried the harness – but he’s fighting that tooth and claw! Since I don’t want to look like I tried to mate with a slice-and-dicer, I gave up. And put the collar on him – which he didn’t like any better. I clipped the leash on and dragged him outside. Then dragged him down the first set of stairs where Ziva and Shadow joined us. From there on he had fun! Went down the stairs, sniffed everything along the way, explored the flowers – unlike Mewthos, though, he went through the vegetable patch and then followed the drain. He hopped through the gate at Rose’s, but I managed to get him back before he could wriggle out of the collar. He continues to follow the grey cement road – sorry, there are no yellow bricks here. He sniffs and explores every inch of the cement, the drain, the so-called ‘french drain’ and then meanders up towards the washing line for a bit. He’s back and forth along the courtyards, highly interested in visiting Rose. She hears us and opens up, so Earl can sniff and visit to his heart’s content! All the while Ziva and Shadow circling him – one in front and one behind him. He’s hesitant to enter Rose’s, so eventually I pick him up and set him down inside. Outside smells more interesting though, so we’re off into the garden again. On the way we meet Rose’s tom – who lets Earl pass without trouble, but bushes his tail for Shadow. Whose tail is just as bushy in response! The weather has cleared up and it’s promising to be a hot and humid day – again. It’s already hot in the sun, too hot for me, so I decide that time for walkies is over. Earl, too, stayed in the shade and avoided the direct sun, so we’re in agreement.

Mewthos and Lady Jane investigate the washing machine – inside and out!

 

Mewthos being Mr Quizzy!

I’ve put the fan back out here, it’s really hot today. Mip Mips are holding their daily noon Siesta while I try to decide what I want to do. I figured I might as well do the dishes while I try to decide. It’s quite lovely outside, but only in the shade. The sun is scorching hot! So gardening will have to wait.

 

You'd think these were the twins, right?

Wrong!

Experimenting with Black & White

Ziva on her perch

And this is why she 'escapes' to her perch!

After Siesta Lizzy comes for attention. She is definitely her mother’s daughter! Sure, she’ll let you pick her up, but she’ll saunter right back down. If you want to give her the attention she’d like, you get down on the floor and she’ll snuggle up to you while you may stroke her! Her happy purr shall be your sole reward!

I’ve been taking care of some small tasks I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time now. One of the biggies would be to wash the lounge curtains – but that’s too big a task in this heat. The fan is helping a lot, though – since I can’t open the door to let air in. And I’m not feeling humidity, at least not yet. It’s hot, but two years ago in Pretoria was a lot worse! I remember sitting on the sofa, spraying myself with water mist while the fan was full on me – just to cool down a bit.

It’s around three in the afternoon and the weather is overcast again and it’s cooled down nicely, so I’m off into the garden.

The pot plants look absolutely bone-dry, so I started by loosening the soil, then watering them, when Rose came out! She meant to visit the Mip Mips, but seeing I was in the garden, suggested we check on the cherry tomatoes in the rockery. Oh my, another bumper crop! We filled two sandwich bags with our pickings! I just had some, and they’re delicious!

Then I cleaned out the dried up Sweet Peas, picking off the pods as I went along. Rose had brought her chair, and she pulled the seeds from the pods. I’m afraid most of the pods were already empty – so there will be a LOT of Sweet Peas growing there next season. Same goes for the Sweet Peas by the Nasturtiums. I also collected Cosmos seeds, and again, a lot have already gone to ground.

I filled an entire bag – but that doesn’t mean much, since I focused on all large plants needing to be pulled. Big effect for little effort. And finally, I watered the entire garden. It looks and feels like rain is on the way – but the ground is so bone-dry, better not count on that! If I get another chance to garden, I’ll take care of the cornflowers next. They’re also pretty dried and done.

Last year I spent practically every waking hour in the garden. Clearing the path, tending the bed – yep, there was only one bed a year ago. Oh, and no rockery! But that side of the garden is a whole other story. I’ve made a lot of progress since I’ve moved in.

 

May 2016, just before I moved in

Same day, before I moved in

Mid December last year, before I went on leave
What's interesting here is that you can see the 'grass' to the right of the path is drier than to the left.

This is what I achieved by the end of Dec 2016

A year later (today) - with the help of our gardener

Rose came up to visit our Mip Mips, giving each one a hug and a cuddle while she was here. She didn’t have as much time for the visit, since we’ve just spent some hours in the garden. A lovely afternoon!

I fried myself a Texan Steak for dinner, which was delicious. Ziva wouldn’t stop harassing me for her share, so I shut her and her brood in the bedroom. Some of the Mip Mips are taking their cue from Ziva, and are starting to harass me while I eat – better nip that kind of behavior in the bud while I can. It’s bad enough that they all cluster around me every time I go into the kitchen – learning from Ziva!

Now I just want to take a cool bath, wash the dirt and humidity off, then try an early night.

Yeah, not quite happening. Ziva went and jumped out of the window, determined to get her will. She wants out, I don't want her out - she wins. She came back in with Shadow just now ... and a Gecko. Still alive, a toy for Ziva. I chased both cats back out - and won't open the door again! My will is an early night. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Ziva!

Driving pets to vets

I stupidly forgot to take the roll of toilet paper off the holder – giving Lady Jane another moment of ecstasy when she ran off with not only the paper, but got the roll with still a lovely lot of paper to claw and chew and play with! Sigh.

When I went to bed, the Mip Mips were still in full play mode – so I played rat-race with them until they were all tired out. Sleep did not come easy – and I swear it gets warmer at night! I was hot and the room felt awfully humid. Fortunately I had taken the trouble to set up the fan in the bedroom, so I could switch it on for a while to cool down. I didn’t want to risk Mip Mips knocking it down while it’s running so I kept it switched off while I slept.

I woke up at a more reasonable hour – before eight. That’s only reasonable with Mip Mips – without, I would prefer to sleep so well, that I get up to watch the sun rise! At five! Yeah, life with Mip Mips – forget normal!

I took them to the vet for their booster shots plus a flea treatment. That cost me half a fortune! The vet said they’re all very healthy and definitely not skinny – if anything, they’re a bit chubby!

They’re due for another round in a month’s time, if I’m not completely broke by then. Sigh, they may be very cute, but they are also very expensive!

Back at home, Ziva comes in – doesn’t even give her brood a passing glance – and saunters through to the bedroom. Nibbles a few kibbles and saunters back out. Shadow came for a visit, licked Lizzy and Mewthos until the Mip Mips went to sleep, then sauntered out as well.

So I put the sleeping caboodle in the bedroom, shut the door and opened the front door – only, it’s a bit too windy today and much cooler, with the wind it’s almost cold, though it’s a good 24°C and horribly humid!

I went to get electricity and rolls. I detoured past the Crazy Store and picked up a couple of fun items. Amongst them a bright pink feather duster! Which Lady Jane claimed and ran off with – but once she got one of the feather loose, Lizzy took over. And boy did she take over! All growls and Spitfire until every last feather had come off. Now they’ve all got pink mouths and pink paws!

When I gave the code for my meter, the Body Corporate came up as the owner, with the address of one of the flats on the other road. I couldn’t be sure I had the right meter number, so I had to drive back home, get an old slip and make sure. Yeah, turns out the Body Corporate decided to register the meter in their name – only informing me was not in anyone’s interest. Question: shouldn't the owner register the meter? Like all the other flats?

I also stopped at Newton Spar – and had a good experience with staff, for a change! One of the items I’d bought had no bar code, so the packer went to get a bar code. After I had paid, she came back with a half-priced bar code – when she put the item back, she saw two sizes and brought back the smaller sized bar code which turned out to be the correct one. I thanked her very much for going the extra mile.

My bedroom looks like a pink and white … I can’t think of a fitting comparison now. It’s an absolute mess, that’s for sure. Ziva is spending a lot of time indoors today, wanting my attention, doing her barrel-roll again, like she used to when she was pregnant. Right now she’s nursing her Mip Mips – in the passage! It’s quarter to three, so when she’s done I’ll pack her up and take her for her booster shots.

Right, all done. I asked the vet whether there is any possibility Ziva could be pregnant and she said “absolutely not!” since they take out the ovaries and uterus when they sterilize. And yes, through that tiny, one-stitch cut – which I find absolutely amazing! So now I can put my paranoid mind to rest – there will not be anymore Mip Mips popping out. Ever.

Ziva is such an easy vet patient, though. I just pointed at the cat carrier and she walked right in. No problem. At the vet, on the table she walked right out and stayed put. Ok, so I had to hold her when she got her shots – that’s only natural, but when she was done, she went back into the cat carrier – just like that! No difficulty whatsoever! Ok, so she complained all the way in the car, both trips – but that, too, is just her nature.

All in all I’ve spent the equivalent of half a month’s rent on the cats today. For those of you who don’t live in South Africa: my rent is about a third of my salary, my biggest monthly expense. So, spending a sixth of my salary in one day on the cats – that’s a big chunk out of my income! Especially, as that does not include kibbles – it includes 5kg litter sand and 6 tins of mousse; which is one week’s supply of both.

The good news, however, is: I don’t need to go out again until Tuesday. At least not out shopping. On Tuesday I’ll need to get bread for my lunch – but until then, I’m stocked.

Ziva and the Mip Mips are taking another nap now, Ziva on the chair, three Mip Mips on the chest and Mewthos insisted on sleeping in my arms. After a while, I took him to the bedroom. But yeah, he is such a cutie!

Rose had the bright idea of bringing all the little balls with bells, I bought today, into the lounge. An exciting football game ensued! Since we don’t know where the goal is, we can’t tell who won, nor even who played on which team – but fun was had by all!

As she left, I remembered the bird – and called her back. Silly of me to leave the door open, Earl sneaked out! He is always the first at the door, even if all he hears is the jingle of keys!

The bird is doing quite well. He’s strong, wriggles out of the towel and bites quite hard. The vet also suggested to give him various thickness’ perches so he can practice / exercise his grip. His claws are cleaner today than they were yesterday, so the bird bath seems to help. He’s struggling to keep his balance, but that’s the lack of tail feathers.

We had to shut Ziva in with the Mip Mips – and she’s been sulking ever since. She hasn’t yet come out from under the vanity desk, two hours later! So I’ll use food to get her out – she can never resist food! The Mip Mips have been playing, so I should be able to sleep tonight. Sigh – that would really be good!

Too hot to think

Bad night. First Ziva refused to come into the bedroom, but would cry outside the shut door so eventually I had to pick her up and carry her in! The Mip Mips decided to play and Ziva insisted on balancing in the fanlight, calling her kittens to join her. In the end I had to close the fanlight, even though it was awfully hot and humid even with it open! The humidity made sleep nearly impossible, I don’t know when I finally managed to drop off.

Ziva woke me sometime in the morning to be let out. I went back to sleep and it was nine before I woke up again. The forecast says max. 25° but that’s BS! It’s 29°C in the shade right now and it’s only half past eleven. It’s too hot to do squat, so I’m just hanging out with the Mip Mips.

I’ve left the lounge curtains down and I’m using ‘No!’ followed by a spray of water, if ignored. That’s working fine, so far.

At noon the Mip Mips Siesta, as usual. I’ve carried them to the bedroom and now I’m enjoying a fresh breeze from the open front door! Ziva breezing in and out through the front door complaining non-stop? Not enjoying that so much.

I used this time to clean silkworm off all surviving plants, the Rosemary, the white Geranium, etc. and treated them. That’s about all my energy used up for today. Even the Mip Mips are just laying about. I fear they will get active when I want to sleep.

Around four in the afternoon the Mip Mips come alive – after Ziva blackmailed me into letting them out, only to saunter out the front door! How does a cat blackmail a human? Well, she climbs onto the fanlight appearing to attempt to reach the bedroom from there – which could result in her falling too far to land safely. Yeah, I know, I’m a sucker!

Rose brought another toy she’d made for the Mip Mips: a green fish with a pink string attached – we tried it on Lizzy, but nobody showed and great interest. With a push from Rose, I got the desk fan out of the bedroom – I had a good laugh seeing all four Mip Mips lined up in front of the door to visit the bird! Yeah – No! I set up the fan – and it’s bliss! Air movement in this heat? Lovely! Just a pity I can’t set it up in the bedroom – the Mip Mips aren’t afraid of it, instead they are very, very curious about it.

I’ve been considering putting my bed in the lounge – I’d definitely sleep better! And the light is much better in the bedroom, so setting up the table there would make sense – only: I can’t put the table in the bedroom, because the Mip Mips will scratch it. They’re still learning the rules.

Well, they’re up and active – hyper-active, actually – right now, so hopefully when I want to go to sleep in an hour, they’ll rest as well.

Just call me Yo-Yo

That worked like a charm! I slept nicely with few interruptions and was able to get up at a decent hour.

Made an appointment for the booster shots for the Mip Mips, then got some tins of mousse – which they don’t need anymore, it’s now just a treat. I can bring Ziva in for her booster shots Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. Then got some groceries, had breakfast – and now I’m trying to find the energy and desire to do more cleaning.

I finally got the box out of the boot, cut a hole in one side and put it on the floor in the bedroom – Mip Mips are ecstatic! I took a 1-Minute video of that – hopefully I can load it.

Earl comes over and does a stunt as a parrot. Walks along my shoulders, sits on my arm then walks back onto my shoulders before he finally jumped off onto the floor.

 

Talk to the paw!

Mip Mips are running wild and I get to jump up, pick them out of my flower pots, off the table, open the door for Ziva to come in, then open it again for her to go out – but she’d rather get attention, then open the door again because now she’s ready to go out, pick the Mip Mips out of the pantry while I try to put away groceries, pick Mip Mips off the drawers while I try to wash dishes – Mewthos actually jumps straight onto the counter now – close the drawers, again and again, open the door for Ziva … repeat ad infinitum! I feel like a Yo-Yo!

You’d think I’d be rewarded for all that running up and down the entire day with at least some weight loss. Yeah, right. Such is not the way of my luck.

It’s noon and the Mip Mips are holding their Siesta – so I shut the bedroom door, open the front door and wander out into the garden with the camera, relishing my brief freedom from the Yo-Yo-Masters!

Notice the upside down beetle?

I’ve cleaned out all the flower pots then washed them, first soaked them in cold water to get all the soil out, then washed in hot water to make sure every last bit of silkworm is dead & wiped off. One of the trays was so infested, I had to throw it away! Then I took the paper table cloth and threw that away as well. On a hot day like today that was quite a task! I’ve kept what’s left of the Alströmeria and the Amaryllis, cleaned the pots, replaced the trays with cleaned ones and treated the soil with a mix of dish soap, oil and water. I’m not finished, but I’ve made a lot of progress today.

Rose brought more toys she made for the Mip Mips: one red, yellow and white strip with a few fringes, another one with a crocheted ball at the end and a brown and grey worm. The worm was claimed by Mewthos who amused us for quite a while, playing with it.

The bird seems to be doing better, he’s eating more almost every day. But his feet and what’s left of his tail feathers are awfully mucky from the mousse and crap, so we added a pot tray filled with water as a bird bath. Hopefully he’ll spend some time in it and we can clean his claws and feathers tomorrow. When I put his cage back, he perched on the tray with both feet – so I’m hoping he will make a full recovery and can be set free soon. We tried to fit the perch that came with the cage, but couldn’t figure out how it’s supposed to fit. I’ll look online later, hopefully I can find something like ‘assembling bird perches for dummies’.

 

Mewthos in his favourite place

After Rose left, I filled one of the Garden Sprayers with water – now, when a Mip Mip ignores ‘No’, I don’t have to get up and smack anymore. Muhaa haa haa! Lizzy’s got sprayed three times already! If looks could kill, hers would be weapons of mass destruction by now! And guess what? It even works on Ziva! He He He.

Well, I’m in for a good night it seems as the entire cat ‘n caboodle is sleeping!

Worries, fears and problems

So, before bed I offered the kittens some mousse – and they finished an entire tin! And would have eaten more, if I’d opened the last tin! Which is really unusual.

Sleep didn’t happen for a long, long time. This time, my brain is to blame. In this blog I don’t write about EVERYTHING that’s going on in my life, even though that might spice it up a bit, make it more interesting. I don’t write about my family, for example. That doesn’t mean I don’t think about them. I just can’t write about them. Whenever I try, I get writers block. I just don’t know what to write or how.

I also don’t go in depth about worries, fears and problems. I don’t have many, nor any major ones. I’m employed, I have everything I need. But I still worry about the future. So far, I’ve always been lucky in that I’ve always been contracted to the next project. But that doesn’t mean I will definitely be contracted next time. And I don’t know what my boss plans to do with me, if I’m not contracted for the next project. And even if I am, my income isn’t keeping up with inflation and I don’t know how much I can up my rate on the next contract. So I would like to find a means to earn additional income.

I’ll also have to move some time next year. I don’t know when. I don’t know where to. And I don’t know what place I can even find that will be safe, affordable, allow cats and not in disrepair like this place. That’s a pretty tall order. Finding safe & affordable is tough enough. Add cats and it’s nearly impossible. I had a hard enough time with only one cat – but two? Or maybe even four? That means no safe complex – no flat, no townhouse / simplex / duplex. And with any stand-alone house on any size property, safety becomes a major issue. I have no dog(s) and no male presence in my home. Neither guarantee safety, but increase it. And the kind of security required to compensate – is really expensive. Alarms are no use without a dedicated response – and that’s a monthly cost. Beyond my means. So yeah, I worry. And that kind of worry kept me awake last night.

When I went to bed, the Mip Mips were all sleeping in the cat carrier. Ziva went in and joined them. So I had the bed to myself. Only, I couldn’t sleep. Lizzy and Mewthos came up to the bed and curled up by my feet. I picked up Mewthos and held him in my arms – he purred away, but doesn’t like to stay. He prefers to curl up on top of the duvet. Lizzy also purred away but eventually went back into the carrier. Mewthos stuck around, let me hold him, pet him. He’s so cute when he rolls onto his back with all four legs in the air. He is more like a puppy than a kitten! Like his happy puppy waddle when he comes running towards me – I must try to capture that on video!

When I got up only Ziva followed me out, so I let her outside. Made my coffee, then let the Mip Mips out. I forgot to take my roll of toilet paper off the holder (at night, I prefer to have paper within reach, don’t you?) and was rewarded with another happy dash by Lady Jane! She just loves dashing off with something white trailing behind her! It’s so cute – but also so expensive! Maybe if I give her a bandage to dash off with?

Another happy dasher is Earl – whenever I go into the bathroom, he comes dashing along wanting to see his favourite toy in action: the toilet flushing! When I forget to shut the door, he tries to get very close and personal – not to me, but the toilet. The fact that I happen to be sitting on it is just a minor obstruction – to him.

Life with cats! Never dull, never predictable – always learning new tricks! It’s noon and they’re taking a break – sleeping. So I’ve opened the front door and shut them in the bedroom.

Rose came to visit and brought a wonderful toy she’d made for Lady Jane: She crocheted a long strip of white – simulating toilet paper, though not as wide – and put a bell on the end. We held it out for Lady Jane when Earl smacked her out of the way and took it for himself! He went quite nuts over it, playing with it – I took a video; such a pity I can’t upload it. Any sibling tried to get near it got smacked. He’d growl if anyone approached. Even I got a few scratches! Shadow also got smacked by him. It was really entertaining. Later on Mewthos got hold of it and performed just like Earl! We had such a lot of fun watching them!

 

Earl - upside down

Earl - ten minutes later, still ecstatic!

Having gotten smacked for coming too close to Earl
Mewthos and Lizzy watch from a safe height

Now it's Mewthos' turn!
Notice Earl in the background? Mewthos is actually growling,
so he knows to keep a safe distance.

Ziva balancing in the fanlight

She also brought me a bunch of rain flowers which have settled in her garden. She says the ones in her garden are wilting already, only the ones she’d cut are still looking fresh.

Now Ziva and the Mip Mips are running wild, so I should have no problem when I want to go to sleep – until then, I better do some of that thinking about my worries, fears and problems now, so that it won’t keep me awake again.