11 March 2018 to JJ
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If you’re wondering what all the gobbledegook in that sentence is, it’s a message from Tux, who decided to walk all over my keyboard. No wonder my productivity is down since we got the cats.
17 March 2018 to JJ
I have somebody coming for interview tomorrow as a cleaner. I made it clear to the agency that it has to be someone happy with cats.
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I always did think these plain beige carpets are so impractical. But now, to make it worse, with a black cat and a dark tabby cat, the carpets are gradually changing colour, not just because they roll all over them but they leave tufts of hair when they’re play fighting. There’s no way I have the energy to vacuum all through once a week so it makes sense to have a cleaner come in.
Tux is fascinated by everything, especially if it makes a noise but it was nearly his undoing. I’ve heard about cats getting in the washing machine and drowning so, as I was putting clothes in it, I was keeping a wary eye on proceedings. Sure enough, I saw Tux’s rear end disappearing into the machine.
David’s got the bread machine going and it makes a periodic quiet chugging noise. I think it’s the first time Tux has heard it and he wanted to know what it is. He was stood on his hind legs with his front paws on the recycling bin, peering up at it. The next minute there’s a crash and I looked around to find that he’d evidently tried to jump up, landed on the basket under the shelf, which promptly came down. At least it only had oven gloves in it. Tux was skedaddling away as fast as he could.
Both Tabs and Tux are interested in the printer when it’s on, looking for the noise and watching where the paper comes out but Tabs is primarily interested in any noise which comes from the kitchen and sounds like food being prepared!
19 March 2018 to JJ
[In answer to a question from JJ] Rest assured, the postcards are out of reach of the cats. Um, maybe I’d better rethink that. Tux is a mountaineering cat and can get to places you’d not think possible.
Interviewing a prospective cleaner with a raging thumping headache (me, not her) and two inquisitive cats around was not the best Monday morning, especially as earlier I’d trodden on Tabs’ feet when I stepped back from getting my skirt out of the wardrobe.
I know it’s their fault for creeping up behind us but it still makes me feel guilty. She ran off and hid under the bed and I had to coax her out and make a fuss of her.
25 March 2018 to JJ
I went to the sleep clinic at Papworth and saw a very pleasant registrar. I took printouts from the computer programme which I use to monitor my usage of the APAP machine. [They covered the last six months.] He was delighted to see the visual representation of my sleep pattern. I’d marked the day on which I started taking the melatonin. And the day on which we got the cats and we started getting in training for David’s new commute, both of which have made a considerable difference to my sleep pattern (self defence!).
We’ve been watching the Planet Earth dvds over dinner. The cats have studiously taken no notice of it apart from the chapter on the mountains when there were grizzly bears scratching themselves against tree trunks. Tabs was on the arm of the sofa next to me (where she usually lies when ogling my dinner) and Tux was lying on the floor. For some reason they were both absolutely transfixed by the grizzly bears. As soon as that segment was finished, they lost all interest.
A couple of weeks ago I bought a larger waste bin for the kitchen and made the mistake of buying a flat top one. It stands in front of the washing machine and provides a nice stepping stone for Tux onto the work surface (though he’s quite capable of jumping up there). So Tux’s new favourite spot is sitting on the window sill surveying the garden, which he was already doing but is now far more interested in it as the hedge blocking the view has been removed. I don’t know what he sees but he’s fascinated by it.
30 March 2018 to JJ (who is due back from Penang on 5 April after nearly three months away)
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It seems so long since I saw you, I’m quite looking forward to doing so. And to introducing you to the cats, who are currently lying in a tray on the black work table here, grooming each other. So much nicer than when they’re play fighting each other. And less exhausting than when they’re careering all over the place during their mad time.
Next: Easter 2018