Cat in a tight place

He jumped in. Turned around and peeked out. And didn't want to leave his paper bag. We carried him around and he was loving every minute of it. Purr, purr, purr.

Tough Chick

It takes guts to enter an arena with two other animals that big, especially if you attract their attention. Chick has guts. And she didn't budge - not until Hayke (the black horse) walked towards her and tried to sniff what she smells like. That was too much. There is only so much a lady can take. (This is the first time that Ox & Horse were together.)

Extreme Cleanliness

Chick was discovered in the dishwasher and photographed with a smart phone. The lower part of the dishwasher had just been cleared out and was still warm - clearly attractive for a cat who also likes the sauna.

In my imagination Chick looks rather indignant at being caught. But perhaps she was just following the movement of some insect flying by, outside the dishwasher.

This image reminded me of something my great-aunt Han is supposed to have said: 'Cleanliness is good, but it should not deteriorate into hygiene' *


*'Properheid is goed, maar het moet niet ontaarden in hygiëne.'

Last Boat Trip 2012

It was an memorable trip - the last boat trip of the season. Chick & Chucky were a little hesitant, but decided to get on board at the last minute. Then they ran around for the whole trip. Jumping up and down, to and fro, in and out of the cabin. Until finally they could set foot on solid ground again.

Let's Call It a Day...

The painters left their scaffolding for the weekend, so we can work on the gutter. Or we - it's Inge really who does all the work. Chick and Chucky love to visit her up there. Chick can climb up herself, but it's too high for Chucky so we have to lift him up. Today it started to rain so we had to stop. Chucky looks like he felt it coming - his throwing away-gesture minutes before the rain actually started looks prophetic.

Identity Crisis?

Both Chick and Chucky love cars. When they see a car door open, they just have to hop in. Chances are, one day a visitor will drive away with one of my furry bundles aboard. Or both! This picture was taken when we were going to get two chicken and their hen house (of which I will make another picture later).

The dogs could come with us, but to have the cats joins us, as well, was just a bit too complicated. We had helped Roeschka to get in the trunk of the car (she is a very old lady and cannot do this on her own any more) and Chuck joined him.

Now the cats do not only love cars, they love Roeschka as well. Particularly Roeschka I think, because she is usually very calm. Especially Chuck likes to walk up to Roeschka and throw himself on his back at her feet. It is a cattish invitation to play, but Roeschka doesn't speak Cat, let alone Burmese. She doesn't recognize the gesture as a message meant for her. She just walks around him.

Another explanation is that Chucky is beginning to think he's a dog, too.  And when Roeschka got in the back of the car, Chucky, too, got a place on the dog-seat.

A New Home

It may be every cat's dream to live in an aviary, but Chucky settles for a hen house. Good for catching sparrows and other small birds who come in to eat chicken food when the door is open. Hennie, Puntje and Mr. Foppe like to roam the grounds during the day.


The protruding white box is for hens who want to have some privacy laying eggs or hatching. Lately the chicken prefer to lay their eggs in the manger in Willy Drie's stable. And we now understand, why:

No space! Chucky likes to doze here.

No Guts, No Glory

Not only dogs do evening strolls around here. Chicky is ready to join, and I've decided to bring Willy Drie as well. I guess you could say the relationship between cat and calf is non-existant: Willy Drie is too brusque and to big for a cat and when he would hit the cat with his head, he could seriously hurt her. Could, if cats weren't much faster than calves. It's a little sad for Willy Drie. He is very curious about any living being, including cats. Willy Drie and I found Chicky on our path. He moved his head towards her and sniffed. She didn't move till he was really close and then slowly moved away. Brave little thing.

All Is Well @Home

It's been a while since I last posted on this blog. The summer holidays are partly to blame for that, as is Willy Drie, who is taking a lot of picture taking time from Chick and Chucky.
It's not that they don't get a lot of attention - they are very good at making clear when attention is desired! We snuggle a lot. The cats love to join the dogs on their walk-around-the-sheep-meadow.But instead of following C&C around, I drag a little ox around and take pictures of him.
Here are two recent pictures to show C&C are fully alive and kicking. Figuratively speaking, of course:

While Chucky is chilling, Chick endeavors to grasp the workings of the printer in her office:

Subvertion

Inge usually irons when the cats are out-of-office. In any case - not in the house. This is a case of bad timing. As soon as Chucky came in, he jumped on the ironing board. It looks as if he is waiting for his turn to be ironed. He just loves the feeling of lying warm textile. Inge took a break and lost the battle: Chicky entered the room and took up her post on the towel - she loves towels. Ironing will have to wait until the coast is clear. Either Inge will have to find a cat-free zone, or she has to operate quickly and silently, while the cats are asleep elsewhere or out hunting.

Mr Invisible

We went on a vacation. Chick & Chucky had temporary new servants for a while to take care of all their needs. But now we're back and we're all picking up from were we left off. This picture is of a Chucky who is trying to get away unseen, playing Mr. Invisible. Chucky was sleeping peacefully in the grass - no doubt resting from yet another action-packed night - when Willy Drie entered the field. Willy Drie is a lively little bugger. He is eager to play - anyone will do (horses, roosters, dogs, cats, people) but his style is rather clumsy, not to say brusque, and he has a problem finding - or keeping - playmates. Especially playmates who are smaller than he is:

A Close Encounter of Some Kind

I would not have dared to do this, but Inge is more courageous. Perhaps she is also more lenient because Willy Drie is sick. He has a fever, and cough and digestive problems. But today he was feeling better and he followed Inge into the house. In the kitchen he surprised Chick & Chucky during their midday nap. Chucky took off immediately, Chick decided to leave soon after. But all remained civilized: Willy did bang his head into the cats, and they did not even attempt to scratch his nose.

After peeing on the floor, Willy Drie followed Inge, out of the house, back to the stable. Chick & Chucky continued their siesta elsewhere.

New Kid on the Block

 

Willy Drie, the young calf who is now living here, still scares Chick and Chucky because of his frolicking way of moving through the world. He scares Chucky more than Chick. I don't know that is because Chick is more courageous than her brother, or because she is smarter (or both). Obviously she has figured out that although Willy Drie loves to jump, he cannot possibly jump that high.

Watch Out!

High Places - Being Up There with a friend does not necessarily mean that you're safe from terrorist attacks.

Surprise

So I'm engaged - ready to do a registered partnership next week - and that means: gifts. Even though I tell my friends I'll be really happy if they just show up, in a happy state, some still decide they want to give a present. This gift wrap contained two very nice glasses, engraved with the date, given by a friend who cannot attend the ceremony next week.

Obviously, Chick loves the wrapping better than the content. She uses it as an observation point, spying on her brother elsewhere on the table. And there's no use denying - she does look good in blue.

We All Do Our Bit

'Chick has a new pastime: cleaning the canal,' said Inge. I decided to test her assertion and threw a plastic bag in the water. Chicky needed no encouragement and jumped into action.

Meeting Cattle

 

This blog is about cats. But sometimes, accidents happen. And one of them that happened this week: we got a little bull-calf called Willy 3. (I had to call him Willy 3, as I already have a mother and a very nice cousin by that name.)

Willy 3 is a little bull, born two weeks ago and 3 weeks prematurely - the surviving half of twins that weren't supposed to enter this world until some time next week. At 23 kilograms (that would be about 50 American pounds, and even less when we got him) he  is not commercially interesting. To have any economic worth, a calf has to weigh more that 66 pounds (over 30 kilograms). So Willy 3's future was not looking good. The farmer didn't know what to do with him: too light to let  him live, but somehow too tenuously sticking to life to let him die just like that. So Inge took him home after she texted me if I wanted to raise a calf and I said, yeah, sure.
Chick and Chucky have to get used to Willy 3 - not so much because he is bigger than they are, but because he moves in a rather uncontrolled way. So far, they are interested but they are keeping their distance, because the phenomenon Calf moves in mysterious and rather uncontrolled ways. To be continued. For more pictures of Willy 3, click here.

Nearly Headless Nick

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington is better known as Nearly Headless Nick, one of the resident Ghosts in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter's school. He now appears to be living with us.

Spring - it's Official Now.

Today is the official beginning of Spring: Chucky climbed the old oak tree for the first time this year (I say: 'old', but in oak-time terms, this one is only middle-aged). As usual, 'up' is the easy part, and for 'down' he asks, and receives, help.
I guess we should just let him fall on the grass so he will learn from his irresponsible behavior. But we all really love that 'Yay! Saved!' moment way too much to to let it pass.

This Bed Aint Big Enough

They like each other - yes. But not all the time. On a rainy day, Chick & Chucky spend a lot of time indoors  and in the afternoon they tend to get a little cranky - and they take it out on each other.

It often goes like this: they are sleeping in each other's arms. One of the two wakes up, starts licking the other. Then they both lick each other's face. 

Then irritation kicks in - one will bite a neck, the other starts growling and before you can get your camera, they are locked in an enemy's embrace, legs pushing against the other in a this-bed-ain't-big-enough-for-the-both-of-us standstill.

Usually it ends when I get up to get my camera: by the time I come back, one of them has already left. The struggle is never a fair one: Chucky is stronger, but Chick is smarter, so it usually ends with Chucky leaving. Here I was just in time to take a picture of the last seconds of their battle of the minds. Chucky is pushing Chick's head out with his front left paw, and Chick is refusing to budge.  

A moment later, Chucky left, leaving the whole bed for his sister. She yawned, curled up and went back to sleep.

Supervising Assistant Saved By Handygirl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 True love - that's what it is. Inge goes up the ladder to fix a light and Chucky follows. When she tells him it is time to come down, he listens, interestedly. He climbs down by himself, but when the chance is there, he jumps in her arms. Saved! Again! I think Chucky is a true romantic.