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.

Saint-Chick-of-the-Collar

Chick with her new collar

I wanted to show Chick and Chucky's new accessories: cat collars. 'These not only have hollow tubes with address information in case they get lost, but also - and this is what it's all about - a bell.

Now that spring has arrived, the hunting season for birds is really open. I know it is in a cat's nature to catch birds and mice and anything else that is small enough and moves. I admit that I don't mind the mice or the wet plastic bags that Chick fishes out of the water. But I hate it that they catch birds. 

And now they are wearing collars. They hate it, of course. Chick especially is really good at losing hers, but I have a  fair supply of them. If she comes back home naked, I she gets a brand new model. And I must say, she bears it with the dignity of a Drama Queen. I even think she looks a bit Saintly. 

Ah well. We all have our cross to bear...

Immaculate Conception of Soult - Bartolome Esteban Murillo

Exploring

Last weekend, we stayed at my parent's house. It is for sale and has been empty for a while. The garden is its biggest asset and we wanted to do the serious gardening it needed. Chick and Chucky came along. At first, they had to stay indoors - and did a very thorough inspection of every nook and cranny.

A New Brand New World

Not really a brand new world - Chick & Chucky had been here before when they were very young. This is at my parent's house in the middle of the Netherlands (luckily, as our country is rather small, the Middle is within easy reach from its North, South, East, and West). My parents have now moved and the house is empty  for sale. Unluckily, the real estate market is pretty dead. Just about 1 in 10 houses has a 'for sale' sign in the front yard, waving at you as you pass, and nobody's buying.

Initially we wanted to go on a city trip, without any pet. Then the idea came up to go to one of the islands in the North, just us and the dogs. Then we decided to go to my parents house and bring all the anymals except the horses and the chicken. Not that there would be no room for them, but that much cattle would interfere with the Plan: to clean the house to make it look more attractive to the odd potential buyer who cares to visit once in a blue moon, and to do some gardening, since the garden really is the best part of the house, anyway.

Chick & Chucky loved it. But Chucky increasingly wanted to go outside Outside OUTSIDE! to explore. After a day, we let them, although at first we kept them inside so they'd realize: this is home, for now. I love to watch how they explore a new space - they go at it together, like FBI-agents entering a house that may have drugdealers of armed robbers hiding in one of the rooms. They really work as a team.

Once they knew they could go outside, they calmed down. At regular intervals they came in spontaneously for some food or a nap. This picture ( it consists of several pictures, taken with my iPhone and primitively stuck together) was taken after we had let C&C out from the window of my old room. As a kid, I would climb up that tree on the right, crawl along the roof of the garage to the flat roof in the front of this picture and enter my room from the window.

Cat Paw Prints

The frozen sheets of dough were lying on the kitchen counter to de-freeze; we didn't notice that Chucky was standing on them until after we had wiped him off the kitchen counter because he stepped into the pie pan - I guess he was intrigued by the baking paper.
It does look attractive, though, the cat paw prints on the dough and I'm sorry that the pie didn't need a dough-top, so the cat paws went on the bottom where you won't see them.
For a Tarte Tatin it might work - after baking, you turn it upside down. Perhaps next week?

Cat's Corner

It started as one place out of many where Chick & Chucky napped - now it's Cats' Corner. Inge added some superfluous pillows and ta-dah!: bed with canopy! Both cats have been ignoring our bed, the towels stacked in the closet, the two chairs facing the fireplace, and our laps. All they want is Cats' Corner. Cat's Corner. Cat's Corner.

 I added another pillow, but so far, neither Chick nor Chucky showed any interest in this addition. But they do like to change places when I'm not looking.

Second thoughts...

Of course, sometimes it is fun to share.

New Bed

The ice that reigned last week has now disappeared completely. Now, it rains and Chick and Chucky do not go out much. Time to deal with the cat radiator bed! Like the proverbial Wild West Town, this place is too small for the both o'them, so it were looking for a second one. 

Unfortunately we couldn't find the same kind - it was sold out, and manufacturer went out of business, whatever: I don't know why this model disappeared from the cat radiator bed market. I just know I'm sorry it's gone. BUT - I did have old brown cat bed on my balcony in Amsterdam. With some modifications (forcing the hooks straight), it could be attached to this radiator. 

 

Chick was enchanted. Chucky deigned it unworthy. In the end, it turns out, both are happy.

Holiday On Ice

 

It's not helping that my aunt tells me about the newspaper running stories about cats that drowned because the ice was too thin. I dream about that without her having to push my nightmare button: Chucky venturing out on the ice; spotting some birds bobbing on the water in a hole over yonder; running towards it; slipping and sliding into the hole; his body disappearing in the cold black water, never to be found again. Then I wake up, sweating.

But right now, the ice is thick enough for a car to drive on - I've seen it pass several times today - and it's certainly strong enough for Chucky. He tends to stick to the edge, as new open spaces scare him a little. As do the skaters, and the bikes and the sledges and the child-carriers and the motorcycles and that car and all the other stuff people zoom by in and on today.

Chucky seems to realize that normally, this is water, so he is wary. Even if the temperature does go up, I don't see him chasing birds on the ice any time soon. But what if he gains confidence? What if the ice really gets thin and it will break under his paws? It will be very hard to keep him and his sister indoors, but I think about moving them to the apartment in the city for a while if the ice melts. If not for their safety, at least for my peace of mind.

PS Right now, he is meowing because he wants to go into the sauna. Seems that heat still holds more attractions for him. I am so thankful.

Hunting Strategy

So Chucky has a new hobby. Or perhaps I should say: a new ritual. When in the morning, Inge walks to the hen-house to feed the chicken and to let them out to roam on the grounds, Chucky is ready. When Inge opens the door, he storms in and, frightening as well as ignoring the chicken, heads for one of the two barrels. He is not interested in the chicken (he has a healthy respect for the rooster), he is going to the perfect spot to wait for sparrows that come into the hen-house looking for food the chicken have left.

Of course there is no need to race in like he does. He could just take a leisurely stroll and take his place without making such a dramatic entrance, but I guess that's just the way he is. And hunting like a caveman actually is a pretty smart idea. Unlike his sister, Chucky is not very good at catching birds. I am sure that he reckons that inside the hen-house his chances are better - it will be harder for his prey to get away from him. Occasionally, I'm sorry to say, this strategy pays off.