Wrong, wrong, wrong.
I love cats. I have two cats, but I’d never even think about buying this book.
Dancing With Cats is even reviewed on goodreads.com. (Check it out here). It’s a real book! (I’m stunned). It’s a crazy world out there. Who in their right mind would buy it?
Here’s a photo from my vault of holiday snaps. I saw this a few years ago in a small cafe in France while I was enjoying a skiing holiday. The sign was stuck to the radiator pipe. I have no idea what previous customers had been bringing into the place.
What does it mean?
The other day I walked into my bedroom to see where Cooper was. He’s our very sweet, but rather wild cat. (The one likely to lunge at you any moment). Perhaps he was hiding ready to leap from behind the door…? Not this time. He’d obviously decided to take himself off to the bedroom to enjoy a little sleep on the bed.
I was really tired when I woke up this morning. It’s not a great feeling, starting a Friday feeling tired. When I went to bed last night I thought it would be time for a long sleep. If only…
At about 01:30 (ish) I awoke in shock and shot up out of bed. My head was wet and freezing cold!
Cooper, my darling little 7 month old kitten, who had been sleeping on the bed had decided it was time for a wander. He’d gone on his little walk and crept along the shelf/headboard by my pillow. There was my refreshing glass of water which he ended up knocking and tipping over my entire head and pillow!
With a cold wet head I begrudgingly got up, fetched towels and returned to dry the area. There was my sleep pattern ruined.
He had better not try any of those tricks tonight!
I was just reading one of my friend’s status updates on Facebook when a memory shot into my mind. Isn’t it funny when you have one of those moments and you end up laughing to yourself? I was on the bus checking out Facebook when this happened and although amusing, laughing to yourself isn’t a good idea when on a packed bus.
Anyway, the status update I read reminded me of the day I discovered I had mice living in my house…
Years ago, when I lived in Milton Keynes in England, my mum came to stay with me. Say what you will about Milton Keynes: Yes it has more roundabouts than a fun fair, more concrete cows than you’d ever wish to see and it’s fair share of H and V roads…. ‘H and V?’ you ask. I’ll explain some other time. It was great having my mum staying as we packed so much into our days. Long walks, visits to the local lake, shopping outings and lots of meals out! Yum!!
I had two lodgers in my house at the time and so my ‘spare room option’ for guests was the lounge and my mum stayed in there. Don’t judge me! The sofa was VERY comfortable and she chose to sleep there, so I don’t feel bad about it. After a couple of nights sleep my mum told me over breakfast that she feared there was another little guest sleeping in the house: A mouse… I couldn’t believe it.
As much as I love the little creatures I was not too keen on having them live in the house. I was even less pleased when we discovered that the mouse was living in the sofa. Yes, the mouse had been sleeping inside the same sofa that my mum was sleeping on. Being the caring animal lover that I am, I went out in search of humane traps. They weren’t cheap!! The humane mouse trap is quite an invention… (I’ve added a picture to make it clearer).
Back at home with two traps, just in case, I put the bait at the far end of the tunnels, tipped the traps and set the little doorways open. I placed Trap number one behind the sofa and Trap number two under the kitchen units. That night I went to bed wondering what would happen and by morning I had indeed caught Mr Mouse. He was whisked away in a box to a farmer’s field, well away from my house. I have been told that they come with quite an adept tracking system for retracing their steps. I wasn’t taking any chances.
Mouse gone! Story over?………… Not a chance!!
A few months later I was relaxing on my sofa watching TV. Out the corner of my eye I saw something move. Perhaps I’d imagined it? I looked again and saw a mouse scurrying along by the wall in my lounge! In broad daylight! It ran right around the room and then underneath the sofa….where I was sitting. I leapt from the sofa and turned it upside down. It was time for revenge! The humane trap was good, but clearly not going to scare them off enough. It was time for more drastic measures. Inside my cupboard lived my vacuum cleaner. You can see where this story is going now…
Sucking a mouse up a vacuum cleaner is a very strange experience and not one that I want to have again. Of course, not wanting to be too close to the mouse in case it lunged at me (I have a vivid imagination), I kept the long extension attached and turned it on…FULL BLAST! I tore a small hole in the base lining of the sofa and stuck the long nozzle in. I didn’t have to wait long before I heard the most revolting suction nose. I can only describe it like the sound when you suck a sock up the vacuum, or catch the edge of a rug. Anyway, job done: Hurray, the mouse was gone…or should I say…the mouse was now trapped, dead or alive, inside the vacuum bag. At least I wasn’t using a Dyson. How odd it would have been to see it whizzing around the clear container? The bag was removed and taken far, far away.
I never had mice again.
This is Cooper.
Meet Cooper. He’s seven months old and so full of energy. After a couple of months of him going crazy inside we couldn’t wait to get the door open and let him explore the world outside. He chats to the birds (Have you heard cats talking? It’s a weird sound) and he enjoys the odd stand-off with the neighbourhood dogs. It’s quite amusing watching him approach dogs twice his size. Bless…. He just doesn’t get it. We have one very brave cat here. Mind you… Is it bravery or stupidity?
He chases leaves; he plays Fetch with balls of paper and follows us around everywhere. It has now got to the stage where we cannot leave the house on foot as whenever we walk along the street he walks along by our side. There’s a limit to how far we want him to go. We had a street party a couple of weekends ago, in the park next our apartment, and he followed us there too. We chatted to neighbours and friends and noticed Cooper mingling with the crowd too. Cooper the socialite.
I thought taking the bike this morning would be an easier way to leave him at home. I jumped on the bike, left the apartment and peddled along the streets. I heard that familiar sound – Cooper’s miaow! I turned to see him bounding along the middle of the street after me at full speed. I couldn’t help but laugh. He’s an eager cat. Of course, I did a u-turn and he followed me straight home. With him locked inside I was able to get away.
So, what next? Maybe it’s time we start taking him for walks?
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