London Visit

On Saturday Eldest daughter arrived in London for an educational conference. Happy to have another chance of a grand day out Middle daughter and Eldest son, complete with his partner, were dragged into Paddington to meet up at the Hilton hotel. From this salubrious venue we made out way to a public house that had been researched for its good food and real ale content by Eldest son. It was a good choice apart from the fact that it has been some time since my body experienced a good British bitter and it chose to be upset by a pint of this substance. The meal that I had was amazingly good both for the money and the actual content. I chose a beef steak pie with seasonal vegetables and the pastry alone was a hymn to the powers of their cook.

Following this we caught a bus (this turned out to be a bad move) from the Paddington area along Oxford Street to the British Museum. It was an exceptionally hot day and two elderly passengers had to get off the bus and escape from the heat. I felt considerably faint and actually had to sit out the museum trip in the shade. The others visited the Syrian and the Egyptian exhibit and were thoroughly worn out by the time the museum closed. They are holding an exhibition of Aztec works later in the year and this is probably a good time for me to go back and visit again.

We intended to move on to Museum Street and visit Atlantis. This bookshop sells many different books and articles that relate to the esoteric. Some of their books being secondhand copies of works that are no longer available. We did arrive in time to see part of the stock and I unfortunately bought three books just prior to their closing which coincided with the first drops of storm rain. The need to seek shelter took us into another public house and there we sat and watched some tennis in between drinking a few glasses of white wine. By the time we emerged Forbidden Planet, which was also on our list to visit, had long since closed. There was nothing left to do but depart for China Town and visit the Malaysian restaurant that Eldest son’s partner had researched on the Internet.

Again we had a very good meal and making our way to Piccadilly and from their Paddington, everyone departed in their own directions. Middle daughter and myself made our way back to Southall Station and thence the bus stop where we encountered an old diving school friend who had been on the same train. It was such an eventful day and we were exhausted by the time we arrived home. The cats were not happy. Some were on the missing list. A dead rat had been left in the kitchen for our supper (this is a sure sign of their displeasure). During the night I was awoken by Demon who had caught yet another juvenile rat and was playing with it in the hallway. Middle daughter commented that they must have been sacrificing them at the alter of their particular cat gods to make sure we returned. The dead bodies were removed and all seemed to have settled when in the living room I came across a frog pretending to be a statue. It was very much alive and certainly not happy about being indoors. I transported it back to the garden now sodden with rain.
Later this afternoon we are off to a barbeque in celebration of a first communion. I dread to think what will await us on our return.

The Great Escape

On Wednesday evenings I attend the local Spiritualist Church Circle, where we meditate and attempt to contact those that have passed over. I arrive home from this at around ten o’clock and usually Middle daughter is asleep. Last night was just a little different as when I opened the door three of the house cats met me with pitiful expressions. (This is not entirely unusual as I frequently have one meet me with reproach for daring to leave them alone) This time however there was a general air of “It wasn’t my fault”.

I placed my bag down in the hallway and started to take out some bits and pieces when the door to youngest daughter’s room creaked open and the thunder of size six feet descended the stairs with Middle daughter attached. She had the look of someone who has been through a major crisis and I was suitably alarmed. “I can’t find one of them”, she said. (This is also not unusual so I was puzzled at her concern).

“I found Batman half way down the stairs,” she continued, “and Mini me was in my bedroom. Also two of the Tuxedo’s were in the bathroom with the Tabby.” It seems that Angel decided to have an evening out as well and in her absence the tribe decided to check out some more suitable territory. Kittens had streamed out of their room and over the entire upper floor. (Not to mention down the stairs into house cat territory). The problem with this adventure is that they are still only half tame and also extremely willful. Scare tactics had worked on Batman and to some extent on the others and she had lured those unresponsive to fear with their favourite toy, however one of the Tuxedo’s was missing.

As I originally had a much larger area to contain my many pastimes the small bedroom at this house is packed full of boxes and bags containing bits that seemed to be of great importance once upon a time. I have been thinking of sorting through these at some future point when there was less for me to do like watching CSI or chatting on the telephone, so to find one small and largely black kitten in amongst a badly constructed pyramid of belongings was not something that I could swear to being keen on. We checked the usual places that furry bodies liked to sleep in and found no extra kittens. I sat in the room until Angel returned in the hope of getting them to come out and play en masse but this too turned up no extra Tuxedo bodies. Eventually I crawled off to sleep.

This morning all the monsters were there bright eyed and bushy tailed. I begin to suspect that they are deliberately toying with us. I await the arrival of Youngest daughter next week with some satisfaction as she can throw her energy into catching them and I can retire to the forest for some gentle tree dismantling.

Kitty Update

It is such a delight to have kittens as the first thing I managed to do was pull an already stressed muscle in my back whilst dragging more food home for them. They have increased our food to cat ratio by double which is no mean feat for such small beings. After their initial aversion to all things human they are now condescending to allow us to entertain them with string and other wonders. This requires a human to kitten input of some two hours per human per day and is drastically curtailing other forms of pursuit such as house cleaning and garden clearance. The forest is now distinctly threatening the house.

I managed a trek into Southall and a brief visit to one of the church ladies but this did set me back the next day. On the plus side I collected some feathers that she had found for me, that I need to finish decorating a shamanic drum. I have already strung beads from this and I am hoping the final effect will rival the North American Indian variety of drum. Why am I doing this? I really cannot find a suitable answer to that apart from the fact that I bought the drum and it looks a little bare. In theory I can, once it is suitably enhanced either call good spirits to me or banish bad ones. This may save them from becoming entangled in the various dream catchers that hang in my room courtesy of various offspring. I have also been beading other things, as there are a limited number of occupations open to one whose back refuses to support more mundane tasks.

What should I be doing, apart from lion (ooops kitten) training? Well there are two proofs waiting for me to read them and make comments and also other pressing projects that should have been finalized some three months back. The year is beginning to slip away from me and tomorrow is the summer solstice. Unfortunately I am having difficulty staying in a focused frame of mind. To add to my general sense of anxiety and confusion, I also await the return of youngest daughter complete with fiancé and lots of washing together with a social calendar that is rapidly becoming swamped with soirees and barbeques. I am also waiting to hear from the organisor of the local carnivals to see if I will be annoying the local religious sycophants with my presence at the infamous Greenford carnival. A psychic’s fun is never over.

As an after thought, I have managed to determine the sex of batman, mostly as he got stuck upside down whilst trying to haul his now rotund body through a narrow gap. It is a giant leap forward.

Now We are Six: with apologies to A.A.Milne

Angel made a second attempt and this time the small monster ran between our neighbours garage and fence. It took ages for her to coax him out of there and once more she tried. This time he got as far as the house before scuttling off yet again. On the fourth attempt she managed to convince him to enter but then he saw Middle daughter’s feet and off he went. We were now pretending to be statues. Time ticked slowly by and yes he made it to the bottom of the stairs at which point Middle daughter raced to shut the door.

We then had to detach him from the bookcase but he was struggling wildly. She passed him to me and I made it up half the stairs before he sank fangs into my thumb. He flew through the air for a couple more steps and then bolted into the bathroom and took up residence under the bath (yet another story). We pushed Angel into the bathroom but she did not want to look for him and got quite assertive about this. We retired to have some refreshments.

Whilst we were discussing further moves Angel reappeared with another kitten. This one was more amenable and was raced up the stairs to join the others. We were pleased as now we felt the family was complete and safe but off Angel went again and yes there was yet another. Five kittens, most amazing from such a small cat, but they seemed fairly well fed and healthy. This kitten tried to dive behind the bookcase in the hallway. It was remarkably like Mimi apart from its facial adornment, which made it look like a miniature batman. Having extricated it from its chosen hiding place we wrapped it in (more smothered it in) a sweatshirt to carry it to its siblings.

Number three was still under the bath at this point and doing a very good impression of being part of the plumbing. It was getting late and we were exhausted so it was decided to cook dinner as obviously we now had five kittens relatively safe. I was just chopping onions when Angel appeared. She had another kitten. This one sighted the space under the sink cupboard and bolted into it. I put down my chef knife and dived after it. Luckily it was fairly docile on the upward trip and soon it had vanished into the mysterious depths of youngest daughter’s old room.

We were so tired by the time dinner was cooked that we could not remember how many kittens there were as much of the afternoon seemed to have extended into the Dream Time. It was no good trying to count them as they were firmly hidden behind musical instruments and computer parts.

I put in an emergency plea for a much larger dirt tray and one of my neighbours came racing round the next day full of kitten hopes. I told her she would be lucky but she tried and saw zero kittens. Somebody up there is eating all the food and using the dirt tray. The Tuxedo gentleman is out from under the bath and back with the brood. He is obviously the most hyperactive and they have formed a three aside football team as I can hear them thundering across the floor after the balls I thoughtfully (I am an idiot) provided. They are waking me up at least twice a night. (Only an idiot would choose to sleep in the room below a herd of kittens with big boots on). I have moved some things around to make sure they are fairly safe and Angel is doing her own thing whilst expecting me to baby-sit at a moments notice. I must add here that donations of food are always welcome.

Tuxedo Sunday

What a fun day we are having. Angel has reappeared with yet another kitten. This one is Tuxedo marked. However as she was not carrying it but encouraging it to walk the other cats gathered round to see the show and the kitten taking its first look at human beings ran screaming. This proved very diverting for the resident cat population however the two Gemini siblings started to argue with each other. I threatened them that the kittens were their birthday presents and that they would have to take care of them. Tequila moved off in disgust but Pukwadji tried to hide herself in the rose bushes. It is their first real view of kittens since they too were at that stage.

Bobo, who is slightly jealous of the attention Angel has received, was watching from one vantage point whilst Fatso (I hate all other black cats but me) was also in evidence. Demon perceiving that his presence might prove detrimental to his on going status in the house walked off to find more interesting things and Genghis remained at her post guarding my bed.

Meanwhile Middle daughter and myself became entangled in various bushes and brambles. The kitten was eventually picked up by Middle daughter but, as she was frightened of hurting it, the small monster jumped free and again speeded off. Angel is now attempting to lure it in once more. We wait with baited breathe for the next development.

Stop the Press

Another kitten has been sighted. This one is a tuxedo cat (with white bib and beard and four white paws, the rest being black). It is a good size for seven weeks but so far is evading both its mother's and our attempts to capture it.

Rhubarb and Custard

Due to the drop in temperature and rainy conditions, we moved the twins (and I am using this term as their relative sizes reminds me of the Hollywood film ‘Twins’.) into youngest daughter’s old bedroom. Angel was transported there to view them and plates of various baby foods were placed at their disposal. Angel then took herself off and vanished for some twelve hours.

On her return I fed her and then took her upstairs to see the babies. She called for them and the tiny one immediately came out from under the desk. The larger kitten that I have started to call Custard eventually crept out from under the wardrobe. Angel seemed pleased to see them and fed them herself, but was more interested in getting back out into the garden. We checked on the kittens at regular intervals and it was not until six hours later that Angel returned.

I had begun to grow worried as previously she was feeding every two hours. Once again she was carried up to see them and this time the larger one did not come out, but then she did not call. The tiny one joined her in a dish of cat food and egg yolk. They came close to eating the same amount as each other. Eventually, however kitty toddled off under the desk once again without a backwards glance and Angel strolled out as if this was what she had always intended. I said it was strange that she was not teaching them to hunt and Middle daughter stated that she thought Angel had shown them how to adopt human beings to hunt for them. I am inclined to agree with this.

To those that have been following this and also read the obituary for Mimi, I have to add that the tiny one is remarkably similar in colour and markings and most definitely similar with regard to food consumption

Angel: The Saga Continues

Angel continues to feed at regular two hourly intervals. However her body mass seems to be dropping radically so the lack of solid food for the kittens is beginning to show. Middle daughter took a trip through the forest, bearing a food gift, and could not find any sign of them but considering that despite her slender size she does sound like a rhino charging through the undergrowth, I was not surprised.

We have enjoyed two days without the builders next door but today they are back with some form of sawing machine and thoroughly enjoying themselves once more. It is therefore very unlikely that Angel will attempt to shift her offspring today. They are now at seven weeks and I suppose, considering how tiny she is, they must be fairly small kittens. The Magpies out back are raising a commotion, which usually indicates a cat is moving in their vicinity, so the potential is there. However, another draw back could be the state of my grassland, which is now rivaling a wheat field. I can just imagine small kittens trying to plough their way through the endless sea of green. Perhaps I should keep goats or sheep instead of cats.

I started this section over three days ago and then was distracted by other matters. A surprising turn around occurred yesterday. It was youngest daughter’s birthday and she being in Preston we were not expected to attend her birthday barbeque. It was around four in the afternoon when I saw Angel on her way to the back door with a large furry bundle in her mouth. I shouted to Middle daughter and she came rushing down the stairs. The bundle being unceremoniously dropped outside the door decided that I represented a major threat and slunk off to hide in an old Tea chest that is outside in the garden. (Don’t ask me to explain the significance of this ornament). Angel ate. We looked at the kitten. The kitten cowered. Middle daughter got some food into a bowl and offered this to the kitten. Angel finished eating and went off up the garden. We waited.

I decided to telephone youngest daughter and report on the arrival. As I was describing the kitten, some twenty odd minutes later, back she came and collided with Pukwadji who had taken herself off into the shrubbery. There was hissing and a bundle was dropped. I came off the telephone. Middle daughter rushed to pick the baby up. The second kitten was one third of the size of the first. It was an amazing bundle of fur with bat ears and not at all perturbed by its adventure. We placed it into the Tea chest and it threw itself at the food plate biting the plastic at first until it discovered the content was slightly more amenable. If prizes were given for food consumption that tiny creature would rival its ravenous mother.

Angel marched back into the kitchen and ate some more. We moved the tiny one into the rabbit hutch with the plate of food. I then turned the Tea chest up and dragged the larger rebel out and placed it with its sibling. Angel seemed to appreciate this act and off she went again. Twenty odd minutes passed during which time I telephoned youngest yet again. Finally Angel reappeared but this time there was no kitten. She gave a brief look at the others and went off again. Again time passed and she returned empty handed. From her belly it is obvious that she has been feeding at least four kittens. I do not like to weigh the alternatives but many a first litter fails through lack of sufficient milk and number two arrival was painfully thin.