Best Mates

Wherever Poppy goes, Rafa wants to go too. Our other cats still refuse to engage with him although they put up with him as long as he’s not too troublesome (chasing them or pouncing on them is not tolerated!)

So Rafa still comes along for the morning walk when we take Poppy out in the woods.

If we start off without him, there is soon a flurry of little paws and a blur of ginger as he hurtles across the paddock to join us

But our 20 minute walk with Poppy is turning into a much longer one when Rafa goes exploring.

Sometimes we wait for him, but this can encourage him to explore further and a couple of times he’s made his way into the middle of a tangle of brambles and nettles from which he struggles to find a way out. Turning round is not an option for him. We’ve had to push through the brambles ourselves in order to rescue him.

Other times, especially when we’ve been in a hurry to get back, we’ve marched on without him. Usually he realises we’ve gone and after a few minutes we spot him in the distance racing after us.

Twice we’ve had to leave him behind. Poppy is keen to get home and put her feet up. Rafa has been on this same route almost every day for about 3 months. Surely he knows his way back, though he’s wary of dogs he doesn’t know (sensibly) and of traffic when crossing our lane (thankfully).

The first time we left him behind he obviously did find his way back because a couple of hours later we found him fast asleep on the nest he’s made behind our sofa.

But the next time, he was missing for nearly 5 hours. We went back to the woods to look for him and as soon as he heard our voices he came trotting out of the bushes not far from where he’d disappeared earlier.  Rafa, where were you for all that time?

He was clearly very pleased to see us and happy to be carried most of the way home. It’s tiring work being an explorer.

 

Spot the Cat

Who, me? Causing you to worry? I’m back now, aren’t I?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiger in the Woods

Our tiger is in the woods (no golfing pun intended!)

Rafa has taken to accompanying us on our morning walk with Poppy. Sometimes he must think he’s a dog as he likes to copy Poppy and they are together most of the day. Rafa still gets the cold shoulder from our other two cats so he is happy to have a friend in our sweet-natured dog.

Following us into the woods is just what our last ginger cat did. And then one day he went missing … We never found out what happened to him.

We’re afraid that once Rafa learns the way into the woods, he’ll go there on his own and perhaps at night… and perhaps not come home.

The woods are an exciting place for a young cat. So many trees and paths and all that jungle to explore. So when Rafa first tried to follow us we took him back to the house and locked him in. But cats are free spirits and we can’t do that for the rest of his life.

At the moment he mostly stays with us and trots along the paths with just the occasional foray into the undergrowth when he can’t resist checking it out.

We’ll just have to keep hoping he’ll continue to come home. We couldn’t bear to lose this little chap too.

Poppy Superstar

Since that little cuckoo Rafa has joined our family, Poppy seems to have been pushed out of her blog.

So it’s time to redress the balance with a few photos of our perfect dog taking centre stage – which she so clearly deserves.

She has to put up with a lot from her furry friends who walk all over her (literally as well as metaphorically!) But here she is on her own walk enjoying the spring sunshine on her regular route through the woods.

The Pinnacle of Ambition

Ambitions are high for Rafa. Since he’s been finding it easy to get to the top of the kitchen cupboards he’s up there nearly every day. It’s a particularly useful place to weigh up his safety options when dogs  that are not as affable as Poppy come visiting. But sometimes the place Rafa wants to get to is already occupied. And he’s not at all sure he’ll be a welcome companion …

Later he spies Zanzi again, this time at the top of a tall book cabinet. Hmm, how did she get up there?

I can do that too, he thinks. Once Zanzi has moved on to a new resting place, he tries it out for himself. Floor to coffee table, to small bookcase, to top of cabinet. Three bounds and he’s free! Or at least he’s at the top, looking very pleased with himself.

And now Rafa is outside, attempting his own Everest. No other cats to show him the way for this one. Somehow he’s managed to find a way onto the greenhouse roof.

Then it’s a full exploration of roofs and glass and gutters. But eventually he manages to reach the summit. Pity he doesn’t have a flag to attach to the pinnacle.

It’s slippery up there though and no easy routes for the descent. After trying out several possibilities it turns out to be a skiddy slide on his rump down the roofing glass – a bit like tobogganing except he has no sled – and then an ungainly tumble. But fortunately it’s only into the vegetable bed. And there are no spiky plants or bamboo canes there yet!

After a full day’s climbing it’s time for a well-earned nap.

Now I’m absolutely plum-tuckered. So just leave me alone to sleep.

Catfish

Rafa would love to get at the fish in our fountain. He gazes down at them through the protective wire for hours.

But look who got caught instead!

 

 

Chocolate

And so, here we are, entertaining guests and for once we have a rich chocolate fudge cake to tempt them with. We  set it down carefully on a side table while tea is poured. Big mistake! One of our friends suddenly jumps in surprise as she spies our naughty ginger kitten, tongue busy carving a path all round the chocolate icing!

Of course we snatch the cake up immediately but there is no way we can offer the cake now and no-one fancies eating it. Except that is for the husband, whose passion for chocolate far outweighs any concerns about eating food sullied by one of our pets. His eyes light up in happy anticipation of being able to devour the whole cake himself.

I’m still wondering. Did he teach Rafa that trick deliberately?

Here, There and Everywhere

Rafa is doing his best to explore every corner of our house and garden. If it’s new he must check it out, sniff it, eat it, climb up or into it, even if it’s a pair of jeans destined for the wash basket. 

Outside, climbing trees is no longer a problem for him.

He seems to be on a mission to scale every one of the trees in our garden, although the ones with straight trunks usually mean coming down a lot faster than those with a more accommodating slant.

Then there are all the bushes to hide behind and gates to climb, where he can survey his territory or pounce on our other pets.

The stable yard is a whole new playground for him.

All the eaves and rafters must somehow be reached and investigated.

Back at ground level he can hide in the straw in the stables …

Or hitch a ride in amongst the muck in the wheelbarrow …

And if he gets bored with all of that, there’s always a handy swing to set in motion.

 

 

Up, Up and Away

Rafa has finally made it to the top of the kitchen cabinets, a place he’s been striving to reach since he first saw Zanzi and Treacle jump seemingly effortlessly up there many weeks ago.

And now he’s found a novel way to reach the top too. Seizing an opportunity and with complete disregard for the possible damage his claws can inflict, he uses us as a stepping stone. He climbs straight up his human, onto the shoulders, the top of the head and from there it is only a short leap to the top of the cabinets. At last! Another ambition realised.

It’s lucky that neither of the torties was up there already or a furious paw might have send him hurtling back down again much more quickly than anticipated. Instead he’s able to explore alone.

But having achieved the dizzy heights he finds there is nothing much of interest up there, no toys, nothing to bat about from paw to paw as he has in abundance at ground level. And so, as Tolstoy observed in Anna Karenina:
‘The realization of his longing showed him the eternal error men make by imagining that happiness consists in the gratification of their wishes. …Soon he felt rising in his soul a desire for desires—boredom.’

Clearly this applies to cats as well as to mankind. Within minutes he wants to come back down again.

As with his very first tree-climbing endeavours he discovers that coming down is more challenging than he’d anticipated. He prowls along the top, along to the far side and back again looking for the best route down. He tries sliding down the glossy cupboard doors, changes his mind and recovers his balance. After several unsuccessful attempts he finds a place where he believes he can reach the worktop, finally commits himself, slithers down and lands in an untidy heap (luckily not in a greasy pan), after which he rights himself and jumps to the floor.

And then, of course, he wants to try it again. Another spring up to the top via handily positioned humans and this time he discovers a new way of getting down – via the kitchen door.

From there, a few careful steps and a bounce down to a convenient shelf.

Now he’s discovered he can get up by the same route. Jump onto the shelf, make a calculated leap onto the top of the open door, creating a momentum that swings the door towards the cabinets. Another quick bound to the top before he loses his balance. For the moment, boredom is suspended while he practises this technique several times over, each time with increasing confidence.

Then it’s off to Poppy’s soft bed by the Aga for a well-deserved rest.

Poor Zanzi and Treacle. Their place of retreat to escape that cheeky little ginger hooligan has been violated. Now they’ll get no peace.

 

Little Drummer Boy

Our little Rafa boy has been causing us heart palpitations again. Yesterday he went missing for nearly the whole day. He normally only goes outside for half an hour or so and then comes in to eat and crash out by the Aga or play with his friend Poppy before he ventures out again.

We last saw him mid morning running around the garden and climbing trees with Zanzi (now he’s got the hang of it). By lunchtime when he hadn’t returned we were starting to get worried and searched the garden and all our outbuildings. No sign of him. An hour later we went out again and spent all afternoon checking the stables, the sheds, peering into the conifers and, with increasing dread, into ponds, the horses’ water troughs and everywhere else that could be a hazard to a young cat who has been getting too bold for his own good.

Feeling increasingly frantic, we checked the lane, combed fields and woods. We couldn’t believe it – another ginger cat gone missing. Not again. Our hearts couldn’t stand it. By 5 pm and feeling sick to our stomachs, we checked the outbuildings one more time and there in the master’s drum studio that we’d looked in three times already we found him!

Usually if he’s shut in anywhere by mistake he wails loudly and shoots back out as soon as a door is opened. There must have been so many places to explore here: hiding behind all the instruments, climbing inside the drums – surely this studio was specially set up as a cat’s adventure playground.He hadn’t made a sound when we looked in earlier.

Now having had so much time to practise, he surely has a future in a cat rock band.!

But after six hours locked away he was keen to get back to the house for a good munch and the chance to settle down with Poppy again.

And time for a glass of wine for us to settle our nerves. Another day survived!