Relief

Princess Relaxes Despite Heat

She has to say,

It's so hot and Anna is away on holiday, bless her. We all miss her.

We have been looking closely at the forecasted weather and the forecasts were for much more  worsening hotness.

She went down the road too far for comfort to buy some cat milk after we all requested milk when She had Her morning cup of tea.

On that day it was 41 degrees and that was much too much but all the same She went out and bought Our Special Cat Milk which helps us feel cool.

She is working with the compost bin which Anna brought because much goes Off in this weather.

The new herbs and vegetables are being watered from the washing machine.

We heard her groaning, the forecast was for more hotness and we aren't allowed to water our gardens very much these days.

Then Tabs saw Her standing out front.

'Ants,' She said, 'There are a lot of ants,' she said.

'That says it will rain,' she said.

Late in this afternoon it began to rain.

It's still raining.

It's not cool rain.

The heavens are weeping for all the injustices of our land.

We have to cry on Australia Day, Invasion Day, the day of an eclipse.

Our fancy Astrologer said, 'Look to the heavens and if you see the eclipse there will be luck!'

She looked with us all to the heavens. It was grey but we felt good all the same because some of our garden will survive a bit longer..

Princess didn't even step onto the verandah to get away from the rain.

She lay on the footpath and her fur got wet.

Then She brought our Princess inside and Princess complained but later went to sleep on the cool bathroom tiles.

Friday

Inside Cats

The cats are introducing me to more people and especially to more children.

The cats act charming, they curl up under the flowering bushes looking graceful and whiskery and they accept praise and worship from us all.

Princess doesn't come out of her bathroom nest very often, but every few days she's restless and wanders around with her characteristic cry which sounds like a hoarse Wowwr!! Wowr. On those days I take her across the road to visit Jos and Mick and to assume her old place on the verandah where she has watched the street go by these last eight years or so.

Not every day. A day out, then two day's rest.

Even though the vet said that her kidneys are remarkably good for a cat her age, she sometimes pees in her bed.  More work for she but Princess still does her cat work, slipping out from her curtained bed, saying hello, lip marking the red shelf in the bathroom, accepting caress and praise, then slipping back to bed.

She's eating well and her arthritic back legs are less shaky than they were a few weeks ago.

She can still leap onto my lap. She can still run nimbly up Jos's front steps although I'm not sure that she still ascends the mulberry tree to get to Jos's roof.

She said she wanted to go out in yesterday's blistering heat. As I carried her past our front gate, she had the energy to hiss at Scrap, who looked  surprised.

Me, I didn't do much at all, a bit of study, a walk to the Post Office to pay bills, some kitchen work and so on.

I collected Princess in the evening. As I chatted with Jos, Sylvio dashed across the road to talk to us. Friday evening's traffic is always dense. Jos and I were frozen with horror. Sylvio timed his run well. I brought him back first. Usually Sylvio, Grace and Stanley are inside by evening time being the first of all the cats to enquire about dinner....

Next time I'll make sure he's in before I cross the road. He's too daring, that small silver boy.

So all are inside and fed except for Greyling. I try to fetch her a few times, but she dances away. 

I go outside to look for her and notice fine drops of rain.

Too tired, too hot to bring the washing in earlier, I get the basket and fetch the washing, not even bothering to fold it.

When I return to our small back yard, the garden is full of silver whiskery faces, mischievous and mysterious.  I'd closed the door without locking it and it must have been Zorro who teased the door open.

They've had their dinner and now they aren't going to come inside, thanks all the same!

I go to get the camera. The pattern of the little faces among the flowering silvery mauve heliotrope and the silver dragon shapes of the artichoke is lovely. They are all in the wilderness by the time I return to the garden and No, when I call, they will not come.

I give up and go inside.

The rain gradually gets heavier and pretty soon there are faces at the kitchen window.

"Can we come inside now please?"

"Oh, all right," she growls.

But Lucibelle and Balanchine didn't escape. They knew the rain to be on its way.