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Jan. 15th, 2007 03:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Ugh. I'm currently recovering from possibly the worst cold I can remember. I don't think it was 'flu, but I had to take four days off work, which has never happened before, and spent them all on the sofa feeling completely miserable. It was the sort of thing where you get up to make a cup of something then have to lie down for an hour to recover. I was even too tired to read until Saturday, which should give you some idea of my state of mind. Still, I'm back in the land of the living - or at least, at work, which is more or less the same thing.
The wind has been a bit wild this week, as have the floodwaters, apparently. Thankfully neither affected me, wrapped up on the sofa and coughing, except that the wind tore the felt on the roof of my shed. I therefore spend Sunday afternoon learning how to attach roofing felt to a shed without making it disintegrate further, as the shed was not build on the sturdiest of lines in the first place and has now warped in all sorts of interesting directions. I started late, on account of not feeling too great in the morning, and so had to finish knocking nails in by torchlight at about 5pm. Thank goodness for head torches, that's all I can say. I've still got to finish off a few bits that need me to stand in the neighbour's flower bed but they're mostly decorative and can be done at any time, really.
The major excitement of the weekend, however, was Cleo. She decided that it was time to Go Exploring. As Kipper's now been spayed and is healing nicely, I took advantage of the fine weather to give them what was designed to be a brief tour of the garden. Both cats were initially rather uncertain about going outside so I didn't expect them to go far. After a bit of coaxing, both were persuaded to start tentatively exploring the garden (the rosemary bush was unexpectedly fascinating). Kipper stayed outside for about ten minutes, then decided that she'd had enough garden for now and went back in. Cleo looked as if she was following, then for no apparent reason shot straight up the fence and over into the neighbour's garden. I watched her for a bit but she soon disappeared behind the shrubs. I thought she'd be back soon, so after putting the washing out I went back inside, leaving the door off the cat flap in case she hadn't got the hang of cat flaps yet.
She turned up briefly after about an hour, peering through the cat flap then legging it as soon as I opened the door for her. After that, she disappeared again until after dark - about six o' clock - when after repeatedly calling and wandering around looking suspicious with a torch, I found her under a bush at the front of the house. She seemed reluctant to come out so I popped back in for some cat food to rattle encouragingly. Predictably, once I got out, the bush turned out to be entirely cat-free. I carried on calling at odd intervals throughout the evening but Cleo still did not appear. Eventually, I put a bowl of food, her bed and the spare litter tray in the kitchen, put away anything breakable, shut the door, and hoped that Cleo - and not the many other neighbourhood cats - would find her way through the open cat flap.
I came downstairs this morning to find that nothing had changed, but when I came into the kitchen for the second time there were once again eyes at the cat flap. This time, I opened the door much more gently, and when I moved away Cleo nervously came in. Hooray! She didn't seem too interested in food and showed signs of going out again, so I shooed her into the front room and shut the door. Kipper greeted her with a hiss and a fluffed tail, although once it had been established that Cleo wasn't going to eat Kipper's breakfast, Kipper was a bit more friendly (although still mostly interested in food). Cleo drank some water and settled down for a wash. She seems to be unhurt but she's back to being rather wary again, although she did accept a bit of a fuss as long as I didn't move suddenly. I, on the other hand, could have done without the experience of wandering around in the cold for an evening. Oh, well, never a dull moment ekcetera.
The wind has been a bit wild this week, as have the floodwaters, apparently. Thankfully neither affected me, wrapped up on the sofa and coughing, except that the wind tore the felt on the roof of my shed. I therefore spend Sunday afternoon learning how to attach roofing felt to a shed without making it disintegrate further, as the shed was not build on the sturdiest of lines in the first place and has now warped in all sorts of interesting directions. I started late, on account of not feeling too great in the morning, and so had to finish knocking nails in by torchlight at about 5pm. Thank goodness for head torches, that's all I can say. I've still got to finish off a few bits that need me to stand in the neighbour's flower bed but they're mostly decorative and can be done at any time, really.
The major excitement of the weekend, however, was Cleo. She decided that it was time to Go Exploring. As Kipper's now been spayed and is healing nicely, I took advantage of the fine weather to give them what was designed to be a brief tour of the garden. Both cats were initially rather uncertain about going outside so I didn't expect them to go far. After a bit of coaxing, both were persuaded to start tentatively exploring the garden (the rosemary bush was unexpectedly fascinating). Kipper stayed outside for about ten minutes, then decided that she'd had enough garden for now and went back in. Cleo looked as if she was following, then for no apparent reason shot straight up the fence and over into the neighbour's garden. I watched her for a bit but she soon disappeared behind the shrubs. I thought she'd be back soon, so after putting the washing out I went back inside, leaving the door off the cat flap in case she hadn't got the hang of cat flaps yet.
She turned up briefly after about an hour, peering through the cat flap then legging it as soon as I opened the door for her. After that, she disappeared again until after dark - about six o' clock - when after repeatedly calling and wandering around looking suspicious with a torch, I found her under a bush at the front of the house. She seemed reluctant to come out so I popped back in for some cat food to rattle encouragingly. Predictably, once I got out, the bush turned out to be entirely cat-free. I carried on calling at odd intervals throughout the evening but Cleo still did not appear. Eventually, I put a bowl of food, her bed and the spare litter tray in the kitchen, put away anything breakable, shut the door, and hoped that Cleo - and not the many other neighbourhood cats - would find her way through the open cat flap.
I came downstairs this morning to find that nothing had changed, but when I came into the kitchen for the second time there were once again eyes at the cat flap. This time, I opened the door much more gently, and when I moved away Cleo nervously came in. Hooray! She didn't seem too interested in food and showed signs of going out again, so I shooed her into the front room and shut the door. Kipper greeted her with a hiss and a fluffed tail, although once it had been established that Cleo wasn't going to eat Kipper's breakfast, Kipper was a bit more friendly (although still mostly interested in food). Cleo drank some water and settled down for a wash. She seems to be unhurt but she's back to being rather wary again, although she did accept a bit of a fuss as long as I didn't move suddenly. I, on the other hand, could have done without the experience of wandering around in the cold for an evening. Oh, well, never a dull moment ekcetera.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-15 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-15 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-15 06:09 pm (UTC)but she really should not be out at night. That is when bad things happen to kitties.
Perhaps you could try her on a harness and lead for the time being... though I would be inclined to keep her indoors for at least a few weeks more before letting her out again. I'd also be inclined to go down the fencing in or rollers-on-the-top-of-the-fence route with this one.
When our ginger-job, Pepper, went missing in my youth it was one of the worst six weeks of my life. I've had a few hours worrying about Casino, too, as he does not have a single brain cell and is not really an outdoor cat - or, for that matter, my cat.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-16 12:01 pm (UTC)I have a suspicion that she was probably cowering under a bush nearby all along, rather than enjoying a night out on the town, which might mean that she'll come in more promptly in future.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-15 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-16 12:01 pm (UTC)