Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

Outnumbered

by admin - 23:33 on 04 October 2013

It's been a fraught day in The Rural Retreat, with cats to blame for everything.

Yesterday I returned from delivering London-bound Matchgirl to the airport and discovered a heavily savaged and half-empty packet of cat treats in the middle of the kitchen floor. There was no evidence from which to deduce the culprit. However, Willow's repeated returns to the place where they're no longer stored (the goodies now being on an even higher shelf, hopefully beyond the reach of the most acrobatic of moggies) could be a bit of a giveaway.

Many harsh words have been spoken, and the spray bottle employed on several occasions, but The Grey Streak is persistent.

Also persistent is Pandora, who entered the Retreat this afternoon with a shrieking vole in her jaws then ran upstairs when I pursued her. The Tabby Terror's prize was dropped in the bedroom where it went to ground. I hustled out cats, closed the door and left the rattled rodent to recover, confident the beast would find its way downstairs (as have others before it) and escape to freedom.

The plan would have worked were it not for Maia's sharp ears, which were the first to hear a small escapee scurrying across the living room carpet this evening while felines dozed. Maia pounced and missed but Pandora was right behind her; a shrieking vole was carried back upstairs.

This time the miniature Houdini escaped in the computer room. It's recovering behind a closed door right now, beneath which it will have no trouble squeezing during the night. So sometime in the small hours there's every chance I'll be woken by the sound of shelves crashing, as Willow hunts for treats, or rodent squeals, as Pandora makes a third attempt on the life of her quarry.

Tomorrow, The Pride will be home alone for most of the day while I attempt to sell my wares in Dornoch. I could come back to find the place looking like the aftermath of a teenage party. Matchgirl isn't home until Monday. I don't know if I can last alone that long...

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