Summer visitors

 

Summer visitors

Arthur goes to bed with at least one toy.

Arthur has come to stay for a couple of weeks while his owner visits the South of France for a few days. It is a working holiday for her. She was recently made redundant but managed to get another short-term contract, so is working remotely. She has gone with a pregnant friend whose parents have a holiday home there.

Arthur was always going to stay with us, but the cats had to come, too. The cat-sitting arrangements fell through while Susannah waited for confirmation of her new job. Solomon, Lenny, and Zula are safely ensconced in what we laughingly call the South Wing, East Wing, West Wing?? another part of the house anyway, where she and Frankie lived for almost six years. It’s just the three old bedrooms of our children, nothing spectacular.

Herschel and Jellicoe are fascinated and sit near the dividing door when I go in to ‘see to the cats.’ Arthur dances around outside, not desperate to visit his housemates. They are not nearly as tolerant as our felines, who give him a good ignoring while attempting to steal his food.

                                        Stopping for a portrait

Arthur is a very obedient little dog – a working Cocker spaniel, with boundless energy and the sweetest nature. Out of the house for a walk, he dashes hither and yon, but never goes far from whoever is walking him, currently Barry. He is polite to other dogs and people but is not really interested in them. Susannah has trained him exceptionally well. He is a great companion for her and an alert guard dog, though he would greet any intruder with immense joy.

I now have two dogs at my feet. Dogs seem to need more contact and reassurance than bitches. Roxy comes to us now and again for attention, but she’s much more independent than the boys. I suppose that’s the nature of the beast. The girls instinctively nurture their young.

 
Ready for morning cuddles

Golden syrup

 

Golden syrup

F fromTigger’s Wee-Blog posted her grandmother’s recipe for mouthwatering ginger biscuits. It was the mention of one of the ingredients, golden syrup, that triggered this post.

I read recently that Tate and Lyle were changing the 140-year-old trademark on their classic green and gold tins of golden syrup because some customers had complained that the current one was grim. The illustration shows a cloud of bees buzzing around a dead lion. Underneath are the words, ‘Out of the strong came forth sweetness’. The logo and words are repeated on the red and gold black treacle tin. (Tooth-achingly sweet golden syrup is refined from stronger, slightly bitter black treacle, which is said to be similar to molasses.) It holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest unchanged logo. This year, 2024, it was replaced by a stylised lion’s head and a single bee.

Tate and Lyle’s Golden Syrup became Lyle’s Golden Syrup after the sugar business was sold to American Sugar Refining in 2010. Tate and Lyle continues to trade other commodities.

I remember studying the syrup tin when I was a child, but it never occurred to me that I was seeing something offensive, and even now I see nothing wrong with it. It was based on the story of Samson and the lion in chapter 14 of the Book of Judges. Briefly, Samson killed a lion and later discovered that bees had used the carcase as a hive and produced honey. He then posed a riddle to the Philistines, one of whose daughters he wanted to marry, ‘Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.’

I must remember to keep the empty tin, as a reminder of simpler, less antagonistic times . . . and my childhood.

 My guilty pleasure, but one I rarely indulge, is syrup on hot, buttered toast. 😔 

I like ginger nuts, too.

The Entropy Gang’s May 2023 blog

 

The Entropy Gang’s May 2023 blog

Herschel: We haven’t blogged since August 2018 – that’s nearly 5 years ago. A lot has happened!

Jellicoe: There used to be three of us then, but now there are just two. Our brother Isambard travelled on four years ago. He caught an illness from the THINKER.

Herschel: Everyone was very sad, especially Frankie, because Isambard always cuddled up with him. Frankie was only a small Servant when he first came to live here but now he’s a big boy.

Isambard and Jellicoe

Jellicoe: Actually, he’s the same age as Herschel and me – we’re all ten years old.

Herschel: Anyway, Susannah and Frankie found a home of their own a couple of years ago and moved out with Lenny and Solomon and Zula.

Jellicoe: Jenna the DOG travelled on more than a year ago. She was very old (for a DOG) and she’d had a good life, but we all missed her.  

    Jenna on her 15th birthday. She died 4 days after her 16th birthday.

Herschel: Then Bertie, my favourite DOG, was ill and the THINKER and the MAID were very worried. The VETS did everything they could to help him but he just kept getting thinner.

                                             Bertie and Herschel

Jellicoe: Gus, Jenna’s brother, was getting old and stiff, too, but still kept going and enjoying his walks until one day he couldn’t stand at all and that was his last day with us.

                                               Bertie and Gus

Herschel: The HUMANS were so upset, we had to keep sitting on them and purring. I think that helped.

Jellicoe: A couple of months later, Bertie died. Now Roxy was all on her own and she was so very sad. We cuddled up with her but she couldn’t understand where her DOG friends had gone, three of them, gone in eleven months.

Bertie and Jellicoe

Herschel: For a long time, the HUMANS couldn’t have another puppy because my brother, Jellicoe, was very ill and they thought a puppy would be too stressful for him and make him ill again.

Jellicoe: Finally, once I was well again (cross claws) the HUMANS were shown a puppy they couldn’t resist and Gilbert came to live with us.

Herschel: He’s a nice boy, but we’re still educating him. Jellicoe does the downstairs sleep training and I go up to bed with the MAID to continue the guidance.

Herschel and Gilbert

Jellicoe: Then the THINKER goes to bed. Sometimes I go up with him and curl up next to the MAID, but other times I stay downstairs and enjoy the peace and quiet. (Herschel and Roxy snore!)

Herschel: There have been lots of other things happening but we’ll tell you about them another time.

Jellicoe: We won’t leave it for another five years, though.

TTFN

Gus's blog

The 25^th blog of Augustus Lazarus Cooke, (Gus) aged 10½.

Hello everybody. It’s been such a long time since I blogged that I hardly know where to begin so I’ll just dive in and hope for the best.

Susannah and Frankie and the cats – Lenny, Solomon and Zula – moved into their new house last summer. Roxy goes for sleep-overs now and again but she can’t go at the moment because of ‘the virus’.

We animals are quite curious about ‘the virus’. Lots of things have changed because of it. Frankie doesn’t go to school or to tennis, or swimming, or gymnastics and he can’t have any piano lessons and no-one goes out to work unless they are Qui workers. I think the ‘Qui’ means ‘Who’ and that’s the question a lot of people are asking, along with ‘Why’. For instance, no-one is supposed to go near anyone else but the Qui workers are still crowding onto the Toob trains and children whose parents live in different houses can travel between them, but friends can’t go and see friends or even meet them outside.

Lots of people who can’t go to work are worried about money and everyone is worrying about shopping. Mr and Mrs H don’t go out shopping anyway and always do everything ‘online’. What does ‘online’ mean? Is it like walking a tightrope? Anyway, the talk now is about getting ‘a slot’. Apparently, ‘slots’ are almost impossible to find though we see them sometimes in the woods. (Deer slots are easy to see in the mud after it’s been raining.)

Susannah and Frankie come to see Mr and Mrs H every day to see if they need anything but they don’t come into the house and we can’t say hello to them. Instead, they stand outside and shout at Mr and Mrs H and they shout back but it’s all quite friendly. Frankie doesn’t do much shouting – he’s finding it all a bit strange.

When people come to deliver shopping to the house they do a little dance. First of all, the person delivering rings the bell or knocks on the door, then speeds away so when the Humans open the door, the person is miles away and does a bit of shouting. Then the Humans shout back and everyone smiles and says ‘thank you’ and ‘take care’ and then the Humans come back in and wash their hands. They wash their hands a LOT. It’s very interesting to watch.

Everyone is talking about ‘the virus’ but it hasn’t affected us much, apart from Roxy not being able to visit Susannah and Frankie and the cats. She loves going there but Lenny and Solomon shoo her off the bed so she’s always pleased to come home and take up her rightful position on Mr and Mrs H’s bed, along with Herschel and Jellicoe.

We were sorry to have to say goodbye to Isambard before Christmas. He had spent a long time looking after Mr H when he had newmoania and then he got very ill and died. The vets were really upset and sent the Humans a lovely card to say how sorry they were. Jellicoe had been really ill, too, and we all thought he was going to die, but he didn’t, so Isambard’s passing was a great shock to everyone. Jellicoe and Herschel seem to have taken over the responsibility for looking after the Humans. That was always Isambard’s job before.

Today, the sun is shining and the birds are busy and all is well with the world, apart from ‘the virus’, that is.

Be good.

Hwyl fawr am nawr! (That’s Welsh for ‘Goodbye for now!’)

Curiosity and the Cats

Curiosity and the Cats – and Lolly.

I think it is generally accepted that cats are curious and our Ocicats are certainly no exception. In addition, they are very attached to us, following us around the house. When we go to bed at night they all come up with us, choosing their spots on the bed, between the dogs. Somehow, Barry and I manage to carve out space for ourselves and some while thereafter the cats move on to our legs. They are heavy! Lenny the Somali, who is actually one of Susannah’s cats, comes to bed later and sleeps next to my head. He used to try sleeping on it but I dissuaded him from that.

Lenny is a very vocal cat and it is possible, even obligatory, to have lengthy conversations with him. He greets everyone, two-legged and four-legged, with enthusiasm. For a fairly small cat he has a loud and insistent voice.

Lenny speaks! 

We have two wooden buildings at the end of our garden. One houses the endless swimming pool and the other is a gymnasium. One morning recently, Barry stepped into the garden to be met by Lenny, vociferously miauing and running back and forth in the direction of the gym.  Barry chatted to him but Lenny was insistent that Barry should follow him. Naturally, one cannot disobey a cat and so he followed him. On opening the door he was met by Herschel and Jellicoe, who had slipped in behind him a few hours earlier and found themselves shut in. It was remarkable how persistent Lenny was. Clearly, he did not want his friends to remain trapped.

The next day Barry went to the swimming pool and when he opened the door Jellicoe shot out like a bolt from an arrow, desperate to relieve himself. When Barry had gone to check the water temperature the previous evening Jellicoe had followed him in, unnoticed, and had been locked in all night. We don’t allow our cats to stay outside at night and usually count them before we go to bed, leaving fresh chicken in the kitchen for their supper. Somehow, we had neglected to do this so poor Jellicoe was not only imprisoned but left to starve. Such cruel humans! He has been unusually attentive and lap-seeking since then.

In mitigation, we had been hosting Lolly the Labrador while her humans went on holiday, and had needed to ensure she went upstairs before the cats were fed. There were two reasons for this. The first is that Lolly is very good but not used to cats. She knows she must not chase them but sometimes the temptation proves too much. Our Ocicats treat her with disdain so she soon abandons her pursuit of them, although to be extra sure of safety they frequently take to altitude. The exception to this is Isambard, the most nervous and timid of our cats, who nonetheless does his utmost to make friends with her. Foolish Lenny and his brother Solomon run away and so Lolly is encouraged to give chase. Feisty Zula the Abyssinian, the smallest of them all, hisses loudly and wise Lolly keeps her distance from her. The second reason concerns the gate – a baby gate! – into the kitchen to prevent our dogs thieving the cats’ succulent raw chicken wings. It presents no obstacle to Lolly who is very athletic and leaps over with ease. She is not a greedy dog – for a Labrador! - but chicken is alluring and it is amazing how quickly a dog can siphon up food.

Frankie loves the dogs and enjoyed having an extra dog for a couple of weeks. Here they all are in Simons Wood, left to right : Gus, Jenna, Frankie, Bertie, Lolly, Roxy

Lolly has returned home now and life has returned to normal, or as normal as it ever is in our house. It is also a little quieter, because Lolly, being a London dog, is very protective of Bethan and her children and transfers that care to us when on holiday with us. She has a loud, penetrating bark and encourages the rest to join in. Five barking dogs are a great deterrent to potential intruders and much more effective than any doorbell.

Sadly, Lolly was getting used to the cats again and they were sleeping next to her, but next time she comes to stay we shall have to reinforce the lessons learnt this time – and last time – and the time before. Lolly is very intelligent but there are some things she pretends  - or prefers - not to understand.

 The Entropy Gang’s August 2018 blog
(Clicking on the photos enlarges them . . . usually)

Herschel: It’s more than a year since Zula joined the family. She’s still tiny but very determined. She loves the GARDEN. To our sorrow, not many birds venture into the GARDEN these days.

Jellicoe: The MASTER calls me the assassin. I’m the smallest of my brothers but probably the quickest. This year I’ve caught a rat, a mouse and a young blackbird. I was told off for the blackbird but the MASTER and the MAID were quite pleased with me for keeping down the rat population.

Jellicoe up high on the arch and watching . . .

Isambard: I’m still not very interested in hunting, though my attention was attracted by a fly the other day. Lenny is the hunter of butterflies and dragonflies. He eats the butterflies.

Isambard

Herschel: The butterflies have been coming into the conservatory. They laid eggs and the caterpillars from the eggs ate the plants.

Jellicoe: Lenny spends a lot of time with us. He’s still a bit frightened of Zula. He sleeps next to the MAID’S pillow and I sleep between her and the MASTER.

Isambard: I always sleep on the MAID’S feet and Herschel lies on the MASTER’S legs but he spent all night in the gymnasium the other night.

Herschel: Yes, I went to keep the MASTER company while he was exercising. I must have been asleep when he left and he didn’t see me.

Jellicoe: The MAID was in the garden (not hanging out the clothes) when she heard him miaouing and rattling the door handle, so she let him out but he wasn’t cross or hungry.

Isambard: It’s a good thing it wasn’t during the Very Hot Weather but the MASTER didn’t go in the gym then.

Herschel: No, he concentrated on swimming. We like to join him in the pool, not in the water, you understand, just watching.

Jellicoe: Solomon and Zula spend long days in the garden. Zula drinks from the pond. When she was very small she trod on the water weed, thinking it was grass, and fell in and got wet. She hasn’t done that again.

Zula

Isambard: Solomon and Lenny have been scratching a lot. Poor Solomon had to wear a body suit to stop him scratching. Then he went to the VET to be tested for things that might make him itch.

Solomon

Herschel: They’re called ALLERGIES and it turns out he’s allergic to NINETEEN different things.

Jellicoe: Now he has to go to the VET for injections to DESENSITISE (that’s a long word!) DESENSITISE him.

Isambard: Then Lenny will have to be tested. We don’t have to go to the VET. We’re strong Ocicats.

Lenny

Herschel: Oh, oh, I had to go to the VET recently. I cut my back foot. The VET said I had severed one tendon and half-severed another. The MASTER and the MAID don’t know how I did it.

Jellicoe: They think he might have done it in the garage. He likes to go mousing in there.

Isambard: But now he’s only allowed in there for short periods and Lenny isn’t allowed at all.

Herschel: That’s for a different reason. (whispers) It’s because he uses it as a litter tray, even though we’ve got lots of litter trays as well as the GARDEN.

Jellicoe: We still love the dogs, especially Bertie and Roxy. Zula loves the DOGS, too, but I don’t think Solomon and Lenny are quite so keen.

Herschel sleeps on Bertie

Jellicoe shares Roxy's bed

Isambard: I’ve seen Lenny rubbing round the DOGS sometimes, but not Solomon. It’s us three brothers who love them the most. It’s funny to remember how frightened we were when we first saw them.

Herschel: Time to go now. The DOGS are going out for a walk soon. How funny! WE don’t have to be taken out for walks.

Jellicoe: It’s been very quiet at home. Frankie, the small SERVANT, has been away on holiday. He’s coming home on Friday.

Isambard: I like Frankie. I like to scramble onto his lap and he likes that. Zula is his little cat and she sleeps under his bed every night. TTFN.

Lenny

(Clicking on the photos enlarges them . . . usually)

Lenny with his 'Arctic fox' brother, Solomon

Lenny, sometimes unkindly referred to as ‘Lenny the Lard’, is a very pretty and quite well-covered Somali. He is the bolder of Susannah’s two Somalis and is very vocal and extremely greedy. He is an extremely companionable cat and enjoys having conversations, treating his Servants almost as equals. He couches his demands, which are many, in gentle pleading tones.

Lenny loves his forays into the garden, so long as it’s not too wet, and is perfectly adept at letting himself in and out through the cat flap. However, if one of the Servants is nearby, Lenny will ask repeatedly for help, knowing that eventually the Servant will give in for some peace, and do his bidding. He is not a gifted hunter, preferring to capture dragonflies and butterflies. He eats butterflies!

He is always to be found in the kitchen if food is being prepared and likes to help by parading along the worktop, waving his plumy tail and commenting on the Servant’s progress. In addition to his usual rations, he likes dog biscuits and vitamin supplements, avocado, butter, cheese, eggs, risotto, pasta, porridge – in fact, most things. When he is particularly hungry, which is not often, given his penchant for feeding at every opportunity, he runs in front of the Servants, weaving back and forth, attempting to trip them up. The other day he danced in front of the Janice Servant and then the Small Servant Frankie, causing them to stumble. He was quick to remove himself from possible harm and the Servants managed to retain their footing whereupon Lenny resumed his pleas.

In common with the other cats, Lenny dislikes solid objects blocking free access and jumps up to open doors. For no apparent reason, though I suppose it is where tasty food is often to be found conveniently placed on plates, all the cats like the dining room. Lenny is no exception. He cannot seem to let himself out of the dining room, though, even when the door is ajar, or perhaps he wants some human assistance. Whatever the reason, leaving the warmth and comfort of bed to release him from the dining room at 2.30 a.m. is not conducive to good relations and so the Janice Servant prevailed upon the Barry Servant to remove the door handles and replace them upside down. ‘That’ll settle your hash,’ she remarked grimly. Lenny just miaoued.

A lap is a comfortable place to relax but first has to be kneaded vigorously, likewise heads at bedtime. The dogs are not keen on being kneaded and Lenny has learnt to desist. ‘Laid-back Lenny’ does his utmost to remain on good terms with everyone, though he is afraid of Zula, Susannah’s tiny Abyssinian. Doubtless he will overcome his fear in time. No matter what he does, the human response is always the same – ‘He’s very sweet’ – and he really is. 

The Entropy Gang’s June 2017 blog

The Entropy Gang’s June 2017 blog

Herschel: It’s nearly a year since we were granted the freedom of the GARDEN. One day I caught a squirrel but when I tried to take it indoors The MAID wouldn’t let me in. I don’t know why. I haven’t bothered catching anything since, apart from an occasional dragonfly, since my efforts are not really appreciated. The birds have stopped coming into the GARDEN now, anyway. What’s a cat to do?

Jellicoe: I’ve caught more than anyone – two wood pigeons, a rat, a field mouse and a blackbird that managed to escape. Lately I haven’t been concentrating on hunting. I found a way out of the GARDEN but the trouble was that I couldn’t find the way back in again and that made me unhappy. The MASTER has been all round the GARDEN making sure that none of us can escape again. Spoilsport!

Isambard: I don’t spend any time hunting. I’d rather watch the fish or curl up with the dogs. It’s been so hot lately that none of us have done anything but flop about. It’s cooler now, though so all the SERVANTS are happier.

Pats

Herschel: Pats, the little cat belonging to Susannah, died. We were sorry, even though she didn’t mix with us. She had lived with Susannah for a very long time.

Isambard: Susannah was very upset. Now she’s found another kitten, the same colour as Pats. She is nosy and very interested in finding out about everything. Lenny is scared of her but he’s getting used to her.

Lenny

Zula

Frankie with Zula

Frankie is very proud of and pleased with his little kitten

Jellicoe: Her name is Zula and she’s tiny. Bertie loves her. Bertie is a nice boy, gentle and warm. We like the other DOGS, too, but Bertie is our favourite.

Isambard: The MASTER and The MAID put in a special little door for us so that we can go in and out whenever we want to.

Herschel: We’re not allowed out at night, though, but that doesn’t bother us ‘cos we like to sleep with the DOGS and the SERVANTS.

Jellicoe: No, we’re not allowed out but Solomon got stuck outside the other night and cried to come in.

Solomon

Isambard: When Jellicoe escaped none of us were allowed out unless the SERVANTS were in the GARDEN with us. The SERVANTS locked our little door but Solomon didn’t realise and banged his head trying to open the flap.

Herschel: So then he didn’t want to use the special door and that’s why he got stuck outside ‘cos he wouldn’t come in when The MAID called him. Silly boy!

Jellicoe: He’s all right now, though. I was the first to use the special door. I’m always the first to try something new. Isambard was the last. He’s so cautious it’s painful.

Herschel: Little Zula isn’t allowed into the GARDEN yet. The SERVANTS are afraid the Red Kite will grab her so she won’t go out until she’s bigger.

Isambard: I don’t think the DOGS would allow that. The Red Kite is big but the DOGS are much bigger.

Jellicoe: Zula won’t be very big, anyway, not even as big as Lenny and Solomon, although they’re mostly fur, not like us Ocicats. We’re big and strong.

Herschel: Now we must get back to what we like doing best – snoozing, preferably with a dog or, failing that, on The MASTER and The MAID’S bed. We’ll be in touch. TTFN.

A lovely morning surprise!

  Herschel snoozes

   It was early Saturday morning and we were enjoying a leisurely lie-in, idly watching rugby and occasionally dozing off. Susannah had taken Frankie to his swimming lesson and then carried on to her gym class.

Bertie  and Jellicoe share a bed. He couldn't be a hunter, could he?

Bertie and Roxy were stretched out on our bed, joined from time to time by Herschel and Jellicoe. Isambard was lying on my legs so naturally I couldn’t get up – it’s very bad manners to disturb a cat. Jenna and Gus were snoozing in their beds.

We could hear sounds of cats playing. At least Solomon and Lenny weren’t screaming at each other so all was peaceful and there was no urgency for us to get up and proceed with the day. Susannah returned and there was an exclamation of disbelief and horror as she realised she had trodden on a dead but still pliant wood pigeon.

‘You’ve got to see this,’ she said so we duly arose. The hall was a mass of feathers surrounding a defunct avian. The scene in the garden of the capture and possibly the execution  was clearly demarcated by a sufficient number of feathers to make us believe there might have been more than one casualty. How can one bird have so many feathers? Still, as the old tongue twister has it, 'There are forty thousand feathers on a thrush' so there must be at least that number on a wood pigeon. I can understand why Labradors dislike picking up pigeons – all those feathers coming loose.

Not quite the remains of the day  . . .

After clearing up (We now have a clear idea of the colour of a pigeon blood ruby) we set about using our deductive skills to determine the culprit. We thought about Susannah’s cats. Solomon is little and likes catching dragonflies. 

Solomon

Could it have been Lenny? Possibly. He may have lain on the poor bird. Lenny is ‘plump’ and lazy and limits his hunting exploits to moths.

Lenny

It could not have been Isambard as he was pinning down my legs and in any case is not keen on leaving the company either of us or the dogs. 

Isambard watching the fish

Herschel caught a squirrel not long after he was given the freedom of the garden but is not given to excessive hunting. We concluded it was probably Jellicoe. He watches the birds more than the others and so far this year he has killed a rat, a field mouse, a dunnock and a wood pigeon. He also caught a blackbird but it escaped. So, he’s not the most prolific of killers but he does his best, sadly.

What is this?'

Our garden used to be busy with birds, particularly at this time of year when adults are feeding their young, but word seems to have got around in the bird fraternity that it is a no-go area. While we miss seeing them we are glad they no longer frequent our feeders. It is a small price to pay for the joy of seeing our elegant felines prowling through the shrubs, watching the fish in the pond or sunning themselves.

Fish shall safely swim . . .