My body clock is messed up again. I am sleeping from around 9pm til after midnight then rousing myself for a decent 2 and a half hours quite focused work. As a result I am a little more prepared and sane than last week but I keep passing my husband as we enter and exit the bedroom going in different directions.
It's tough in the evening to avoid sleep though as the log fire is piled high and the family room is so cosy. I love my big, fluffy leather sofas! It's like sleeping on a cloud.
And since I'm just rambling now before going to bed, I thought I'd tell you about the Cat Wars MkII which are going on at our place currently.
Some months back we spotted two really cute kittens over the fence and realised the neighbours must have got themselves a Christmas present. The kids of course tried to lure them over and pet them but they wouldn't have it. They came into our garden of course but we couldn't get within 3 feet of them before they bolted next door. Well, this was all very well until we realised our cat food was disappearing at an alarming rate and then we started surprising them, helping themselves at the bowls in the kitchen.
To put this into context, our kitchen is well inside the house, not just as the back door. These guys have to sneak in through the cat flap, through the laundry, up the hall and into the kitchen before they can taste the rewards of their clandestine efforts.
Having shoo-ed them out once or twice we started to get irritated by their persistence. No2 Son threatened to dunk them in the pool if he caught them or peg them with his slingshot. I was initially aghast at these inhumane suggestions but......
These little buggers are incredibly resilient! They have been the recipients of Himself's roaring and stamping, the very thing which, when we were first married, so traumatised our older cat Pippin. They have been corned and chased with brooms. They have been caught and thrown (literally) out the back door. Has it made ANY impression on them? Well, I dare say we won't ever get to pet them any time soon but they sit at the back door and look in at us! Their cheek is unbelievable.
We have taken to closing the laundry door at night so that if they get in, at least they can't get to the cat food. As a result, when I open the door to let our guys out in the morning, one of the two of them usually streaks out the cat flap leaving behind his comfortable bed on a pile of laundry!
At least this has encouraged me to complete the washing and leave the floor bare, cold and uninviting :-D
Seriously though, we are starting to wonder whether they DO belong to next door or not. We don't see our neighbours much. They have one of those electronically sealed houses and everything seems to happen at midnight or 5am so we haven't had a chance to pop our heads over and ask. I am beginning to suspect they may be ferrals from the same litter although they are vastly different; one being a fluffy apricot/brindle tabby and the other a Russian Blue cross with short fur and grey and white markings.
We are losing patience however and these two cute little eating machines may soon be taking a one way trip to the RSPCA if they continue to camp in our patch!!!!! I mean they are ALWAYS here! Do their owners not miss them??????
I'll try and get a shot of them although they tend to move fast when I am around due to the broom incident. Meanwhile I'd best try and sleep some more.....
11 comments:
I have to ask what an "electronically sealed house" is. Does that means it has an alarm?? I think the easiest solution would be to get a dog. I would be annoyed too.
I agree with HipMomma. Get yourself a dog. I'd be worried about ferral cats in the house!
Now about the sleeping. Frind, do I EVER understand your discomfort. I had fine sleeping habits until college. Then it all went to pot. Well, not actually to POT; it just went downhill. Too many late nights studying. Then I became a somewhat responsible teacher. Then I became a mother. In the past three years, my sleeping habits are terrible and it is not because of my precious girl. She sleeps great! I have no idea what the problem is. I'm just not able to sleep through the night. I tend to wake up in the middle of the night either many times or one time and can't return to sleep. Oh, how I would love to have one good night's sleep...well, I'd really love to just sleep like a normal person again.
Hipmomma: they have electronic garages, a door with a message machine...you never see anyone outside on foot...they come and go in cars at odd hours. Even their pool is indoor. We can hear the muffled sounds from over the fence but you never see anyone in the backyard!
Natalie: I am ok on holidyas it's just this work is killing me. Hope you get a good night soon.
If there is one thing I am familiar with, it is funky sleep patterns. My take is that if what you are doing works at an acceptable level right now then go with it - especially if what you are doing now results in all tasks being completed with sleep time built in to. Even if things look weird to people on the outside, if they work for you then that's all that matters.
After all some of the greatest developments of our time have come to someone who was up working away on something in the middle of the night!
this coming from a HUGE cat lover...i might get a dog, or trap them and take them in...if they are indeed ferral they need to be taken somewhere where they can be cared for or adopted.
it shouldn't be too hard to catch them since you are up roaming the halls at all hours of the night, right? :-)
Maggie: That's what I figure too although I think Himself is starting to think I am avoiding him. (I'm not!)
Carrie: Yes, the trapping is what we're considering...
Sleeping is so hormonal for me... I need sleep, but there's always something in the way. Always something. Dog... get a dog... but then, you'll be up with that!
Thanks for the suggestions folks but a dog is out. a) Himself would not cope. He is not particularly an animal person. Too much investment for too little reward is his opinion. b) The older cat would DEFINITELY not cope. I am already considering putting him on vallium as it is!!!!!!
Just borrow a dog for a oouple of days. One or two good scares for those cats ought to do the trick! :)
Or - get a trap and get them out of there! If they belong to the neighbor they should be keeping better care and track of them. If they are wild - eek - get them gone before they get nasty!
Gee whiz, at least we only battle our OWN cats around here! The house next door sounds kind of creepy!
As for the sleep - yeah, I would think himself thinking you were avoiding him is probably the biggest danger if you're ok with the sleep schedule. Sleep is like the first thing to go when I start getting stressed out & it's a shame, because not getting decent sleep is so stressful in and of itself.
I always have a bout with insomnia during the summer (like right now) here...not sure why really. I think I am far too exhausted during school to even think of being awake, although sometimes I can not turn my brain off when it is too filled up with things I need to do...things I need to think about.
The cat situation- hmmm, I am not sure what to even suggest. I would hate to harm them, but I certainly understand your frustration. If they are coming INTO your home, that has gone too far! Do you have animal control people there? We do, but it would mean the cats would be taken to a shelter. Hope you think of something wonderfully humane and safe to help! Oh, and more than anything, I hope SLEEP comes more regularly and with ease!
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