Demelza At War

Poor Demelza's tail attacked her again last night. As per usual she was sitting minding her own business when the tip flicked and before she could yowl "catnip mouse" she was at war. She cornered her tail sitting on the edge of the bath but after nearly falling in she ran behind the bathroom door to try and beat it into submission. However the rival attraction of a dry piece of kitty litter got the better of her and she ended up batting this madly across the lino. When the kitty litter finally surrendered she did one half hearted circle just to show her tail who was boss and calmly walked away to torture the dog. It's so amazing what you get to see while you're just sitting on the loo...

Messy Animals

The cats are currently having a competition to see who can get the most cleavers (sticky weed) seeds stuck in their fur. So far Kit has been winning as she has managed to get into such a mess that I've had to cut chunks of her fur leaving her looking like an overweight moth eaten cuddly toy. Today however Demelza arrived inside with small green sticky round balls hanging off the backs of her legs. When I tried to prise them off I was only rewarded by her usual expression of shocked disapproval so I left her to pull them off by herself before she fell asleep exhausted on the armchair. However I have to announce that the competition was won by Mishka the dog who, in the process of sneaking into a shelter belt in search of bantam nests, managed to decorate himself with seed heads, grass and a few dead leaves for good measure so that he resembled a hairy walking Christmas tree. Didn't have the heart to tell him that he's over 300 days too early.

Wet Dogs and Exploding Bantams

I'm currently experiencing an explosion of broody bantams. Frightened the hell out of myself the other day while gardening when an unearthly screech emanated from the middle of some day lilies where an irate hen had ensconced herself. A fluffy white hen went missing just before Christmas and I was certain she was sitting as she hadn't been sick but Wednesday afternoon I found her mummified corpse underneath a hedge. I planted her near the day lily patch so she can keep the other hen company.

I am a person who has to set deadlines so I get things done and New Year's Eve was "Wash The Dog Day". I spent a good half hour brushing all the under hair out from Mish's coat but before I had time to wash him the lawn mower man and his offsider arrived. Needless to say I was relieved I'd discovered the dead hen the day before otherwise we'd have had chicken chop suey everywhere. The men spent an hour waging war on the grass, one on a mower and the other on a weed eater and knocked the place into some sort of shape although it does resemble a hay field now. After lunch I took Mish outside and gave him a good wash with flea shampoo before he shook most of the water over me. He loves water despite the expression on his face post bath. Since then I have had to keep him nearby so he doesn't roly poly in the grassy arssy.