The Saga of the Purrgola

We had a pergola which was four corner posts and the upper part of one of those gazebos you get in DIY stores, the legs having suffered from an attack of Boy Scouts [long story - don't ask].  Unfortunately heavy snow on the rather exuberant and over-enthusiastic evergreen clematis on it buckled it and brought it in.  We finally got into the jungle of green to hack our way bravely through encroaching and uninvited brambles to find there WERE still 3 seats inside it.

This needed a bit more clearing to rescue the uprights which were still good; and we decided to build it again with reclaimed materials with a roof on as a place the cats could be inside, outside in rain, and where we could also hang washing in the winter. 
Fortunately the estate agents selling and leasing the flats across the road generously throw their old signs into our garden, and in my book that's a donation.
So armed with that, and some stuff given to us by friends and neighbours - some more poles and two sides of an old shed and a few bits of broken trellis - we set to.  Not very fast; we're old crocks but if we take it slowly we can get there.  So, up with the longest estate agent poles for side pieces; and then we find that of what's left only one is long enough to go right across.  Well that went across the middle and the other two make triangles which are strong shapes.

The shed pieces were too heavy to lift so we cut them in half.  It means it's not so pretty inside but we'd never have got them up otherwise.  Oh, and Worrals helped a lot.

I wish I had a shot of her climbing the trellis....

We put old carpet over the boards so that the roofing felt - the only thing we bought - wouldn't rub on the rougher bits of the bits of shed.  We had new secondhand carpet to put down anyway, this helped us get around to it...  and Worrals danced about on the roof supervising me putting in clench nails.  So helpful!  Jasper and Rebel by this time had discovered that sleeping in the shade was nice.

It's a rickety looking structure but it's actually pretty firm [and we're rickety sort of people anyway].  Jasper is asleep on one of his unicorns as you can see.
The unicorns?  someone had thrown them away in a pile of trash in a layby and our son rescued them. They make grand cushions.

We called them Abelard and Heloise because it seemed to suit them...

Rebel prefers dappled shade on the ground....

Were you wondering about Biff?  he came and looked.  He walked across the roof.  He dug a hole at the base of one of the uprights and peed in it.  We took that as approval.  He'll be in there in the winter....

Why is is a purrgola?  it's for purring in of course. 

So am I insane?

I joined a group on facebook which is rescuing cats from, among other places, Romania, with a team of wonderful Romanian rescuers and vets, who are fighting hard for the feral cats there.  And there was one who stole my heart.
She had had her feet tied up so tightly together, and by 10-year-old CHILDREN for goodness sake that she was gangrenous.  Will she lose one or more legs?  as yet unknown .  But if I'm permitted to have her, however many legs she ends up with, she's going to have a home here.  Black cats are not popular in Romania. 
Her name is PIXIE and I named her in memory of Leprechaun, the tabby cat caught in a trap whose story I was following online. 
This is the group Anya's blind cats and dogs which is mostly set up for special needs animals... there's an auction set up there, so do go take a look, if you're in Europe especially the UK!  here for auction
Cute isn't she, so alert despite the pain..

Anyone who does not want to see graphic, don't go own any further as there's a picture of her leg

I'll keep everyone posted!

Attack of ... Demon Cat?

this is a story written by Boudicca Rising about an incident that happened when her cat was determined to get in on the act.  Personal belief of anyone else is none of my business and I will delete any comments that are in anyway intolerant from any side.  

For years, after a plague of evangelical Christians on my doorstep, I have been left alone to pretty much get on with my Pagan life.
Until tonight. Tonight, there was a tentative knock at the door. I knew before I answered it that it might involve somebody selling something. My friends all rap on the door smartly as I am a bit hard of hearing. This was a soft-as-micies-sleeping knock so I just knew …
Answering the door, I recognised the lady from way back. Bless her, several years on and still gamely knocking on people’s doors so that others may knock on the pearly gates.
I stood through the usual schpiel and pro-offered pamphlet to join her at the Group Hug of the Holy Spirit Tabernacle Bigots Society or some such; said thanks but no thanks, I was Pagan … and then my troubles started


How long had I been a Pagan? How interesting. How did I found out about it? Wow. Did I not think that the bible really, truly held the truth? No, oh goodness. She was actually very sweet.
But at this point, a demon cat intervened. Poppet loves the front garden. He loves the front garden so much that he is not allowed outside when I am not home, as I (and my neighbours) have to keep on removing him from the front and putting him round the back. I am well aware of his fixation with the front door as he has, on many occasions, bested me and dived out of it.
Whilst chatting to her, I explained why I was holding the door closed. Poppet got tired of trying to push his nose through my legs (this lasted throughout the topic of whether or not the Romans were here before Christ). Right at the point where I mentioned Augustine, Poppet decided that jumping on my back was an option, so Religious Lady was suddenly confronted by a white grinning cat face looming at her from the dark. She shrieked (and may have peed a little).
But gamely on she went. I am not sure whether anyone has tried to remove a cat from their back whilst holding a door to with one hand – but it is not easy and rather painful, ultimately achievable by being flexible enough to grab hold of cat whilst sending “I’m going to deprive you of fresh fish for a week” thoughts through the human-animal subconscious divide.

Objective achieved and “Ah, so you worship many Gods?” she asked. “Yes” I replied. “Which ones?” she asked. So I explained. I have to admit being impressed by the homework she had done. Poppet tried the scratch down the leg trick but I felt it coming and finally, all went quiet.
We continued chatting back and forth – we had got onto the Koran (we had already covered Hinduism). I was starting to lose steam and interest.
Suddenly, there was a small, breathless squeak from the lady, who was looking down in horror. Poppet, having attempted every which way to escape out the front, had managed to squeeze his head under the door. And, teeth bared and eyes wide, was staring up at us like so much decapitated cat.
I paused for a second, checked that his body was truly behind the door, said “excuse me” and told him off for being brainless. Foiled again, he withdrew and stomped off on four paws into the front room to have a sulk.
“So”, I said, “where were we?”. However, Decap Cat had clearly wrong-footed her and she quickly made her excuses and left.
I bet I am now down as the nice Pagan lady who doesn’t mind a chat but has demonically possessed cats.

full version may be read on Boudicca's blog here

Brittney goes visiting

My friend Carol asked for a story about her cat visiting his ‘adopted cousins’ in England so this is a whimsy about what they might say and do. He is to be found on http://brittneythecat.wordpress.com/ well worth a visit

Brittney had been waiting a long time to visit Biff, Jasper, Worrals and Rebel in England. He was sad that Merlin would no longer be there, but he was looking forward to meeting the others! He was sure it would be very different to Las Vegas!

The four English cats were also looking forward to it; the girls eagerly, because Cousin Brittney had written on the computer how much he admired them, Jasper with interest and only a little bit of trepidation such as he felt about all new things; and Biff with some wariness, for Brittney was older than he was, and might want to take charge!

When Brittney was let out of his carrier by his mommy – the English cats knew American cats had mommies not mummies and that he would mew with an accent – Worrals kindly showed him all the litter boxes so he could make himself comfortable.
“Of course sometimes we do a wee outside,” she said, “but if the ground is damp, we like to come in and use our tray. Except Biff; he ALWAYS does EVERYTHING outside, except at night. It’s not safe to be out at night so we stay in when it’s dark.”
“I’ve never been outside!” said Brittney. “Gee-miaow, I think I’m scared and excited! Don’t you have coyotes and packs of feral dogs and wicked SPCA people who steal cats for the pound, even when they have collars on?”
“Gosh, Brittney, we don’t have any of those things!” said Worrals, her eyes wide in horror. “We have to stay off the road because of bad wicked cars, but when you see them every day, you know they are BAD and the noise is scary. Merlin thought he could handle them” she added sadly.
“Well the one that chased him was a feral one and it was going too fast” said Rebel. “Come outside and climb trees, Brittney!”
“Meow! What fun!” said Brittney. “I don’t know anything about outside!”
“Permit us to show you around” said Biff, condescendingly, greatly relieved that he had a good start on Brittney. “And little Worrals, don’t do what you did the other day and go running so far up the tree in your game of tag with Rebel that you need mummy and daddy to rescue you.”
“I was very young, then,” said Worrals quickly, “At least a week younger than I am now!”
Biff gave a superior smirk,
“Come and see our purrgola” said Jasper. “It’s for purring in. It has three seats, and mummy says at a pinch you can squeeze nine humans in if they’re very friendly, so it’s a nice size for three cats.”

Brittney looked about the big garden, there was a yard in the L-shape of the house where washing lines were hung with washing, too high to jump and swing on, he thought wistfully, and up the hill behind the house was the garden, with old mossy steps to get up, and just convenient at the top of one, a greenhouse.
“I like to sleep in the greenhouse” said Jasper. “Mummy put me down a carpet specially to sleep on. It’s my square of carpet. But you may use it” he added hastily.
“Meow, I want to see all the garden!” said Brittney, bounding up the steps. There was a meadow of flowers and grasses at the top, much of it in dappled shade from the trees arranged just so.
“You can always find shade if you want it, or dappled shade, or a sun puddle” said Rebel. “Really our humans are moderately intelligent; you’d almost think they were cats!”
“And where is the purrgola?” asked Brittney.
“This way!” Worrals ran along a path of stones with grass and low growing plants between them. Three benches made three sides of a square, and four posts grew out of the ground. There was a pile of timber.
“Mummy and daddy are rebuilding it” said Biff. “The old roof came in with snow; too many plants made it too heavy. This one won’t be as fancy but it will be easier to climb on and bask in the last rays of sun in winter, as an alternative to the asphalt on the shed roof.”
“So many SMELLS out here!” gasped Brittney. “So many flowers, and green smells and oooooo NIP!” he ran to the patch of nepeta and rolled ecstatically, chewing on the leaves.
The others decided to join him. Then they decided that five cats could just about fit into the purrgola if Worrals and Rebel shared a seat, and Jasper politely invited Brittney to share a seat with him. Biff took his place in the middle of his seat and nobody expected him to share.
“Oh I AM going to like staying in England!” said Brittney.
“The only problem is the sudden showers,” said Jasper, “and there’s a big cloud…”
The first drops of plashing rain fell upon the cats.
“Oh! Oh! The roof of Outside is leaking!” cried Brittney.
Mummy and Mommy both came to the back door to call, and five damp cats ran in! There were fluffy towels to dry them on, which Biff moaned about as undignified but everyone else rather enjoyed.
By the time they had been dried and eaten some tuna, it was sunny again.
“Oh yes” said Brittney, “I DO like England; even though the roof leaks.”