A Mystery Solved

 This is my new rice cooker.

I've had it for a few months now. 

Where the yellow sticker is, that's the control panel. It's a touchscreen and is very sensitive.

Before I go to bed, I wash some rice, put it in the rice cooker, and set the timer so it's ready for me to make obento in the morning.

Some mornings, however, the rice isn't cooked, or the timer is wrong. I've gone over the manual a few times, with one of the kids helping me; my Japanese reading skills aren't that good. It looks like I'm doing everything right, so why am I having problems?

Last night at about 2 a.m., I heard a crash from the kitchen/dining area. I went to investigate and found that Christopher had tripped over the broom!

I asked Christopher what had woken him up. His bedroom is off the dining/kitchen area. He said that he could hear something beeping; he thought it was either the fridge that hadn't been closed properly or somebody's alarm clock.

When he looked round, he saw Alan on the counter, grooming himself and leaning against the rice cooker; every time he moved, he hit the control panel, changing the settings! The beeping noise was the setting being changed.

So now I know why the rice cooker settings are being changed; I just don't know what to do about it. I don't have anywhere else to put the rice cooker.

Alan

Fluffy And Toast's Midnight Adventure

 The other night, Fluffy and Toast got out.

David was leaving for work just after 11pm, he shouted to me that Fluffy and Toast were outside.

Fluffy

Toast

I went out and saw a ginger streak go by. Fluffy ran to the window to get back in, nice and easy.

Toast, however, was nowhere to be seen. Do you know how hard it is to find a black cat at night?

Our garden is completely overgrown. Also, we have a massive storage area that is undercover but has a lot of things in it- lots of hiding places. Christopher and I looked around for about an hour, but we couldn't see or hear Toast. I was a bit worried as there are wild hogs in this area; I really didn't want to meet one of those at night!

We left some food out for Toast and went to bed. 

When I got up the next day, Toast was sitting on the table, waiting for his breakfast, none the worse for his midnight adventure! I, on the other hand, have a painful ankle. I twisted it on a rock when I was out looking for Toast!

Steve

 Steve is my white cat. He's also one of my chunky cats and the best escape artist.

Steve

We moved to this house about 18 months ago. In the old house, Steve was the first cat to figure out how to open the front door!

Here he has found that the screen door in Christopher's room is easy to open; that's how they got out yesterday.

Christopher said that yesterday evening Steve opened the door to his room, wandered in slowly and went to the screen door to go out.  Christopher stopped him. The other cats were waiting to see if they could get out as well!

Today Steve has been sitting by Christopher's bedroom door crying. He really wants to go out! Maybe I should train him to walk on a leash!

I found this cute video of Steve from a few years ago.

He was completely white as a kitten; his tan marking came in later.

Another video I found is of Steve, Alan and Fred playing.

Cute!

The Great Escape

 When I go to the kitchen/dining room in the morning, I am usually greeted by this sight!

Cats on the table.

This morning, however, there were no cats on the table, under the table, on the counter, or on the sofa. The room was totally catless!

I quickly checked the other rooms but only found two of my nine cats. I looked outside and saw the other seven frolicking in the garden; they had escaped!

Knowing it was their breakfast time made it easy to get them back in. I opened the door and shook the bag of food. Six of them charged back in; just Mama cat decided that the taste of freedom was better than the taste of cat food!

I have a hidden stash of cat treats for emergencies like that. Christopher and I went out armed with the cat treats and managed to grab Mama cat.

I don't know how long they were outside, but they ate and slept; they looked exhausted! 

Fred looking very tired after his adventure.

My cats are indoor only. I thought about letting them go out, but where we lived before was between two very busy roads; I would worry about the cats being hit by a car or truck. Here the farmers use a lot of spray that I think might be poisonous to the cats. Keeping them in is hard; cleaning litter trays and trying to keep the cats entertained is hard, but for my peace of mind it's better.

I Don't Understand

 I really don't understand my cats!

They fight a lot. Especially Fred and Frodo.

Frodo

Fred

They fight each other and the other cats. I've noticed recently that Frodo has been attacking the other cats more, even Toast and Alfie, who usually don't get into fights! I have no idea why this is happening now. When we moved here just over 18 months ago, I was prepared for a lot of fights. The space is half the size we had before, but the cats settled in alright!

However, recently they have been sleeping in the same place.

Only Fluffy is missing!

Fred and Alan, who usually fight!

The other day, I walked into the dining room to this.

The cats are hanging out on the table.

Why is it sometimes they can't tolerate being in the same room, but other times they are happy to be together?

I do disinfect the table before we eat! I tried to keep them off, but it didn't work!

Does anyone understand cats, or are they a mystery?

Sorry

 On YouTube, I got a couple of comments on the video I posted yesterday, saying that it was cruel.

I'm sorry that people got upset by it. 

David wasn't being cruel at all, just playing, just for a minute. 

The kitten wasn't hurt or traumatised by this. The kitten was Sam, he is the most loving cat, always looking for cuddles.

This is Sam now.

I've seen cruelty, I've seen animals abandoned by their owners. That's how we got Mama cat!

I could be very angry at the cats as they cost me the house I was renting. I loved where we lived before, it was in a small city, I could work from home teaching English. The area was convenient, with shops and doctors just a few minutes' walk away ( I can't drive). I was given a choice: move out or get rid of the cats. I chose the cats. My life here is hard, the house is small, falling to pieces and in the middle of nowhere. I've lost most of my income and have to rely on my adult kids, not what I wanted in my 60s. 

But I love my cats, I would never be cruel to them, or allow anyone else to be cruel. 

Another Throw Back Video

 I'm working on a small project of making some of my cat photos into colouring pages, using AI, of course. I want to put together a PDF to sell on my Ko-Fi page. I don't have a timeline yet, but it's interesting to see what AI comes up with.

I'm not artistic at all, but I find colouring very relaxing. I thought other people might enjoy colouring too.

The photo

And the drawing.

To find photos, I spend time going through all the thousands of photos and videos I have on my computer. I keep finding photos and videos that I haven't seen before, or maybe I just don't remember!

Today I found this video of David being shouted at by one of the kittens, I think it's Sam, but I'm not sure.

It's kind of cute!!