If I Fits, I Sits

 I know cats like boxes, but surely it's too hot now to snuggle up in one?

Recently, one of the discount supermarkets I shop at hasn't had large-size plastic bags.  I try to take my own shopping bag, but sometimes I forget. The store has a stack of boxes that customers can use, so I usually get one of those, which means there are a lot of boxes hanging around the house. As soon as the box is put on the table, the cats appear; it's like magic!

Sam

I turned this box on its side to get the last few things from the bottom. I put away a couple of things, turned around to see Sam very comfortable in the box, with some vegetables!

One cat in a box I can understand; there's room for air to circulate around him so he doesn't get too hot!

But this....

Small box, big cats.

How is that comfortable? Surely they are hot! They were in there for hours!

Alfie on a box.

Poor Alfie couldn't get in the box, so he got on the one next to it!

Today Fred found his happy place.

Very contented Fred.

Like a box but not hot! This is one of the baskets I use when shopping. It got left in the dining room so Fred claimed it for his afternoon nap. I think he feels safe here, but it's not as hot as being in a box!

Fluffy And My Water

 I suffer from allergies; to manage them, I take antihistamine tablets twice a day. The medicine is great, but it dries my mouth out a lot. Because of that, I like to have some water to sip on when I'm eating. Almost every time I sit down to eat, Fluffy jumps up and tries to drink my water.

Fluffy

I don't know why she does this. There are 4 bowls of water around the house; these are refreshed every couple of hours. I tried using different bowls for Fluffy, even putting a bit of lettuce in a bowl so she could see where the water is, but she still prefers my water. I've changed the type of bowl; the ones I have are small metal bowls. I've tried plastic and have even given Fluffy an old cup to drink out of. None of that has worked; she still wants my water.

Most of the time I can stop her; yesterday, however, I was too slow!

She emptied the cup!!

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?