Street Music

Saturday afternoon and I was off into town once again (I only get let out once a week on my own when not earning money). It was a cold and windy day but the sun was shining. Even my cats decided to spend the day indoors with their favourite hobby, so all 3 were curled up somewhere comfortable and sleeping. Well I think they were sleeping but with cats you never really know. There is always an ear twitching or a stand up, make a circle, lay down and carry on sleeping. I sometimes wish I could sleep like a cat. They never seem to have problems with actually falling asleep. Even when they wake up, the just stretch a bit and then they are off full speed.

Where was I? - ah yes Saturday afternoon. I decided to take the car as it's not one of my favourite pastimes taking a one kilometer walk into town when the temperature is 6°C. I was lucky in the park house, I found 2 parking spaces empty next to each other, which is always a good thing if driving an S90 Volvo and having problems with fitting it into one parking space. Funny, hubby never has a problem, but I always seem to have to drive back and forth a few times until the car fits. Not that I am showing off with the S90 Volvo, but someone in the family worked for the company for many years and you could always take advantage of a special offer. I am sure the car will remain in the family for the next 20 years during which time I will probably give back my driving licence voluntarily.

Today I managed to get everything done I have wanted to for some time. I picked up a book I had ordered which had been on order for 3 weeks (another one of those obscure books from an English publisher) and I even managed to buy a German book I have wanted to read for some time. I also bought someone a birthday present (my other half tomorrow) and then went on to our cathederal.

I am not catholic, I do not belong to any religion actually but this doesn't mean that I am not interested in other religions, especially when our catholic cathedral is such an imposing building. Today there were no weddings so the church was open for members, tourists and people taking photographs like me, although I was the only person taking photographs.

My youngest son sang in the cathederal choir for a few years until his voice broke and even appeared on the Swiss tv with them one Christmas. The choir had to go to the TV studios in Zürich where they were filmed. Each Sunday in advent they were on the TV singing some Christmas Carols. The choir leader was my son's teacher at school, so he always listened to the boys singing when he took over a new class to see if he had material for his choir. Every year they went on a trip abroad somewhere where they stayed mainly with private families in the different countries, which I think was a good idea to learn how life is in other countries. My son even saw the pope in Rome, although from a distance as he drove through on his papa mobil. He was in St. Pauls in England where they sang a few songs and also in Czechoslovakia (which doesn't exist any more as one country) and in Austria and Germany. I noticed the choir now has an interesting web site which is also in English. I can hardly believe that my 1meter 86cm tall son was once singing as a choir boy dressed in a blue plush pullover as shown on the photos.

After leaving the cathedral I had to walk through town. It was quite busy with shoppers and we also had a group of street musicians. We often have them in Solothurn. A few are quite well known. Our usual guitarrist, who cannot play the guitar was also there. He lives in the local clinic and is quite well known. He takes his music very seriously and really believes in what he does. His main repertoire is Swiss German songs, and although he can't sing or play, he knows all the words. He usually introduces the songs by telling everyone that he had a special wish from someone that wanted to hear a certain song. Another regular musician to be seen is a man playing the bazooki, a strange looking Greek guitar. He has been around for years and even featured in our local newspaper. He can play quite well and it seems that actually he is from one time Jugoslavia and belonged to the army where he got his musical training on the guitar. He then left Jugoslavia (and his wife and two children which actually bothered me a bit) and arrived in our town. He decided the bazooki was a better instrument to play as everyone could play the guitar (and he got more money by playing bazooki) so he is still here playing his bazooki. In the meanwhile he has equipped himself with a loudspeaker.

Today there was a group of Africans, I think, so I did a small film with the camera. I tried to load it up into YouTube, but since they have made progress with their loading programme, it doesn't seem to work anymore. After applying some colourful language, both in english and german, I decided to try with Photobucket and succeeded, although it does take a time, so here is what I heard and saw. Unfortunately passers-by kept getting between my camera and the singers, but I think you can follow all the same.

My Video

So, it is now Saturday evening and I have a video to watch - The Devil wears Prada. I read the book some time ago, so now want to see if the film does justice to the book. I just hope I don't fall asleep before the film is finished.

Reservoir Cats - 4

Nera: So, Bobinette, how did the search go for some catnip. Don’t forget we have to have everything ready for this evening. If Grey really gets slap happy I will have to take Tabby with me to help push him along.
Bobinette: Well, I think we may ‘ave a little problem wiv Tabby.
Nera: “A little problem” what do you mean.
Bobinette: I found enough catnip and Tabby came to ‘elp me.
Nera: Now that wasn’t very intelligent. Tabby is a catnip junkie.
Bobinette: Yes, I know that now, but I thought ‘e just wanted to ‘elp. At the beginning ‘e was a big ‘elp, but suddenly ‘e started rolling on the ground and ‘is eyes got so big and dreamy.
Nera: And where is he now?
Bobinette: “E suddenly jumped into the compost bin and ‘e is now sleeping off ‘is trip or whatever it is called. ‘E seems to be very ‘appy.
Nera: “E might be very ‘appy, but he isn’t going to be very happy tomorrow when he is back to the real world again. So how am I going to move a Mr. Grey this evening when we go and visit Big Tom.
Bobinette: I will come with you, I know the way and I am big and much stronger than Tabby. Nera: Ok, Bobinette then it’s a deal. Now where is the catnip?
Bobinette: The catnip is now in front of Mr. Grey’s cat flap – now we just have to wait to see what ‘appens.

Later that evening ……

Fluffy: I am so excited, Nera - Mr. Grey will be coming out of his home soon. It is a shame that Tabby can’t be here as well, but the last I saw she had fallen out of the compost bin and is now sleeping peacefully under the apple tree.
Nera: Yes Fluffy, and I hope that a few apples fall on Tabby’s head and wake her up. Now be quiet the Grey monster is coming.
Fluffy: Yes I can hear and smell him.
Mr. Grey: Now that was a nice dream I had – I was somewhere in a country where only catnip was growing and nothing else. It was cat nirvana pure. But what do we have here, perhaps I didn’t dream, there in front of my cat flap a pile of catnip and how it smells. So fresh and relaxing, although I have to be careful, meeting my dad this evening. He doesn’t drink milk and doesn’t like cats that get high on catnip. But if I just try a little bit, I am sure no-one will notice.
Bobinette: Look Nera Mr. Grey has buried ‘is nose into the cat nip.
Nera: Let’s just be patient and wait a few minutes, catnip doesn’t take long to work.
Tabby: Hi boys and girls, oops, who put that twig in the way. Almost fell over it.
Nera: One thing we don’t need now is a cat high on catnip. Tabby I will speak to you tomorrow. Mrs. Human has left her cupboard open again, so go a have a sleep there.
Tabby: You mean the cupboard with the comfortable soft clothes that smell so sweet. I’m off Nera see you tomorrow.

Nera: Well that got rid of him, how is the situation?
Bobinette: Grey seems to be swaying a bit. I think we will have to get him now while he can still walk, otherwise he might go on a trip, and we cannot carry him.
Nera: Good evening Mr. Grey, shall we go and visit Big Tom now.
Mr. Grey: Already, but it is so nice a peaceful out here. Bobinette how nice to see and your twin sister..
Nera: There is only one Bobinette Mr. Grey
Mr. Grey: You don’t have to be so formal with me Nera, just call me Grey, and you have your brother with you as well.
Bobinette: Nera, I sink that ‘e is seeing double.
Nera: Ok, but let’s go otherwise it will get too late. So Grey let’s go for a walk on such a nice moonlight night, I am sure Big Tom is impatiently waiting to see us and hear the latest news from our revier. Bobinette will be coming with us.
Mr. Grey: Oh yes, a walk in the moonlight with 4 cats, that’s wonderful. My daddy will be so pleased to see us all.
Bobinette: I sink ‘is daddy will not be so ‘appy.
Nera: So let’s go, you just follow us Grey.
Grey: No problem, I will walk between you and your brother
Nera: We will take the path through the woods, it is safer and we might even find a few mice on the way. We could bring them as a present to Big Tom.
Mr. Grey: I have already got something as a present, I have some catnip in my fur for him.
Bobinette: I am sure ‘e will be delighted. Nera, where is your brother?
Nera: It’s ok, Bobinette, he is still hallucinating.
Bobinette: Well we ‘ave been walking for ‘alf and ‘our, so should be there soon. There is a cat by the tree there. Why it’s my old friend Romeo from Italy. Romeo, what a surprise, buona sera.
Romeo: Who do I see there, Bobinette, it has been a long time. But who do you have with you.
Bobinette: That is my friend Nera. She is my neighbour and we share our gardens. What are you doing here Romeo?
Romeo: I am now working for Big Tom, gatto di tutti gatti, as his consigliere and I have to keep an eye on the territoria and make sure no-one intrudes on his territoria without permissione. But you have figlio grigio (Mr. Grey) with you, he does not look so good.
Mr. Grey: Ciao Romeo, how’s dad, I have come to see him. Let’s sing a song to let him know we are here. Miaow, Miaow, I feel so happy, miaow, miaow
Romeo: Piano, piano, you will wake all the cats and dogs up for miles around us.
Nera: I am afraid Mr. Grey is a little bit addicted to catnip now and again.
Bobinette: We try our best to hide it from him, but he is such a clever strong cat and always finds it.
Big Tom: WHAT IS ALL THIS NOISE ABOUT. I was having my afternoon sleep and contemplating how to organise my family and it seems that someone is having a party outside my front door. Grey what are you doing rolling around on the ground and making such a noise. Catastrofia.

Bits and Pieces

What will happen when Nera meets Big Tom and will Mr. Grey disgrace himself in front of his father? Will Bobinette’s plan succeed? I am afraid you will have to wait until the week-end as being a working woman I don’t always get round to doing what I would like to do.

We had some fun in the office this week. It seems the management are never happy about how we are positioned. We have had a change round at least 3 times this year and there were even a few people that “voluntarily” went to work on Saturday to help with the moving. This is the latest view of my working place. I am very happy with it. I try to avoid moving too much and now I have the ideal situation. First of all the computer on the desk and cupboard space surrounding me which means everything is within reach. I even have a nice office chair with wheels on which means I don’t have to stand up, but just give a push and off I am. The printer and fax are also bordering on my work complex which means just give the chair a shove, roll along, reach out with your hand and you already have the printed sheets or fax in hand.

I only wish I had such a good system at home, although working is for money and what you do at home are really hobbies. Take ironing for an example. We women love to iron. There is nothing better than a shirt that has been washed. I have a record of two minutes per shirt. First of all the collar, then the right sleeve and right front, followed by the left sleeve and left front and to finish the back. Having 2 sons and a husband this has been developed to perfection over the years, although since hubby is retired the shirts have decreased. Another problem coupled with having too many males in the family is the sock wash. The men go with the times and fashion. Perhaps white socks are “in”, and then it might be that the fashion changes and black socks are back again. It’s fun after a sock wash to put them together in pairs, especially if they are all the same colour and different sizes. Personally I prefer the fashion to be with various designs then at least you know what socks belong together. For a really big triumph it is fun when the linen is changed on the beds. Sheets now fit on the beds, so that little job has disappeared. However we have the continental duvet covers to iron. Unforunately the ironing board big enough has not yet been developed, so you have to do that in two halves. I am really a lucky woman as I can actually carry out that hobby outside. We have a plug in the wall and my ironing is often done outside in Summer. On the photo you can even see my hobby room in the background known as kitchen.

Reservoir Cats - 3

Bobinette: Bonjour everyone – can I ‘ave a word with you cats
Tabby & Fluffy: Hissssss – Bobinette you don’t like us and we don’t like you.
Tabby: You can’t even prounounce the “h”.
Bobinette: Of course I can in my way, but we cats from the French part of Switzerland speak mainly French. I am actually quite gifted in foreign languages after living in Italy and in the Swiss French mountains. It is true that we are not friends, but we all ‘ave the same problem and I think it would be a good idea to put our ‘eads together and talk about it.
Nera: Now listen cats, Bobinette is right, we do all have the same problem and its name is Grey, Mr. Grey.

Tabby: The problem is that Mr. Grey leaves his mice laying around, Bobinette doesn’t like them any more and me and Fluffy have to clear them away. Where is your problem Nera?
Nera: My problem is that if you 3 don’t do the work properly, then I have to go and see Big Tom and tell him why. And we all know that Big Tom can be quite mean with the cats that don’t follow the rules, so does anyone here have any ideas?
Bobinette: Well I think I might have a solution. You know we ‘ave to get Mr. Grey in trouble with Big Tom.
Tabby: And how do you think you are going to manage that? He is No. 1 son after all.
Fluffy: Well perhaps we could put orange peel in front of his cat flap to stop him coming out.

Nera: Brilliant, where do you find fresh oranges in Autumn and if Mr. Grey feels ill when he smells oranges because he is a cat, how are we going to feel if we find the orange peel. Any volunteers to carry it in their teeth to Mr. Grey’s cat flap?
Tabby: Fluffy that was a bit of a stupid suggestion. Christmas would be a nice time for smells of food, like roast turkey, if it wasn’t for the tangerines that the humans have laying around everywhere.
Nera: Tabby life is not only eating and sleeping, we have problems to solve. We can discuss the Christmas menu at another time.
Bobinette: I ‘ave a suggestion. I notice that your ‘umans put catnip in the garden. I ‘ave spent many a ‘appy hour laying in your catnip.
Tabby: I noticed – flattening it down into the ground and none left for me.

Fluffy: so what does our catnip have to do with keeping Mr. Grey out of our territory.
Bobinette: I saw that there are many gardens ‘ere with catnip so I thought we could collect all we can and leave it outside Mr. Grey’s cat flap.
Tabby: What good would that do – do you want to bribe him with catnip?
Nera: I think I know what Bobinette means. Tabby and Fluffy keep quiet and let Bobinette do the talking.
Bobinette: Thank you Nera, I will continue. If we collect enough catnip we will put it in front of Mr. Grey’s cat flap in the evening before ‘e visits ‘is father Big Tom. Mr. Grey will be so ‘igh on catnip that it might be ‘e is a little bit drunk when ‘e meets Big Tom.
Nera: and if it is one thing that a cat mafia boss cannot stand is members of his gang being drunk on official business. I will have to go with Mr. Grey when he visits Big Tom to make a report on the cleaning process and will probably have to lead the way as a cat high on catnip doesn’t walk in straight lines any more.
Fluffy: And when you have gone with Mr. Grey we will hide the evidence.
Tabby: Yes, that no-one finds the catnip afterwards.
Bobinette: If anyone keeps the catnip it will be me, after all it was my idea and I have a few customers in Italy when I go on my next trip next week with my ‘umans.
Tabby: Bobinette, I though you were a cleaner, now I see that you are actually a dealer.
Bobinette: I ‘ave many friends in Italy, we ‘ave spent many moonlit nights together sniffing catnip and talking about old times.
Nera: Tabby, Fluffy, just stay cool. We are planning to ruin Mr. Grey’s reputation and not start a catnip dealing ring in the Swiss countryside. You just have to play sweet with Mrs. Human and there will be catnip planted again in the garden next Spring. In the meanwhile you can sniff around the ground where she plants it. The smell remains for some time and in Winter when it snows and it’s cold we don’t go out into the garden so much.
Fluffy: Unless Mrs. Human feeds the birds. Then it’s fun.
Tabby: So keep to the subject, when is Grey going to see dad.
Bobinette: That will be tomorrow night, it will be full moon and they always go at full moon.
Nera: Ok cats, get busy and gather the cat nip.

At the top

That is our St. Urs cathederal. St Urs is the patron saint of the town of Solothurn and to be quite honest I don't really know what he did to get the title but I did find this link which might help to explain things a bit. After arriving at the top of the tower I paid my entrance fee and walked out onto the platform. There is an iron barrier around it but not covered so if anyone wanted to jump over there would be no problem.

My intention was taking photographs when I got to the top, but that was not so easy. First of all I was still shaking from the effort of climbing the stairs and it was a long way up, so had to get used to it. I discovered that the best position was to lean against the wall to steady myself and click away which I did, so here some photos.

A view towards the South of the town showing the River Aare and our new bridge which took a couple of years to build and was finished in Spring - see this blog and this as well.

The bridge on the right is known as the bycycle bridge because no traffic is allowed - only pedestrians and bikes. Now and again the odd tourist drives over the bridge in his car and usually his photo is in the local newspaper the next day.

A view towards the "Zeughausplatz". The large building in the middle of the picture is a museum with a large collected of armory used in the middle ages. I found this link where there is even an english version telling all about what there is to see.

This is a view towards the North showing the first chain of the Jura mountains in the background. There are seven chains all together and behind the last chain you reach the town of Basel. The tower is the Riedholz tower and once formed part of the town's defence system in days gone by.

Still following the Jura we are now looking towards the East. Towards the right you can see a small white bulding in the middle of the picture. This is castle Waldegg - if you following the path towards the right and keep going until you are just out of the picture then you reach the village where I live.

And here is just a view across the rooves of Solothurn. The town is one of the oldest in Switzerland and when building work is done they always seem to find some sort of Roman remains somewhere. We have a square called the cemetary square as it used to be the town cemetary in the middle ages. It is quite fun when they start renovating as they always find a couple of skeletons somewhere. I remember when a restaurant was being renovated. They found two skeletons and you could see them through the windows. Funny to think that people had been eating lunch and dinner for years in a restaurant with two skeletons under the floor boards.

After my photography exercise on the tower it was time to descend. Actually I was quite surprised how well it went. Naturally one step at a time but it was with a sigh of relief when I was back to ground level. I had to walk through town to get to the park house, and felt very relieved when I found myself sitting in my car again.

It was worth the effort, although the next morning I found to my surprise that I did have some muscle ache in the legs.

A Climb up the Tower

I am often to be found in the town of Solothurn on Saturday afternoon, just having a nose around in the shops and sometimes I even have visits to make. Last week I was in town to have my passport photo taken and this Saturday I had to go to the hairdressers. I also paid a visit to the local bookshop, I don't read books, I devour them and I had one on order that had arrived. It is always difficult to get an English book in a small Swiss market town, but the ordering system is quite prompt and usually only takes a few days.

The cathederal of St. Urs is ever present in the town and is quite an imposing building.This is a view from the side of the cathederal towards one of the cobbled alleys leading to the River Aare. There are a few church buildings in the alley. I remember my younger son having his choir practice twice a week in one of the buildings many years ago.

Last week on my visit I noticed that there was a notice on the back door of our cathederal St. Urs showing that the tower was open. If you look at the photo of the back of the cathederal you can see on the left hand side way up the tower railings where some people were standing. I have been living in Solothurn at least 38 years and have never been up the tower. I seem to have spent my childhood and teenager years climbing one tower or another. I was often to be found climbing the monument staircase or finding my way up to St. Pauls whispering gallery from which both gave a really good view over London. So why should a few steps up a church tower in a provincial town in Switzerland be a problem. Basically the only problem is that I am now forty years older and suffer now and again from Meniere's syndrome. I can also not ride a two wheel bike and my sense of balance does not improve with the years.

Two weeks ago I just walked past the entrance to the gallery thinking should I or should I not (see door on righthandside). Last Saturday after finishing my errands I decided to take the plunge, with the thought everything that goes up must come down. I had a quick look in the door and saw a harmless stone staircase so decided now or never.

I was quite surprised as the first steps were not so difficult and they even had resting places on the way up (probably for elderly unfit people like me). It was obviously a one way staircase, so if anyone was coming in the opposite direction you had to go to one side. I was very lucky as I always seemed to plan such avoiding manoevres when there was somewhere to go. Unfortunately the stone staircase did not reach to the top and was replaced by wooden stairs.

I took this photo looking upwards - doesn't look far but it was. Another thing I noticed was that probably when the stairs were built people had smaller feet. My size 40 did not exactly fit to the width of the stairs and so I developed a sort of sideways walk to avoid any accidents. On the way up the belfry was to be seen. Unfortunately I wasn't prepared to stop on the staircase and take a photo of the three bells. However, there was one bell hanging in a sensible place with a platform at the side, so I managed a photo of it.

I suddenly noticed fresh air and a slight - bit more than slight - breeze could be felt. There was light and I knew I was nearly there. The last few steps were the worse, a very narrow spiral staircase but eventually I found myself in a room where there were some pamphlets about the church and a gentleman seated at a table in front of the entrance to the outside gallery. He was collecting the entrance fee - three swiss francs per person. With shaking hands I gave him the money and took advantage of one of the many chairs arranged in the room, probably there for people like me. I just had to catch my breath and relax. I think they collected the money only when you were at the top to make sure the survivors paid.

Yes I did take some photos outside - will follow in next blog. The things that I do to write a blog - no, I will not go on a bungy jump, I will leave that up to someone else. As a closing photo there is a view towards the town of Solothurn from the steps of the cathederal.

Reservoir Cats - 2

Nera: Good evening Grey – glad you turned up I wanted to ask you something.
Mr. Grey: Nera would you like me to call you Nery fairy, the way Mrs. Human sometimes calls you.
Nera: No why ask such a stupid question – of course not, I am called Nera with reference to my wonderful long black shiny fur that I have. Nera is the female version of Nero in Italian and it means black in English. I thought such an intelligent creature as you would know that.
Mr. Grey: Of course, I know that, but you must realise my name is MR. Grey and not just Grey and I would prefer to be addressed as such.
Nera: Now there is no need to get worked up about it. No-one calls me Mrs. Black, so I don’t see why you have to be a MR. Grey
Mr. Grey: Just be careful what you say Nera. If you had seen the film “Reservoir cats” you would realise it is a serious matter.
Nera: Ok explain, I am all ears.
Mr. Grey: In Reservoir cats there was a mafia group carrying out a robbery and they all had to have other names. The boss decided they should have names according to their colour. One of the cats was big and black and wanted to be Mr. Black. The boss said no and the cat asked why. “It just doesn’t work” said the boss “If you are called Mr. Black there will be an argument as all the cats will want to be Mr. Black – clear? – we gangsters all want to be black, so the black cat was called another colour – Mr. Blond or Mr. Pink or something like that.
Nera: And you mean because of that we have to call you MR. Grey.
Mr. Grey: Not only, I have connections here in the cat world that we just don’t speak about. So what’s on your mind Nera – problems with your stripy sister Tabby or with curly boy Fluffy.
Nera: I don’t have problems with anyone around here as the chief cat, I just have to get things organised now and again.
Mr. Grey: You might be the chief cat in your territory, but not in mine.
Nera: If that’s the case then can you explain why you deposit your dead mice in our territory during the night.
Mr. Grey: What else am I supposed to do with them? Eat them? Forget it, my mouth is used to more delicate tastes – minced entrecote, fresh trout and such. I used to deposit the mice in Bobinette’s territory, but she had gone off mice and just left them laying around.
Nera: How come Bobinette’s territory?
Mr. Grey: Bobinette was my cleaner. She had gathered enough experience from the Italian cat mafia to know what should be done in such an organisation. Someone has to clear the evidence away
Nera: So now me and my two colleagues are getting the blame for leaving dead mice outside the door in the morning.
Mr. Grey: Actually Nera I was going to have a few words with you. I will have to have a strong talk with Bobinette, although she avoids me these days and as a cleaner she is now useless – seems to have developed other tastes since her holiday in the Swiss mountains. Keeps going on about what a tasty dish marmots are and such. That’s what happens when you do what the humans say – she is just getting soft.
Nera: So what’s the deal MR. Grey
Mr. Grey: I had contact with my father this week – Big Tom – and he said to distribute the work a bit better, so you and Tabby and Fluffy have now been appointed as the official cleaners around here. By the way did I mention that the film “Reservoir cats” was based on his life?
Nera: Do what??
Mr. Grey: It was Big Tom’s orders – capisci?
Nera: Big Tom? – Oh, I see, that puts things in another light. What’s the pay for being a cleaner
Mr. Grey: The honour of serving Big Tom and his No. 1 son – me. I think that will be an explanation enough for the curly and stripy one. Oh, and by the way Nera, that is not a request but an order. Got it?? Any questions??
Nera: No , no, of course not g-g-g-gre – Mr. Grey.

Next morning

Nera: Tabby, Fluffy I had a talk with Mr. Grey yesterday evening.
Tabby: Thought I saw you engrossed in a conversation with him outside. And did he admit to leaving mice all over the place.
Nera: Well, sort of – did you know his father was Big Tom
Fluffy: Big Tom – you mean that Main Coon that lives a couple of villages down the road. The one that frightened all the dogs away in his neighbourhood. I really have respect for that cat and wouldn’t want to meet him on a dark night.
Tabby: As you don’t see anything any more Fluffy, you don’t have to worry about meeting anyone anymore on dark nights, but I do. Did you say that Mr. Grey is Big Tom’s son?
Nera: You two are really a slow sometimes. I always though we cats had a sharp gift of comprehension. Yes, Mr. Grey is Big Tom’s son and we now have to take orders from Mr. Grey, capisci?
Tabby: Capisci? What’s that for a mafia expression? So what do we do.
Nera: If we want to continue living our happy carefree feline life here, we have just one small duty. To clear the mice away that Mr. Grey leaves laying around in the morning after his night out.
Fluffy: Big deal, you mean to say we have become cleaners?
Tabby: Well that is a bit under my value?
Nera: We have not become cleaners, you two have become cleaners. Don’t forget I am the boss around here. I just have to organise things and report back to Mr. Grey now and again.
Tabby & Fluffy together: forget it
Nera: Do you remember the film “Reservoir cats”?
Tabby: Of course, it was a classic amongst the feline population.
Nera: It was based on the memoires of Big Tom –capo di tutti capi
Fluffy: OK, capisci
Tabby: Capisci, Capo