A Day full of Cats

Now I really don't know where to begin. It all started when I heard a spitting and hissing in the garden - so I knew who had turned up.

Yes Roschti was here again moving in on our cat's territory.

"But I showed him didn't I Mrs. Human"
"Yes Tabby you did, I was quite surprised how brave you were" and tabby stretched herself with pleasure, although I did get a bit worried went she chased after him.
"It wasn't necessary for you to hold me back Mrs. Human, I just wanted to make sure that Roschti disappeared away from our territory".
"Tabby, it was enough to chase him out of the garden, you didn't have to go down the path and follow him into the neighbours garden."
"You humans are never satisfied. I was just pleased to see the back of him. I mean there was no relying on my sister Nera, She just sat on the chair watching."

"I was just making sure that you chased him away. After all Tabby you have learnt a lot from me over the past month on how to get rid of unwanted tom cats" said Nera with a shake of her tail.
"Excuse me, Nera" said Tabby "if I remember rightly the only thing you showed me was how to disappear as quickly as possible when Roschti appeared in the garden. I was the one who solved the Roschti problem by attack."
"Ok, Tabby, I was just trying to show you how to avoid unwanted tom cats, that was the first lesson in the course. But it seemed that someone had already taught you the second lesson. I would have come to that part myself".
I thought it was time for me to intervene. "Nera, I didn't notice you applying lesson two when Roschti spent the night at our place."
"I was asleep at the time when she got in" said Nera
Tabby just shook her head and curled up in a corner of the garden, when the next cat arrived.

Mr. Grey decided to pay us a visit. "Tabby, you were not very friendly to Mr. Grey. You gave him a hiss and scared him off".
Nera decided to take over the conversation "I told Tabby that Mr. Grey is my friend and is always welcome to pay us a visit. He is not such a smelly old tom cat like Roschti. Mr. Grey has manners and asks before he comes into our territory. I told Tabby to leave him alone and afterwards we spent a nice afternoon together."

That was true. I saw that myself. Mr. Grey had entered the garden on a second try and Tabby was already getting her claws sharpened when Nera went over to her and sniffed around her nose. That was what I thought Nera was doing, but it seems Nera was telling Tabby to grant Mr. Gray permission to enter their territory.
"Quite right Mrs. Human" said Nera. "I told Tabby to leave Mr. Gray alone, otherwise I would eat her Tuna fish portion on Wednesday."
"Now that was not very nice of you Nera"
"Mrs. Human you have to be cruel to be kind, and after all we all spent a nice afternoon in the garden together, didn't we Fluffy."
"That's true Nera, it was a real cat party, each of us sitting in our own corner, staring at each other and having a telepathic conversation".

Well I don't know about the telepathic bit, but the cats did seem to enjoy each others company, even if it was on the quiet side. Even Fluffy joined in . Eventually Mr. Grey went back to his humans and Tabby and Nera decided to have a sleep in a quiet corner. Fluffy followed Mr. Grey until he left our garden and curled up on a chair outside.

A Visitor at Holiday Time

I now have a holiday today for Ascension day, I took tomorrow off on overtime (I have 125 hours at the moment) and afterwards it is the week-end, so am making the most of it. The weather is pleasant outside and I am sitting on the porch with the computer. I also have a visitor. Almost all Europe has the same holiday so my son is here until Monday. He lives in Brussels at the moment but also has a few days off, so decided to pop over for the time. Of course I love to see my son, but a certain amount of planning and organisation has to be taken into consideration to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

My son arrived yesterday evening (night) at one o'clock in the morning. He would have been at home at eleven with the direct train from Geneva airport. Unfortunately they were doing night work on the train lines from the next largest town of Grenchen, which meant he had to get on a bus that had been arranged for the purpose. Having travelled since six in the evening, he decided not to take the bus so he got himself a taxi from Grenchen, otherwise he would have got home about 3 in the morning. We didn't mind as we were up late in any case watching the football match and didn't have to go to bed early.

It starts with the photo. My son sleeps in the spare room. I like to call that room my office, because my computer is there and all other accessories I need for my daily life. The first problem was there this morning when I got up. Where was my computer - in my son's bedroom. First lesson learnt, remove the computer in the evening and keep it in the living room until he goes back to Brussels. Luckily I now have my laptop, so I managed to fit it onto the table.

The next problem with such visits is usually whether my son eats at home or has he some sort of important appointment with his friends etc. This may not seem such a problem, but for a working woman that has to plan meals it is. It means when buying food, make sure you can construct meals to cater for 3 persons (our usual no.) and be able to stretch them to 4, or another solution is buy enough for 4, but be able to use up the portion that will not be eaten because No. 2 son may be somewhere else - in a bar, a billiard hall, at a party or whatever.

Do not rely on what he says. He may say he will be at home tomorrow evening and he will really mean it, but do not count on it. He may go out in the afternoon and be delayed with some sort of important item such as meeting friends he has not seen for a couple of months, and not wanting to be unsociable he may stay with them a few hours to the early morning, catching up on the latest news. These things can happen and we must have understanding for such situations.

What does Nera want to say? She has just walked in from the garden and needs my attention.
"Yes, Mrs. Human I do want say something. If you are writing about that overgrown human kitten that is staying with us again, then I just do not think it is right."
"What is the problem Nera, you mean my son".
Nera looked a bit annoyed. "You might call him a son, but for me he is a fully grown up human two legged cat and I just don't see why he has to take over our sleeping place. Tabby is the same opinion as I am, arn't you Tabby?"
Tabby just walked in "Well Mrs. Human I have to support Nera in her statement. After all the room where that overgrown human kitten is sleeping is ours and we do like to go in and out as we please."
"Tabby, Nera, you can go in and out as you please, it is for that reason that the door is open".
My cats were both a bit annoyed.
"Tabby and I do not feel as free as usual. In the morning when you and Mr. Human get up you shut the door to our room and we cannot go in any more."
"Yes, but you both go out in the garden in the morning, so I just cannot see how "my kitten" as you call him, can get in your way".
"Mrs. Human Nera and I are members of the feline species, the master race in this world and we do not like being pushed around because an overgrown kitten suddenly decides to move in. If I had a kitten like that I would tell him to clear off and form his own territory".
"Quite right" answered Nera looking at me with her staring yellow eyes.
"We cats put our kittens in their places, and when they grow they have to go and form their own lives. Why if I had ever had kittens, I would not even recognised them any more"
"And would not want to" added Tabby "We cats have to think of filling our own mouths, the kittens can look after themselves, after all at the age of your kitten, Mrs. Human, they would probably have kittens of their own".
This highly intelligent and logical feline conversation was getting a bit too much for me.
"Tabby, Nera, just realise once and for all that Mr. Human and I are not two legged cats as you seem to think, but another species, and although it may seem strange to you both, we consider that we are in charge around here."
"Nera", said Tabby, "we have done something wrong in our education of our humans."
"Yes", answered Nera "and things seemed to be going so well with the weekly tuna on Wednesday, I think Mr. and Mrs. Human are putting this overgrown human kitten in front of us."
"on the other hand" says Tabby "she didn't give him any tuna fish yesterday when he arrived."
"You have a point there" answered Nera. "Ok Mrs. Human, your overgrown kitten can stay but on the condition that he does not eat our tuna fish ration and we can sleep in our room when we want to. In future we would like to be notified before he arrives, so that we can make our arrangements to avoid him at all possible opportunities. If he was my kitten I certainly would not give him the key to the door, but tell him to move on."
What do you do with cats like that. I explained to Nera and Tabby that my kitten is always welcome to stay and that I promised I would not given him their tuna fish ration - thank goodness my son will not be here on Wednesday tuna fish day.

My cats went out again swishing their tails as if to show that they were the bosses, and I sometimes think they are.

In the meanwhile my son has disappeared into town and told me he would be back for the evening meal as everything was closed down in town anyhow. He also reserved some room in my washing maching this evening for some bits and pieces. I am so happy that I can look after him while he is at home. I almost feel like a mother with kittens again. No, not kittens, I mean young responsible adults that like to visit hotel mama.

Son, if you ever read this blog then rest assured that you are always welcome. We can always find an egg to fry or a cervelat (Swiss sausage) to peel and make into a salad for you and disregard what the cats said, they are always ready to make room for you and I can always put my computer in another room.

A Cat Fight?

I just don't understand our Nera the cat, that she is so frightened of Roschti the neighbour's cat. This photo was one of those by chance photos. She was sitting next to Fluffy our blind cat on Wednesday evening waiting patiently for her tuna fish to be served and I took a photo of them both. I only realised today that I actually got Nera in one of her "if looks could kill" poses.

This morning I let her out for her usual morning walk, together with Tabby her litter sister, although they never walk together, but on their own. I was finished with breakfast and had my usual ten minutes on the computer before going off to work. Suddenly their was a feline high pitched screech, a bang as the cat flap opened and closed again and Nera did her 100 mph full pelt through the flap and home again, ears standing up at 90° on her head. Mr. Swiss said he saw Roschti hard on her heels so it was clear that they had perhaps met somewhere on the way. Tabby was peacefully sitting in the garden as if nothing had happened.

During the day Mr. Swiss met one of our next door neighbours. She said she had a bit of shock with Nera and Roschti this morning, the way they had attacked each other until Nera eventually made off with Roschti hard on her heels. That was probably the overture to the bit before she came home again. If I was a cat and saw Nera as she is on the photo above I think I would run off. Anyhow everything seems to be under control again. Mr. Grey the neighbour's cat and Nera were both outside this evening and absolutely no problem. I really don't think I will ever understand cats.

And now I am off for a football match, Manchester Utd. v Barcelona.

What a day

Funny how I always get an uncomfortable feeling around seven on Monday morning when I get to this place. It has been my weekly home for the last 27 years and will be for the next two and half (I suppose) until I go to the happy pensioners hunting grounds. Today was a particularly stress Monday. It was raining all day which does dampen the spirits, and it seemed that the wonderful customers had run out of tools over the week-end. On top of it one of the colleagues was off for the afternoon and the afternoon is always the worst. The computer also decided to take a pause now and again which didn't actually help with getting the work done. I eventually managed to crawl out of the place at 05.45 this evening. The work was done, but I gave up answering phones this afternoon and luckily one of my colleagues took them over for me. I told him to tell them I had had a heart attack, fell over a cable from the computer, or crashed the car at lunch time, just to put them off a bit. I do tend to have a black humour now and again.

At least it is a short week. Europe closes down this week on Thursday for Ascension day. Actually Europe without Great Britain is closing down. We have the holiday every year. As I have over one hundred extra hours, I will be taking Friday off as well, at last two days plus the week-end away from the stress of it all. My son informed today that he will also be taking a long week-end and hopping home from Brussels for the holidays. He will be going back next Monday, so it looks like a family gathering over the holidays. It is quite handy he is coming, being a legal person he can advise me how to kill my neighbours on the top floor and get away with it.

Otherwise my new lawn is coming along nicely. Funny nearly all the neighbours have stopped me or my husband and told us how lovely the garden now looks and how the gardeners did a wonderful job on it. I have planted some anemone bulbs and a couple of flowering objects. Strange that my neighbours living upstairs havn't told us how much they appreciate our new garden. I mean we really did it for them. My cats don't like the new lawn so much. Funny really but they avoid it when they go out into that part of the garden. I think it is very considerate of them as the gardener said we should avoid walking over it for the next two weeks.

And now to go and stick some photos of footballers in my Panini album. There are 545 pictures all together and I only need 120. I have not worked out how much it has cost up to now, but you get 5 photos for one franc. Obviously as time goes on you get doubles, but we have organised ourselves at work and more and more are joining. It started with me and two younger girls in the department. We now have an apprentice and a purchasing clerk in the team as well. We take our doubles to work and exchange them. If you don't have enough to exchange, then we just pay the 20 cents for the ones that we would like extra. One of the younger girls in my department said she had to take 18 pictures from my doubles, but I told her that is ok as I had just taken 17 of hers. Before you think we don't work, this was all done within 10 minutes during the coffee break. As most of the international players are to be found in the english teams it is as if the English team would also be there, although they are not. Here one of my photos from the Liverpool v Chelsea match. I particularly like this one. I think the player in question recovered, but he seemed to have had some sort of painful injury at the time of taking the photo. I was not at the match personally, but watching it on the tv.

Sometimes the mind boggles

Looks nice - a fairly new estate somewhere in a small village where everyone likes to go about their own business. They say you can choose your friends but unfortunately you cannot choose your relations. This is also a problem, but there is another aspect of this saying. You can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your neighbours. Neighbours is more luck than anything else. I must say that all my neighbours are friendly people, going about their daily business and minding their own business.

I did once mention our meeting that we have once a year to discuss various "problems" that may arise and mentioned Mr. Black, also know as Mr. Loud Mouth, who likes to organise things. He usually has the mandate for his next door neighbour. She never attends the meetings and probably no-one else would carry the responsibility of representing such a person. This next door neighbour is a widow and has a son. Now this son has never really had a job to go to every day. He is around 30 years old. He did try to move out once but came back again. He has been known to do strange things in town with the result that in one store he is not even allowed to enter. If he uses the lift you notice it by the smell of a joint afterwards. Sometimes he even throws the smoked joints into other peoples gardens. However, they are a honourable family so you just put up with it.

His mother tends to beat her carpets over the balcony, making a dust cloud which tends to fall upon the people living at the bottom. Once she set fire to her balcony flower trough at Christmas by burning a candle in between the holly. One of the neighbours called up to her what was happening, but she strolled out to the balcony, took the plant in and said we shouldn't make such a fuss. Mr. Black and his wife find she is ok as a neighbour and has no problems with her.

It may be that we can ignore this lady, but not her son. There was a small problem some time ago with another neighbour because he had put furniture in the corridor to dry out after we had flooding, which absolutely bothered no-one. She decided to verbally attack those neighbours (very nice people) and my other half asked why she has to bother them all the time, after all the furniture would only be there for a couple of days. Her son came down the stairs and helped his mother by threatening the neighbour and my husband with his fists and remarked we can settle the problem outside. Luckily the neighbour just laughed and my husband refrained from continuing the conversation. The best was that the mother of this street fighting son thanked him for supporting his mother and coming to her rescue. There was no question of rescue, there was an argument going on and not an assassination.

We all went home, but the son decided to remove the furniture and throw it around and give it a few kicks. Everything on photo now, but believe me there is nothing you can do. Through the legal advice of one of my family members (my son), he said unless the police actually see it, they will do nothing and if you process it could pull itself into infinity, cost a lot of money and the only people that get anything out of it are the lawyers.

The neighbour's son now has a new game, probably because he is bored not having anything to do all day. He likes to listen to very loud rock music (of a certain kind that I associate with a certain type of right wing political party). Lots of four letter words in it and he sings loudly along with it. Even Mr. Black must here it, but up to now Mr. Black has made no comments. Last week the son chopped up some wood outside for his mother. I don't think he was very happy about it. As he was chopping he spoke in a very loud voice, muttering stupid things which everyone heard to the extent that a neighbour said to us she realises what we have to put up with. Thank goodness it seems that people are waking up.

There was also the occasion where the wife of our neighbour was waiting for the local train and son No. 1 was also there. He did not hesitate to play with a knife all the time.

What do you do with such a young man in the house. Basically ignore him and just hope that eventually he will smoke so many joints that he will go on a trip and never come back. I wonder if his mother still thinks that her son is such a wonderful person. I did hear that they do have a misunderstanding now and again. His mother does sometimes mix up things between what actually was said and happened, to what she thinks was said and what happened.

A week or so ago she wrote an e-mail to the people running our places complaining that it is just not tidy where we are. Gardens that look like allotments, people that have b-b-q grills outside and articles of clothing that hang around. It just doesn't fit into the surroundings, after all we have such a lovely mountain chain and a river near bye. Of course, the fact that she has about 20 palm trees on her balcony is something different. Personally I couldn't care less if she had a pine tree forest on the balcony, but why does she have to write such stupid. things. Everyone got a copy of the e-mail with the exception of us and another neighbour that speaks her opinion. Everyone just laughed at it and it will not be taken seriously. This lady is ill and I suppose her delinquent son does not really have a chance in life, but from my aspect the son is dangerous.

Our next meeting is next year in February/March. Perhaps Mr. Black realises by then that he would be better off not carrying the mandate for his next door neighbour.