My furry friends

Sockiboloski reading MY paper before ME.... What audacity..

Ayy, Minimama when are you coming home?

IT'S LATE and I'm tired so I'll be brief. I just wanted to share these two photos of my furry friends, both taken today. Kitty was obviously missing Minimama so she sat on the pine trunk in my bedroom and stared at a photo I have of Cookie when she was younger. It was a rather magic moment. Early Sunday morning and the air was still cool. I'd just got back into bed with a cup of freshly made coffee and was about to pick up my current book (Gerald Brenan/The Face of Spain) luxuriating in the knowledge that there was nothing I had to get up for. Outside I could hear horses' hooves as riders passed up our street en route for the village annual romeria (it's when the natives go folkloric and traipse into the countryside with our local virgen to enjoy song, wine and tapas. A Spanish knees up and great fun).

The other photo, of our rather intellectual Mr. Boloski, was taken after lunch when tradition dictates feet up for half an hour, and in my case a spot of work, going through the day's local and national press to see what stories are breaking. Old Socki was just lending me a hand by reading the Spanish national El País. As you can imagine he was a great help. He manages to nod off even faster than The Artist, who I believe must hold a world record for falling asleep in seconds.

Weather today: Hot but a nice cool breeze, quite pleasant in the shade and not like yesterday's sauna - High 28ºC/82ºF Low 19ºC/66ºF. A few clouds around but zilch chance of rain. Light southwesterly wind 14km/h. Pressure 1010 mb. Relative humidity 53%. UV index: 8.

Red hat days

Well, the wind is still howling round the house and down the chimney, trying to get its chilly tendrils into our home, shaking the windows, pushing the doors and trying to squeeze in any cracks. It has been a howling day from dawn to dusk, and then some. At midday the bright sunshine made the temperatures go up a little, but now they’re creeping back down the Celsius scale. The cats are disgusted by it all and don’t want to go outside. Any jangling of keys and they hide in the hope that I won’t throw them out. Even Tom is curled up on a dining room chair, snug underneath the table in the hope that I might forget he exists.
So we’re in for our second polar blast already this autumn. The north of Spain is covered in snow and the mountains that tower over our bay are white-capped again. It’s definitely red hat weather, just like the nippy stuff we had in Madrid where this photo, definitely my best, was taken last month. At least today it’s been dry which is a plus.

Christmas puddy cat

One thing I have done is get out The Christmas quilt. It is so lovely and doesn’t get seen much so it’s coming on full display in the living room over the festive season. I can already hear my friends wowing and ooohing. I’m honoured to have it. It was the first quilt my mum made, which makes it even more special. Of course finding a free sofa here in the winter is impossible, and who should be sat posing by the quilt but Socki Boloski who must be getting old, ‘cos this is the first winter he has preferred to be inside rather than out. Well, I had best beetle along. Despite zenning Christmas I have Christmas lunch to prepare for Sunday. We’re celebrating early this year as we won’t all be around on the day.

Tom Tom Go

AS I've managed to catch Tom, the stray who adopted us, on camera too I thought I'd introduce him. Ever since he's been coming over to the food bar at the kitchen window, he has blossomed from a frightened, skinny, abandoned waif to the glossy, confident, ankle-nipping chap he is today. I'm surprised our relationship didn't end when I whisking him away to the vet to have his balls chopped off. But today he's a lot happier for it and can dedicate himself 100 per cent to fattening up and lazing around without having to worry about what the ladies might think. A bit like the average middle-aged man.

In theory, I'm still looking to home him - and will probably have to when the cooler weather comes as The Artist is allergic to cats and it's just not fair on him to bring another one in. Only Kitty has avoided the camera this time. She's finding the heat hard to deal with and moves very little. It's hard to remember that she is an old lady as she is still lithe and agile.

Life's tough

LIFE'S tough for a cat in this household where their biggest decisions are: Shall I get up? Shall I eat some more? Where's the coolest spot? Where's the warmest spot? Shall I sleep here? there? or in the lavender bush? It is easy to see how Socki gets so stressed out. Here's a picture of him looking completely out of his box after a day of challenging decisions. I have to say, he makes Garfield look like some kind of athletic feline superhero. So here he is - our village's feline philosopher - doing a few neck stretches to tone up his triple chin.

Garden body count

GLORIOUS Sunday. Cool breeze coming off the Mediterranean, sky blue, sun hot, shade deliciously cool and all the flowers are out in the garden - even the grass is still looking green. Sneaking around watering every two days now. Like I said before, no hosepipe ban but I still feel guilty as there are other parts of Andalucia that have water restrictions - so I try to be careful.
Sadly spring brings its usual garden body count as the cats sharpen their nails and hunting skills. So far four mice, one bird, one lizard and, thankfully, no snakes. Kitty is top for birds, Socki for mice and Tom? Who knows. On a very windy evening last week we came home to find Kitty had cornered a rather large baby blackbird. Luckily, with Mini Mama's screaming and flaying (distracting Kitty's attention) - it got away. Son picked up Socks and put him inside. Then he and I watched the hilarious spectacle of lithe Kitty running around the garden with Mini Mama thundering about behind her, trying to catch her. Finally, cunning won over speed - and in the house they came and we hoped the night would enable the blackbird to make it back to safety. No body - so looks like it did.