I’ve no idea where the black cat comes from or who it belongs to, but this is the second time we have seen it in our camera (the first time Tora saw it off).  I hope it has just moved in to the village and knows its way home as we are quite isolated here.  I also hope it isn’t a stray, because it certainly wolfed down the (not particularly appetising) sausages.

If we see it again I’ll have to ask around and see if anyone knows whose it is.  Cats really are strange creatures – here we are in the back of beyond, and not only does Tora walk nearly a mile to the other side of the village to find another cat to fight, but now we have another one doing the same thing in reverse.

The movie should have the music for “10 green bottles” to go with it….

Schrodi has had it in mind to get up there for some time now, but we have always managed to stop him in the past. But he had bided his time until no one was looking and then made the big jump. Unfortunately this collapsed the whole edifice, scattering the whisky boxes (thank goodness it wasn’t the empty bottles he had been collecting) and everything else all over the floor and knocking over the decanter.

Luckily nothing was broken and the decanter only spilled a couple of inches of cheap blended whisky. R is now under orders to get rid of the boxes and secure the Vive controller to the wall properly.

However it is, they use the same mysterious power to detect when clean sheets or (better) a clean, difficult to iron bedspread has just been put on a bed, so that they can then sleep on it – muddy paws and all.

With the vet all the way in Dunoon and no transport I was a bit stuck. But then thinking about it more rationally it was clear that his tail wasn’t actually broken because he could move it (and obviously feel it!), so there probably wouldn’t be anything the vet could do anyway. So I passed an unpleasant day with the poor soul unable to settle as he was obviously in pain.

Luckily, come Saturday the tail had started to curl again, and today (Sunday) it is almost back to normal. I can’t work out what had happened to him in such a short period of time – all I can think of is that he jumped out of a tree and bonked his back end.

All’s well that ends well but cats are such a worry. He is now sleeping on the heat pad he got last Christmas half on top of my network switch.

We called for him and called for him but he didn’t show up so in the end I had to knock on the door of the lodge. The family staying there weren’t very friendly or helpful and wouldn’t let us look in the house, so I was in despair before we walked round the front and realized that there was a huge crawl way which was open under it. I started to crawl in, but I’m rather claustrophobic and it was seriously scary (dark and probably rat infested). I’ve often said that R is my hero but today he certainly was as he crawled right in guided only by the torch app on his iPhone. A few minutes later Schrodi suddenly emerged from under the decking, seemingly none the worse for wear.

So this 14 year old cat had walked over a mile, crossed a river and a road and gone into an unfamiliar holiday camp. He then went under a house and refused to come out no matter how many times he was called. I would like to say that this is the naughtiest behaviour we have ever seen from either of our cats, but unfortunately, thinking about it, it isn’t. Tora is still in the lead from various incidents such as the original locked in one and further ones such as getting into someone’s attic, being found in a neighbouring hotel sleeping on one of the dining chairs etc. etc. etc.

And when we brought Schrodi back in the car we found Tora had been sick all over the hall floor. Cats – who’d have them….

Perhaps this is just peace on earth good will to all cats….

This was after they had finished their smoked salmon (I say “their” but Tora is actually not that fond of it).

I’d put a bit of leftover roast pork out for the creatures, and just after 5am the fox found it. It was just starting to munch on it when a white streak shot across the screen – it was one of the cats but too fast to see which one. The fox fled for its life. Two minutes later the camera activated again with Schrodi sitting on the stone where the meat was – so I guess the victor was him. So the fox is terrified of the cats, presumably because although he is larger, they are in their home territory. He couldn’t have been that scared though because half an hour later when the cats had gone he was back to finish his dinner.

We had another wonderful creature night as always seems to happen when we get a mild one in winter; pine marten, two badgers and the fox. Plus there were deer crashing around in the trees when I was out making a bonfire this afternoon.

The picture is of the fox just before Schrodi swooped in.

I mention this because this evening I made some blinis (they are a sort of yeasted buckwheat pancake) and left the batter in a bowl with a tea towel over it to let it rise. When I came back into the kitchen, there was a deep hollow in the tea towel which had been pushed into the mixture, and batter had been walked across the floor by something with paws. This may just have been a pine marten breaking into the kitchen – but my money is on one of the cats. Tora generally has better sense than this, which points the finger of blame at Schrodi.

He has also had two voles in the house today so he is not in high favour (hasn’t stopped him from mooching most of a chicken breast this evening though).