July 28, 2008

Hostilities have abated considerably; we get a night's sleep as all sides have instituted a sorta nightly cease-fire.

Whereas Ginger is still attempting to exercise her authority over this young upstart, Bessie will not be cowed. After the usual hissing and warning growling, Ginger will pounce, chase Bessie down the stairs, where Bessie will disappear under the couch in the den, only to pop right out again and chase Ginger right back upstairs! Or they'll both be downstairs and Ginger will rush at her from the living-room and again Bessie will run under the couch, and repeat. This will happen over and over again. Bessie can be a real 'agent provocateur.'

Bessie likes laying siege to Ginger by positioning herself outside the guest bathroom when Ginger is in there eating. Ginger has taken to eating with one eye on the door! When she spots Bessie, she'll growl, but usually doesn't move. Bessie will then lay indolently, roll over a few times, stretch right o-u-t, as if to prove "I ain't scareda-you." This can end in one of two ways: Ginger will rush at Bessie, or Bessie will up and mosey along at her own convenience.

Ginger and Cinnamon spend a lot of their days under our bed. Used to be that Bessie would mainly stay out of our bedroom as each time she came in, Ginger would start to growl from under the bed-skirt. Nowadays, however, Bessie couldn't give a hoot, trots in whenever she feels like it, will take a walk around the room, lay down for a while, and just to push the taunting to almost over the edge, will put her face right up to the bed. Mostly there is quiet.

The other day, I opened the bottom drawer next to the kitchen sink to get out a clean towel and Bessie took the opportunity not only to jump into the drawer, but to climb behind it! I didn't know what to do for a moment, because I worried she'd get caught behind the dish-washer, or something, but in her own good time she climbed right out.

I have to be careful opening my closet in our bedroom, because she jumps right over the shoe-rack on the floor and plays in the back, where I have no chance of reaching her. Again, I just leave her to make her own way out. She is so quick, I can't even close the door before she has rushed in.

At night, she likes to sleep in the hall right at the top of the stairs, as close as she can get to us without incurring the wrath of Ginger.

This morning I came out of the bathroom after showering to find Bessie perched on Daddy's tall-boy! She likes coming into the bathroom and drinking from the tap. She loves running around downstairs from one window to the other, especially at the bay window in the den.

I tried taking a nap on the den couch yesterday, only to have her head pop up right into mine as if she was saying, "wha-cha doing?"


Remember how concerned I was about her NOT going down to the basement? Yeah, right! Open that door one millimeter and she's gone! So I just leave her to her own devices. Unlike our cats, however, who have been taught some manners, she does not come when called....

I have to say, her upbringing seems to have lacked discipline in general, hmmm. She gets up on the kitchen table to check out everything, and I mean everything, that we may be going to eat at our meals. I was just able to stop her the other day from eating the cottage cheese! I've also discovered she likes coffee yogurt (I knew she and I would get along!). I had scooped out the container into my breakfast bowl as usual, and she then proceeded to lick out the rest! When I'm sitting on the couch in the den, usually I have a glass of water on the little table at the side. After she stuck her nose in once and proceeded to have a drink, I'm quick to move the glass whenever I see her on the horizon.

She likes lying at the top of the stairs with her head just over the edge, so that when I go up, we rub heads together, just like Ginger and I always do.

She is so CUTE!!!!!

By the way, she continues to eat and drink from their bowls, even though she is provided with her own.

You don't need to worry about her not receiving enough affection, she gets hugged to pieces. And she is becoming more affectionate as the days go by.

It's been a long time since we've had such a lively cat in our house, given that our own are 14 years old now.

I doubt that the three of them will become buddies anytime; the most we can hope for is a permanent ceasefire. But so long as no blood is drawn, we can live with that.

This just in from Abba/Norman:
"Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Ginger keeps chasing Bessie under the guest bed and Bessie keeps coming out and standing up to say, ""nyah, nyah". Meanwhile Cinnamon comes out from under our bed to watch the goings on but when Bessie comes forward, Mr. Courageous dives back under."

So that's what's happening back in Lake Tilden, where all the men are lovable, the women are long-suffering, and the cats have taken over the house!

Love Mummy/Janice