Nigella …

It’s surprising that M Kaz still gets up in the morning to go and photograph the sunrise – she already has so many shots of it! But still she gets up in the dark and disappears for a couple of hours before she comes back and goes into her office to look through hundreds of photographs – where there seems to be only neglible difference between many of them. Still, I suppose it keeps her happy and we all know that life at Jeannie is better if the Mummies are happy. And what was that I heard this morning? M Sooz saying she could go down to watch the sunrise as well. I know ages ago she used to go with M Kaz but she stopped doing that – U’m sure it was because she knew I was lonely when then both went. You have to love a Mummy who looks out for you.

I often say that I don’t get enough vegetables so I was impressed when M Kaz came home from Aldi yesterday with a giant carrot for me. I think it’s a carrot although the colour is a bit odd for a carrot – yellow. But I like it well enough – for a vegetable. It helps that it has a stringy-thing on one end of it.

M Kaz has been looking at me strangely the last couple of days and this morning she was playing with my paws and muttering something about the need for a nail clipping. I agree with her … my claws are starting to catch on the carpet. I think she’s worried about taking me back to the Vet who was charging ahead to book a cardiologist to check my heart murmur before I had my teeth done. I’m not sure if I’m surprised or not that M Kaz put that off for a while (read: still hasn’t done anything about it).

Who else is surprised that M Kaz didn’t stay up past her bedtime last night to watch the launch of the new Samsung foldable phone. She had talked about it but in the end I know she decided that this morning would be soon enough to see the details. I was glad she did because this morning the reviews of the phone say that she will not be able to write on the screen with it, and that’s kind of a deal breaker for her. Well, that’s what she says but we’ll see in the fullness of time.

M Kaz is still doing cooking at home (is using an air fryer to heat things up actually classed as ‘cooking’?) and she has started doing fish and chips. I am looking forward to trying it out – the chips are good but they are yet to share some of the fish with me … Nigey the cat – who loves fish! I’ll have to ask them louder next time.

Where are the aliens? From Independence Day.  Here it is July 4 and there’s been no lights in the skies (except planes and stars and what you’d usually see).  Ah well, maybe next year.  Before that though, M Kaz is going off to see Jurassic World: Rebirth.  I’m not sure if she is more excited about the movie or the merchandise.  Hmmmm.

It is still cold here at Jannie – so cold that when M Kaz takes herself off to the water in the morning, she’s sometimes wearing FOUR layers, and a hoodie (if M Sooz is wearing the beanie in bed – and no, I don’t know why they don’t have two beanies so they can each have one).

It’s not even that warm in the sun at the moment so I am spending a fair bit of time inside, either on  my bed or one of the Mummies’ beds – and certainly at night I am sleeping cuddled up next to M Kaz (mostly) – I just wish she took up less space in the bed and would stop complaining about where I’m sleeping – in the middle up the top, in the middle down the bottom, or just in the middle of the bed.

I think it’s time for me to go to the nail-clipping place. Every time I try to cuddle M Kaz’s legs at the moment she carries on like I’m intentionally trying to sink my claws in to the delicate flesh on her legs. She does whinge a bit about it. And speaking about whinging – how am I supposed to know when those Mummies have refilled my cookies. I don’t go and ask for more unless the last time I was there I could see the bottom! It’s their fault for not putting them in a cone-shaped dish so they’ll fall into the middle rather than just being pushed to the outside of the bowl, where they stay and when I push others away, I can definitely see the bottom of the bowl. I think it’s their fault really for not being a bit more proactive.

I would have thought those Mummies would have put more effort into their Anniversary – but no. It was started out as ‘just another day’ here at Jannie with M Kaz taking herself down to the Broadwater in the rain (it often is not raining when she gets there) and M Sooz continuing to snooze in bed. I could have stayed with her but took myself off to my bed where the Mummies have put down a furry brown coat for me – which I adore. Mind you, there’s not much around here that I don’t adore – that Applaws food keeps on coming (thank you R), and the Fancy Feast cookies and the clean cat litter – and M Sooz choosing not to move me when I was in her recliner the other day. She really is kind … actually, they both really are kind to me . . . except for where they make me go Outback in the freezing cold (day and night) to use the litter tray.

The days have started getting longer again – as of the 2oth, 21st or 22nd. The jury is still out on that – when the shortest night is and therefore when the longest day is. Those Mummies have different opinions on it but at least they didn’t embarass me by taking themselves off to Tasmania to take part in the Dark Mofo swim where, according to the headlines ‘Thousands take a nude plunge for Dark Mofo winter solstice’, ‘Swimmers’ annual nude plunge into chilly Tasmanian river marks the winter solstice’, and ‘Wild scenes as thousands strip off for icy nude swim at end of Dark Mofo’ … and that’s just a few of them. The Mummies have been talking about it – after the fact, because M Kaz can’t work out how they all would have found the right sets of clothes afterwards, and what would have happened if they didn’t. I know, you’d think she’d have other things to worry about. Like the roof (and finding someone to give her a second quote to fix the leak), finally getting the shade sail people out to give a quote on putting it back up or putting the blue flexiskip up – and starting to fill it. M Kaz has managedto give some stuff from the laundry cupboards away and while she’s feeling a bit chuffed about it, she shouldn’t celebrate prematurely because there is still lots and lots and lots to sort and move out of Jannie.

Hang on. Was that a duck I just saw outside? I know it’s wet today but I wouldn’t have thought it was that wet. I wonder if this means we are in for more rain? I hope not (because of the aforementioned roof issue). Do they make raincoats for cats? Do we wear them?

Brrrrrrr. It is cold at Jannie these days. I’d like to say those Mummies have even considered using their reverse cycle air conditioning but they seem to have forgotten they have it. I’m not complaining because I have my coat (and the Mummies’ coats on their beds) to keep me warm but I do worry about them sometimes. It’s not that they complain about the cold – it’s just the incessant chattering of their teeth that’s the issue.

M Kaz is the worst one, especially when she’s getting ready to leave for the Broadwater in the mornings, in the dark. It would be easier if she slept in her clothes so she was ready to go and didn’t have to change from her pjs into her long pants, flanny, vest, coat, beanie, long socks and shoes – you get the idea. At least she leaves some on the bed for me. Actually, I’m also grateful that she leaves room on the bed for me – it can’t be easy for her sleeping with her feet dangling off the side of the bed. On the bright side though there’s new research that suggests that if you sleep with one leg out of the bed, you can get to sleep more easily. With two out of the bed she must really be able to get to sleep quickly. And she does – just ask M Sooz. She’ll tell you.

I’m still grateful to Uncle Wayne for building the Outback for me. At least I can get out there and in to the sun – kind of, through the shade sail – and warm up. It’s a bit of a double-edged swordy-thing though. Because my tray is out there and they’ve shown no intention of bringing it inside for the Winter. I’ve asked; I’ve begged; I’ve pleaded; I’ve cajoled; and I have a thesaurus! But nothing … except they’ve part-way closed the door between the kitchen and the laundry – enough so I can get in and out, but I’m sure it has more to do with keeping as much warmth in and as much cold out as possible. And to think we’re only two weeks into Winter!

Those Mummies are still watching ‘Claire Hooper’s House of Games’ each night on the ABC. They like it very much and they laugh and laugh and laugh and try to answer the quiz questions. They’d don’t get them all right but they don’t get them all wrong either.