Pragmatist
Pragmatist

What's with the formatting bar?  I keep clicking Comic Sans MS, and it turns to Ariel.  Oh, I think I fooled it into giving me what I want.

OK, on to the cats.

T'other day I was having a particularly hard time with RLS, so was soaking in a hot bath.  Miss Beauty learned early on about showers, so she has stopped joining me there.  However, the full tub of water continues to lure her.  Until....

As I say, I was soaking, and she was patting the water and then shaking the water off her paw.  Then she decided she wanted to explore from another angle.  She walked over my head, and started to walk along the narrow edge of the tub adjoining the wall.  Ooops, she lost her footing and slid backward into the water.  In her struggle to gain a foothold, she slipped again.  She was wet halfway up her body, and frantic to get out of the area.  I wasn't in any hurry to come to her aid, as I figured she'd already left a wet splotch on the bathmat (which she did) and was probably on my bed finishing her toilette (which she was).  She hasn't joined me in the tub since then.

I always keep the toilet lid down, having experienced feline curiosity about all things.  Well, yesterday, after using the facility, I wasn't quick enough getting the lid down.  Yep, another unscheduled baptism.  Unfortunately, it was in the unflushed water.  I hastily closed the bathroom door, finished my ablutions, and left her in the bathroom to clean herself.  Not on my bed!

Think she'll content herself to playing with running water from the faucet?  Hmmm.  Stay tuned.

I thought the dear little girl was emptying her toy basket to get at a particular toy.  Nope.  I witnessed the truth this morning.  She tips all the toys out of her basket and settles her rump in it.  Now understand, this is not a large basket.

I don't need to buy cat toys.  Missy is quite happy playing with a scrap of paper or a long ribbon.  She entertains herself quite well.  In fact, I had to use the spray bottle to discourage her from one of her pleasures.  She kept getting into the bag of shredded paper.  She would pull out a shred, play with it awhile, then go back and get another shred.  I had shreds of paper all over the house.  She has a narrow ribbon that keeps her occupied for long stretches of time.  I do shut down the play when she brings the ribbon to my bed at sleep time.  

Banshee has more sophisticated taste.  He likes the laser light.

Well, the children seem a little closer to rapprochement. I caught them sharing the top level of the cat condo.  And almost close on my bed.  Still not cuddling.

Missy seems to be looking for a place where she can suckle, and Banshee is having none of that.  Squinchie was happy to accommodate Miki, but then Squinchie was a very mellow fellow.  He and Miki got along much better in a shorter period of time than Banshee and Missy.  But then, Miki wasn't a Siamese.

A favorite game with them is still on the cat condo.  Banshee parks himself on the top shelf and hangs his tail over the side.  Missy bats at the tail, hides herself in the topmost apartment, and reaches a paw out to bat at the tail.  This goes on and on as long as Missy stays off the top shelf.  As soon as she takes the play to the next level, Banshee decides that playtime is over.

Playtime on the floor consists of pounce and chase.  And rolling all over the floor with each other.  It starts out friendly, but escalates to something a little more snarly.  There's still a huge difference in their sizes, so I watch carefully.  Not that I think Banshee would intentionally damage Missy, but maybe he would if she doesn't have sense enough to end the battle.

It's amazing how much noise cats can make running from one end of the hall to the other and back.  Good thing I'm on the bottom floor, or downstairs neighbors would be having fits.  I remember when I had an upstairs cat and a 2-year-old boy using the hallway upstairs as a runway.  I was SO glad when they moved!!

Missy can now get to all the windowsills that were Banshee's escape.  Let's see how that works out.

Shalom