ABC Wednesday – K is for…

…Kitty cats

Having put our two cats Skimble and Jess up on the sidebar, it’s about time I introduced them to you properly. And what better place than ABC Wednesday where I’ve been struggling to find a suitable letter K out there? They’re our second pair of cats, a brother and sister born in January 2001, who joined us in late February the same year from a nearby cat rescue shelter. Sadly we left their mother plus 3 brothers and sisters behind, but they all found good homes – we know they must be good because of the owner vetting process we had to go through!

Both are going through the ‘spring madness’ at the moment: Jess chases randomly about the house and Skimble has found his tail again and chases it incessantly. Skimble’s also bringing us regular presents of the reddest Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’ leaves he can find in the garden. He announces their arrival with much fussing and meowing. This habit’s so pronounced, we call each one a ‘Very Important Leaf’ (VIL).

Jess is named after the cat owned by Postman Pat – how unoriginal we are! We took longer to name Skimble - after T.S. Eliot’s poem, Skimbleshanks The Railway Cat. This was the first poem that NAH learnt by heart as a child and I’m sure if our Skimble lived by a railway, he’d be ‘busy in the luggage van’ too. He’s twice the size of Jess, 13 pounds in weight to her 6. You certainly know it when he lands on your lap!

Here you can see Jess’ audition to be the next Felix pin up. I’m sure the call will come any day now. She’s the brains of the outfit, having worked out how to open a half locked cat flap when set to incoming cats only. She’s also the talkative one - Skimble’s the strong silent type, though both have purrs like engines. She loves milk, yoghurt, cheese, pasta sauce, soup, curry, porridge - even cider on one memorable occasion. She’s an avid watcher of wildlife programmes and was glued to the tiger documentary last Sunday. She licks my head (we say she has a licker problem - she also has the swishiest of tails) when I’m in the bath or sitting on the sofa. She’ll also come and wake me up in the morning when NAH’s downstairs getting the breakfast and leaving me to have a lie in - vigorous treading, purring loudly in my ear and sitting on my head’s her usual technique.

As well as a liking for boxes, Skimble’s a foot fetishist – he curls round my feet, licking then biting them, purring away like mad. He also likes to sit on me under my tapestry frame when I’m doing my needlepoint. Initially he chases the wool and finally falls asleep with his paws curled over my leg. He also has an endearing habit of snoozing with one paw over his eyes. He loves collecting elastic bands, finding the ones our postman leaves on the streets during his round. He brings them in with as much excitement and ceremony as the VILs. He’ll tread on me for ages if given the chance, preferably with his nose up my armpit. He’s also fascinated by watch glass reflections made on the wall by sunlight – he’ll jump and chase them all over the place. So much so, that NAH has bought a laser pointer for him to chase the red dot – eventually into NAH’s slippers at the end of the game.

Both of them loved sitting on top of the PC monitor and were most confused when we went flat screen. Nowadays Skimble tends to sit at my feet when I’m working on the computer. I always know when NAH’s arriving home as Jess has a special meow that she makes at no other time. She also rears up on her hindpaws when you stroke her. Both are fluent in Spanish as I used to chat away to them when I studied the language. They love to help around the house being particularly proficient at bed ironing, especially any jumpers, fleeces, trousers and pyjamas we leave there. They love reading the newspaper, especially if they can scan it through their bottoms. Naturally they’re extremely good at gardening – that’s why they’re our ‘Garden Helpers’ ;)

ABC Wednesday is bought to you courtesy of Mrs Nesbitt's Place.

Comments

  1. Spring Fever! How true. Ella, our beloved Puss is out now....having her morning visit to the ladies! LOL!

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  2. As soon as I saw the name Skimble I thought of TS Elliot's cats.

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  3. It is a pity I cannot have cats aroud - these lokked lovely

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  4. Lovely cats you got there:o)

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  5. Awwww they're lovely! I'll have to do a post about our two sometime. :)

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  6. I am seeing a lit of kittens and kitty cats today. My cat died a few years ago but the picture of the cat in the box reminded me of my old cat. He loved to get into any thing.

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  7. Howdy do! Love the photo of Felix practising for a pin-up shot. ;D

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  8. Ours have Spring Fever as well... your cats are lovely

    Neat post

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  9. Lovely to get to know your kitties.

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  10. Lovely cats !
    I posted something about my kitten to day!
    miss Yves

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  11. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yummy kitties!!!! Your Skimble always makes me laugh- looks just like Sam, a tabby I had years ago. He was cheeky. Looks like yours is too, from this box shot!!!

    I think Jess is definitely a Felix Cat. (I'm sure they're a breed!!!)


    word thingy says "ilsky"

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  12. Skimble must be the first cat I have met who brings in leaves as presents.Does he collect "furry" things too, or is he strictly a "no kill" kitty?

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  13. We have two cats. One is called Sparrowhawk - because the markings on his coat look like the feathers on the breast of a sparrowhawk.

    He's generally known, nowadays, as 'Sparrow' - and there are people who are utterly convinced he has migrated here from Pirates of the Caribbean (a much maligned film).

    Both our cats are interested in gardening.

    But their version is a bold campaign to convert our garden into 'The Wasteland'.

    Esther

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  14. Heh, newspapers are very good for getting the pinky blobs' attention; you sit in them and get noticed instantly. (Seecret knowledge past on from my cat to me: don't tell anyone.)

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  15. Your cats are beautiful, I want a Felix cat!

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  16. Wonderful cats. Skimble sounds & looks a lot like our Krusty and has the same 'I'm a menace' look in his eyes.
    Btw how lovely it must be singing in a choir and performing at Stourhead. I have been there ages ago but the mere mention of the name brings the memory of the ultimate beauty when it comes to gardens and landscape in general.

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  17. I am catching up on ABC Wed! better late than never for visiting...I don't know much about cats but these look adorable....my 93 year old neighbor is in a "living community" (nursing home) and she has 2 cats=that live there- that always come and visit her when I am there. I am used to dogs so when they pop in for a visit I never know what to do ...one of them really likes to lay on me....I think they are sweet! Love your post.

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  18. Hi everyone - glad you like our cuties. I may have struggled with K, but Skimble and Jess came up trumps for me. And I've been wanting to introduce them to you properly for ages :)

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  19. Skimble and Jess sound like real characters - loving and loveable. I have really enjoyed reading about their antics and personalities. they must bring you much joy.

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  20. Anna - glad you like them too. We're extremely biased of course. And yes, they're great fun to have around!

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  21. VP .. I thought Jess was a boy, my humble apologies to Jess (you are a beauty : )
    I wanted to pop in and say happy 8th birthday and you kitties don't look a day over 4 !!
    My girls say exactly the same thing when I showed them your pictures : )
    VP .. I know you tagged me last year some time and I totally forgot about .. my apologies to you girl .. I'm going to put a little blurb on my side bar .. side stepping those issues .. I find it hard to keep up with everything as it is and I don't want to step on any one's toes with that issue .. how is that for a load of compost ?? LOL

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  22. Joy - Skimble and Jess are purring at your compliments. They don't think they're over 4 either. As for the tag - that's no problem. I always leave it up to those I tag to decide whether or not to play. By tagging you I'm thanking you for your blog friendship without any obligation.

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  23. Oh that made me laugh. I love a good kitty story - you've written them a good CV! Hope they are still well four years after writing. :)

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