Colin the Cat

Some of you are aware already but we seem to have been adopted by a cat!  His name is Colin.  He actually belongs to a family who lived down the road, but they recently relocated to Devon.  It is a long story but needless to say they were in two minds about what to do as it seems that Colin has spent more time ‘elsewhere’ over the past eighteen months.  So, contact details have been exchanged and regular WhatsApp messages and photos sent in order to keep them appraised.  If he seems distressed or unwell, or if they miss him too much, then he can be collected and move to the coast too!

Colin has become such a focus for stories and commentary with family and friends that he even sent us a Christmas card...!  That is, through my Dad and his wife - a true cat lover.  It cheered up my day immensely!

Colin has spent more time out and about than in his own residence because, apparently, the other two cats were not to his liking.  We think he does the rounds and has meals and a comfy place to sit at various houses in the vicinity!  He loves to be in my greenhouses – I have a chair in one of them with a blanket and cushion and it is now covered in cat-hairs as he spends hours snoozing away in there – it can be very warm and cosy in the direct  sunlight even though it is winter, and the temperatures can drop significantly.
 
Colin plays an odd game of being incredibly affectionate and searching for that comfortable lap to sink into and then, the next day, will stick his nose and tail in the air and casually dismissively stalk past with an attitude of moral superiority. 
 
Colin likes to present us with freshly killed mice and shrews!  He has even caught (and devoured) a couple of birds within striking distance of the backdoor... we’re not necessarily happy about this (obviously) but it is in their genetic make-up after-all!  Evolution and all that malarky...
 
There have been animals around throughout most of my life.  For example, as a child the household always had a number of cats – the most at one time was twelve cats – because of a couple of litters. We also had chickens, ducks, rabbits and later, dogs.  My Nan always had a cat – in actual fact, a succession of Siamese cats and they were all called Fred!!

As Terry Pratchett said: 

“In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.”