It's a well known fact by now that in absence of any substantial content, pictures of cats and dogs can help fill the gap.
Just as well known is the absence of any substantial business these past 12 months, but not so much how the cats and dogs actually do fill many gaps. Namely on the sofa. No gaps left. But this is because they all get along. Four cats and a Dobermann on one sofa is not something that happened in a day, nor with our entire consent for all it mattered.
Being that the marketing department (located in the upper floor on the right side of one of our brains) is pressuring me to come up with something, anything, I figure mehh, why not? I can post pictures of cats and dogs and no one ever really reads the text arounds these things right? Oooo I like the idea so much I see a recurring theme forming in my shamelessly lazy mind.
It could look something like this: Ladies and gentlemen, we are pleased to present you our first installment of "Dixie and the Cats"!
We'd start with the cast of characters, and we would call this Chapter 1 - The Gringos. It would be about the first 3 cats of Monte-Bougainvillea. And the story goes:
The previous owners of the villa had 3 cats that had lived most of their lives here at the villa. It was decided over the year of making the project to buy the villa happen, that the cats would stay at the villa with us.
The sellers had bought a new house closer to the town and worried the cats would not be happy with 'city' lifestyle. Considering the piece of paradise they where selling us, we could not agree more. And so we became the owners of the villa and subjects of Tom, Winny and Patch with the stroke of a pen. That and everything written in Blog Dia since issue no1, which is another story, but fills a good line in this story right here. Creative writing, cats and dogs...The boss might actually like this.
The Gringos used to live on the roof you see. They were generally not allowed inside. At first they would indeed spend their entire day outside and we know they slept on the roof against the chimney because they would climb down as soon as we got up in the morning. And it made sense to stay warm.
This had been their normal lives for years already. We changed all that when we started enjoying the villa and it's open doors & windows lifestyle. And so did the cats. And we started giving more food, more variety...We have transformed the animals.
By the following winter, when the season here calls for mostly closed doors, specially at night, a new problem arose.
The cats are, by then, inside all day, and the left side of the sofa Is. Theirs.
They've explored each nook and cranny to test as an occasional spot for a nap , or a ambush attack on an unsuspecting sibling. They still bring in the occasional prize. They play, they share, then at the end, one, and only one, will have the 'snack' and we get some intestines with the odd organ as a gift. Or is it to pay the rent?
But mostly they put on shows chasing ghosts in the living room as if to show us how things were done in the jungle, and just how great they, still, are. When they are not sleeping.
Now, come night time, when you close the doors. Do you kick the Gringos out? My knee jerk reaction was to say "Of course, that's how they've always lived" but that earned me a 'you jerk' look and a kick in the knee.
The proposed solution was to just leave a door open...well it didn't last long as I 'told you so' but I got the message and installed a cat flap just in case. Call it survival instincts. I learn quickly, from the cats.
The flap door has been permanently open for 3 years. It is actually tied to make sure it doesn't close.
The cats flow as freely as the cold winter wind through that hole. But I'm certainly not going to complain about that.
I still use both my knees (useful for grouting floor tiles, as you might recall) and would be uncomfortable in the proverbial doghouse being that we don't even have one and the dog occupies the half of the sofa not occupied by cats.
The first cat and only male of the lot is Tom de Gringo (July09, 12yrs) aka le Gros, Doudou, or Major, as in "we all know Major Tom's a junkie" ...for anything food. Tom is also so addicted to petting that he'll take a full face licking from the dog, and purr.
Being the only male and having the 2 other Gringos under his paw means he gets first call on any food hitting any bowl. Full stop. The other 2 Gringos just let him do his macho thing and let him believe he's still got it.
Tom swears he no longer goes under cars, but we have doubts.
Fact is Tom is ageing. He was a brawler in his day. A real 'Caïd'. Caught, brought, ate and sometime offered many live prizes for the ladies. Birds, rabbits, mice of all size in all seasons. He has a hole in his right ear, a scar he wears with pride.
Often tempted to put an earing in there. Gives him a 'badass' look. But last year he came home with an insured leg. It took him a couple weeks to heal, and ever since he mostly sticks to home, between the kitchen and the sofa.
His black fur is sprouting white hairs. Lucky him. I'm bald. First thing in the morning, Tom will meow constantly like an 80's digital alarm clock until you hit the snooze button or open a can of pâté. Tom is totally spoiled ageing in comfort for lack of grace. But he is not the only victim of all this abuse.
So here we are. The next time the marketing department barks up my tree I'll tell you about our second cat, Winny de Gringo, aka 'La Sauvage' :-)
You can meet Tom exclusively at Monte-Bougainvillea.
And if you are lucky (offering food helps), he may sign you an autograph!
But only at Monte-Bougainvillea.
See how at www.monte-bougainvillea.com
Or give us a ring on +351 925 249 497
Make the best of it,
Sylvie & jc
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