You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.
Choupette trying in vain to have a conversation with a metal bird, 1 November 2021
Melvin and Choupette enjoying a group siesta in the study, and . . .
. . . another, in the guest room, half an hour later. They sleep a lot.
Cat siesta
Two cats seeking the last of the sunlight
12 December 2021: We're off for a bracing walk round Staunton's Montgomery Hall Park, and wondering why Choupette has been motionless for the past five minutes, staring obsessively at something.
Oh. She's planning an ambush.
Sleep is where you find it. Mostly always in the guest bedroom these days.
Mid-December, and we're bored, so we're off on a mini-road trip to some famous Virginian towns. This is the wonderful West Park Gardens B + B in Culpeper, and, first things first . . .
. . . Kristin and Choupette are catching up on the day's sorry news . . .
. . . whilst Melvin is admiring the back yards.
We're just on our way out for a walk round Culpeper, and Choupette wants to ensure that she'll be invited along.
Which she wasn't.
The next morning, Melvin is preparing to begin his day by pretending to have a bath.
Back from some side trips to Middleburg and Purcellville, the West Park Gardens B + B is encouraging a festive mood.
And now we've caught the cats planning something clever and subversive.
-- Confess, you little feline conspirators. We've got you.
-- We're really sorry, mummy and poppy. We'll never conspire again.
Back home, it's a chilly, greyish Christmas Eve day and perfect for Melvin to catch up on his sleep regime in his second or third favorite snoozing place, this one in the study.
Wild Catjinks
Conspiratorial cats, busted again
A certain amount of antagonistic posturing is taking place here, hopefully playfully.
A two-tiered battlescape -- no casualties so far
A few photos will suggest the course of events -- this went on, back and forth, up and down, for at least five minutes.
Choupette is skinnier and only she can take a swipe down either side of the board.
Rout, and pursuit
And a faceoff -- it's not over yet.
In fact, it's never over.
We've been moving books and whatnot all round preparing for some carpeteers to come and renovate our mezzanine, but we'll come back later. Choupette needs her beauty rest.
As does Melvin the Doge as usual
Fleetfooted, sneaky Choupette escaped from the apartment as we opened the door, and is 'hiding' in the corridor. This happens often.
A special treat
A gift from Kristin's son George, who has immortalized Melvin's predecessor as No. 1 Indispensable Cat, The Squirrel, who tragically passed away on the night of 17 February 2017 at the young age of about 18. We were inconsolable.
Melvin greets the new morning with a wave to the neighbors.
Choupette prepares an air-drop ambush on a toy mouse.
Whenever the grocery cart gets brought out, Choupette claims her place in it.
Choupette yawning mightily whilst hiding
Cats on duty as sentinels on the towers. Keeping us safe.
The little window in our study is the only one facing out to the rising sun, and some cats will await the sunrise
for as long as it takes.
We've interrupted an earnest cat conversation, and they've shut up immediately.
-- Sorry! Carry on.
Distrustfully, they resort to whispering.
Whenever the cat carrier comes out, Choupette is first in line. Melvin is instantly either under the bed or in the back of a closet, behind the coats.
Choupette can't wait to climb aboard. We're taking off soon for a week on the North Carolina Outer Banks, desperately out of season.
Now Melvin's nicely kitted out for the trip, and Choupette's found another way to torment him.
Okay, here we go. 27 February 2022.
Corolla, North Carolina
That's our digs for the next week, described on Airbnb as ''Corolla Oceanside Hideaway", a very nice B+B a few minutes from the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Currituck Sound on the other.
Great wifi here, and a fine TV with all the streaming channels, though we never turned it on after this photo.
First things first -- feed the famished but patient cats.
The cats are already settling in to the new digs.
A lame game of hide and seek
We're off to find an out-of-season restaurant that's actually open, and we leave the kitties to their slumbers, or whatever they might get up to.
Only Choupette could have got herself stuck in the grocery bag.
Early morning in Corolla, NC: Melvin and Choupette are first out of bed to greet the new day. 1 March 2022.
(Sadly, they can only stare out through the screen. They're only cats.)
Stalker Cat
Back home again: Choupette's hobby is lying in wait for Melvin to pass by, and leaping out on top of him.
She's persistent, and indefatigable.
But not entirely indefatigable. Stalking is hard work.
The Hall Monitor
The Hall Monitor does not want to be disturbed.
And today, the 29th of March 2022, we've declared the Winter of 2021-2022 to offically be over. Though the subsequent weather hasn't cooperated at all.
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All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 7 May 2022.