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I’ve inherited a wall from Ollie.  As things go, left in someone’s last will and testament, it’s a unique inheritance and I treasure it.  I also understand why Ollie loved that wall so much and why I now feel a great fondness for it.  I can see the world from on top of that wall so it is a huge vantage point. 

Ollie had a stand up row (well, I believe he was crouching but that’s a moot point) with Malcolm and Margaret, the two loud-beaked magpies on that wall (see here) and he saw them off.  I haven’t yet had any encounters like that but I’m sure, in time, it will come.  We have a lot of magpies in this area – and pigeons – and they’re all getting their nests ready.  I often watch some pigeons flying about with bits of twigs in their beaks which they take to make their nests with.

The wall stretches almost across the back end of our garden and there is a gate with leads out into an alleyway.  George the Rotund and Phantom Pee Puss walks up and down the alleyway from our house to his and it is a cut-through for many people walking their dogs to the park which is a short distance away.

After breakfast, now that our weather has stopped messing about and the sun has decided it might as well stay out for a few hours, I sit on the wall to watch people passing by.  As it’s quite high they don’t always realise I’m there and I’ve found a great sport which has me in fits of laughter.  I sometimes meow as a person walks by.  As they’re usually in a world of their own at the time, my meow puncturing their thoughts scares the bejeebers out of them and they jump several feet in the air. 

I walk up and down the length of our wall to make sure it hasn’t been breached during the night by any infiltrating toms hell bent on having their way with my bowl of sweeties that Mum leaves down for me. Satisfied that no such breaches have occurred I can then peacefully have a wash while I wait for the next unsuspecting victim to walk by.

If you haven’t got a wall upon which to sit and watch the world pass by, I urge you to request one from your people.   It’s the least they can do and it is part of our job description – to patrol the perimeter to make sure our human families are safe in their beds or wherever else they happen to be in the home. If they don’t take the hint, go on the Internet and leave the screen on so that can see the benefits a nice wall can bring to the garden, enhancing not only the look (and increasing the value of their property) but the well-being of their paw-enforcer.

Till the next time …

 

 

The Very Best Toy for Cats

"Of all the [cat] toys available, none is better designed than the owner himself. A large multipurpose plaything, its parts can be made to move in almost any direction. It comes completely assembled, and it makes a noise when you jump on it."

Stephen Baker