Five cats at the trough this morning.
Head cat, Pippa– (no messing!)
Beau (always first in)…
Ben (politely patient, knowing his place in the pecking order (low), tip-toes round the bowls.)
and Lucien, who stomps around like a grumpy member of a fusty old London Men’s club finding his favourite chair is occupied by someone he’s never seen before and worse–a female.
On a dark night he does a good impression of “Bill Sykes“.
Bill Sykes was never so cosy!
The “newcomer” is Blackie, who is gradually becoming an in-door cat after years of nervous coming and going pit stops–mostly out-doors.
Blackie’s a cat with no tail but a lot of oomph.
She has survived six or seven years in the relative wild–too nervous to put her head down indoors for longer than an hour or two.
Something is changing though–perhaps with age, sleeping rough every night through the seasons is losing its charm.
In summer she’d arrive for a quick snack with insect bites all round her eyes.
It has been slow progress, but close encounters in the tomato patch have helped.
There’s a small bench there, perfect for an early morning cogitation/rumination, after a bit of weeding and watering.
This summer Blackie and I have spent some serious time together.
She appears from nowhere, entwines me in elaborate leg embraces, chatting away anxiously about something.
These early morning approaches have gradually calmed into more of a companiable, “Hi, how’s it going?” greeting, as she jumps lightly onto the bench beside me and nudges my arm.
This morning she “knocks” on the back door and enters at a pace, ate a little, jumps into her chair of choice and watches, unconcerned, as the others arrive.
An indoor cat with rights like theirs.
We’ll see. The arrival of winter may settle it.
Later in the morning, I open the backdoor for Pippa; she’s off for her post-breakfast constitutional.
There below the step is Blackie, tucking into elevensies.
“Whoops!”
Pippa looks at Blackie for a long beat. She decides to lean forward and give her a nudging nose kiss. She then steps aside and down and saunters away.
Blackie enters and hops onto her favored chair and hunkers down again.
“Wow!” No Pippy hissy-fitting–things are changing round here.
A five cat household–oh my!
Robin Ellis 
Beautiful photographs, delightful commentary! Greetings from a wet East Sussex.
I’m glad that Blackie is considering trading fear for love and safety. Thank you for this charming story to start my morning.
What a heart-warming email. Great read and super photos. Your Pippa looks exactly like my Lili. Best wishes, Barbara
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As Roger Moore once said in a movie, “I like cats, and I don’t like people who don’t!” 😉 We only have 3 cats, but we have a fourth, Tiger who is like Blackie. We make up for it though, my Wife Sharon feeds more than 20 ducks twice a day, and the ducklings are starting to rush her when she goes out, much to the consternation of their mothers!
We have a 4 cat household, all former strays. It takes a lot of patience, that’s for sure. We had a 5th, Black Bobby, also with no tail. He ended up in the home of a parishioner who needed his friendly self even more!
All of ours start out as strays too!
I knew I loved him for his acting (in his youth and now, wait till you see him on WALLANDER), his recipes, but now I love him for his CATS!!!
🙂
This was precious to wake up to! We have just adopted a mini version of Pippa, whose name is Henry, an old soul whose human parents have passed on. He is our 5th cat, but we’ve never had more than one at a time. Author Paul Gallico loved cats and had slews of them – two of his books, Honorable Cat and The Silent Miaow, are unforgettable. Perhaps you have read them. 🙂
No I haven’t read them, Bonnie. I think he wrote “The Snow Goose” which I have not read either!
Yes, he wrote The Snow Goose, and two novels about cats, Thomsina and The Abandoned. Disney made Thomasina into a movie.
What a lovely furry family! Bless you and Meredith both for “adopting” them.
They all seem to have meshed in well with the other felines and their Humans. To let you in on a little cat secret, Meredith and you are lucky they let you stay there. *smiles*
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Lovely little fluffy bums. ❤
This made my morning!
As someone with seven rescued, I love this. My two black ones haves faces similar to Ben’s.
Enjoyed reading about your cats. I once had 2 strays who lived in the alley behind my house. I left food out for them. Eventually they let me pet them. I had one come into my house hoping that she would spend some time indoors but she was so upset. She stood next to the door meowing like crazy until I let her out. The cats used to follow me down the road as I walked my dog. When I moved out of my house a neighbor took over their care. Now I have one indoor/outdoor cat who is a gentle soul. She goes out of the house for fun but after a while comes inside to check the action and then goes out again. This happens through out the day when I am at home. I thought you had a cat name Claude? Perhaps I am mistaken.
We had a cockerel called Claude–not easily mistaken for a cat!
We lost both our cats last year .They were 18 years young .So they both had long and happy lives .Am bereft without them so I`ve adopted yours by proxy .!Hope you don`t mind
I don’t mind, but nor do the cats–more to the point!
Rodents beware!
(As a cat person) I loved your feline commentary! Such fun to hear about your ‘family’s’ personalities. We’re down to 2 now, calm and steady. My husband and I enjoy visiting and supporting a cat colony of about 25 cats in our city. There are several in town(Lincoln, Nebraska USA). The local no-kill cat shelter always captures and releases new arrivals, spaying and neutering. Warm shelters have been built for them to survive our very cold winters. I have always said that I haven’t met a cat-lover that I didn’t like.
Too cute!
Oh Robin, I see a children’s book in your future. I own 2 black rescue cats;a brother and sister. Life is never dull. With Meredith’s photos and your narration…a book would be enjoyed by all ages.
Hi Robin, thankyou for this lovely insight to your furry feline family! We are a SIX cat family – 4 males and 2 females (all neutered) .Our newest member Smudge had been thrown out of a car on the motorway – she was about 8weeks old, so tiny and frightened.. .. we stopped and picked her up and she looks the splitten image of your cat Beau. Really enjoyed reading about them all. We live in countryside as well in S.W Ireland, mountains and forest and lakes all around, so they have a whale of a time.
Notice – sshh, Richard Armitage is sporting a ‘Poldark -look hairstyle and gone from black to dark brown – love him as well! When asked if he’s a dog or cat person, he said ‘Woof’! Ah well, can’t have EVERYTHING!
Love from Linda
Well done for picking the poor fellow up.
Love to hear your cat stories…Glad to hear your Blackie is starting to trust everyone more. Poor thing, with all those bug bites!
They do change and mellow with age. Our own little Sassy is starting to be more loving & clingy. (She originally got her name from being a bit of a freshie). Nowadays, she uses a certain meow to DEMAND that we lay down on the bed with her & pat her. And now that the cold weather’s coming, our boys want to switch territories: Scamper wants to sneak into the sunroom to use the HEATED cat bed, and Tootsie, who normally lives there, is asking to come into the living room with us. I just wish all of ours got along as well as yours!
REMINDER TO ALL CAT-LOVERS: with Halloween coming up, please keep your pets indoors. Black cats, especially, but ALL cats are susceptible to becoming the victims of cruel “pranks.” Keep ’em safe!
Dear favorite actor, Robin,
Five cats. My you are brave. I have one kitten who is about 6 months old, and she rules this house. I do try not to offend her, but she decidedly prefers my husband, who sadly, is gravely ill. But, I am happy she seems to know he needs all her attention right now. She is either on his bed or in his chair in the family room, which seems a tiny bit less empty with her in it.
Cats are truly sensitive creatures who feel things they don’t understand. She misses him in that chair, so she spends most of his time by his feet in his bed. She is very therapeutic, the little dear. She is white with large patches of what used to be grey, but which is now almost black.
Her name, ? Why, Patches, of course. I will try to attach a photo. Isn’t she sweet? I love her pink nose and big eyes.
I love your recipes, have tried several and liked them all.
A fan from Los Gatos, California. Don’t believe that I need to explain my interesting in cats, given the name of our town.
Most sincerely,
Lea Frey
Thanks Lea for the touching story of Patches and your husband. Pippa, our remaining ginger. is particularly solicitous when one of us is ill. My best wishes to you and your husband.
Robbin, what a joy they must give you. I find having animals is helps you relax when you feel depressed
I love the stories and pictures of your cats. I have been a cat person since earliest childhood. One of my mother’s favorite stories of me (which I don’t remember) occurred when I was two – I was taken to see some new kittens at a neighbor’s, and when we were to leave I had already zipped up my coat and was walking oddly.
“Barbara, what do you have in your coat?” my mother asked.
“Nothing,” was my answer. Naturally, she unzipped my coat, and nestled carefully in my arm, and according to Mother with room to breathe, was a little kitten, a baby far too young to leave her mother. They put the kitten back, of course, but eventually when I was four I found a stray cat and my mother let me keep her.
There are nine of them now, ranging in age from 18 to 2 1/2, all former strays except the baby who was removed from what my vet described as a “very bad hoarding situation,” at only a few weeks. They think her mother had died, and the vet and her staff finished raising her and her siblings by hand. They did a lovely job, she is a great cat, very bossy not only of the others but of humans as well, it is very amusing.
Strong and sexy as capt. Poldark AND you love cats. What could I ask for more? oh, sure. That you were a bachelor. 😉
Domitilla, who got 4 cats and one dog.
Robin – how I love your collection of cats. It’s obvious that you have a great understanding of their characters and that you care for them very much.
I hope I didn’t offend. I am 3/4 Swedish-American myself and proud of it. (But I’ll never compete with Seinfeld.)
I’m not sure how you could have offended!
Thank you for a very welcome update on your lovely cats to raise a smile on a rather soggy morning in West Sussex. I love the fact that cats all have distinct personalities and that wonderful streak of independence – knowing their own minds. It is somehow all the more special therefore when they decide to adopt you. Apart from my own (ginger with white bib, tummy and paws), my neighbour’s grey cat will call me from across the road and then come bustling towards me chattering all the way and then proceed to rub round my legs and roll on his back – ever since I went over each day to give him some fuss and cuddles when they were on holiday for a week. From being a cat with an image problem (he regarded the entire road as his ‘patch’ and felt a strong need to defend it vigorously and loudly against all comers with whiskers), he is now becoming known as a big softy who will approach anyone passing by in the hope of fuss and attention.
Robin — Watching five cats is never being bored. We have four cats and a German Shepherd and are constantly entertained. Who needs cable tv? (I am being head-bumped by Bella, the three-pawed tabby, as I type this.) — Chris
They are all wonderful and great personalities. Special greetings to Ben for taking part in the bat hunt and to Pippa for being divine.
xxx Maj-Britt
Ben is elusive but I’ll pass the word, Maj-Britt!
Pippa spending time with me as a backup to my no 1 carer from whom I probably caught the bug! No1 carer has made vegetable soup which I’m looking forward to tonight! A possible post…
Dear Mr Ellis,
I was wondering why you hadn’t posted for a couple of days and I figured you must have caught Merediths cold. I was a little nervous because I am so enjoying this little piece of heaven that both you and your wife have been offering to those of us who were lucky enough and smart enough to have known your work and appreceated all the wonderful hours of entertainment you have given us to join in. Well I hope you and Meredith are feeling better. I recomended your ginger tea to one of my clients and she found it very helpful. Thank-you.
Take care and best wishes,
Georgene
Thanks Georgene–spot on; I have taken over the illness and Meredith has taken over the cooking!
It’s a great incentive to get well–the spaghetti was delicious tonight!