Busy Day

Linda and I had a busy schedule today. She had to come home during her lunch break to walk Suki. When I got back from work at 6:45 Suki was waiting for me, smiling and wagging her tail. I think she was desperate to go out for a walk. I walked her, shoveled snow from the footpath, and made some dinner for myself. Darwin greeted me with a big yawn. He had just woken up from his slumber.

I decided to feed the cats after I finished eating. Then the circus started. I gave Darwin his special food and along came Fatty to share. As soon as Darwin finished eating, I put away his food and gave Fatty her (cheaper) food. However, she wasn't interested in eating as long as Darwin was standing right next to her. Suki showed up and had a bite of Fatty's dinner. Linda gave Suki her own dinner, garnished with dog treats. Suki, as expected, looked away. Fatty, as expected, showed immense interest. While this was happening, Darwin decided that Fatty's food was much better than his own food. The only problem was that Fatty's food was by now on top of the kitchen counter. So he hopped on to the kitchen stool, gauged the distance between the stool and the counter in about 7 minutes, and with a gleeful look on his face jumped right up to Fatty's food dish. I took away Fatty's food dish, which made her miserable.

Meanwhile, Ned was carefully making his way towards the kitchen, like a sneaky commando on a secret mission. He was stopping and hiding beneath the closest piece of furniture every about ten feet, while moving in the general direction of the kitchen. He ran up against his biggest obstacle when he saw Darwin sitting right in the middle of the doorway leading to the kitchen. Darwin's mere presence stopped him dead in his tracks. His confidence took a nosedive and he took cover under the dining room buffet. From the shadows he issued a loud hiss and a big, angry growl. Darwin didn't budge. After a lot of hissing and growling, Ned decided to work up his courage to come out and sneak past Darwin. After a few halting steps and a few precautionary crouches in anticipation of an attack from Darwin, Ned slithered past his to the safety of the kitchen. It was a touchdown moment for commando Ned. After all this, THERE WAS NO FOOD IN THE KITCHEN! Darwin was still interested in Fatty and Ned's food, so their food was kept out of reach, while Darwin finished his own dinner. Upon realising that there was no food in the kitchen Ned ran downstairs to the safety of the basement as quickly as he could. Darwin followed him, only to be hissed at again.

Right now Darwin has finished dinner and gone back to his original, not-upright, plant-like sleeping position inside the folds of a blanket. Ned and Fatty are buttering us up for dinner. Suki is showing great enthusiasm for everything except dog food.

More later.