Purr...ks of caring

A FEW months ago, a scungy orange cat came through our kitchen window, did a lot of meowing and refused to leave.

Then it did a lot of eating and still didn't go.

After that it did more eating, some more meowing and show no signs whatsoever of leaving.

He was not much of an aesthetic improvement to the household.

He is weedy, unattractively orange and looks as if he was dragged backwards through a bush and slept under a truck.

We are not a household that is unkind to cats although one of the dogs apparently believes they are the spawn of the devil and it is the task of responsible canines to wipe them off the face of the earth.

Especially the bit of earth that is Darkest Flagstaff.

We explained this to the cat, who sat on top of the filing cabinet and sneered at the stumpy-legged dog.

Then we explained to the cat how the bigger dog could reach the top of the filing cabinet with his mouth and that the cat should now leave for his own health and safety.

The cat dithered on the window sill and ù stayed.

We justified the cat's existence by telling each other that just the sight of it would frighten off the resident mice, who are much given to having parties in the pantry and doing sleepovers in the kitchen towel drawer.

That idea apparently made the mice fall down laughing and one of them must have hit his head because the cat managed to pick it up in his mouth.

To be honest, I don't even know that it was one of our mice, because it looked suspiciously as if the cat had just jumped through the kitchen window and he may have been bringing in an outside mouse.

Anyway he seemed to think that justified his existence, so we let him stay.

Not only that, he brought his mother.

She is a big, beautiful calico cat, far too plump and cared for not to be the pet of somebody in the neighbourhood, so if anyone is missing her, you know where to look.

Her weedy little boy insists on calling her to the kitchen window to have a share of cat's breakfast and cat's dinner.

They hang out in the garden together on sunny days, or sit around on the gas bottles yarning when it is wet.

She does her best to make him presentable, licking his head and cleaning his face, not that it does much good.

They make a charming caring and sharing sight, as I told my old mother, the Dreaded Violet.

I care for her too, with her medicines (about $120 a month), her occasional doctor checks, her adult diapers ($30 plus per week) and her carers to look after her while I try to do all the other stuff to keep the household running, at a total cost of about two-thirds of my pension per month.

Surprisingly Handy: Tweezers in the Kitchen | Apartment Therapy ...

The original job of these tweezers was as "cat hair removal device," and this continues to be their number one use to this day. If you live with pets, dealing with their hair in your food is just a reality. I bought an extra pair of tweezers when I realized how frustrated I was getting with trying to capture stray cat hairs with spoons and cooking utensils. They worked like a charm.

But these tweezers have proven handy for plenty more kitchen tasks. They're excellent at snagging broken bits of egg shell and recovering measuring spoons that fall down the garbage disposal. When ingredients jump from the pan while cooking, I use the tweezers to grab them from under the burner before they have time to incinerate. I also use them when taking food photographs to move small pieces of food without disturbing the rest of the plate.

These tweezers get washed right along with the rest of my dishes and have their own spot in my kitchen drawer. A surprising addition, to be sure, but definitely a keeper.

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