Lilli's Cat Lounge
I've had a good idea for Lilli-Puss, my grey outdoors cat. Aha! I've caught Non-Gardening Partner unawares. 'It's a really tiny idea.' I tell him in my sweet, smiling voice. 'Will it cost me anything?' asks NGP, hemmed in on the couch, ever alert.
LIlli-Puss
Concerning the Hay Barn...
The hay barn at the far end of the Hazelnut Orchard has three bays. The first gets the morning sun in winter, and is half-filled with hay bales. In the interests of cat safety and harmony Lilli-Puss has recently been relocated here. But there has to be more to a cat's life than a feeding station (even if well-stocked) and a cat basket.
Lilli has chosen to lead a rather solitary life, with minimal contact. I see her in the garden, but she won't come near the house. I want this to change. I've promised her I'll be visiting the hay barn at least twice a day, to sit and chat, provide good company, pick her up more, pat her more, those sorts of things.
I want to set up a cat lounge in the hay barn, with armchairs, a table with a vase of plastic flowers, maybe a picture hanging on the side wall. Too silly? Totally daft? Possibly, but certainly more comfortable for human visitors than perching on a scratchy hay bale. Lots of gardeners have those trompe l'oeil features and they're just as silly, I reckon.
Lilli-Puss the Grey Cat
A few days later Non-Gardening Partner moved some tractor-related machinery out of the way. Great excitement! I found two perfect old armchairs, another surplus seat, and some old-school knitted and crocheted afghans. Blast! I had to abandon my interior decorating to sing in a serious choir concert. The music demanded a close-to-perfection attitude, but my mind was full of Lilli-Silliness.
Cat Ornaments, A Bed...
I wondered about some cat ornaments, maybe a bed so I could stay the night... The creative mind soared to new heights of daftness, when it was supposed to be concentrating on tra-la-la-ing.
Lilli-Puss In Her New Cat Lounge
The next day I found a little table, and carted all the furniture down to the hay barn in my wheelbarrow. Now everything is in place, including a motley book selection on the shelf (Georgette Heyer, Agatha Christie, and Thomas Hardy), should a visitor feel like a rustic read.
Good Things Happen to Good Cats
+10Lilli-Puss loves her cat lounge. I'm visiting her three or four times a day. Good things happen to good cats, I tell her. And she purrs back at me. She knows.