Another Mango and Biggles adventure!

Well, did Mango and Biggles have an adventure last night!? I went outside the property to put the porcupine food under the hedge at the top of the driveway and on my way back, I noticed that the windflowers, which have died back for winter and are just tall, dead stalks, were obscuring my appreciation of the stunning display of the leucadendrons. I proceeded with the lengthy task of snapping each stalk at the base and then got engrossed in pulling out the long runners of kikuyu and kweek grasses which insist on invading the flowerbeds. While I was doing this, I became aware of a rustling in the branches of the milkwood tree above me, which has grown so much in the last few years that it extends quite far over the 6-foot spiky fence. I thought nothing further, knowing it was one of the kitties, and after about half an hour, went inside because it was getting dark.

Next thing, I noticed that Biggles wasn't inside the house, and I like to have them both inside well before dark as they haven't done any nocturnal prowling yet. I just knew that he was on the wrong side of the fence, so I hotfooted out there, calling and calling, and sure enough he came running out from under the hedge. He had been in the field next door. But he was so adrenalin-filled with this exciting new adventure that there was no way he was going to let me catch him.

Up and down the verge we ran, as he darted back under the hedge, only to appear further up a few seconds later. Then it was a charge across the driveway and over to the neighbour. I can only laugh at what I must have looked like - there can be nothing more foolish than chasing after an animal that doesn't want to be caught! Next thing, there was Mango - she had climbed the tree and jumped over to join the escapee. And then, horrors! K arrives home from work and throws a fit because I'm not looking after the kitties and they're going to run across the road and be killed, etc. So there the two of us are chasing the cats in the dusk like a couple of loonies while she panics and I tell her to shut up. They are, after all, cats. However, I too was worried about the road and as the last lingering light faded, our errant kitties decided to let themselves be caught.

They are being punished today - no going outside at all - although I don't know if that's going to mean anything to them! If we are in such a state after just a few months, imagine what we'll be like after 10 years!