Winter is coming

[Lovethesea]

It must be. My two are suddenly back in my bed and wanting my company more. Feistycat is laying on me because I am warm and tolerate her ridiculous habit of digging claws in to grip. Huntercat is sprawled out next to me. Normally I don't see him this time of day as he is too busy eating rats.

Nice to see them again, the mercenary pair.

I bought myself an extra long fleece dressing gown & the cats pinched it. He does milk treading on it too.

I've been replaced by a dressing gown.

Seniorboy has suddenly become very close in the mornings. Given that his notion of winter is that that's when the radiators get warm, I can only imagine that it's something to do with the light levels which are definitely changing fast. (Or seem to be.)

Yup, T Shirt weather here today again and sunshine, so I think they are reading the wind and the barometer they carry internally. Buttering me up for putting the heating on when it suddenly goes cold.

If Huntercat is out less he will catch less and eat less and I will have to feed him more cat food. Hmm.

He'll be much less active though, Lovethesea. Lower calorie expenditure.

Good point. I'm sure he'll argue laying upside down baring a fluffy tummy is hard work but he will have cut the miles down. He's pretty lean at the moment after months of outdoor adventures.

I'm noticing it the other way round. The Snowshoe is now missing at breakfast time because its starting to coincide with dawn/predawn and he's bouncing all over the field chasing mices and suchlike. Once the sun's fully up he comes back for a second breakfast and curls up under the tree unless its raining.

The Lion got out of his fluffy bed for the summer. And now he's gone back in it again.

I thought this was going to be a thread about Game of Thrones names for kittens! Having said that my boy cat has started his winter doubling in size fluff up and is in his cat tree bed 80% of the time. In the summer he is quite slender and mostly lives under the deck. Girl cat is her usual fairly antisocial self though.

Funnily enough, Seniorboy is more active now than he has been for some time. When the temperatures are mid-summer high it's 'Flop on the bed and then mooch through to the sunshine in the upstairs sitting room for a flop-and-bake there before heading back to bed'. Right now, he's putting in a bit of wandering around before heading for his electric blanket - maybe because it's not full winter yet but only autumn.

Mine are hanging around waiting for the stove to be lit each day.

You mean you don't get up in the wee small hours to light it for them in readiness?

Bad hidden. What an inadequate servant.

Oh, no, I force dh to get up at 6am and do it meanwhile, my kitty remains snuggled up in bed next to me.

Poor Shuri won't know what's hit him this winter - he's not allowed out until Christmas Eve so won't have acclimatised - and I hope his fur's grown back. At the moment his entire back half (other than his tail) is shaved - he doesn't have an undercoat and has very short hair anyway so it's not much protection against the cold but it's better than nothing. Daisycat has taken up her winter residence already in the beanbag in ds2's room which is officially the Warmest Room in the House ...

Has Shuri had a winter here yet? (I forget.)

Yes he has - thankfully it was fairly mild here (SE) - no idea what he'd think of snow

Yes my old boy has started staying in at night. They're all preparing food wise. Looking for food constantly. I did try to explain the concept of central heating but it was lost on them!

First Snow is one of the great moments of having a - usually kitten but Shuri is bit different. Sort of like First Looking in a Mirror.

Hah Inanimate. Instinct will tell them perfectly well what central heating is. Just watch them drift to the radiators on the first day - and sit expectantly by them on the second.

If it snows the Lion will basically become an indoor cat for the duration. He's frightened of it. Silly sod. The Snowshoe goes hunting in it regardless. He blends in.

Very exciting night chez moi.

Our two are rescues, one all her life handed in as kitten from birth, and the other as a feral scoop and neuter.

Neither of them have experienced the comfort of a stove in all their lives, and tonight..... Old Blue is sparked up for the first time since they arrived.

Can't wait to see the reaction. bet I'm abandoned just as La Reine Margot, Queen of Aloof was getting all snuggly on me

It comes to us all, valrhona. (Outgunned by a heater.)

I have been sat on a lot today by Feistycat who is clearly training me again in readiness for the cold. She is currently choosing to sleep on a fleece on my windowsill so can't be too cold yet. The giant Huntercat is out doing his thing having stocked up on pouches again, and I'll wake up to his expectant eyes on my in the early hours. He is very patient about waiting quietly on my bed til I do breakfast.

Both cats are suddenly cuddling up to the DC's soft toys on their beds and when the wind was up Feistycat did a great skittish run from a neighbours garden, up a tree, down, across the gardens, over the fence, in our back door, through the lounge, up the stairs and then promptly fell asleep on DS's mid sleeper.

Scrap that. Huntercat is in and lying on the duvet next to me!

The weatherman was right. Autumn starts tomorrow round here. I'll know it's properly winter when Feistycat risks our unconscious forms as unstable sleeping platforms at night as well as for catnaps. Though she digs her claws in to keep herself safe....