That's just the way we do it!

My husband likes things that are logical - like science and computers.

One morning this weekend I was busy feeding Alex and mentioned to Nev that he should hop in the shower while I'm feeding her, then he can play with Alex while I have my shower.  End result:  we'll be ready to go out sooner.  While we both agree this is a very logical plan of attack, it was impossible to carry out.  Do you want to know why?  Well I'm telling you anyway.

At some point in our past, our routine before work was established so that Nev would get up, eat breakfast, shower, get dressed, leave.  I would get up, shower, get dressed, eat my breakfast and then leave.  Nev takes a while to become coherent in the mornings so I would shower while he ate his breakfast and read news websites until he'd woken up properly (or else there's a good chance he'd wash his face with my conditioner).  

Shortly after this routine was established, Nev decided that it applied to weekends as well.  We've had stand-offs where I've refused to shower first because it's a silly rule!  Why should I have to?  What is stopping him just getting up and having a shower??!?!  rawr!  Sadly I never win - the need to be showered, clean and ready to start my day properly always trumps proving a point.  

He can't provide me with an explanation beyond "that's just the way it has to be done!" and seems happy enough with this reasoning.  Surely if a routine is inefficient the logical move is to correct this inefficiency?  

Why does his need for routine override his love of logic?  JUST GO AND HAVE A SHOWER!

  

Guard Cats

Those of you who know my Basil know that he's..uh...special.  He usually looks something like this:

He may be special but he's not small.  Weighing in at 7.5kg, he "carries the weight well" according to our lovely polite vet.

Zari on the other hand is your typical girl cat.  The boss of Basil and the humans, enjoys pats when it suits her (but likes knowing she can get them anytime she wants) and acts like she meant to fall off the cat fort thankyouverymuch.  She's no lightweight either at 5.5kg.

Big fluffy Ragdoll cats need to live indoors because they are so precious placid and friendly that they don't tend to fight back when confronted with another cat or dog.  How overjoyed we were when we bought a house with a courtyard surrounded by a 6' tall fence!  Kitties could roam free out front and chase all the moths and snails they liked.  Basil soon discovered he could climb fences and subsequently got his ass whooped by a ginger cat not long after we moved here.  He lost a lot of fur and a bit of pride but was otherwise OK.  I lost the ability to leave them outside unsupervised.

All was going swimmingly until the neighbourhood bully - or Black and White Kitty - invaded their territory.

BWK had been taunting our darlings for months.  Rolling about on the footpath just out of swipey reach by the front gate or playing in the car port where they couldn't reach him.  One day Basil was fence climbing and found himself with gravity on his side.  He puffed up, put his angry face on, and shot down the fence at BWK.  Poor BWK was somewhat terrified, and frankly you would be too if an angry brown puffball three times your size had you bailed up in a corner.  I got there just as Basil was about to chase BWK across the road, nabbed him and let BWK speed off into the distance.  I praised Basil lots while Zari huffed and puffed from within the courtyard, clearly angry that she wasn't able to join the fun.

We hoped that BWK would return to stealing other cats' food instead of harassing our two.

But today BWK returned.  I opened the front door to wheel the pram out (Alex and I were off for a walk) and BWK was right on the doorstep!  The nerve!!  Zari spotted him first and bolted out the door before I could stop her.  There was a hiss and a spit and a black, white and grey blur bolted up the fence and across the road.  Again I found myself chasing angry cats, catching up to them while they were staring each other down across the street.  I grabbed puffy crab-walking Zari and brought her back.  I praised Zari lots while Basil huffed and puffed and...well...Basil was still inside sniffing the pram, seemingly oblivious to what had just happened.

I am Zari, hear me roar.

Tui in the Rain

It can be handy living on a hill - tree tops are at eye-level from our lounge! 

If I ever have disposable income again, I will be investing in a decent zoom lens. The kit lens just isn't as sharp as our Tamron 17-50mm.