Silke does construction, the second story
Silke does Construction.
I live with a Forever Human. A man . I love him unconditionally . He loves me back. I always like to know where he is, and I am never far away from him.
We live in a nice spacious house in Spain. I have a cat flap in a door and can come and go as I wish. It lets me into a little courtyard, I have some shelves that run up a wall and I can use these to go over a wall and outside into the garden. I love this !
My forever human feeds me every day wet and dry food, and what food I don't eat he puts out in the garden for the wild cats. They look like ordinary house cats but they are wild. They will attack humans if they are cornered and scared and just want to run away. They are always hungry.
I don’t like the wild cats in my Garden. They feed and go. I will not let them live here. It is my space. My territory. One in particular annoys me. He is a big tabby cat (striped) and is a local bully boy. He yowls at my Forever Human demanding food night and day.
My Forever human has many humans who come to see him. They all like me and they make a lot of happy human noise. I watch and doze. Happy humans are nice.
Vicente is a builder. He likes me. I like him. Vicente and his other men come and start work on the house. It is loud and noisy. Mostly they work outside. I love them all and watch fascinated at what they are doing. They dig holes, build walls and making horrible noises with machines. They start early, and finish late with a Siesta in the middle of the day, and a break at 10.00 in the morning. That is when they feed me ham. I like ham, not that fancy stuff mind. Just sandwich ham. They have coffee, eat sandwiches and laugh together. Sometimes they play fight with me. I don't use my claws and only nip them with my teeth. I like to be with the men.
I love watching the bricklayers. Especially old Juan. He stinks of the cigarettes he smokes. He takes some of that mud that goes hard, slops it onto a brick, then lays a new brick on top with some mud that goes hard, then he taps it to exactly where he wants it to be. After a while he has built a whole wall, and the next day I can tell the mud that goes hard, is like rock. I love watching him at work. Humans are so clever with their hands. Juan is a kind old man but he stinks of cigarette smoke.
It gets hotter everyday, the summer is coming, I remember last year, and now I am in this paradise with my forever human. He cares so much. We play games together and he is always teaching me new things. I have learnt to be free of the cage in the car, I stand up at the windows and look out. I love being in the car. I am even beginning to know where we are going. I greet him when he comes home even if it is late at night, I jump in the car and drive with him into the driveway. He lets me free in the car when we go to see Rosa the vet. Then I walk into my carry box. I now know that I am safe in there.
Big machines come and move earth. They are noisy and scary. But when they are not working I climb over them. They are quiet, and peaceful after a hard day of work. They smell of dust and earth and that foul stuff they drink.
I love Vicente he is top cat and humans do what he tells them. Digging drilling cutting mixing moving things around. The house my Forever human lives at with me is changing ever so slowly but surely. It is getting nicer. I can tell that. Human visitors come and look around I go to show them what has been done that day. I know I watched them do it! I could tell you if I could talk human! They like to see what has been done in the day and inspect. I go too. The workmen call me La Jeffa. The boss. I like to know what is happening. Sometimes I walk on the mud that goes hard when it is still soft leaving paw prints that go hard. I don't like that stuff on my paws, it tastes nasty too and sticks in my toes. It takes ages for me to lick it off. It smells when its wet so I learn to leave it alone if it is wet.
I love exploring all the new things, especially the new holes, and strange underground places with water in them. The machines dig so deep so fast. There are big trucks coming too, some craning loads of bricks over the walls, some dumping mounds of sand, or gravel. I hide from them, I don't like them they are noisy and scary. They hiss when they stop. Sometimes my forever Human sets me on a wall well way to watch them. I usually tell him off growling at him. But enjoy the safe place where he put me. He would never harm me. I know that.
The joy of a dust bath! My human chuckles at me, he says I am now a white cat with a black face as I find some lovely white sand to roll in!
I like to use the sand for a toilet, the builders are not so keen when they mix the sand and find a smelly lumpy bit!
My Forever human swims in the pool! I wish he would not. I don't like splashes so keep well away.
One night the bully cat is in the garden. A small young grey cat comes to drink from the pool. He is hungry and thirsty. The bully comes at him from behind, and roughs him up. Poor thing! I am not having that, I charge the bully and rough him up, swearing and screaming, my Forever human comes out of the house and the bully runs off scared. My Forever human fusses me I know I did the right thing.
I like how the house and garden is changing, it all feels safer. There are places to sit and be quiet.
I am not sure of the air conditioning. The house can get cold. I no longer sleep on my Forever Human’s bed. It is too cold.I don't like cold air blowing at me.
Cats like sleeping in warm places. I love finding a shady spot in the bushes and sleep outside in the daytime or in another room if it is night time. I have many places to choose from.
Many visitors come, new people all the time, they like my Human, and they get happy and noisy together. When they go I look around to see where they are…Yowling. Then more come.
The builders work relentlessly through the summer. Gates move, walls move, machines come and go. Vicente fusses me. So do the men. I like them all. They are my men. I am La Jeffa, Spanish for the boss. I have to know what is going on. I watch them all the time. Until it is time for my sleep.
Every morning, when the men arrive, my human makes them coffee. He unlocks the gates and drives the cars out of the way. I often ride in the cars. He then has breakfast at his computer. I come to the window to make him open it and let me in. I have a cat flap but it is nice to make my human let me in. Sometimes we do this more than once. It is my game with him.
My forever human has got out a suitcase! I don't like this. Then he is gone. Now I only have the builders for company. At first I am worried about food, but the food still comes. Vicente feeds me. So do some other gentle friends of my human. They smell faintly of cat. They are good people. But I miss my forever human. The cars are still here. Quietly sitting. Cold so they do not run and go places, like they do when they are hot.
One day I am snoozing in Vicente’s van! He jumps in and we go to his house. I am quiet, enjoying the journey. When we get there I miaow and he is shocked, bringing me straight back to my house.
It is not the same as being driven by my Forever Human.
Vicente’s children come round to play, one is very little, one is bigger. They love playing. I have to learn their games. They have to learn mine! All the men are now aware that I like to play hide and pounce, grabbing their ankles and nipping them! Then I gallop off so they can’t catch me!
The children swim in the pool. All are happy making happy noises.
My forever Human is gone. I notice him missing at night when the house is quiet. I am lonely. When the men do not come, they call it Sunday, I am very lonely. Where oh where is my forever human? Has he dumped me?
Suddenly my forever human is back! I race to see him! We fuss. I am so happy. He empties his suitcase and puts them away. I am happy. Everyday we fuss now. I love him so much. I rush to meet him when ever he comes home. I rush to try and get in the car whenever he leaves. I want to come too. He takes me on longer and longer journeys. He thinks I like one car. No I want to be with him. I don't care about the car.
At night we go to some special very fast roads. There are strange lights, noises, and barriers that go up, then we go very fast, and pass the big trucks like they are standing still. I like to sit on the armrest with my human and reach out a paw for reassurance as he drives us. Especially when we go through the tolls with their big red and green lights and barriers that lift up out of our way.
I like to sit on the back shelf too I can see out and see the world rush by.
It is high summer, the builders do quiet jobs like painting as they are not allowed to make noise. The Paint stinks. Then after a few days it stops stinking.
It is hot. Insects are around that sting. I itch.
My forever human does not like the dust that comes with the work. I don't like my food when it is covered in dust.
The machines come back and dig an even bigger deeper hole in the garden. It is very noisy. Big trucks come too to take rock and dirt away. Noise everywhere. This hole is so big I do not go into it. Even the humans use a ladder to down into it. Piles of Earth are everywhere.
The big rains come very heavy. The rich red earth gets hard to dig, as it is soft but heavy. So I use the sand heaps even more for my toilet! The builders are used to this and when they find my smelly pooh they say “oh Silke!”
There are new men now doing different jobs. Plumbers, Electricians, and others. The main crew are still her with Vicente. They are nice men and all of them like me. I like to watch them all. They move dirt around. They make the mud that goes hard, and other muds that go hard. One is white and they cover the walls with it.
There is so much for me to inspect! I must know exactly what is happening on my territory! This is important cat stuff!
The wild bully cat sits on top of the biggest pile of Earth. It is his look out. I don't like him up there. I growl at him.
One day I am up on the roof of the house, and a fierce rain storm comes with a lot of rain and wind. I cower under the eaves behind a small wall. I can hear my forever human call me, he is worried. I am not moving! One side of me is wet. Finally the storm calms down, and I run to my forever human who is calling me. Wind catches me and I have to use my tail to balance, it goes round in circles as I run across the wall. My human is there to fuss me. He tells off gently that I am a silly cat for being out in this weather. I lick my wet fur to make it dry and curl up safe and sound in the house listening to the storm outside.
I am cat. I am loved. I live a beautiful life with my forever human.
