Last night was pretty intense and the timing wasn't great...
After an exhausting day of doing too much ( which wasn’t a lot ), the day after having to deal with a lot of turbulence and the decision to basically move out of our rental house and back into our un(finished)house on our land, @clareartista and I could really use a solid night's sleep.
After a couple of hours of screen staring, to distract our brains ( fun but not the best thing to do in bed ), we struggled to sleep in.
And then, after having slept for a wee while, the cat(s) started meowing at the door. I guess it was around midnight ( we switch our phones off when we sleep ). We managed to ignore her, mostly, but the meowing went on for quite a while.
She probably was hungry but I felt I had fed her enough, early evening and didn't want to give in to critters that ask for food whenever they feel like it.
And thus the meowing continued and later came back in full force, including rattling the door in the early morning hours ( and even a sound that sounded like someone bouncing a basketball near our house ).
Aside from that, I had a headache most of the night and Clare and I kept tossing and turning. It didn't help much that I had drunk so much tea that I had to pee so much that I couldn't ignore that nor fall back asleep.
FYI: we have to go outside in the cold, to pee on our land. And I didn't want to give the cats ( that were right outside the door ) the idea that I was going to feed them
So, around 6 or maybe 5am ( an estimate, as my phone was switched off ), I went out to finally feed our cat. This, in turn, attracted the neighbor's under-fed cat ( that is supposed to guard chickens and or/eat mice and the like ).
As we don't want to end up becoming a cat hotel, attracting all the cats in the neighborhood, I decided to keep the neigbor's cat away from our cat's food, which was easier said than done. Being tired, cold and trying to block the cat door ( that is an opening in a door ) that leads to the cantina where our cat sleeps and eats.
The thing is, if our cat doesn't eat enough, due to other cats preying on her food all the time, we have an ever meowing cat around us.
Comunque/anyhow, throughout the day, I kept hearing meowing cats and tried to chase away two other cats that seem to think we have food for them whenever we walk past.
It started to get pretty annoying.
When you feel annoyed by someone or something, though, is it really the other person or thing or is it just an overly wired nervous system?
The trick is to feel into the annoyance, realize where it’s coming from and then try to focus on things that actually make you feel good.
Like, for instance, the fried eggs with melted cheese on toast with olive oil and rosemary. A treat that the cats here would steal from my plate if they had the chance. Or why not focus on the defrosting chicken that will later be turned into amazing chicken soup. This chicken too would be devoured, half frozen or not, by these furry felines, if they were actually in the same room.
I actually understand, on a day like this, why some people have extremely overweight pets ( or children ). They can’t set boundaries/ say no to an animal or human being who keeps asking for food. It’s not easy, I know. Meanwhile though, the cat, dog, kid, etc. becomes addicted to receiving food through manipulative tactics, whenever they ‘ask’ for it.
In the case of cats, it sure doesn’t help that they only use one single word: ‘meow!’
There is no room for conversation. If there would be bit more variety in the meowing, it might actually be pleasant to listen to but no. it all sounds like meowing to me and they can go on for hours without getting hoarse.
So, when I was working on this post, our cat Fridha got so 'hungry', that she climbed up a tree, at the other side of the house and started meowing outside the kitchen window, hoping to be let in.
I finally gave in.
But not after having gotten her food ready in the kitchen ( so other cats won't eat it ), and putting the semi-defrosed chicken into a pan that is now starting to smell like chicken soup.
Zuppa di pollo with loads of veggies.
For humans. Not for cats.
Let me end this with a photo of our land, this morning.
I can't wait to have some more sunshine in the following days, especially now we're out of our rental house and back in a house without a stove/heating, aside from the oven in our kitchen.
Sending love from Molise, Italia!
