August 16, 2021
Today the end of roll carpet arrived. We paid the delivery guy in cash. They had said, in the store, that it would be no problem to have him carry it upstairs. Well, write that off to fairly tales! “No way”, is what he said when I asked. No hesitation and an almost angry look. Also no hesitation accepting the cash which was 5 dollars over. He never even offered to give back change.
I am lucky to be married to a strong buck, he carried it up. But it made me muse about times gone by, when service was still something that had meaning. Now it seems to have gone. Makes me sad. What if I was an old biddy, without male acquaintances and no money to have it carried up? Don’t misunderstand me: I am not talking about actually laying the carpet. Just bringing it into the empty room that was ready for it… This was not a cheap piece of carpet either, but having it laid would have added so much to the price that it would just negate the end-of-roll discount. I tried to do it myself, but I don’t have the tools to stop it from being wavy, so we will work with what we have.
In case you forgot: we have ordered this carpet as a protective layer on top of the carpet that belongs to the house. All kittens know to use the litter box, but there might be food spills that can cause stains. Better on our own carpet than that of the house. It is strong stuff, with a plastic backing that they say is leak proof. Let’s hope that is true.
Anyway… let’s stop grumbling here about the delivery guy. It won’t make a change for our current situation anyhow. I am just really tired today and have a bit of a short fuse. I am not sure I am ready to do the cat-move tomorrow. We might push it to Thursday, when Wim has the whole day available to help. Which means I can do this in the mild and gentle manner I want to do this, instead of stressing the procedure just because he only has time until 2pm. We might get it done, we might not. It does not matter to take a few extra days: the cat family seems pretty happy these days, despite how crowded their home is.
New sounds
Yesterday, Wim decided to mow the lawn and get rid of some weeds in the backyard. With the windows open, Mitsy and the kittens were very aware of all this activity. We must have mowed the lawn before, but of course, they were a lot smaller then. It’s been more than a couple of weeks now. Mitsy immediately noticed Wim in the window. She was just lying stretched out with some of the kittens drinking, she did not look alarmed, but she certainly was aware of the action and the noise. When Wim switched on the lawnmower some of the kittens fled to the litter box and clumped up in it, eyes wide-open and clearly a bit afraid. We have been very careful ever since they were born not to produce any really loud noises, so all of this was new to them. I was playing with the kittens for distraction and gave some of the kittens food. Mom of course wanted to be part of that fun as well. She had a little snack right in front of me. What progress we have made! And ending all positive interactions with a treat is becoming a tradition as well. Or should I say: expectation?
The howling of the waterworks
One of the last things Wim did was spray some water on the plants and refresh the bird bath. I never knew that, when we use the outside hose, the mechanism inside the basement produces an eery noise. First I thought that it was a child’s voice, then I thought maybe Wim was crying out. Mitsy thought is was really strange as well, as you can see in her face. Then I realised that it was the water pressure causing the sound. A funny moment!
The kittens play a lot, 3 to 4 times a day and then promptly sleep for hours. So does Mitsy. There seems to be a new routine. So there is no direct urgency to make the room change right now, other than for our own sensibilities.

Evening post script:
The kittens were sleeping together in the Ensuite when Wim and I went downstairs to do the last round of the day. We cleaned the litter box, gave Mitsy some new wet food and Wim sat at the other end to see if anyone was up for play. But no dice. They were all pretty tired. When Pumba, who was right in front of me, woke up, I offered him food and out came his little pink tongue and he devoured a teaspoon of kitten food. Wim said: “That’s good, that puts less of a strain on Mitsy”, after which Pumba got up and went for dessert to his mother…