Mary, queen of cats

Mary does not like a collar. Somehow the thing really seems to irritate her, and with those strong back legs and vicious claws, she scratches herself so violently I am scared she might rattle her brain a little too much and get brain damage (no jokes). So during the day when she is locked up, we have decided to take the collar off. This gives us the opportunity to give her a decent stratch around the neck area – something that is bound to turn her into purring putty in our hands!

Hitting the spot just right!

Firstly – thank you to all of you who have left comments and who regularly read Mary’s blog! Keep it coming!

Well, winter has finally set in. About time too! Summer in Africa is not always bearable and the hot weather just seems never ending. Mary prefers summer over winter – this I know because as we all know by now, she loves the outside. Winter inevitably means rain and Mary does not like to get wet.

This weekend was pretty cold(ish) and it rained buckets! It would burst out raining, and then it would stop…. And then it would POUR down and then it would stop…. And as suddenly as it stopped, as suddenly it would start again. Poor Mary got caught quite a few times and came in wet and unhappy. It is also not great if in the middle of the night you get woken up by wet cat. She eventually gave up and decided it was more comfortable snuggling up inside with her humans, where it was warm and dry. Sunday afternoon I took a nap with Mary asleep next to me, in my arms. When I woke up, her body was stretched out against mine, her paw was on my face and I opened my eyes and looked straight in a pair of yellow sleepy eyes. I relish private little moments like that. By the time we woke up, the sun has broken through the clouds and it was shining directly on to her stand. She left me to make herself comfortable in the Sunday afternoon winter sun.

Enjoying the winter sun on a Sunday afternoon

Mary’s favourite things in the world would be (in no particular order): outside, biscuits, grooming and sleeping. In typical Mary style, she does everything dramatically and spectacularly!

Here is a collection of photos of Her Royal Highness enjoying her sleep (at times, taking over the bed, leaving either one of us with no space). Not much excitement, but for those of you who own cats – you will know what it means for a cat to be so relaxed in human company. For those of you who don’t quite understand the fascination: cats are vulnerable when they sleep, so when they are completely and utterly relaxed (as Mary clearly is in these photos), it shows how much they trust you. I would say we are pretty damn good house mates/parents to Mary!