Feline Friends

We have a number of feline friends who seem to prefer spending time in our garden rather than their own.
Okay, we are quite fond of cats, but do not go out of way to encourage our neighbours’ pets to visit.  Time was when we had a cat of our own, along with a dog, and the pair got along famously. But when they passed on we made a conscious decision not to replace them.
I am not totally convinced we made the wise decision, but at least we are not restricted in what we do by having top think about the care of pets. Nevertheless, some years on, I have to admit that I miss them.
Most days though we will receive a visit at some point, and while we do not dream of feeding them, there is one who I often see making its way home with a mouse clenched in its mouth. At other times we have seen them playing with mice in the garden, before eventually the mouse inevitably succumbs. Today, our friend was keeping watch close to the hedge, and there was clearly something moving by the manner in which the cat crouched for much of the time, as if prepared to pounce.
Apart from this one, there is another tabby — the one which often takes its catch home, and then there are a couple of pure ginger cats and another which is unusually totally white, The older of the two ginger cats I discovered on a hot summers day stretched out on the carpet in one of our bedrooms, basking in the sunshine through the window. It had simply made its way in from the garden through the open French doors and found its way upstairs.

We are a lot more vigilant now, about them wandering into the house, but they consider the garden is still fair game.