The cool of the evening

I'm thankful for many things in this new house. But one thing that stands out above all the rest is the way that the cats adjusted so quickly and easily. You would think they had always lived here. They've sorted out their own routines, they're confident moving around the neighbourhood, they don't seem bothered by the dogs in the street, and they haven't shown the slightest indication to return to the old house.

Their essential characters remain the same, of course. Cleo still looks around nervously at any unexpected noise, and loves to sleep in quiet corners, particularly cardboard boxes. Sophia is still very talkative and likes to ensure we do things at the same times each day. Jemima still likes to be out at night, and sleep all morning, and is very cuddly to me, while mostly ignoring anyone else. Tessie still greets everyone who comes into the house and likes to sit on as many laps as possible.

But a new habit is that of sitting outside on the steps in the evening around 8pm, as the temperatures cool slightly. This is the time when many Cypriots have their evening meal, so perhaps there are tempting scents on the breeze. But the cats simply sit and watch the world go by. Usually it's just one or two of them, but yesterday I caught three of them all at the same time:


Sophia is at the top, her twin Jemima is just below, and Tessie is the one at the front of the picture.

Cleo was fast asleep in a cardboard box at the time. Which is preferable to her choice of steps: she prefers to be camouflaged wherever possible, and likes to sleep on one of the black metal spiral steps at the other side of the house. Which is fine, until someone is going up or down and she lies there, refusing to move...