When orange cats were small kittens, they lived to climb up this tree very much. But my gardener often scolded at them for stepping and sitting on the orchids. I told her I didn’t mind my cats sitting on orchids as they would continue to grow and thrive. These were very hardy orchids trained by me to be tough and neglected. I did give my orchids warnings about the conditions in my garden. They had to be tough and strong to thrive here. We had no room for fragile orchids. They seemed to accept the conditions and thrived despite being sat on many times by my cats.
I told Kwan to take her time and stay as long as she wanted on the orchids. I told her the gardener was away so she could enjoy herself. I asked Kwan to stay on the tree as I needed to get my camera. She was uncertain whether to rush down the tree as she was caught by me. I reckoned she might have climbed this trees quite often when there’s no one around the garden. I was so pleased that she was very flexible and strong despite her being too heavy for her age.
I did manage to take some photos of Kwan on the tree. She was quite smart as she found that she couldn’t sit on the orchids; some dried branches were lodging on top of the orchid. She knew that she has to turn around to get down the tree on the other side as there was no orchid on that side. It’s funny seeing how Kwan tried to maneuver with her fat round body in such a small gap between two big branches. She had to lift her legs over those broken branches. I ought to remove dead branches in the garden; the windy storm had strewn lots of broken branches everywhere.
Kwan was quite relaxed and not in a hurry to rush down the tree as I didn’t scold her. So, she wasn’t showing any guilty feeling in her eyes. I was glad that Kwan would feel easy about climbing trees in the garden. So far I haven’t caught Joan climbing up high in the tree; I found him climb up a lower branch of a mango tree once. He was probably to heavy to climb straight up a tree. Joan reminded me of a polite and reserved English gentleman who liked to move around slowly and quietly. Joan’s temperament was opposite that of Kwan: she’s more jumpy and emotional without much care for behaving like a lady cat with poise and elegance. She was more concerned with having an good time and lots of fun. I just hoped that these two cats would never change their characters.
Kwan taking a rest after climbing the tree.
Joan seemed to appreciate my picking him up and took him for a walk in the banana groves. He would find a damp spot near the vegetables patch and sat there for a long time. I discovered that these cats loved to sit on wet or damp earth; sometimes they made their way into vegetable beds to have a nap. That really annoyed my gardener who complained that orange cats had been digging up her vegetables. Sometimes I found them making a bed on damp mud. But there fur and paws didn’t seem to be muddy which was very strange to me.
Joan just kept his cool and good manner in all situations!
I really learned a lot about my cats every time I took them out for a walk. It’s just like watching children growing up and exploring the world around them. Although we used to have five cats and three dogs at home when we were kids; I never had this kind of understanding or relationship with my pets. I was very fond of my cats and dogs but we seemed to have some distance in our ways of lives. Those cats had their own space and didn’t interact with us so much. My orange cats have become my friends and they would sleep on my reading table whenever I was working in the living room. They kept me company by sleeping the whole day! I have been very lucky to have such dedicated friends and loyal bodyguards in my house. I hoped I could look after them and keep them happy & healthy for many years.
Kwan was very tempted to get onto the vegetable patch! The earth was nice and cool as the gardener just watered the vegetables.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
