Marmalade, your wee puss, raised by hand since he was only a couple of weeks old, is a horror. He seldom touches the floor, preferring to zoom about the room flying from chairs to tables to couch to sideboard, leaving a frothy broken tide of disaster in his wake and trailing wild dogs and cats behind him. No-one can go to bed until I put him back in the basement. He is the terrible christmas toy. The loud drunk at the party. The loud mouthed teenager. Dennis the Menace. He is a thief and a robber, always on the bench gnawing at anything left out. Leaps onto the table when we are eating. Eats the dogs food while the dogs are still eating it. Pounces from a great height onto anyone and anything. Every time a door opens he is lined up and through it, whether it is inside or outside or the toilet. No wastepaper basket is safe. No cupboard left unscathed. Every basket of laundry has him in it. Every time I throw the blankets across the bed to make it, he is under them. Every load of dishes in the dishwasher has to be checked for the cats tail as he licks the cutlery clean. He is a horror.
Look at him pretending to be just the sweetest kitty. We have raised a monster. And I don’t know about you but if butter does not melt in a mouth there is something very wrong going on. Just adorable our bad kitty is.
Tui, the most inquisitive of the two peahens was eating out my hand today.
Though I was wearing gloves or this would have been a scary exercise. Have you seen how sharp their beaks are?
The temperatures came up above freezing, so the dogs and I went for a walk. No wind. But my face was burning with cold.
The creek that is really a ditch.
What can you do. Dogs love walks.
My afternoons are filled with trolling through all the winter posts, looking for just the right ones to supplement the little Winter on the Farmy book. So I love the walks too.
Sheila was well and happy this morning, she ate her vegetables and we had a chat, she had a massage then she was happy to wave us off and go back to her deep warm bed. Do you remember when we took Charlotte in to be bred, it took almost two weeks for her to ovulate so I am not concerned yet. At least with this farmer I can visit every day and maintain the connection with my big fat pig. I am feeling positive.
Good morning.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
84 responses to “Marmalade poses as Dennis the Menace”
I’ve just got back from a snow shoe walk accompanied by 2 dogs, makes clambering through deep snow that bit more entertaining! A mere minus 6 today
Is it very hard to walk for a long way on snow shoes, bet the dogs just loved it, Boo hurls himself into snow drifts.
No it’s easier as your weight is distributed and you get into a rhythm. The spring er spaniel just boings through the snow – very photogenic!
A springing springer!.. c
I think old Marmalade needs another kitten… just sayin’…
(Laugh!).. Egoli and Marmalade play with much vigor so he has chosen the biggest of the other Marmalade cats to be his big buddy. Thankfully. He will need big strong friends to hook him out of trouble. He still plays with Boo, but not as much, they both get too rough!.. morning wendy.. c
That sweet picture of innocence couldn’t possibly be responsible for all that mayhem! 🙂 Maybe Egoli should initiate him into the world of mousing? Laura
Now that Egoli and Marmalade are friends Egoli has taken to laying about the house.. sigh, the influence went the wrong way.. c
That blooming kitten belies all the charming photographs you have posted in the past! Has the hattie come yet? Unfortunately I didn’t post it on the tracker service. I’ve knitted one for me, but not lined it as it doesn’t get that cold here.
Vx
Hope it comes soon! We have a while of deep cold to go yet. Glad you have one too.. morning Viv.. c
Nice to see the big dog doing so well in the winter chill. I am sure Sheila will look more kindly on the boar once she is in heat. Worth waiting to get nature on your side even if it is a week or two. Her home away from home looks very accommodating, his pigs are really nice.
His pigs are nice, lets hope that their scents will bring Sheila into heat.. c
Good morning, Miss Celi. Good news about Sheila. I think you’re going to be very happy when she’s safely bred and home again… It’s a stormy night here. The low in the Coral Sea is still making up its mind about staying a gale or actually growing up into a big bad cyclone. The house is battened down, supplies are laid in, batteries bought and we’re ready. It’s due on Friday morning.
Yikes hang in there kate!
Hanging! All will be well, I’m sure.
Fingers crossed, take care kate.. c
Is that kitty a great source of laughter or annoyance? I suspect laughter, in which it’s all good. A very happy morning to you, c, and to the farmy.
I had no idea that Marmie was quite this naughty. Your vivid comparative descriptions summed up this bad kitty’s character in ways which we humans can relate to. (Sorry about that sentence ending in a preposition.) Naughty, lovely kitty. We don’t love him any less.
Where would the fun be with a well behaved kitten?
Christine
Oh you have a kitten like mine! JJ is a proving to be a handful. No fear of anything and keeps chasing the big cats every where. I keep telling Kia to just cuff him one and put him in his place, but she just hisses an backs away.
So it has caught me – the flu that is. After more years than I can count without succumbing, this year I have it in spades! I feel like a blimp that has sprung leaks everywhere. Wonderful timing too – have contractor putting in new ceiling in guest bedroom, plus sanding wooden floor (that someone painted black!!!) and soon plumber re-doing all the pipe work in the kitchen! So much to do and all I want is to curl up in a ball and tell the world to go away……
Oh no! maybe it has something to do with all the dust and spores released with renovations.. hope you feel better soon.. c
Hi you don’t know me, but I do know the flu! Wine t through years of regular suffering. Antihistamines, antibiotics, anti everything but flu! What finally worked -‘that is, I worked it out for myself! – is gallons of liquid to flush away the bugs. No, seriously. Hot lemonade with honey – no sugar -, 1/4 tsp o salt too. Drink, drink,drink. Morning noon and night. And if you can. Keep it up for a good long whole after this bout subsides, you will have enough vitamin c to protect you. Yes, it takes a ges and perseverance but at least you don’t feel like a Limp rag! Aged of course soup with lots of pepper and nourishment. I am a vegetarian so I stick to veggies! Do you have turmeric? Boil with a glass of milk. Also, while boiling, a pinch of salt and pepper or ginger. Will leave you feeling very soothed and great to give you a good night’s sleep, It’s a classic Indian therapy. Turmeric is an antiseptic. It cures those sores inside as much as an external application stops bleeding instantly or helps heals wounds quickly. It’s a sort of “first aid remedy” in our kitchens always,
Get well soon.
Thank you for the information! Actually I am feeling tons better and like you I relied on natural stuff to aid me. All that you have written I did, and I have one more to add. I was suffering really bad with my chest (tight) and a nasty cough, so did some research. Came up with THYME! One ounce steeped in 2 cups of hot water for 15 minutes. Strain and add heaping spoon of honey and drink. Do once a day, no longer than three weeks (not sure why). Well I have only done it for three days and my cough has gone and my chest is back to normal – I can breathe again!
Thank you again for taking the time to write to me.
Hugs, Lyn
You are welcome. And thank you for the thyme tip.
Marmelade assures me that you are making it all up 🙂
I have to say that I like a pet with a bit of character (we owned a cockatiel who used to take on the dog!) but that might be a tad too much character even for me.
I can see how cold it is at the farm, but gosh, it’s so beautiful. And how lovely to hear that Sheila is happy again. I guess it’s just a waiting game, as when they are “in season” that light switch will go off in her brain and then the boar will be looking like Colin Firth in a wet shirt…
we all live in hope for the colin firth light bulb!
You will never sway my love of Marmalade. He is adorable and I can never believe that he is as you painted him. Well……maybe I can but I choose to ignore it and still love him. Glad you were able to get the doggies out for a walk —we are supposed to hit the double digits today. Heat wave.
Hahahaha!! I just spit my coffee right over the table when I read your first sentence….LOL! But how can it be? Naw….just look at that sweet serene face! Marmalade could never be a horror! Aren’t cats wonderful creatures? To be so free and have such great fun and folly everyday….bet you can’t wait until he reaches the “sleep all day in a spot of sun on the floor” phase….LOL!!
Have a great day, Celi 🙂
When I adopted my Birdy cat as a kitten, it was the first time I’d had a baby animal in the house in a long while — Beany was nine months old when I adopted her. I couldn’t believe what a naughty thing she was. And she didn’t come programmed knowing what the word ‘no’ meant! Thank goodness the other pets are willing to lend a hand in raising / wearing out these mischievous little ones!
ROFL – Marmalade is taking after Boo!
It’s good to hear that Sheila is happy 😉