A year and a half ago, a neighbour’s cat decided to visit Sam on a regular basis whilst he was working in the Orchard, staying for hours at a time.

When Sam would move to another block, Lugs would jump up on his knee or beside him determined he wasn’t getting away that quickly!

 

The bond between cat and man grew daily with Lugs often walking through the backyard at night, peeking in the ranch slider to check that Sam got home safely.

 

She enjoyed having her home down at Molly’s and her daytime adventures with Sam.

The very best of both worlds.

 

But two weeks ago everything changed as Lugs turned up whilst we were entertaining friends on the deck and has stayed ever since.

The first we knew of our new resident was the morning after our visitors’ left we found her asleep in my chair on the deck when the drapes were opened.

Eventually she will tire of us and return to her rightful home but in the mean time we will care for until that day arrives.

 

During the day she goes to work with Sam or sleeps on his bed, depending on what mood she’s in.

She also watches TV in the sunroom from the comfort of the couch.

All visitors to our home assume we have a new cat.

We don’t.

 

Her attempts to jump in Sam’s bedroom window at night have failed miserably as it’s just a fraction to high for her to get a good grip into something solid.

The other morning at 2am, after listening to the constant howling by Lugs, Sam reached over to help her in the window.  Lugs gave up halfway through the attempt and sulked for the rest of the night on the front deck on her blanket.

A very comical cat with definite characteristics of Garfield.

 

Last week the daily temperatures were well into the thirties.

Lugs came and went during those days without incident or so we thought!

On day three of the heat wave, we awoke to a dreadful smell of something none of us could identify.

After much discussion, we came to the conclusion that a rat or mouse had died in the wall cavity as we still had bait lying around from last winter.

 

After opening the doors and windows the smell dissipated slightly so we continued on with our morning until all of a sudden at around 7am Ruby and I couldn’t stand it any longer.

I then casually asked her, “Did you check behind the couch in the sunroom?”

 

Yes folks there it was, a large, decaying, blown, maggoty rabbit.

Lugs had generously given us a us a share of her bounty!!!!

 

This was a job for the man of the house so a phone call was made to Sam who by now was well into thinning apples on the far side of the Orchard.

As he sensed the urgency in my voice he told me I could expect to see him within two minutes!  Sooner would be fine I replied.

Disinfectant, plastic bags and deodorizer were waiting for him when he stepped into the house.

 

Lugs quietly watched from the chair, on the deck, wondering what the kerfuffle was all about!