The (Greek) Cat Who Came For Christmas

Greece is known for its cats.  They roam the streets. They adorn tourist calendars. They pull at the heart-strings of cat lovers like us.  All that said, way back several years ago when purchasing a vacation home here was in the pondering stages, The Scout made one thing clear:

You cannot have a cat!

He was correct, of course, as our time here would be too fleeting to properly care for such an addition to the family. And in Greece many cats are feral; they want (and need) food – but they dash away from humans when approached. No problem, I thought.

'The Cat' on Our Deck

 

Fast forward: 2014. Pondering ended, purchase made. We were prepared for every possible ‘unexpected’ except “The Cat” that seemed to be as much a part of this house sale as the car and furnishings that came with it.

The Guy who said no cat and 'The Cat'

Sometime within hours of our taking possession of the house. “The Cat” appeared at our door ready to take possession of us.

'The Cat' supervises yard work from the olive tree

We ignored its meow’s for several days and paid no attention to the fact that it followed us much like a dog as we began the task of clearing the jungle (once a lovely garden) that surrounds the house.

'The Cat' in my lap

When I squatting to pull weeds the cat would jump in the lap, contentedly purring while I ignored it (not an easy thing to do, for a cat lover, by the way).

“The Cat” came and went. With regularity it would appear on the deck outside our two windowed doors or be sitting on a window ledge peering inside. It obviously has been well taken care of and has lived in a house.

Our friends, Don and Sue, (you met them in the last post) came to visit and Sue scooped up “The Cat” holding and adoring it (she also has several little bundles of fur at her house at the opposite end of the valley).  We began to weaken.

'The Cat' supervises the painting project

The first round of painting took place this week requiring doors to be open. . .a virtual welcome mat for “The Cat” who took it upon herself to be the project supervisor.  When the painters took a break, the cat joined them – the call of their laps too great to ignore. Furniture was delivered Wednesday – the cat insisted on a head rub from the delivery men.

I confess. I bought a bag of cat food two days ago and a saucer of it and another of milk was most appreciated by “The Cat” who now hangs out here most of the day, content in knowing ‘The Humans’ are nearby. We’ve joined our fellow neighbors (whom you will meet in a future post) in feeding “The Cat”.

Epilogue (of sorts):

The painting supervisor takes a 'cat nap' on The Scout's lap

We learned from the neighbors that the cat is owned by a fellow who lives down below us. He has gone away for a time (long or short, we don’t know) and has left the cat apparently to fend for itself (and don’t get me going on that!). So our neighbors have been caring for “The Cat”.  I’ve told them I will leave food for the little vagabond when we leave and hopefully it will still be in the neighborhood when we return.

So for those of you who met the cat on Facebook and made suggestions: thank you, but we are not naming the cat nor do we need a carrying case. Hopefully its owner will return soon and The Cat Who Came For Christmas will return home for a Happy New Year!

Again, thanks for the time you’ve spent with us as we embark on our Grecian adventure, in the Stone House on the Hill.  I will tell you next about Trimming the Tree on Christmas and then for those who want to see the garden, we will take a Jungle Tour of My Secret Garden.  Hope you are having a great holiday season.  As soon as we get back to internet land, I will visit my fellow bloggers to see what you’ve been up to of late.  We are currently limited to cafes and tavernas for internet time which makes for quick check emails, Facebook and blogs.