George and Lenny – Revisited

Here’s the thing….we have 2 cats that tend to act strangely like the characters from John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.” One is a lumbering brute that plays dumb at every opportunity. He looks at you at food time with those “cow” eyes and blunders into the most obvious of situations with complete abandon. If his food wasn’t stuck under his nose every morning I don’t think he’d ever eat again. The other one is sleek and calculating with an air of confidence that lets everyone around know he is the smart one. He’s timid, hides under beds and things, but knows the time every morning and evening when its meal-call and he leads the way (and the nose of the other one) into the kitchen. They are The Colonel and Ow – can you guess which is which?

So which is to blame for the mystery? The mystery? Well, on our return from our China odyssey we were greeted by the news, and smell!, that our fireplace area (yes, we have one even though we are in Nassau and the last roaring fire here was when the Colonial Hilton burnt down in 1911) had been used as a public urinal for the last 2 weeks. So you can imagine the repulsion we felt, let alone the dismay on Mark’s face - as it was evident that he, and he alone, was going to have to deal with the situation. Dealing with the situation means cleaning up and ensuring no further occurrence, and identifying the culprit (and doling out punishment). To give you a flavor of the cleaning up – this involved Mark on his hands and knees under the fireplace with a bucket of vinegar and water scrubbing the stones followed by a treatment with a solution of Hydrogen Peroxide and washing up liquid topped by a good dousing with baking soda. A true and tried concoction. Of course this whole process needs to be repeated 4 times to ensure the smell is eradicated. If not then he will need to resort to bleach! Having diligently gone through this process you can imagine (or not) Mark’s disappointment (not sure if that’s the right word!) this morning when he was reviewing his good work and there in plain view was a little overnight puddle to greet him. Upon inspection, you’ve guessed it, it was clear the culprit had struck again.

But who…the docile, buffoonish Lenny or the stealth-like, calculating George? Mark is watching their moves very carefully and to ensure his clean fireplace is no longer defiled he has assembled a barricade (see below)…more to follow….