Babs Young has been very busy with the Havana 2015 pop-up show over at the Old Art Building in Leland. (If you live in Leelanau County I recommend you go see it.) I offered to help, and she asked if I would feed and pet Selene and Hecate when she was over in Leland. I would.
I was scheduled to give them breakfast this morning. I overslept. I flung a jacket over my nightgown, cajoled the unwalked, unfed dogs into the car and dashed across US31.
You. Are. Late.
I explained that the Cowboy ate my alarm clock but Hecate and Selene weren’t having any. They did allow me to feed them and pet them. Mission accomplished, I went into the kitchen in search of an excellent treat Babs had told me was wrapped and left for me on the counter. Hmm. The only wrapped object I saw was this.
A Treat But Not An Excellent Treat
That seemed more like something Babs had bought to support her complicated technical pursuits. I wrapped it back up. A suspicion was forming in my sleepy brain. I walked all around the counter, inspecting the floor as I went. Aha.
A Clue
Could that be . . . I flipped over the blue note.
Direct Evidence
Selene! Hecate! On the evidence, they were guilty on all counts. On the other hand, they had been reduced to desperation by my fecklessness. Unless of course they got into the excellent treat the moment Babs closed the door behind her. We have possible extenuating circumstances. I decided to forgive them if they would forgive me. They are considering my proposal.
Meanwhile, my investigation had led me past a fine substitute treat.
Excellent Substitute Treat
Fortified with a bite of chocolate I headed back to the car. Now all I had to do was to convince Miss Sadie and the Cowboy that a walk along the north shore of Torch Lake in a cold wind was a good substitute for a brisk trot through the sheltered woods behind the Writing Studio and Bait Shop.
Well, OK – but this is not what we had in mind.
All in all I have been a great disappointment today, and it’s not even lunchtime. I am resolved to do better.
Torch Lake Views 
P.j. grath
April 22, 2016
Oh, those hungry kitties! Thanks for the reminder about the show in Leland, too. I suspect the opening was yesterday and I missed it?
Gerry
April 22, 2016
It was and that’s my fault because I should have done what I didn’t do and this is the way my whole WEEK has been going. However, the show is still up and still really worth going to see.
uphilldowndale
April 22, 2016
As the door closed…
Gerry
April 22, 2016
Pounce!
Tangly Cottage
April 22, 2016
Those naughty kitties!
Gerry
April 22, 2016
They’ve lost their mitties! No, wait, that was me . . .
tootlepedal
April 22, 2016
A good looking cable. I am surprised that you didn’t take it.
Gerry
April 22, 2016
Because it wasn’t meant for me to take. (OK, strictly speaking, the chocolate wasn’t either, but I knew Babs wouldn’t mind-especially after the kitties scarfed the treat that WAS meant for me).
Craig Smith
April 22, 2016
This reminds me of my kittysitting days with the notorious Oscar and Marcel–a humbling experience. They always looked astonished and appalled when I ate what they clearly assumed to be their own dinner.
Gerry
April 22, 2016
You thought that fish pate was yours?
Karma
April 22, 2016
What was your excellent treat before attacked by hungry kitties?
Gerry
April 22, 2016
A flaky buttery apricot pastry.
Martha J
April 22, 2016
Well, it was hard to tell what the original treat for you was after the kitties got to it, but I know the bark thins well, and that is not a shabby substitute. It is pretty hard to stop at just a bite or two – kind of how the kitties must have felt when they tried the first treat.
Gerry
April 22, 2016
The chocolate bark thin was delicious. It occurs to me that it looks as if I tore open the bag and ate the whole thing, but that is not true. The bag was open and I had just one piece. A big piece – but just one. Delicious.
Martha J
April 22, 2016
Well, you are much more disciplined than I would have been. I would have eaten the whole thing and blamed the kitties!
Gerry
April 22, 2016
Babs would definitely believe the kitties over me. Quite rightly, too.
sybil
April 22, 2016
Love the top photo of the two cats. Hoped the dogs liked their chilly coastline walk
Gerry
April 22, 2016
Thank you. Selene and Hecate are quite photogenic, even when they are annoyed. Miss Sadie and the Cowboy didn’t think much of their first walk, but they enjoyed a second one in the sunny afternoon. Timing is everything.
shoreacres
April 22, 2016
Hmmm… I’ve not heard of those bark thin thingies. I’m going to try to forget I ever heard about them. The two kitties are beautiful. They seem similar enough to one another in appearance that I’m moved to ask if they’re a particular breed. I’m not always fond of purebred cats — especially the ones who come with really long hair — but this pair is something different.
Did Babs and her friends go to Cuba with a group? A special program? How did they get there? Is it easier to go now than I realized? You may have said, but I don’t remember.
Gerry
April 22, 2016
Chocolate bark is irresistible.
The kitties are what Babs calls diluted Calicoes. The are very soft.
Babs and her friends were their own group. It is easier to go to Cuba now, but still not like going other places. (Unless you are from Canada, or most European countries, or most Latin American countries, in which case it is exactly like going other places.)
Martha
April 22, 2016
Dilute torties! And torties are notoriously fiendish. You are lucky to have escaped unharmed. What an exciting way to start the day and all done without the horrors of snow………Good work, I say.
Gerry
April 22, 2016
Or Calicoes – Babs says Calicoes. I would not know. Fortunately Hecate and Selene are not fiendish at all, possibly because they know I will EVENTUALLY feed them and pet them and play a little chase-and-bat with their toys.
WOL
April 22, 2016
Those don’t look like kittens to me. The ears are the give-away. They’ve grown into them. They’re big girls now. Sisters, surely, and litter mates, I’m guessing.
There is a Rachel Ray pet food commercial where various well-trained dogs assemble the ingredients, and for a brilliant finish, a cat pushes a bowl of something off the counter. This never fails to crack me up, as it is so “cat.” If there is something that can be pushed off a counter, a cat will do it. I suspect they pushed it off, discovered it was edible, and history happened. Score it as a target of opportunity, and cats are the ultimate opportunists. I got an insurance come=on in the mail one time that had a penny inside — inducement to get you to open the envelope, of course. I took the penny out and laid it on the counter. It ended up in one of the kitties’ water dish, hockey dribbled to the edge and then putted off the counter for a hole in one.
Gerry
April 22, 2016
I believe you are exactly right. She shoots! She scores! And Selene skates off, paws raised in triumph. She and Hecate are sisters, and both fully grown for quite awhile now. “Kitties” is a term of affection. (My sister Mary always calls my dogs “the pups.” They adore my sister Mary. Maybe I should call them “the pups.”)
Kathy
April 24, 2016
This is delightful. On all counts! The writing is superb and the tale kept me on the edge of this seat. I think the Universe arranged this sleeping-in and cat-incidence just so you’d have an exciting blog to share!
Gerry
April 24, 2016
Thank you Kathy. I just think Mama Nature has a wicked sense of humor.
isathreadsoflife
July 2, 2016
Beautiful picture of two determined looking cats. Had the same incident happened here at home, I would not have for a second suspected the cats but…a Beagle who is always ready – and quick – to taste just anything, even if it brings him to the vet’ and makes him sick for a while. I enjoyed your blog, pictures and words. Thanks Gerry.
Gerry
July 2, 2016
Thank you , Isa. I’m sure the cats enjoyed the pastry, and they seemed none the worse for it. It might have been difficult for a beagle or a spaniel or a terrier to reach the counter but all three of them together could no doubt have found a way.