Probably for the past 2 months, I have had a severe condition. It is not the sort of thing you can take to the doctor. The Silver Foxes did not help either, but said: they know the feeling, they had this condition at times as well, in various degrees of severity. Go have a nice cup of Rooibos tea with plenty sugar, they said, it will settle you. One is warned not to turn to search the World Wide Web for self-diagnosis. Instead, YouTube came to my rescue. YouTube algorithms produced a person who calls herself “The Crappy Childhood Fairy”, and her topic was Limerence. Well, I thought. That sounds a bit Irish. You know, like a limerick, which is a type of rhyme or a silly ditty. Curious to know what Limerence is, I did turn to my favourite Aunty Google anyway, and she says that Limerence is defined as a most intense emotion, often involuntary, a state of obsessive adoration and attachment, thoughts and feelings ranging from euphoria to despair.  What a relief that I could finally put a name to this rather unsettling feeling I have been feeling.

I have contracted an acute case of Limerence. So far, I have identified 10 000 possible causes. You see, that is how many bricks have been delivered in the past week. Before then, I had the same intense feeling for around 250 meters of foundation ditches. I can’t tell you how many rocks, but looking at the ever-growing pile, my Limerence is indeed mountain high. By now, you also know that my infatuation with the big yellow digger was all around. I could feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes. There are just no words to describe the thrill of finally seeing our Meraki Mountain House going up. I would like to be a tad more dramatic here and say it is rising from the ashes, but I do try to be honest in my writings. No. It is very slowly crawling out of the ground. Every brick having to be carted up the mountain, by a pair of hands. If buildings had styles, we are building in the ancient Egyptian style. Some poor soul must carry every bit of material up.

At least once a week, someone will say to us: why did you not just buy an existing house and change it? It would be so much easier, and, they say, a lot cheaper. Being a “Foodie” and having worked with food for a very long time, I can only compare comments such as these to food. Why not go and buy a loaf of Blue Ribbon sliced bread, surely it is easier than baking bread? Or jam. Koo makes a very good marmalade. And Checkers bakes amazing quiches. Yes, I know. But there is just so much more enjoyment in smelling fresh bread baking or being the first to try the new jam, even when it is still lukewarm. Not to mention that quiche fresh from the oven, with a salad tossed straight from the garden. The same goes for the house. Somehow seeing the building take shape brick by brick, frame by frame, is just so much more rewarding. It makes all the melt downs, Eskom pains (which by the way have not gone away, hence all materials being carried up, and not driven) and frustrations worth it.

Whilst on the subject about ancient Egyptians, they also worshiped cats. For more than 3 000 years, cats were represented in social and religious practices of ancient Egypt. Deities were depicted with cat-like heads. These represented justice, fertility, and power.  Skeletal remains of cats were found among funerary goods dating back to the 12^th dynasty. They even had their own special cemeteries! You know the saying: Cats descended from gods…. and don’t you forget it.

Our very own King Dom, a direct descendant of Tutankhamun’s favourite black and white cat, is feeling out of sorts. He just knows that something is up. His humans are all over the place. They disappear for long periods of time. When they are home, there are endless discussions around plumbers and electricians. They no longer come home with a surprise pouch of Pampers Soupalicious for him. (His standard treat when his human has been away.) He suspects that they are cheating on him. He can smell DOG on his Dad. It is not a Truffle or an Oreo smell (his 2 dog cousins). Domino has done what he always does when feeling out of sorts. Hiding, in this case, between the pillows on our bed. You may remember, when we first moved down here, he spent 2 weeks hiding under the duvet.

Domino has reason to be suspicious. There is a new dog in Colin’s life. Our builder has a dog. She is of a very mixed breed. There may even be a pinch of donkey in there. There was more than one recipe involved in her DNA ingredients. She absolutely is a Potluck and not a Quiche. Her name is about as dubious as her pedigree: Liefie, (Dearie, for those cousins. Yes. I know. A most unbecoming name) is a site dog. She goes to work with her human every day. I suspect that she is maybe there as a bit of a guard dog, you know: to look after bricks and pipes and maybe scare the occasional baboon or cricket away, and other important duties that site dogs may have. If charming the client appears in her job description, then I can say that she does that very well. She spots Colin from a distance and comes bounding down the hill to greet him. Domino has reason to be suspicious. My hope is that Liefie will grow attached to the area and ask to stay on as a guard dog. We can reach a custody agreement with her current human. We have grown attached to her.

I am not the only one suffering from Limerence. Do you remember Charlotte? The rather rotund female black and white cat that belongs to a neighbour? Her Limerence for Domino’s igloo has flared up. Colin and I woke up to a cat fight the other night. Colin was first out the bed and returned shortly after, saying he caught Charlotte and threw her out. He closed the window so she could not get back in. Next morning, it was my turn to make the coffee, and there Charlotte was curled up in Dommie’s bed, and Domino was rather sadly sitting on the windowsill, plaintively asking to be let in. It was dark, Colin defended himself.

While Domino is working through his attachment issues, he sleeps with his humans (not moving from between the pillows). He has not attended Cat Convention for a few nights. He has not caught any mice or moles. News has reached his ears that Tigger is trespassing on his hard fought for territory. But none of this matter. His humans are up to something, and he is not taking any chances.

Cats are descendants from gods. Do not ever forget that. And they know when humans are up to mischief. You can’t lie to a cat.