Things have not been so good for Domino lately.

Trauma is always best broken down into pieces. One step at a time. Let’s start by talking about his abandonment. Domino was abandoned, for exactly 3 days. He was left at Honingklip Cattery. Their advertisement promises an exclusive stay for the discerning cat, and they were not lying. Each area is furnished like home, with a sofa, a scatter cushion, and a blanket. There are also rugs (to wrestle with), tree stumps (to climb up) and a water fountain (to chase fish in. Domino likes playing in water.) All in all: pure luxury. That is from a human perspective. From a cat perspective, that is abandonment and humans deserve to be ignored for their poor treatment of a cat for at least a week after the event, and the best way of doing that, is to ignore all and everything your humans say. Even when they are calling you to safety, because they spotted Fat Dog. Domino did not spot Fat Dog. He was too busy giving his humans dirty looks. By the time Domino spotted Fat Dog, it was too late. For both of them.

Fat Dog used to be a farm dog. He is now a retired dog. He looks like a bit of a Collie crossed with an  Merino sheep that bunked shaving day. Old age has not helped his girth, and girth has not been kind to his hips and legs. Fat Dog’s Dad used to be a farmer, until old age and girth also caught up with him. Fat Dog and his Dad were out for a shuffle one afternoon and happened to walk in the general direction of where Domino was sitting, ignoring his humans. Had he listened to his humans, he would have heard them calling him to safety before Fat Dog turned the corner. But he did not, and next thing: there it was. Domino and Fat Dog came face to face.

Fat Dog tried his best to give chase to Domino. He managed to work himself up to a rather fast waddle. The problem is that Fat Dog was attached to his owner with a leash, which then resulted in Owner also having to speed up to a fast waddle. Domino momentarily forgot that he was a 3-legged cat and used his absent hind leg to give him extra momentum as he pounced. Fat dog landed flat on his face. Domino landed on top of Fat Dog, and Fat Dog’s owner landed on top of all. It did not end well. Not for any one of us. Colin and I had quite a bit of apologizing to do.

So then, how did all this start? It started when Domino’s humans decided to go away for a short mid-week road trip. However, before we get to our road trip, between Colin and I, we have been away from home quite a bit lately.

Colin spent time back in Gauteng, our old hunting ground, doing some work. To get to the airport, one can take one of 2 routes. Both are winding roads up and over mountains, with severe drops down to the coast. (No road barriers. I wonder why? Plenty of warning signs alerting one to rockfalls, though.) Not for the feint hearted. After years of driving the N1 highway (which is long, wide, and straight), I was not quite ready to drive the mountain passes yet. Faced with my own abandonment with Colin away (remember, we are a one car family now), I had no other way out than dropping Colin at the airport and driving back myself. I only had to do it once, to gain confidence. Since then, I have done it again, and I have lived to tell the story. Of course, I had to stop at the Houwhoek Farmstall, to catch my breath! (And buy yet another of their signature pies.) The next trip was to collect Colin from the airport. This I combined with a drive into parts of Cape Town I have only heard of previously. Street names from the traffic- and news reports. I have never had a good sense of direction and failed map reading at school, but somehow, I always manage to find where I need to be. Even if it involves taking a rather scenic route. I get there in the end. And at this specific end, there was a huge slice of freshly made carrot cake waiting for me.

We had promised my Mom and Pat a few days away, and so we set off for a short hop to Aniston, and Cape L’Agulhas. We stayed in a lovely old cottage in Bredasdorp, which is central point between both Aniston and L’Agulhas. I have not traveled to Greece yet, but somebody who has said: Oh! I love Aniston! It reminds me of Greece. I did not find any Greeks there, but I can tell you that it is lovely. The sea water is a few degrees warmer, as this is one of the final spots that are on the Indian ocean, before the two oceans, Indian and Atlantic, meet at Cape L’Agulhas. At Aniston (the town is named after a ship that went down on the coast) we managed time on the beach. L’Agulhas however was cold, wet, and windy. Bredasdorp was an absolute treat. Colin and I love visiting and exploring dorpies. Bredasdorp has a shipwreck museum. Apparently, there are more than 3 000 sunken ships around Cape Point – known as the Cape of Storms. We spent a morning mooching through this very interesting museum.

Apart from visiting dorpies, we have also acquired a few more local habits, such as eating far too many lickey cones, and one to many stops at Houwhoek Farm Stall for those irresistible pies. Not to mention the too many cappuccinos. Also, having given up on the gauntlet, I seem to say yes to slices of milk tart more often than I should. This has resulted in a bit of a (weighty) problem for both of us. Unless we want to end up looking like Fat Dog and his Dad, we are going to have to eat a little less and walk a bit more. Domino is not doing too badly himself on all the Botrivier mice. Soon people may say: here comes Fat Cat and his 2 Roly Polies! We simply can’t have that.

And so, after a few days of abandonment, Domino is back in his favourite spot under our bed. Hopefully his (fat) humans will be back to walking Beaumont estate every evening. The little pears and apples are all grown up now and being harvested.  Time I reported on that for a change! So brace yourself, the next Cape Crawl will be all about where we walked. I will report more on the beach walks, and less on the lickey cones. I promise. One last final one today, and then no more.

……I promise.

(I wish I was a sheep. Fat sheep are always admired and fetch a better price at auction.)