Sunday 29 January 2017

Fetching furry frolics and a flurry of feisty felonies: A Truffle (Ganache Salome) Bonkers Winter Special

Tara, the radiator bed is still a hit!
Since my last post about cracks and leaks, the former are still appearing, albeit at a slower rate, and I think the leaks are broadly sorted, though I still can't bring myself to stage the acid test of a 'messy shower'. And certainly not the 'acid acid test', which would be asking for trouble. But I seem to have lurched from one tumultuous phase to another: this one is due to an avalanche of work, about which I am not complaining. Oh, via an unfortunate incident whereby a legacy email account I no longer use started sending rude spam to everyone in my address book the other night, including work contacts! I am hoping all the recipients will think the phrase 'goon new' is not really me. So  yes, I will be head down till mid-Feb on the work front, and perfume reviews that require more prep may have to be deferred till then. But meanwhile, I did promise you a Truffle special...after all, there hasn't been a post entirely devoted to her since this one last Christmas.

I did actually do a tiny bit of prep for this feature - I looked up the judging criteria for Crufts (I know that is for dogs, but bear with me) to see how Truffle measures up some of them. There was a clatter of obvious things like 'size', 'weight' and 'colour', but then it got into the realms of specific body parts, some with sub-criteria that intrigued me - for example, there's much more to legs than meets the eye:

'Legs: Muscles, stance, proportionality.'

Oh dear, I think I would fail on all of those myself, though Truffle has a nice set I'd say.

'Teeth: kind of bite (level or scissors bite)'

I am sure I would get eliminated for grinding, and Truffle for biting her owner when she doesn't get her own way.


Did I say the radiator bed was a hit?


Oh, I quite like 'gait' too. Truffle has a rolling gait that is very endearing -  it is almost a swagger, but in a sweet way.

And then there's 'attitude'. Who knew that a beagle should look 'cheerful', while a poodle must be 'proud'?

So all those criteria got me thinking about how to present the highlights of Truffle's second winter. I shall go with one or two physical characteristics, but it is mostly going to be about attitude in its various guises, plus the whole gamut of naughty to delightful behaviours.

Size

Since I got Truffle at eight weeks in November 2015, she has grown rather, as you can see.




Still using the same bowls, mind.




Stance

Truffle gives good stance, I'd say. Here she is doing her best impression of a lion statue posing with the obligatory ball.

Actual lion:



You really can't spot the difference, now can you?





Agility

Facebook friends may recall Truffle's early repurposing of the ironing board as a home gym.





She is still working on her agility, and has recently taken up cycling, though has not quite got the hang of it yet.




Note how she manages to make it look cool, even while technically riding the radiator.





Also under agility we could perhaps file 'turning the St Germain light on single-pawed' - or having a jolly good go at least. 





She also managed to knock a drawstring pouch containing two vials of a new House of Cherry Bomb perfume onto the floor, open the strings with her teeth, and extract the contents. 

NB This could also be filed under '(Dis)-obedience' and 'Fetishes'.





Staying with the theme of agility, Truffle doesn't excel in every area. As you can see, her (kibble-containing) Tupperware opening skills are still on the floor.




(Dis)-obedience

Oh dear, this could potentially be a big category. Firstly there is Truffle's complete refusal to observe the 'no jumping up on the worktop' rule.




She also enjoys flaunting the corollary of that - the 'no jumping up on any surface really, but especially where food might be involved, like a dining room table, for example' rule.




Fetishes

Soap suds

In this category, we firstly have soap suds - Truffle goes mad for them, whether in the bath or the kitchen sink. She lies in wait when I do the washing up and makes a dive for the suds as soon as I go to tip the dirty water out, hoiking them out with her paw and proceeding to lick them off. I can't help feeling this isn't good for her, but Fairy Liquid seems to be the detergent equivalent of catnip as far as she is concerned.




Pictured here momentarily distracted by another of her favourite quarries - birds.



Wool

Right, so this definitely also counts as '(Dis)-obedience'. Like all cats, Truffle is mad for wool and must not be left unsupervised in its presence. Or this happens. Sadly, there has been no perceptible improvement in her propensity for wool savagery since she was a kitten.




Perfume

I did say above that her recently acquired interest in perfume may also constitute a fetish. Having opened the perfume pouch pictured above, she proceeded to roll the vials around and roll on top of them - presumably attracted by the smell rather than some kind of variation on the Indian bed of nails idea. 

And only the other week, there was a similar 'coming over all unnecessary' with a perfume package from Undina, whose contents had impregnated the cardboard box with a delicious woody oriental potpourri.




And now we move on to her more positive traits, starting with a category that I could best describe as 'keeping my owner in line'. Think of Edina's daughter Saffron in AbFab and you won't be far off. That's funny, I used to have a cat called Saffron!


Saffron: 1986-1993

Keeping my owner in line

'You are not seriously going to go out in that?'

The offending garment in question was only a hat - one of my own, to boot!




'Isn't it time you stopped messing about on Facebook and went to bed?'



And...

'It's time for You and Yours in five minutes.'



Not forgetting...

'If I keep staring she'll put the suitcase away.'




Keeping an eye on her owner also manifests itself as displays of affection when I am feeling ill or stressed - as touched on in my last post. Truffle has taken to lying on me when I have a headache and am spark out on the bed, say. Here she is, just checking for a pulse. (And yes, I am wearing all my clothes in bed. It was a particularly bad day.)





And this is one of our regular Sunday morning lie ins. I am in pyjamas here at least.


Bliss!

So that was rather a lot of pictures, I know. There are loads more where they came from, so in my own terms as her doting owner I have actually been quite restrained. ;)

On which note it seems appropriate to close with this extract from the very amusing Ladybird book on Cats (a new spoof edition). In case you can't read it at this resolution, I have quoted the text below.






'It is important to constantly take photographs of your cat or people might not know you have a cat. If your camera breaks, a simple cat photographing device can be improvised from things you find in a bin, so you need not miss a moment of proving that you have a cat.'


So yes, I promise you this is still a perfume blog! Normal service will resume soon.



31 comments:

Unknown said...

Truffle is adorable. As much as I like reading about perfume, looking at photos of cats might just be better. Please feel free to pepper your posts with as many cat pics as you wish (but do tell us if you enjoyed those samples as much as the furry one did).

Vanessa said...

Hi Liz K,

Thanks for dropping by! Puss peppering permission noted. ;)

The samples were of the same perfume in fact, one vial of edp, one of oil. It was Immortal Beloved, and I liked it very much myself. One of the four 'reviews' I have in mind to do.

angie Cox said...

Oh wow all you need is the illustrator and you have a wonderful book !

Vanessa said...

Haha, I am sure it's not that simple, but thanks!

Unknown said...

How would one improvise a cat photographing device? I am not sure I would know where to start :) Also, does Truffles have any perfume preferences yet? It would be amusing to include his own thoughts and preferences in upcoming perfume reviews! Thanks for sharing all the lovely cat pictures, which are always most welcome.

Anonymous said...

Yay - a delicious Truffle Fest. She is so cute. Thank you for a very cheering blog.
Jillie

crikey said...

What a fine and feisty feline friend you have there. Thank you for sharing. Just what I needed on a cold, cold Monday morning! (May I offer another undercover kitty as thanks? https://www.instagram.com/p/BOdSqfAh7z0/ )

Vanessa said...

Aw, Mymble, sweet! Loving your bedlinen too...

Vanessa said...

You're welcome, Jillie - glad you liked it!

Vanessa said...

Hi Yuki,

Ooh, good point, I am not at all sure that improvising a camera comes within my own sphere of competence...It is too early to tell what Truffle likes in the perfume line, but I will start to pay attention to any clear preferences from now on!

Tara said...

Aah, the Truffle post we were waiting for didn't disappoint! I love the way she straddles the radiator. Some chilly days in the office I've been tempted to attempt the same.

Very sweet that she comforts you when you're poorly. What a lovely companion she is. If only she could bring you a cup of tea in bed.

Hope the bathroom passes the messy shower test when you're up to it. I know you have to wash-up some things but is your dishwasher working now? I can't imagine life without mine.

Vanessa said...

Hi Tara,

I laughed at the image of you straddling your office radiator. I am sure you would do so elegantly - maybe even riding it side saddle like the Queen?

I am still psyching myself up for a 'messy shower' test - need to keep morale up during this busy work phase so can't have any more home repair knocks at this time.

Yes, the dishwasher is working now! I was washing up pots and cutlery that I need every day.

Anonymous said...

Six Fs in your title, I'm impressed. I enjoyed the feast of furriness, but I have one question. Do you have a tripod with camera aimed at your bed taking pictures at intervals? :-)

-- Lindaloo

Asali said...

Aaaw, thank you for this. There are so many things to love about it, the cat lady book :-D but seriously, the bliss moments which make up for all the bandit-moments, and the kitty- telly as I call those crazy things that only cats would think of doing. My favourite perhaps is the lion; proving who is truly king of the (cat-) realm.

Undina said...

I had exactly the same question! So far I can't figure out how to take pictures of my cat when he plops himself on me or my lap.

Undina said...

Truffle is so elegant! The lion pose is priceless! But I enjoyed all the pictures and all the alliterations :)
If I had to choose just one topic, I would have chosen cats. Definitely cats. Though I hope you'll have some space for both - once you're done with your work, I mean.
That radiator bed looks amazing! I almost wish we had radiators - I suspect, Rusty would love something like that bed... or that radiator (but bicycle would not have survived, I'm afraid).
A couple of weeks ago when it was too cold in the office, I was thinking with envy about a down comforter we were leaving out during those cold days for Rusty (so I understand Tara :) ).

Vanessa said...

Hi Lindaloo and Undina,

Nothing as sophisticated as that. If I happen to have the phone on the bedside table at the time, I reach for it (if practicable), and take a series of one handed photos. Most are blurry or not of the targets(!), but the odd one works more or less. ;)

Vanessa said...

Hi Asali,

That book is really amusing - satirical observations on every page. You are right about the bliss moments making up for the bandit ones, though Truffle's current propensity to hurtle into the house, paws caked in mud and worm in mouth, makes it hard to see that sometimes. ;)

The lion pose is a corker, I agree!

Vanessa said...

Hi Undina,

One of the benefits of working from home is that you get to control your environment. I also feel the cold and hate air conditioning in the summer. I think that alone could prevent me from ever working in an office again - that, and the likelihood of an open plan design.

I can see cats being a leitmotif on Bonkers, though only intermittently, as Truffle needs to keep doing new things I haven't covered before. I think the wool topic was reprised from the post about her kitten days.

Do you have underfloor / space heating then? Radiators of some kind are pretty standard here.

Unknown said...

We love Truffle here. And my fav picture is still the one with her on the ironing board.
I really hope there will be an opportunity to mett her fro real this year.

Undina said...

We have forced air that comes from the ceiling :) That's why Rusty gets our old down comforter to sleep on/in every night.

sunnlitt said...

Thank you for the wonderful photos of Truffle. She is a beauty.
Glad to hear that you have plenty of work in your future--I am sure that must be kind of tricky when you are a 'free lancer'.
Best of luck with your house.

Vanessa said...

Ooh, I am not sure I would care for that.

Vanessa said...

Hi Sabine,

The ironing board shot is quality, I agree!

And I am sure a visit will be possible when the house has stopped cracking and the weather perked up. :)

Vanessa said...

Hi Sunnlitt,

Glad you liked the photos, and thanks for your good wishes.

I only technically have work in my present - or for another week, say - but am very grateful for it.

odiferess said...

Aw hello Truffle, you've grown into such a beautiful girl.
I love the quote from The Ladybird Book of Cats. At least 2 out of 3 of my pictorial posts on Facebook are about Joseph these days. I've become one of those bores who think everybody else cares!
Could be worse, at least he's not a baby...

Pats said...

A bit late to this episode but glad i have seen all the lovely pics of Truffle. I couldnt help but wonder if Truffle was smelling the scent of Undina's Rusty who had perhaps sent on a cat 'email' to Truffle! :-)

Asali said...

Hehe, those cat-disapprovement looks, I love them! Only cats can give you that, but the bliss moments way up for all misbehaving at all times. Thanks for giving us a Truffle post

Vanessa said...

Hi odiferess,

Sorry to have missed this comment from way back! That Ladybird book is priceless - I could have quoted so much more, but thought that would be cheeky. Worth £6 to read and pass along to another cat owner.

Your posts about Joseph aren't at all boring - they feature a variety of striking poses and/or backdrops!

Vanessa said...

Hi Pats,

And I am a bit late to spotting your comment, sorry. What an interesting idea about Truffle smelling the scent of Undina's cat. By the same token, she may have picked up on the scent of Maria McElroy's cat, Tama Chan, though I put her enthusiasm down to the appeal of the perfume itself!

Vanessa said...

Hi Asali,

Truffle has a goodly repertoire of disapproving looks, it must be said. And yes, the bliss moments make up for all the wayward behaviour. Just! ;)