It’s time I wrote about our newest house-mates. We met them in town a few weeks ago – two blokes and four ladies. They needed food and shelter. We’d actually been looking for some helpers in the garden, and this bunch was very friendly, so we agreed that they could stay with us. We squeezed them all in to our van and brought them back to our place. They quickly settled in to their living quarters and helped themselves to food and drink. Fortunately, we’ve found them helpful and charming so have asked them to board here long-term. Providing they can do a few things for us in return.
Here’s their job list:
– weed removal
– distributing manure
– scattering mulch
– overseeing pest control
– turning over the compost
– entertaining the kids and teaching them responsibility
– eating some of our leftover food so it doesn’t go to waste
and one special task just for the men…
– waking us up in the morning (in case the kids forget).
I’ll admit, our house-mates are not living in our actual house. They have a little one of their own. In the orchard. It’s an open-plan house with a miniature drawbridge style door and an upper level where they rest at night. We close their door once they’ve settled down for the evening. And open it for them first thing in the morning.
Our new friends are doing some wonderful work here. So far they’ve fulfilled all their tasks on a daily basis. Though on several occasions, I’ve had to politely move them on from certain areas of the garden where they’ve been a little overzealous with the weeding and scattering of mulch.
The girls also promised they’d produce tasty, nutritious morsels for us on a regular basis. They said they’d start as soon as possible. But so far only the oldest one has come through with the goods. And only on three occasions. I suspect the others need to grow-up a bit first.
Thankfully the men have been spot-on with their timing by not waking us before sunrise. Actually it’s only the one fellow who’s been producing the morning wake-up call. The other is still quite youthful and perhaps needs a sleep-in. We were quite reluctant to have two males living under the one small roof at first – we didn’t want any fights breaking out, you see. But we have ended up with two and they’re getting along quite well for now. If there’s any trouble though, we’ll be finding alternative accommodation for one of them.
The kids have really enjoyed watching our helpers at work and following them around the place. Miss Five often opens up their quarters in the morning and delivers some of our leftover food from the night before. They appear to really appreciate this extra meal at the start of the day. If the manner in which they scoff the food down and push each other out of the way to access it, is anything to go by.
We’ve become particularly fond of one of the girls. She’s clearly had a very loving, attentive upbringing and is gentle and affectionate, yet sociable, and loves to come up to the house for a chat. She’s formed a special bond with Miss Five, too. Her name is Lulu. She’s pretty, don’t you think?
Two Striped Cats 