Way back in 2013 this cat started showing up on our deck. I guess he/she figured my husband fed the birds and squirrels and so why not feed him/her as well? But … cats and birds generally don’t get along and so hubby shooed him/her off the deck and out of our yard. We couldn’t imagine such a beautiful cat was homeless. And then the weather turned cold and we discovered the cat had been taking refuge under a pile of plant covers left on the bottom deck. Long story short, we ended up dragging the beast, by this time, its long fur matted in filthy dreadlocks, off the deck. For two weeks the cat hid out downstairs but thankfully knew how to use a litter box! Another long story short, the cat turned out to be a neutered male and unable to find his owners, we more or less adopted him.

For years we’ve tried to find a more appropriate name than Pretty Kitty but none has stuck. Then, last night … or rather early this morning … the name came to me in a dreamlike fugue. Percival. A noble but whimsical name, I think.

Percival Von Kitty from his royal perch.

Anyway, that’s how my week is starting out.

I’m hoping the cold weather will hold off long enough for these, my only tomatoes after months and months, to finally ripen.

But with a storm and a drop in temperature on Wednesday, I kinda doubt it.

We shall see. Only Percival the Perceptive knows and he’s not telling.

Let’s hope that, with Percival finally getting his name, things will start to improve in this stark raving mad country!