Day 151: How to Put Together a Cat Tree

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 151: How to Put Together a Cat Tree

The cat tree has finally arrived. It was supposed to be here last Wednesday, but due to the Canadian Postal strike, the delivery got delayed.

When the box arrived it immediately had the attention of cats, Halley’s in particular. She parked herself on top of the box and no doubt wondered what was inside. When Dieter came home the message was clear … how soon can you put this thing together?

As soon as Dieter started the works, Charlotte and Holly kept a safe distance, but Halley and Greyson assumed the role of foreman and supervisor. This is how it went down …

WHAT A MESS. CAN YOU FIGURE IT OUT, DADDY?

WHEN YOU'RE DONE, CAN I HAVE A LOOK AT THE MANUAL?

YES, THAT'S WHERE THE SCREW GOES

I THINK YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK

DOES IT LOOK ANY BETTER FROM DOWN THERE?

OKAY, I'LL HOLD THE TREE STEADY FOR YOU

GOOD JOB, DADDY, YOU'RE ALMOST DONE

NOW FOR THE FINISHING TOUCHES

MAKE SURE THAT LADDER IS PROPERLY SECURED

I THINK THERE SHOULD BE ANOTHER LADDER DOWN HERE

ALL DONE

Initially, all of them were afraid of the new cat tree and preferred the box over the actual item.

So, one after another we introduced Charlotte, Holly, Halley, and Greyson to the tree and halleluiah, it was a success. 

THANK YOU, DADDY, THIS MAKES GETTING ON TOP OF THE CABINET SO MUCH EASIER

IT'S A TIGHT FIT, BUT IT WILL DO

Day 150: What’s That’s Smell?

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 150: What’s That’s Smell?

Christmas is coming and ever since I discovered shopping online, I’ve been all over the Net looking for suitable gifts. Of course, I had to start early as some gifts come from China and it can take as long as four weeks for packages to arrive. And arriving they do, one after another.

Next up I went in search for wrapping paper, not online but in an actual store. Since not any paper will do, I looked at several designs and finally settled on this one …

This morning I thought it was time to start wrapping the gifts, cleared the dining room table, got the scissors and the sticky tape and set to work. It didn’t take long before I smelled something foul, let me rephrase that … something that stank up to high heaven.

Since it was the smell of poop I thought that one of the cats had an accident on the floor. I checked the carpet under the table, I checked the surrounding floor and when I couldn’t find anything, I checked the bottom of my slippers. I could see anything.

I continued wrapping and the closer I got to the paper, checking that the corners were neatly folded, the stronger the stinky smell became. So, I bend and sniffed the wrapping paper … OMG I nearly passed out, the paper smelled like the worst kind of poop.

Even the cats made a hasty retreat. Thus far Halley and Greyson had positioned themselves on the dining room table, ready to ‘help’ me with the wrapping, but the smell of the paper was even too much for them.

Of course, I'm not just Christmas shopping for Dieter, the cats are getting a gift too. In the past when we bought them toys they showed little or no interest in them but claimed the box the toys came in. So this year we opted for something practical rather than toys. We got them this:

The box is set to arrive tomorrow. I wonder, will they show an interest or ignore the cat tree?