Somehow tonight Zeeke - who was on the living room side of the baby gate - and Merlin, who was on the kitchen counter, managed to knock over a pan of freshly baked cookies. While I was cleaning that up Zeeke immediately ran into the living room - where I had been, reading - and started scarfing down my snacks. Sigh. That damn dog.

So this evening I am reading in bed. After the cookie incident (which was only the last of many tonight) Zeeke has been locked in Den’s office with Den to give me some peace. But while the dog’s away…. the cats will play. And play they do, whole-heartedly. It really is quite amusing.

It started when Jo wandered in here to say hi. It was unexpected; it’s usually Merlin up on the bed for attention. But as he explored the rest of the room Merlin started egging him on, batting at him, trying to bite his paw. (It’s really quite funny to watch.) Then Merlin jumped on him a few times and Jo managed to get away. He walked off down the hall looking quite haughty and dismissive. But then he stopped, looked back, and came running back in here, only to land on top of Merlin. Snort!

So they have been running in and out. I see the tops of tails run past the bed. Every once in a while I see a head or two as someone leaps into the air. Sometimes there’s a paw. They look like WWE wrestlers - all show and exaggerated motions. And really just as entertaining.

Zoe is being the fretting mama. She’s on the bed watching intently. Before they really started playing she was trying to start something. She had been following Merlin around, and flattened Jo on the bed at least once. So now she’s just supervising their play, whining a little. I can’t tell if it’s whining because she’s upset that they’re being rough, or whining because she wants to join in. She seems so very torn. She runs over to them, then stops and runs away to watch from a safe distance. I need to get photos of her when she’s in this ultra-intent mode.

Oh, and when I got up this afternoon the tree was pretty hard done by. There were large gaps from where branches had been bent downward, and the garland was hanging off the tree haphazardly. Apparently our youngest has taken to climbing trees - but only at night when I can’t catch him. Lovely.