I am finding the weather too hot to do much gardening as it keeps giving me hot flashes. I will take some photos when I have finished the areas that I am doing. Meanwhile I am in the house catching up on some boring housework. But I am missing one important member of the family. Here is his story.
I have not had a cat for years, but 3 years ago a stray cat found its way under a plastic cover for a table outside my house. I was quite scared and kept prodding the cover. It meowed. A few hours later (it was a strong gale/storm) it was still there. I timidly tried to lift the cover and saw two scary eyes in a black face. I am not sure about cats that bite and the eyes were scary so I jolted back into the house. I rang a friend who said that I had to find out if the cat was injured and take it to the vet. I ventured out into the storm, this time I moved the chair under the table so that the cat could try and get down. I lifted the cover and woooooosh, something black dashed from the table, to the chair past me and into the house!!.
I found it flaked out on my sofa.

He was very long and thin and had lost hair on one side of his body (the side you cant see).
I only had a tin of tuna in the house, but later he ventured off the sofa to eat something. Later on he wanted to go out and I let him and he explored the garden. Then he came inside with me. I was getting used to him and whilst he ate another tin of tuna. Then he was off outside again. Then he disappeared. I had a catflap but he did not come back that night.
The next day a neighbour asked if I had a black cat as a stray one seemed to have taken up residence in their house and she was not sure she wanted a cat. I agreed to have him if he was a stray and would take him to the vet. I had an old cat carrier and off I went. The vet said the cat was most probably a he and about 3 – 5 years old. He was chipped. I was disappointed as this meant that there would be an owner. The vet gave the cat a once over and declared him fit for me to take home whilst the owner was notified. Well 4 months later no owner had appeared so the cat became mine officially (adoption certificate to prove it).
Meanwhile I tried to find a name for this cat. The cat chip came with details of a cat rescue centre in Bristol 4 years previously… but they would not give any details of the cat so I had no name or even info of his age. Rediculous.
The cat was not reacting to any names and none of the names seem to fit him. Interestingly I found that someone online had called their cat Mercedes. I thought that was a good name but for a girl cat. I like to watch F1 on TV so I thought of McClaren my favourite team. I tried him with Mac and McClaren but he just stayed on the sofa so I tried Lewis as in Lewis Hamilton…. but no reaction. My favourite driver at the moment is Jenson Button but I told the cat that he did not have the right colouring to be a Jenson, but strangely the cat sat up and meowed. I laughed and said I don’t really think you look like Jenson. He meowed again. I said “Do you really want to be called Jenson or Jenson Button?” He jumped off the sofa and jumped onto my lap and head butted me and meowed and sat in my lap looked up at me and purred. I was a bit scared at the head butt as I was not sure if he was going to bite me but then when he sat in my lap and looked at me, I was a gonner. I stroked his head and said Jenson. He meowed so that was that … he was named Jenson Button…. well mainly Jenson as I get some looks when I call Jenson Button in the garden.
Since then he follows me everywhere, does a lot of talking and cuddling, and is my best friend. And he has the highlight gene. This means that in the sun or strong light, his black fur turns reddish brown… getting lighter and lighter to almost beige. And therefore he is looking more like a Jenson Button!!
Here are some pictures of him climbing the stairs in my cottage.

Looking cute near my cottage

Enjoying the sun, you can see his coat getting paler, although his head mainly stays black.

Unfortunately, since the beginning of June, he has refused to enter the house, so I miss him. He is still around and I am feeding and cuddling him outside in the garden or going in the woods with him. Although today it is lunchtime and he has not been seen… and not been fed. I am trying to steam clean the house in case he does not like something that smells. Maybe it is the weather, I do hope that he will come back home soon. Another cause could be that I have a new neighbour and they have a cat (no other cats in the area) and they have already had one big cat fight in my garden. In the meantime I am trying to spend quality time with him in the garden whenever I see him.