A hoard of cat food

I don’t know if you recall my mentioning a Scotsman who has some sort of local engineering business? He reappeared the other day. He told me that he had just had a birthday party. He then handed me a bagful of sandwiches and cake. I mentioned the blog in conversation, to which he asked me to mention him in it. I don’t know why. The nosh was great, but I neglected to wish him a belated birthday. Then I remembered that I wanted to ask him something concerning the water tank that I want made.

One day, a bloke called Andy, who passes by every morning on his way to work, sometimes pausing to say hello to the cats, stopped at my door. He was clearly distraught as he told me that ‘his’ cat had died the previous evening. He then handed me a huge box of ‘cat food’ and a large unopened bag of ‘cat biscuits’. I thanked him, saying that the cats would do likewise and consoled with him on his loss, telling him that he was welcome to stop by anytime to spend as much time as he wished with Arian and Rowan.

I happened to notice an ask on one of the local Freecycle groups. The advertiser was after some trellis. I had some on the back of the truck which I had decided was unlikely to be used anytime soon. I responded to the ad. I had a reply asking for photographs. I wrote back explaining that the trellis was on the truck under tarpaulin, making it difficult to access just to take photographs. I gave the advertiser a rough estimate of the dimensions based on what I could see. The man decided to come and take a look. When he arrived, I unsheeted the load back far enough to jiggle the trellis out. There were two. He was very happy to take them. We chatted for a bit, during which he offered me some money. I apologised as I thought that he thought that I wanted money. He responded with a disappointed “Oh.” He then offered me some cat food. I began to explain that I don’t tend to give the cats processed food. Again, he appeared disappointed. I then realised that perhaps he wanted to give me something for no other reason than to just give. I back-pedalled saying that I wouldn’t refuse a gift. He immediately went to his car to retrieve his wallet from which he handed me a few £1 coins. I thanked him. Later, I received an e-mail from his wife thanking me for the trellis. Apparently, her roses are happy, upright and looking good.

A week or so later, the ‘trellis’ man stopped by and handed me a bag of cat food. I thanked him. He asked me if would I use them. I told him that they are great for emergencies and for mixing in the herbs that I use monthly for keeping worms and fleas at bay.

I get loads of ‘friend requests’ on my Facebook page as a result of the blog. So much so, that I now have a template that I use to respond with. In it, I basically thank the individual for the friend request and apologise for not accepting friend requests from people that I have never actually met and directing them to my public page, WizardSteve.blog where they are welcome to interact in the usual way.

One such request came from a local young woman who asked whether I was the man with the cats living on the industrial estate. I confirmed that I was indeed he. A number of messages were exchanged. She asked whether I needed anything. I assured her that I was fine and thanked her for asking. At some point I said that she is welcome to pop by anytime for a chat and a brew. She wanted to bring something with her, so in the end, I suggested a packet of her favourite biscuits to go with the tea. So she turned up with a beautifully tasty shepherd’s pie and a load of goodies for the cats.