How the Cat Saved the Cottage

Posted on March 3, 2024 by Pamela Knudsen

Living with my cat in a 101-year-old cottage by the sea is like something from a fairy tale. Sometimes I miss my spacious condo in the canyon that I shared with many of my feline family members, but for the past almost six years, this tiny vintage abode has been, and still is, enchanting.

But some days, the wear and tear of its parts can dispel the magic. Thank goodness for Samantha Jo’s enchanting power of discernment.

Samantha typically spends her evenings sitting on the large bedroom window sill spying on the neighbors or playing our games of “tickle-tickle you’re a pickle” and “tag-you’re-it” after which she dozes off in my plush executive office chair.

A few weeks ago, Samantha spent several evenings going back and forth between the the toilet enclave of the bathroom, which faces the water heater closet, and the kitchen cupboards located opposite the water heater closet. Samantha would sit and stare at the door of the water heater closet then after a spell she’d go into the kitchen and paw at the baseboard underneath the cupboards.

Her back is to the cupboards under which the water leaked.

I thought she was chasing bugs—that is until a week after this behavior a slight musty odor started wafting from the toilet area, and about the same time I noticed the paint on a wall beam close to the baseboard by the water heater closet was bubbled. I touched it to feel dampness. Oh no… what was leaking? I opened the closet door but nothing seemed amiss, yet the musty smell was stronger and the water heater was making dripping sounds. During this investigation, Samantha was crouched by the kitchen cupboard baseboard again. I knelt down beside her and felt the hardwood floor underneath the cupboard. The narrow space where the floor met the baseboard was damp the length of the cupboard. I suspected a water heater leak.

Plumber’s Assistant

The plumber came out the next day to replace the old water heater that developed a leak. I didn’t see origin of the leak the day before, but by the time Randy the plumber arrived, the leak had become obvious as it percolated from a pipe at the top of the water heater. Randy said that if the leak went on much longer, the water damage would have been really bad and the situation would have been dangerous. If only I’d taken heed to Samantha’s obsessions with the water heater closet door and kitchen cupboard sooner.

Note to self: when a cat changes their routine, something’s up.

Within a couple days of the water heater replacement, I managed to dry out the waterlogged areas with a space heater and mini-sized dehumidifiers, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Enchantment ensues once again. Samantha is back to spying on the neighbors and chasing me around, whacking my ankles—a feline version of tag-you’re-it!

Ghost Cats and the Phantom Mouse

Posted on October 29, 2023 by Pamela Knudsen

In the summer of 2018, when I met my realtor at the circa 1922 cottage I was considering for my next home, despite its run-down condition, I was struck by its enchanted quality. It was alive with positive vibes. I felt welcomed by an unseen greeting committee. I signed the lease, excited about a new beginning living in a vintage cottage.

Enchanted Cottage shortly after moving in.

After moving in with Bobcat and Lexington, often, while sitting on the sofa at night reading, I would look over my shoulder thinking I saw one of the cats sauntering by; yet, seconds later would glance into the bedroom to see both cats sound asleep.

One late afternoon I was sitting at my desk and saw movement from my peripheral vision coming from the bookcase next to the French doors. I turned to see a mouse scurrying from the bookcase to underneath the hutch. It was quick and almost looked like a shadow, but well defined. I thought I imagined it when Bobcat came bolting from the bedroom making a beeline for the hutch. He was trying to get under it, going from one side to the next, fervently meowing. I opened the front door in an attempt to get the mouse out of the house. As I tried to coax my enthusiastic cat away from the hutch so the mouse could run outside—Bobcat came out from the side of the hutch and nonchalantly sashayed back into the bedroom. And the mouse was nowhere to be found.

Bobcat sees a ghost mouse!

About a year ago I was awoken at 2:00 a.m. by the sound of labored breathing coming from the living room. I turned on the bedside table lamp, cautiously got up and went into the direction of the sound with Samantha by my side. The sound shifted from the entryway to the sofa. Samantha poked her head under the sofa as if trying to figure out where it was coming from. I walked around the sofa then went back to the entryway with Samantha shadowing me. I concluded that the sound was a suffering animal under the house. I said a prayer for it then went back to bed. I awoke again, thinking it was morning because light was filtering from the living room into my bedroom, yet it was 4:00 a.m. Perplexed, I went into the living room to find a set of lights had been turned on—lights that I never use because they are too bright. I got goose bumps and wondered if the noise we heard was actually something otherworldly.

Mama, what is that creepy noise?

Later that morning, I looked under the house to find no animal. Even if it had gotten out alive, the crawl space where it would have been was not in the same location of the sound, which emanated from the location of the foundation. I started to believe that the enchanted cottage was a refuge for lost souls.

Lately, the cottage has been devoid of phantom mice and ghostly cats. And I’ve not awoken to spooky sounds and lights with a mind of their own.

Maybe the spirits of Bobcat and Lexington are keeping the spooks away.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Mama, you aren’t seriously going to wear this hat?

A Catnip Christmas Eve

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Pamela Knudsen

‘Twas the eve before Christmas and the cottage was stirring,
With the muffled sounds of Samantha Jo purring.

Cat Lady was busy making cookies and tea,
When Samantha meowed, “Any catnip for me?”

The fluffy floof sniffed as she searched all around,
For the aromatic herb that made her act like a clown.

Cat Lady let out a laugh as she scooped-up her cat,
To guide her to where the cat-weed was at.

But Queen Sassy Pants wriggled and jumped to the floor,
And dashed across the hardwood to where she spied,
A small wood box containing what she’d been denied.

The scent of the leaves she inhaled with glee,
She wriggled and pranced and strutted her stuff,
Cat Lady cracked-up and said, “I think you’ve had enough!”