Living with the Russian Princess

Since Tuesday I have been living two doors up from the Cat Politics domicile, cat & house sitting for B & B who have flown to France for a long holiday bicycling through the French countryside.

Pictured above is Talya the Russian Princess, who is a sweet cat of the Russian Blue breed. The breed is characterised by their wonderful silvery blue fur and quiet and gentle temperament.  This is quite a change from the rambunctious nature of my own cats, or surviving cat as in Willy, who has a powerful personality and demands attention in no uncertain terms.

It took a few days for Talya to get used to me, but now we’re good friends and she welcomes me with every sign of pleasure when I return from an outing. No doubt the hand that feeds has something to do with this, but she is no longer aloof and timid as she was at first.

So here I am in a comfortable warm house with a lovely undemanding cat for company. Peace and quiet rules as opposed to the racket of renovations. Apropos the renos, they appear to be progressing well and most of the previously floorless rooms have the flooring base laid, on which the boards will be placed.

I have my notebook computer, a selection of my favourite CDs and a bag of books. I selected the books on size mostly; monster tomes that will keep me in reading matter for a few months. I am currently rereading Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset, a trilogy of historical novels set in 14th Century Norway. It has been many years since I read this book. According to a site I came upon on the internet a new translation is available. The version I am reading is a Picador published in 1977, so no doubt it is the maligned old translation.  Notwithstanding the translation’s shortcomings, it is still an engaging and absorbing read.