Ireland Revisited: Reunion with an Old Friend

Day 5 of 35: Sunday, August 8, 2010

We spent this day settling in to our new/old digs and strolling around the Birr Castle Demesne. We had hoped to see our old friend, White Socks (also known as The Bothy Cat), but thought that we probably wouldn't quite so soon in our stay. After all, four years ago she took more than a week before she figured that we were okay and started her regular visits. Also, Lady Rosse had told us during the course of our e-mails setting up this stay that the cat now is being cared for by Jimmy, a gardener, over near the glasshouses, so she's not spending as much time near the cottage as she used to.


Early this morning, before Diane was fully functional, I walked over to the kitchen garden where four years ago the Bothy Cat had shown us her nest in a bit of hedge, thinking that I might catch a glimpse of her there. I did, and in fact we had a good long chat. I wasn't so rude as to tell her aloud, but she has aged a bit in four years: the underlying red of her coat is significantly more obvious now, and there are a few nicks in her ears -- but she's still a sweetie.

Noms then and now: on the Bothy kitchen windowsill in 2006 (left) and 2010

Later, in the evening after the grounds were closed to the public (lots of visitors on this Sunday of warm sunshine!) I went back to visit with her again. This time, after a little discussion, she followed me back past the formal gardens, through our little gate in the wall, and to the Bothy for a nosh and a visit with Diane.

A wary walk home

When she was done eating, she made it clear by standing in the wall doorway that she didn't want me to close the gate behind her unless I went with her -- she seemed much more wary of her surroundings this time than last (and with good reason, as we found out a few days later.) So I walked with her most of the way back home to the gardeners' area before leaving her and returning to the Bothy.

The next morning we found a dead field mouse in front of the Bothy's front door. We presume that it was a gift from our old friend.

The Bothy's sitting room, freshly refurbished

In between the morning and evening visits with our friend, we spent the day at home and wandering the grounds, quietly reveling in being back in Birr Castle Demesne. (I also started the Benches of Birr Castle Demesne project on this day, an effort that was the topic of a previous post in this blog.) A few images from the day, which can be seen larger by clicking on them:

The fernery...

... the old brick bridge over the Little Brosna...

... the Camcor near where it joins the Little Brosna...

... the trail along the Camcor behind the Lake...

... the Lake...

... and its ducks...

... the great telescope's south supporting wall...

... and the Parsons' house in late evening, slanting sunlight.

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A very short slide show from this day can be seen by clicking here.
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Next: August 9, 2010 -- Waterford
Previous: August 7, 2010 -- Back to Birr!
Beginning of the series: Prologue, August 2

Pinup for Mojo

She is older now. Her black fur has faded in places, revealing its underlying red. She has a few notches in her ears that she didn't have four years ago. Her trust is not so simple as it was, and not so surrounding as before.

But trust of a kind is still there, if changed, and her sweetness remains unbittered, and her inclination to show her secret places in the hedges to people she trusts has not changed.

She is White Socks. She is Bothy Cat.

(I'll let Mojo himself explain the "Mojo" in the title of this post... if he wishes.)

A Quick Whisper

Regular readers might understand why we're using some of the only few hours of internet time we've had for a week (or will have for at least one more) to post just this silly picture of a cat. Others will have to go back in time four years.

Auld Acquaintance, Not Forgot (2008 Update)

Ms. Kitty on the Birr Castle Demesne, August, 2006.

She doesn't have the international fame and acclaim of Ceiling Cat. She doesn't have the attention of the small, power-clique cognoscenti that Mojo el Jefe does. But she does have a nice little internet presence that manifests itself once in a while to Diane and me and lets us know that she's okay.



I refer, of course, to the Bothy Cat.

Eleven months ago, we heard from a Canadian-Irish knitter that Ms. Kitty was doing fine (click here go to that part of the SherWords archive.) Today, we received this e-mail from "Margaret," who, we presume from her aol address, is an American planning a trip to Ireland next year:

Mr. Harrington,

I just wanted to say that I very much enjoyed stumbling upon your photos
of your Ireland trip. We have rented the Bothy cottage for a week next
June and I was looking online for some commentary from others about the
place. Actually the Bothy cat page was the first one I found online.
What a marvelous surprise and extra bonus to find the cat in residence.
In emailing Lady Rosse to secure the reservation, I asked if the cat was
still there (at my 12 year old's insistence) and I am pleased to report
that it is. I'm betting that of all the things we doing in Ireland, the
cat will be what she remembers most when she's older!

Your pleasure with the time you spent there is evident in your
descriptions and photos, which made me feel better about reserving the
cottage "sight unseen" so to speak. Thank you for posting your
photographs online.

Regards,
Margaret

This is so cool.

I know from the server log that the Ireland, 2006, part of Diane's and my photo album website has received tens of thousands of hits courtesy of search engines, but a vanishingly-small fraction of those actually contact us with questions or thanks or whatever. And three-quarters of the ones who do contact us mention the Bothy Cat.

We will go back again, and, when we do, I hope she's still around to ignore us for the first week. Thanks to Margaret's e-mail, I know that right now she is, and that's good enough for this instant.