Here is photo of me made by Mas Momi (Kartika's son-in-law, married to Lulu - a most capable and agreeable fellow) in front of the tugu in the centre of Yogya, with Hanuman, and an owl (a burung hantu = "ghostbird'') on my shoulder. This was after filming and interviewing Kartika all day (amazing tales from her remarkable life - the only problem with this documentary will be editing it down to a manageable length) and  Kartika, Lulu, Mas Momi and I had dined with a lady named Dolly who sells Kartika-design handbags, dresses and scarfs through her shop 'Dowa,' along with her husband 'Ricky' who is director of promotions for Borobudur and Prambanan, in the restaurant 'Honje' which they run, overlooking the tugu. Thanks to Dolly and Ricky for the hospitality and good company!

The next day Mas Momi and I road motorcycles the short trip to Mt Merapi to film the mountain and visit the site of the former home of Mbah Marijan, whom I had met a couple of times in 2010 and who was taken by the volcano shortly thereafter (more in detail about the late Mbah Marijan, a major Javanese spiritual figure and the lifelong juru kunci meaning ''key-holder'' of the volcano,  in another blog entry, I think). It was rather strange to see that the site is being rebuilt as some kind of tourist attraction. Part of the Mbah Marijan exhibit they are building features the burned table and chairs where we sat when I visited him. There are t-shirts for sale with his picture.

Then later that night I had unexpected visitors in my bed. There are maybe 4 or 5 cats that always hang around Kartika's house, and there was one who took an immediate liking to me when I arrived, running up whenever she saw me, rubbing against me, trying to climb in my lap over and over and over as I put her back down on the ground, sitting next to me late at night whenever I would go outside to be alone and have a kretek. The cat was pregnant. Three nights ago she snuck into my room for what I assume was the first time and placed a large fish tail on the floor in front of my bed (I suppose she ate the fish) which made everyone laugh and comment that she was obviously in love with me and wanted to show her respect. Then  after visiting Merapi and getting sunburned after hours on the motorcycle (we took the long way home, and stopping off for a play at a lovely music studio owned by a great fellow named Teuku Dalin - it felt good to reunite with a guitar) I was utterly exhausted and ready for bed. Everyone else was already asleep and my room is rather dark with just a small lamp. Mas Nu had changed my bedding earlier (despite my insisting I would do it mysef) so I looked forward to the crisp, clean sheets. But as I got in the bed everything was wet. I jumped a bit and realised the cat was in the bed. I hissed at her to get out and normally she would run off, but this time she just mewed sadly and refused to move. I got my little torch and saw what at first appeared to be 3 dead kittens along with a lot of blood and so on all over the bed! I then realised one of the ''kittens'' was actually just the placenta, and that there was one kitten definitely alive. I went to the kitchen and got a cardboard box and managed to put the mother and babies and the whole mess in the box lined with newspaper. I fastened the living kitten to the mother and the baby started feeding. Then I saw that the other baby kitten was actually moving his foot a bit! And after many attempts I managed to fasten him as well (he was not as smart as his sibling, he kept floppig around and trying to feed from the mothers head, tail, back, wherever. But I persisted (for a couple of hours!) and the good news is that they both survived and are presently thriving. I threw the bedding in a bucket of water and slept on the spare bed, and the next morning everyone was quite amused by the whole episode. Now the kittens are known as my "grandchildren" and I am referred to as the local veterinarian.

All of this was taken as a "good sign" by Kartika and a vital part of the process, indicating the documentary project would be a great success.