25th July
Pablo was collected by the RSPCA and taken for his final set of injections, before finally being allowed out. We all gathered in the Manor garden, to show him the wonderful sites and to help him familiarise himself with the layout, which must be quite difficult for a young cat. Pablo managed to get out through the cat flap and sniffed the air delicately before walking purposefully over to the pond where he fell straight in. We stood around open mouthed in stunned silence for a second before Spencer had the presence of mind to grab a towel from the washing line and haul him out. Pablo was covered in green slime, (for our pond is a haven for wildlife), and was shivering. He hissed violently at Spencer, (which I thought was rather uncalled for in the circumstances, but might have had something to do with the fact that Spencer had laughed like a drain as he rescued him), and then quickly ran off in the undergrowth. No amount of coaxing would make him come out, so we left him there until lunchtime, when a lightly steamed piece of cod did the trick.
26th July
Today we met up with the Luton branch of the family for another indoor BBQ. The main purpose of the visit was to firm up arrangements for summer Bank Holiday 2010, when Marcus and the other elder children in the family will turn 18. It has been decided that we will all go away for a long weekend to Norfolk, which is quite near for them, I suppose. Research had been done on renting a large house with a pool and we all agreed that this would fit the bill, so they will make the booking, and we will just turn up.
28th July
As Marcus continues to recover from his tonsillectomy ably assisted by Pablo, who keeps jumping on his bed, we move towards the annual Paulet-Halt family holiday. This year we are going to stay on the estate of the Scottish branch of the Halt family, just south of Inverness. In these credit crunch times we are doing our bit by going self catering (which will be a novelty for some). We usually stay in one of the quaint little cottages on the estate. The family seat was made famous a year or so back when Simon King (the wildlife expert) took up residence at Rothiemurchus for a few weeks to film the ospreys fishing on the Lochs for “Springwatch”. Spencer’s cousin assures us that nothing so exciting will be happening this year. Spencer finds it very relaxing walking on the grouse moors, and I can usually find time to get a bit of painting done whilst staying indoors on account of the weather..