LANZAROTE: ENCOUNTERS WITH ANIMALS PART 1

Lanzarote doesn't actually have much in the way of indigenous wildlife because it's a volcanic island and much of it looks like this-

The volcano erupted last in the 18th century destroying much of the vegetation along with hundreds of the islanders. Rainfall is low and winds are blowy and plants have a hard time getting established which explains why cacti are among the most numerous of plants. There are no native mammals, only those introduced by Europeans such as rabbits and cats. There may well be mice and rats but I've neither heard of nor seen any. Because of the lack of plantlife, birds, other than seabirds, are few. There are lizards but I've only just seen some on this visit and I've been here about five times and I only saw them this time in the grounds of the Guinate Wildlife Park which is located in the less arid northern region.

With the rise of tourism over the last forty years, local authorities have made efforts to transform the landscape from something which looks like, in my own words when I first arrived about fourteen years ago, "a fucking pit heap!" into something less arid. But it's a long slow process. Tourism has also brought another problem which is people coming to Lanzarote to find jobs in the tourist industry. No doubt they intend to stay for a long time but, in practise, this rarely happens and, as a direct result, cats mostly get abandoned to roam the tourist centres and holiday complexes; many aren't neutered, they breed and their offspring are feral.

Some cats get caught by Sara, the island's animal rescue charity (of which more later), where they are neutered, an ear clipped so that female don't have to go through an unneccessary second operation, and put back on the streets. I made friends with two cats which had been abandoned and neutered -one so recently as to still have stitches in its ear.

Both look as if they've been in the wars but aren't under-nourished in any way and it's obvious that they've been pets because, once they realised that I was friendly, let me stroke them, pick them up and even rub their tummies. True ferals won't let you get near them and will even hiss at you when you're putting down food for them.

Dogs are a different matter as, if left to roam around, they can be dangerous. So Sara takes them in and tries to get them rehomed. I paid a quick visit to the place on Wednesday morning to leave some books for their fund-raising sale and to leave a donation, and to have a look round the place.

To be honest, I expected to find it in the grounds of someone's house. Instead it's a large purpose-built (I assume) place away from residential and commercial housing. It's a well-organised and very busy charity and didn't get much of a chance to talk to any of the volunteers but I did get a good look round. Mostly its dogs, dozens of them and all of them barking incredibly loudly that it was literally deafening and all of them wanting homes. Here are just a few of the photos I took.

Heart-breaking, isn't it? But at least they are being looked after

Lastly, a few cats.

I'll add a link to their website in the near future.

"THEY CALL IT STORMY MONDAY/ BUT TUESDAY'S JUST AS BAD"

Once more to Carol's to pick up two young males for neutering. At her gate one of them breaks out of the carrier and shoots off down the road before I can even react. I follow him for about fifty years when he darts between houses and disappears. I'm utterly shocked and saddened. I've failed that little cat.

I get the other one to the vets and was going to go swimming then but I'm so down about the escaped cat that I just can't summon any enthusiasm or energy and instead go and deliver two neutering vouchers. This proves more complicated than I expected as in one court-like area where I'm looking for No.12, the logical place is on a corner from No.11 but the house there has no number and the house next door is 14. A couple of passersby can't help me so I approach the gate of 11 which has a 'Beware of the Rottweiler' hanging from it and as I raise the latch I find out why.

Barking loudly, a massive rotty hurtles towards the gate, plonks its paws on the top and continues barking into my face. But it's all show. Its owner arrives and tells me he just barks at strangers and within a minute I'm petting him -the rottweiler that is, not its owner. Turns out that there is no No.13 and the house without a number is in fact 12.

That done, I return home where Susan already knows about the escaped cat courtesy of a phone call from Carol. It's 9.30. Just after 10.15 I pick up Andrea and her four bunnies to take them all to the vets. Here they are. I'm the one with several chins.

The bunnies are all okay so we then go to visit a couple to finalise their adoption of Sky the 3-month old collie pup. He's a lovely friendly and lively dog in a very friendly and lively chewy stage which he proves by attempting to eat my hands and my face. And here he is.

After dropping Andrea and her bunnies off I call in at Asda on the way home to get more cat food for Carol as I every intention of spending a week in Lanzarote starting on Thursday and have to get her two weeks supply. 

Mid-afternoon and I call in at the shop to pick up some Drontol flea killer from Andrea for Carol and ring the vets about the cat as I'm intending to pick it up shortly. Turns out it's been bleeding a little and they want to keep it another couple of hours to make sure it's okay. That piece of news following on from the escape of its brother makes me feel a little flat and it's an effort to go back to Asda to pick up cat litter (which I forgot to do earlier) and then take it to Lilian at Silksworth (see earlier posts), a lady with special needs whom we gave a cat to. All is well with the cat.

Eventually I manage to get  to the vets and pick up the cat which is fine, unhappy and loudly letting everyone know it, but fine, and drop it, the Drontol, and the food off at Carol's. On the way home I treat myself to an Indian takeaway which proves to be blander than I expected.

Tomorrow morning I'm dropping the van off for a service and an MOT, the rest of the day is mine, and on Thursday I'm off to Lanzarote. Normal service will be resumed in about ten days when I hope to have photos of days-old kittens and their mother.

MONDAY (PLUS PHOTOS)

Two from StrayAid at Coxhoe just down the A1M where I went last week to drop off some food and bedding.

First thing Monday morning and off to Carol's to pick up two males for neutering and then to the Raich Carter Centre for my morning swim. Here's another photo of Chloe the heavily pregnant cat. She is such a sweet little cat, very fussy about what she eats, but otherwise totally adorable and I want to take her home and know that I can't. susan and I agreed that we are not taking in any more young cats.

Back home I sort out some paperwork, including filling in two neutering vouchers for the cats I've just dropped off. Later, Carol phones to ask if I can get two more males booked in for tomorrow morning as they are spraying and are pretty smelly -I can. It's also urgent because the van is out of action on Wednesday because of its service and MOT and I'm (hopefully) off to Lanzarote on Thursday barring more volcanic eruptions in Iceland. Then I get a call from Animal Krackers shop about two people who want neutering vouchers for their cats. Counting the two I delivered at the weekend, that's 8 vouchers in about 3 days and I've only got just over 50 to last till the end of next March. Houston, we have a problem.

This unnamed cat makes a habit of climbing down between the two cages. He's a friendly thing and I don't know why no-one has taken him yet,

A nice looking cat, recently arrived, but none too friendly yet.

Off to the bank to cash a cheque to buy cat food for Carol then off to Asda to spend cash on same. 

At home we've been having a bit of a flea problem so Susan and I spend most of the afternoon stripping the bedroom and spraying chairs, bed and floor with flea killer. I also dose the cats. In between sessions, I pick up the cats from the vets and take them back to Carol's where I also unload all the food. One of the cats howls the whole time but seems nice enough otherwise and the other is hopefully going to be rehomed that evening.

Another recent arrival, just a bog-standard black cat with a friendly nature.

THE ODD COUPLE

So I was on my rounds this morning in our van, buying cat food at Asda, dropping  of dog food to a fosterer, and (in the same area) delivering neutering vouchers to a couple of people. One of them, a chatty lady in early middle age took me through to her small back garden where I saw an enormous rabbit,  larger than the cat I'd brought the voucher for, sitting happily next to said cat. Apparently they are great friends and can often be found sleeping next to each other in the rabbit's hutch.

Wish I'd brought my camera with me, and I'd forgotten my mobile. Damn, would have made a great photo.

VOLCANIC DUST

So I didn't go on holiday after all. Despite that, it's been a quiet week on the animals front. I've done a couple of tip runs clearing out rubbish from the shop, taken some additional  food to Carol who now has a full quota of rescued cats with none going out, and taken one dog to the vet's. There'll be another food run on Saturday, probably another tip run or two over the weekend, and two cats to the vets for neutering on Monday morning and that, bar the unexpected, is that for the next few days..

I also emailed Cats Protection, the national charity which supplies us with neutering vouchers (worth up to a maximum of £30.00), to ask for some more. They only allocate us 3 pads (25 vouchers per pad) and have already sent me one in advance, so I only have about 60 vouchers to last the next 12 months which means I'll have to make sure that none are wasted and all are used.

It's possible I may yet be able to fly out to Lanzarote on Thursday 29th April but I'll believe that when the plane lands at Arecife airport.

CAT-CHUP

Not much been happening really. Couple of trips to the vets with cats/dogs. Transported furniture from our charity shop (which finally has our new sign up) to the lady who bought it. Sent off a couple of neutering vouchers and dropped another one off round the corner.

There will be no more entries for the next ten days as I'm off to Lanzarote for a week from tomorrow. See you later.

AND ON THURSDAY, I...

Pick up a young female for neutering and here she is.

A nice little thing with a faint cry.

Back home and after a swim, trip to the post office, and  to Asda for diesel, I settle in for the morning to do a preliminary sort of what I'm taking to Lanzarote but I'm interrupted by a phone call telling me that no-one can get into the shop because the shutter fob and front door key have not been left at the shop. So, a quick trip to Big Ian's to get his keys and open the new electric shutter. The new front door, however, poses a problem as no-one can get the key to turn, though someone eventually does manage.

By the time this is all sorted, it's just about time for me to pay a rare visit to a pub at lunchtime. The occasion is the 60th birthday of my ex-library colleague Ashley, a lovely man  who's also a carer for his elderly mother. It's a quickish one pint job. Home for lunch and a nap then over to Carol's with the now neutered cat where I take some photographs.

This friendly little thing has been re-homed in the three hours since I left Carol's.

Here's another photo of Ginger the shorn and neutered tom from the previous post. He's a bit depressed at the moment but should pick up in a few days. You can see his bald patch quite clearly.

Here are some more.

He's still settling in. The next one is of two semi-ferals. They won't take your hand off if you stroke them but they don't like it.

And last but not least, some else who's had his fur shaved. He's an oldish cat but a real sweetie.

ABANDONED CATS

This poor soul was dumped on Carol after he had been found wandering the streets of Southwick and was in a terrible condition. His fur had matted into thick spikes sticking off the top of his body, he smelled and he probably had fleas. I took him to Roker Park Vets on Tuesday morning where, after an examination, he was left to have his matted fur removed and then neutered. If you look carefully you can see that he had a shaven patch on the top left of his back. He also has a lot of flea dirt and has been treated for that. The vet says his teeth are good and he's probably about five. He looks and is depressed but should perk up once he's settled in at Carol's.

This morning I came back from having a coffee in town with ex-library staff to find a message from the shop about a pregnant cat being dumped with someone. I rang the someone who said that he'd found the cat in a cardboard box on his doorstep and his sister said it was pregnant but he couldn't look after it. I suspect that may not quite be the real story as it isn't unknown for us to hear porkies (pork pies: lies) from people who want to get rid of their, or maybe a friend or relative's, animals but say they'd found them. Still, it's the animal which counts.

I checked with Carol that she'd take it and called round. The cat, barely more than a kitten herself, was sitting relaxed on the top of a couch and barely reacted when I picked her up. He nipples were swollen so she was definitely pregnant (6 weeks Carol reckoned). At Carol's she was placed in a small shed with one other occupant -a four month old kitten wanting a new home. And here she is.

Pretty, isn't she?

I'll report on her progress as I can't imagine her being rehomed until her kittens are ready for homing as well. I hope to have lots of photos of her and kittens over the next few weeks.

DOGS: LITTLE LOST LURCHER

It wasn't lost, it was dumped because it was a he and no good for breeding. He was found wandering around and taken to Carol who immediately contacted me who contacted Andrea and then I went to get it to take it to Ferryfarm Kennels where the following photo was taken. Only about 12 weeks old, all legs and shaking, I gave him several cuddles before I left.

Next morning,Graham, a rep from Everest, came (at Susan's request) to sell us some double glazing and he turned out to be an animal lover who, at some point, might be interested in fostering a dog and would call in at Ferrfarm to check things out later that day.

That afternoon, Andrea and I picked up the puppy (which Andrea named -yuck!- Rupert) and took him to see Honour at Vets4Pets. He was in a happier mood than the day before, wagging his tale and jumping up at us. In the van he settled happily on Andrea's lap -on the way back, he curled up on it and fell asleep. Honour checked him out, declared him generally healthy, apart from a small heart murmur which he may well grow out of, and gave him an injection.

Back at Ferryfarm, Graham had arrived and took to the puppy immediately and yes he would foster the dog. He'd keep it with him in his car when he drove to appointments, which is nice. We sorted him out with food, a collar and bedding,noticing that Rupert was no bother at all on the lead and didn't pull. He's a sweet natured dog and we'll have no problem finding him a home. I suspect Graham would probably like to keep him but he spends most of his spare time aware from his home where he lives by himself.

**********************************************************************************

What else have I been doing?

The usual mix of taking cats to the vets, tip runs, sending out neutering vouchers, getting cat food. I visited one house where they'd just taken in a youngish stray but had never had a cat before and was able to give them some advice as well as a voucher -nice family, lucky cat.

Followng a great re-homing run, we've now had a run the other way with unwanted cats filling Carol's shed. That's the way it goes I suppose.

The shop has been shut for the last two weeks as we've been having a new front put on, electric shutter installed, massive redecoration, followed by a stock re-organisation, and a demand from the council for an application for planning permission for the shop front.

A FEW APPROXIMATE FIGURES

It's nearly the end of the financial year when we start totting up figures and presenting statistics. In my case, this means counting up all the cats rehomed by adding them up on the adoption forms, then trying to remember the cats which didn't have adoption forms filled in for them and also the cats fostered out as some of them are on a long-term basis like Florence and Lester.

So, the provisional totals are:

Neutering: 80

Re-homed: 76.

I think that's pretty good for a small charity..

BONNIE

Twelve years ago on a mild Spring Saturday lunchtime and Susan was standing in the street talking to Anne a neighbour when a scrawny cat with hardly any fur on her back and tail appeared. It was in such a state, Susan carried it into the house and gave it to me to look after as she was off to see her mother. I fed her, made a fuss of her, and cleared up her vomited after she'd gobbled down too much food in too short a time. She was also in heat. Within a week we'd had her neutered and de-flead -her condition was due to a flea allergy. When Anne first saw her she called her the ugliest cat she'd ever seen. I named her Bonnie. The vet thought she was about three years old.

She didn't like our other two cats, Lucy and BB,  and spat at them and they soon learned to keep her distance. I sometimes called her Miss Hiss. She did like affection from us but generally for a short time, although the periods grew longer as she got older. Her dislike for other cats remained unabated and the others we gradually brought home a few years later all learned to keep a respectful distance as Bonnie only attacked if they got too close. Susan and I loved this scrawny idiosyncratic bundle and I confess she was my favourite.

About a year ago she started to lose some weight and I suspected she was on her way out but somehow she stabilised and carried on as usual, scaring the other cats and putting her paws on either side of my neck when I picked her up as if she was cuddling me. In early autumn last year, she started disappearing for days, often staying out overnight. Then, abruptly, she must have decided the weather had grown too cold for wandering  as, until last week, she hardly left the house. And then she was off again. 

This week, on Monday, she disappeared and didn't come back till Wednesday teatime, not long after Susan had knocked on some doors in the next streets whose gardens we were sure she'd been visiting. She disappeared under an armchair and stayed there, eating and drinking little, until this morning when she came out to lay in sunshine streaming through the windows. When Susan got back from our charity shop this lunchtime, she thought Bonnie's breathing seemed laboured so she got her an apointment with Honour at Vets4Pets late this afternoon.

Honour checked her out, x-rayed her chest and found a mass that was pushing Bonnie's lungs up against her spine so that she could hardly breathe. There was only one solution and so I held her as her breathing slowly subsided. Because we loved her so much we had to let her go.

AND WE KEEP A-ROLLING

And the cats keep getting re-homed. A week ago a young gay couple took a surly young black cat and then returned for my favourite, Gobbolino (above), despite getting scratched by the black cat which has taken up residence on the windowsill above the washing up basin and regularly swipes at them with her claws. Two alpha-females in the same house should make for fun.

I took a young tom for neutering yesterday and he was picked up from the vets by his new owner.

The feral kitten which Lynn has domesticated was re-homed last week and has settled down well.

A scrawny and friendly 6-month old grey which was found roaming the streets at Dawdon near Seaham is getting a new home this afternoon.

And then there's-

-Lucky whom I took to Roker Park Vets this morning for firstly checking for FIV (feline AIDs), neutering, and then his teeth seen to. Sadly, Lucky was not well-named as he fell at the first hurdle. He did have FIV and was put to sleep.

Mind you, the first I heard of this was around 2.15 this afternoon when I rang Roker Park to see when I had to pick him up. What followed was a misunderstanding that lead me initially to believe that Susan had authorised this -she hadn't. To cut a long story short, the vet had rang Carol and, as Lucky was an older cat which had had a rough time recently until rescued by us and several other problems, she went along with his recommendation. He was only going to get worse and no-one wanted to take the risk of him infecting other cats.

The reason I only found out about this later was because after dropping the van off, I had to rush into town to see the dental hygienist at 9.30 and typically didn't get seen to until 10.00 followed by a quick march to a cafe in The Bridges Shopping Centre to meet my ex-library friends Denise and Sylvia (as I do every Wednesday morning) and, latterly, Phil the recently retired Local Studies librarian, for coffee. It was nearly 12 when I got back home and, during a very brief encounter with a rushed Susan, she completely forgot to tell me about Lucky. Communication is not always our strong point.

Tomorrow morning I'm dropping off Kaiser at the vets for 8.30.

FLORENCE

This is Florence, the one that had been hanging around a Seaham factory site with some ferals which, luckily for Florence, were being fed by a lady I've helped before. She realised Florence was different because she was friendly and contacted me. Her fur was in a terrible mess so we booked her in to be part-shaved. She now looks like a badly cut long-haired poodle if it was a cat. Like the photo only with chunks of fur missing.

Unluckily for Florence, the vet found a lump under one of her nipples so she had a partial mastectomy and the lump sent away for analysis. The lump turned out to be malignant which means that it might be spreading or that it might reoccur in the same place. If it doesn't happen again then there is a good chance she will have to be put to sleep.

Luckily for Florence, she isn't going to spend what may be her last few months stuck in a shed with several other cats. Rachel, who took in Lester (also possibly with not much time left, see earlier posts), has taken Florence. I brought her round this morning where Florence showed what a lovely natured friendly cat she is. Rachel is doing a wonderful job fostering older cats with a limited outlook -one just died recently, making space for Florence- giving them a caring comfortable home for their remaining time with us. Long may she continue to do so.

CAT UPDATE

I keep telling you that we're on a roll with regards to re-homing cats, even though that does sound like tempting fate, but we really are. The brother and sister pair in the previous post (photo immediately below) were barely with carol for 24 hours before they were re-homed. They gone to two women, who've been together as partners long enough to have had a cat which recently died aged 16, and who live a nice area. Carol tells me that they are lovely people.

I rang Jamie, their previous owner, to tell her the news and reassure her that they had indeed found a lovely home together. Apparently her boyfriend was going to ring to ask to be kept in touch about them. Needless to say, Jamie was very happy and relieved with my call.

I love a happy ending and, one of these days (hopefully soon), I'll get my finger out and tell you the story of Aslan and his new home with Tara and print some of the many photos she's sent me.

TUESDAY 16th MARCH: DIARY

Supposed to be a quiet day.

Just after 11 in the morning I got a call from a young woman who was allergic to one of her cats which shed a lot of fur but she didn't want to separate him from his sister -both neutered, both friendly, both good with kids. She'd called the shop a couple of weeks ago but got a very snotty answer which upset her so she'd tried putting them on the net but no answers and finally rang me out of desperation. After 38 years of working with public I have developed, he wrote modestly, good people skills and quickly reassured her. I called Carol immediately, she could take them, and rang the girl back to say I'd be round shortly. The cats were as advertised and here they are at Carol's.

Mid afternoon I went with Carol to pick up a dog from Ferryfarm Kennels where we board most of our rescued dogs to pick up a -gasp- dog to take to Vets4Pets. This one had been re-homed with someone and twice it had been found wandering the streets and returned to us. There won't be a third time for this guy. He's a nice friendly middle-aged collie cross and here he is.

Back at Ferryfarm I had the opportunity to meet and photograph two lots of lurcher-cross puppies. Two were crossed with a saluki -we had the mother there, and the rest I've no idea as the mother is a lurcher and here they are. The lurcher mother first and then some puppies.

After dropping Andrea off at home I had to go round to Mark's house -he of the one-eyed cat (see recent posts)- to feed said one-eyed cat, Charlie, and change his litter. Mark had just gone into hospital that same day -the Freeman in Newcastle- for a triple bypass, so I'll be doing this for a while.

I would have been taking Kaiser the rottweiler back to the vets this morning (Thursday 18th March) but it clashes with a doctor's appointment. Pity because I'd like to see the dog again but I'm sure there'll be other times. Prior to typing this, I'd been swimming as usual and then up to see to Charlie who is an amiable placid cat. Must take a photo of him for the blog.

Tomorrow morning it's two cats to the vets for checkups (see recent post for last Friday). But today, after my trip to the doctor's and as Susan is at work and hasn't given me any jobs to do, my time is my own for once.

Damn, just remembered. Got to clean the cooker, one of my least favourite jobs.

DOGS: KAISER UPDATE.

The ab

The above is from Saturday's Sunderland Echo and is a piece about the proposed legislation against 'dangerous' breeds. Andrea and Susan were interviewed -like many, they think the new laws would only hurt conscientious dog owners and make no difference to those at whom the legislation is aimed. Tying in with this is Kaiser's story (he's above with Margaret -not Mary as I said in the previous piece- as an example of a so-called dangerous breed.

My view is, as a generalisation, that there's no such thing as a dangerous breed only a stupid owner. That said, breeders can force inbreeding on dogs which can physically and mentally damage them. But a normal healthy dog, irrespective of breed and properly trained, is not dangerous.

I also read a piece on the Daily Mail Online this morning where a rottweiler stopped a woman -not his owner- from being raped in a park. It chased off the woman's attacker then circled the woman and his owner guarding them against any further attack. Good boy.

Post script


This appeared first for some strange reason in my Freethinking blog. Don't ask me why because I don't know.

DOGS: THE KURIOUS KASE OF KAISER THE ROTTWEILER

This is not Kaiser. I did not have my kamera with me.  Kurious and Kase are spelled with a C and so is kamera. The case is not curious. It is not a case.

Good to get that out of the way. I mentioned the dog in a post last week. For the last few months, he's been hanging around Hendon, accepting food but running away from any attempt at physical contact by a human being. Until last week when Mary, a friend of Susan's caught the dog (which she's named Kaiser, duh). Last night I was asked if I would take it to Vets4Pets today. Of course I would. Then I was told that Lisa the experienced pet taxi lady couldn't get it into her taxi. Susan told me to tell Andrea to bring a muzzle when I picked her up.

Oh yes, this was going to be fun.

At Mary's, when she opened the shutter in the back lane, Kaiser was standing up with Mary holding his leader. when he saw us, he promptly sat down on all fours, one big immoveable dog.

I made friends with him. Well, I talked to him, I offered my hand to his nose, rubbed his ears and under his chin, petted him. Kaiser just lay there. I went behind him and touched  him and he suddenly jumped up and charged out of the back yard and almost bumped into the van. Mary got in the van and Kaiser sat down outside it. Again I petted the dog, then touched its back and it suddenly jumped up again and scrambled into the van where it stayed for the rest of the trip to the vets.

It got out of the van easily and voluntarily and it wasn't much harder getting  him  through the door. Once inside he sat down, again the immoveable object. But without too much difficulty we got him weighed and into the vet's room for checking over. He may have a pulled muscle in his front left leg or possible a small fracture. Either way, he got and injection and Metacam painkiller and we're bringing him back in a week. Throughout the vet's examination he sat without  either moving or reacting.

I think he's been so traumatised by whatever happened to him that he's sunk in depression. The whole time I was with him, he never showed the slightest bit aggression. But then he showed no interest in anything at all except perhaps for Mary.

At the other end, Mary climbed out of the back of the van and Kaiser stayed where he was. So I climbed in and once again showed my legendary skills* with dogs. By gently tapping on his right hind leg he got up and got out, lunging into the back yard and making straight for his kennel.

More fun with Kaiser next week.

* This is a lie. My skills with dogs are not legendary. As far as I'm aware I do not have any great skills with dogs. But I am comfortable with them, know how to approach them, and can generally understand their body language to an extent that I rarely even get barked at by a dog.

CLEARING OUT THE GARAGE AND...

So we had to clear out and tidy up the garage because our niece Sarah is going up to Edinbugh to take up a shiny new post with a finance company with megasquillion euro turnover and susan's offered to store her car until she needs it in our garage which is full of charity shop stuff, bedding for Carol, stuff for the auction rooms, cat and dog food and much more. And that was all one sentence.

So we did that. Then I took a pile of stuff to the shop, some to sell, some to store (Carol's cat bedding), and picked up several large black sacks of rubbish to go to the tip along with stuff for the tip from the garage.

Okay.

Then I had to go to Tracy's at Burnhope (see recent post) to collect a cat I'd taken her last week which was pining and wanted to go back to its tiny flat on the 12th floor of a Sunderland tower block. Fair enough. Also a couple of neutering vouchers for two toms. However, I clearly wasn't listening to all the information from Carol as when I got there, Tracy was keeping the cat which had finally come out of its box and had started socialising with the other cats and I was supposed to phone her before I left.

It wasn't a complete waste of time as the vouchers were supposed to be for females so I changed them. Also she had some new cats in which were lovely and I wanted to take home, particularly two young female tabbies which the vouchers were for. Annoyingly I'd forgotten my camera. Tracy also gave me some useful advice on subject that is still not for publication.

Got a Big Mac on the way home and napped for two hours.