The Cat was enjoying a more relaxed pace of life as Whitefur, Greyfur and Blackfur became less dependent on her; they remained loyal to their mother and they all spent time with her individually, although it was a rare occurrence to see all of them together these days. Here they are pictured all together on the terrace where they had all come one day to take their afternoon siesta in the shade (not forgetting that their proximity to the kitchen would alert them when the humans were getting ready to go down to the garden for the cats’ teatime).

Visiting Cat Kiwi was now expecting her family and, being a CH cat and not able to jump and climb as some others, she had hopes of raising her family in the safety of the garden. However, The Cat took a dislike to Kiwi and chased her out, leaving Kiwi to spend the first few weeks of her kittens’ lives under a prickly pear bush in the fields. When Stardust and Ariel were ready for weaning, Kiwi wisely brought them to the drive, avoiding the garden and the wrath of The Cat.

While this may have seemed unnecessarily harsh on the part of The Cat, she appeared to be relenting as regarded her deep dislike of Visitor Cat, and we were surprised to find Visitor in the garden one morning with her kitten Tiger. There had obviously been some overnight negotiation and Visitor and Tiger were allowed the section of the garden adjacent to the wall, the crates and the plant ledge where Visitor had previously felt safe. As the weeks passed, The Cat relaxed her rules and Visitor and Tiger had the run of the garden.

Around this time, Saturday moved on, so The Cat was doubtless happy to welcome a replacement orange gentlemen in the shape of Mr Bright, a sturdy, handsome alpha-male. He was to remain a regular visitor for the next few years, sharing the top spot in the alpha-male league table with NVQ.

The Cat was content; her domain was under control and she could relax.