Cats were also fed in another garden which was across the fields behind The Cat’s garden, so when three adult cats arrived together from that direction, we assumed that they had come from that other garden.

These cats seemed accustomed to having humans around, although they were not overtly friendly. Two of them had longer fur and really fluffy tails, and the third had a shorter coat. They arrived together and headed straight for the feeding bowls under the pomegranate tree; maybe they (or at least one of them) had visited previously and knew where to come.

The first to be named was Ghost Cat, a fluffy orange-and-white cat. We had originally seen a fleeting glimpse of her out in the fields very soon after we lost Visitor Cat the month before, and, as her profile was so similar to Visitor with that distinctive plume of a tail, we had already named her Ghost Cat.

The second name was easy. BBC. Big Black Cat. The other black cats we were looking after had shorter, sleeker coats, but BBC’s fluffy coat made him look bigger. So BBC it was. He was curious and wary, but seemed placid by nature.

And the last of the trio was Thundercat, a young adult orange-and-white male. At first glance, we thought he was Lightning who had lived in the garden for six months a couple of years earlier, but on closer inspection we realised it wasn’t him. So, in homage to Lightning, we called him Thundercat. He was the most wary of the three.

All three settled into their own routine and, after a few visits when they came together, started to visit independently. They fitted in well and became familiar faces at feeding time.