Let’s go back to the first Spring without The Cat.

Her daughter, Flora, had taken over the mantle as matriarch of the garden as Whitefur (The Cat’s oldest daughter) had stopped coming to eat since she moved to the fields on the opposite side of the road. But The Cat’s family was still very much in evidence and now encompassed several generations.

Flora was not a friendly cat. She tolerated the humans and would probably have preferred that food appeared magically on its own, and without human accompaniment. She was very nervous and developed itchy rashes when she was stressed, which were a source of great frustration to the humans as they were unable to do anything to help. Even trying to put a topical flea treatment on Flora turned into a major battle and was well-nigh impossible.

The oldest of The Cat’s offspring still coming to the garden to eat was Flora’s older brother, Blackfur. His brother and sister, Greyfur and Whitefur, had made the fields opposite their home but Blackfur preferred to stay on this side of the road, having almost lost his life in an argument with a car when he was younger.

Flora’s oldest surviving daughter that spring was Pippin, who was the last remaining of her litter (they are pictured together in the header photo). And Flora’s younger daughter Satsuma, pictured on the right, who was a year younger than Pippin, was a female orange-and-white cat – not the only unusual thing about her, as she had been born with a stump for a tail. Pippin and Satsuma were friendly and had gentle dispositions. Pippin was close to her mother and they spent a lot of time together.

Satsuma’s sister Swift was a calico cat and her character was more akin to her mother, Flora’s. While she was not unhappy with the humans around, she was an independent spirit and preferred no interaction.

And then there were Satsuma and Swift’s brothers, Dandy Grey and Checkers. Dandy Grey had a sweet disposition, like his sister Satsuma. He was a clever cat and cautious around the older males.

And Checkers was probably the son of BBC (Big Black Cat) as he was the only one of the litter to have a fluffy coat and BBC’s plume of a tail. Although Checkers was very wary, he had a look in his eye as though he really wanted to be friendly but just couldn’t bring himself to be.

Much as The Cat would have hated anyone to know she was a great-grandmother, there was no getting away from the fact that she was, as Flora’s daughter Pippin had a son, Pascha. Being partially sighted, Pascha did not roam as far as some of the other young males, and still viewed the garden as his base.

It was easy to imagine The Cat lying on the water tank or in the long grass under one of the fruit trees, watching the comings and goings, and she was never far from our minds.