The Cat and Sprocket’s kittens continued their exploration of the garden. They were now used to climbing the lower section of the olive tree to reach the water tank, and were familiar with most of the garden and the trees.

Their next adventure was the vine which grew against the garden wall dividing the garden from our neighbours’ aviary. It was a sturdy, old vine with a thick stem and thinner shoots – here Big Bang and Prince were planning their assault.

The aviary roof and wall were quite high and could be accessed from the garden in two ways. The first method was to jump up onto the garden wall from the plastic crates which acted like a step, and then jump up again to the aviary roof. The garden wall was always a popular spot as the cats and kittens could look out over the fields, or back into the garden (as Snopake and Prince are doing here).

The cats could also clamber up the vine which took the cats directly to the top of the aviary, which was covered in chicken wire. Here Little Bang is on the corner of the aviary, watching the activity inside.

Access through the vine was not ideal for larger adult cats, but for kittens it was perfect. Once the kittens were on the aviary roof, they could walk round the edge (some of them disliked the feel of the wire under their paws) and look over the fields, or they could walk over the wire roof. Little Bang was feeling very grown up on the day he discovered that the roof was safe to walk across.

Often the cats and kittens would sit and stare down into the aviary, transfixed by the birds, whiling the time away. Everywhere along those walls brought great views and it must have seemed like a different world, looking out over the garden and the fields.