London Calling...

So far so fabulous!

Before anything else, know this: Sara is a patient, generous, wonderful host.

Okay, I was a smidge exhausted for a few days: 'normal' until an attack of the Flumps would have me napping on the sofa quicker than you could say 'beer o'clock'. But mojo was gradually restored. Treaty food; beers out (peroni and staropramen on tap - luxury!); much catch-up. On Saturday, after lunch and a farmer's-in-bunny-ears [= "farmer's"] market, where we finished with a rum punch [note to the folk at Casey's :-)] we meandered on to the V&A to visit Grace Kelly's purdy dresses and unfurl some stories of the quilted kind. And there were fairies, yes indeedey. Even a West Cork varietal.

Flash back to Ferry Night: I had bought a book for the crossing - The Sun-Fish by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin. (In college, Eiléan was my lecturer, then colleague and internal examiner for my PhD.) I was curled up, shattered; feeling... at sea, quite frankly. And I read the first poem in her collection, which was about setting out: 'Leave behind the places that you knew: All that you leave behind you will find once more...'

There's a storytelling cat in the poem (naturally). The final stanza is:

The story the cat does not know is the Book of Ruth
And I have no time to tell you how she fared
When she went out at night and was afraid,
In the beginning of the barley harvest,
Or how she trusted to strangers and stood by her word:

You will have to trust me, she lived happily ever after.

Obviously, I read the words like they were written just for me. If Eiléan had appeared and repeated these words in person - direct, half-smiling - they couldn't have felt more personal.

It was always going to be a leap of faith :-)

Kitties on Parade

I'm in London: unpacked, fed, warm in the company of the very lovely Sara. Still tired, but that's getting better. Thanks to all for your good wishes over the last few days - they meant the world to me.

The drive from the ferry went well - I took a brief detour to Bath, where the kitties went for a wander in a very dinky Queen's Parade and got to glimpse the Royal Crescent.

Yes, I know how loopy it is to let out cats en route anywhere. I'm not sure why I trust them to return, but there you go. On arrival in London, the vet's advice was to keep them in for a full week. We worked a little ahead of schedule (11am this morning).

Introducing the kitties to the Lovely Cat of the House has been... colourful, but getting better. All napping peacefully now :-)

Anyhoo, I am doing photos in reverse order, so here's the kitties on their Road Trip.

Road Sense

So, the trip went well. The kitties walked in to their own travelling cage this morning and watched me close the door without so much as a mew.

I, of course, took this as a sign of good things to come.

However, when the cage moved to the car, the yowling commenced. Figuring they'd run out of steam eventually, I set off.

I caved after an hour of solid noise and ever-increasing distress (for most of the hour, I was wishing that someone had invented a feline calpol). And then, I did the potentially most stupid thing ever, and unlocked the cage in the car.

Max settled on the back window and watched traffic for the next four hours (and brought a smile to many a driver); Dubh slept in my lap. A journey of ease and contentment.

I'm conscious that it could have been the most embarrassing death ever: 'Woman dies in car accident; new heights of stupidity scaled'. However, it worked out, and in Dublin the kitties made friends with the kidlets, and all is well.

And now to work...