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The nighttime rain didn’t materialise except for some light showers. I got up to bring my socks in from the washing line to dry. The van door was open all night so just the gate was closed. Only Charlie and Obi were outside and something interested Charlie at some point. I think the cats were a little active as I found things all over the storeroom floor in the morning. We wanted the cats to be around on Monday morning so stopped feeding them after Sunday morning.

I went out into the camping to the loo and discovered the fluffy cat with the bushy tail lurking when I came from the loo. I was a little unprepared so had left the cat box on top of the fridge/freezer. However, I put a bowl of food inside at the end of the box and stepped outside the storeroom. The Villain, as he’s affectionately referred to, obligingly went straight inside so I had simply to close the door behind him. The first and one of the potentially most difficult cats had been caught.

Our morning walk started with a little dampness for a few minutes but it wasn’t really trying. It was my first Early Walk in summer shorts and T-shirt and I wasn’t too cold except for when the wind got up a little near the end. I returned to the camping with all present and correct.

I walked down the camping to see how many cats were about. The two main targets were the two older males because of their aggressive behaviour towards the others. One, The Villain, had already been accounted for. George, the large, ginger Tom was nowhere to be seen and he was the other. The females with the kittens were easy as it was simply a matter of putting the kittens in a box and the mother would follow. One other female was also not to be seen.

The girls were soon out and about and had been tasked to find George so were calling for him as they walked. I caught sight of Moustache who was crossing the field. I intercepted her and she was quickly lured into a box by the twins and some sausage. We knew we could catch most of the younger boys so concentrated on the difficult ones first. I went off to Krios to inform Gregory that he could have his male dog, ‘Boy’ done the following day and had to be at the camping at 11:00 to be taken to the clinic. I then came straight back to continue the hunt for George.

Someone would come at 10:00 to pick the cats up to take them to Kalamos to the PAWS clinic. The ferryman was Rick who I’d met before under different circumstances returning Missie from her operation. I said she needed to get out but he didn’t listen! This time, there were only cats in boxes so much easier to manage. He had some empty boxes which we filled up with the remaining cats. Only George was missing…

As Rick drove out of the camping, George sauntered by wondering why there were no other cats in the camping I should imagine. I don’t know where he was but he wasn’t on the fence as normal first thing in the morning.

After some delay, I got to making my breakfast. There was also the question of the bread stuck in Elias’ pan which I eventually removed by destroying the loaf and removing some of the ‘non-stick’ coating of the pan. The dogs were very pleased with the bread.

Elias wanted the washing machine so I chatted to the French couple who arrived the night before whilst waiting for him. They later left as planned.

I actually got to eat my breakfast after a chat with Ursula who called to wish me happy birthday. The second caller of the day as Eleanor called whilst I was hunting for George.

It was now mid-afternoon and I found myself accosted by the girls who’d made me birthday cards which I admired accordingly. I later went down to chat to their mother. I was invited to join them for supper which actually took place in their van and not in the camping eating area by the BBQ. They had to take up and put away one of the beds to accomplish this feat.

It was a very enjoyable birthday meal which we followed by a walk on the Promontory with the dogs. They’d met Elias before but not the girls. It was around 20:30 so quite dark with the moon above. The girls each had a powerful torch so we had no problems seeing where we were going. Our walk included going over the rocks which took a little longer than the usual walk.

I passed on Heike’s messages of reassurance as well as a couple of photos of the mothers with their kittens. Elias tells me Fred is back but the mothers and kittens are staying the night.