Wednesday – It is pitch black! The cats are loaded into their cage in the back of the car, along with some of our more delicate possessions including my Mitchell Turntable.

So we set off driving along the dark deserted streets of Melford whilst being serenaded by both cats, something that Nimbus managed for the entire 700 miles! Although to be fair we did have a few blissful moments when he decided to have a sleep to build up his strength for the next onslaught! Phercad settled down after about four hours either that or we had become deaf! Boy can that cat yell!

The vet had given us a calming spray for the cat’s bedding and also some drops that can calm them down, however these drops smelt and probably tasted foul, so getting these into them was not a task for the faint-hearted, we hadn’t packed that many bandages!

Around 9 am we stopped in a large lay-by that we knew off the A66. This lay-by is popular with the lorry drivers as it is big enough for a dozen of them to park there and there is also a rather good cafe there. As we pulled in, ahead of us, parked up, was our Pickfords lorry, with the driver having his breakfast. After a brief chat we decided to order a couple of bacon rolls, feed the cats and set off on our way again, we had to reach Inverness that evening as the cats were booked into a cattery there. This would be their first time ever in a cattery and we didn’t know how they would take to it.

We arrived at the cattery which was down a dark lane to a remote ‘Hansel and Gretle’ type cottage. We were greeted by six cats who proceeded to climb over the car. I’m always concerned when visiting cat breeders as they can be a strange bunch and I assume that anyone running a cattery would be from a similar mould! We were presently surprised when a normal looking lady in her forties approached us and admired to two, now silent felines in our car. I think Phercad and Nimbus thought that they had probably pushed us too far this time with their yelling and in Nimbus’s case his attempts to escape through the inch square holes in the cage by grabbing on to anything he could reach, which normally meant ending up with half a rug or a coat being pulled into the cage.

The lady took us to the accommodation for the cats and our two settled in very quickly which was a relief. We then drove a mile or so back down the road to our accommodation. This was at the The Old North inn this has recently changed hands and whilst it was not an amazing place, the staff and customers were very friendly and although the chef was off ill, they still were able to offer a selection of meals for us to choose from. We both went for the safe option of Scampi and Chips which turned out rather good, so after a beer for me followed by a small whisky and a couple of glasses of red wine for Anna we retired to bed, Tired, dazed and with the serenading noises of the cats still ringing in our ears.