Meeting the parents!

For some unknown reason I was awake at 5.45am this morning, and after half an hour of trying to get back to sleep, I gave up and went downstairs to see the cats and have a cup of coffee.

I was glad I was up early, though, as Vikesh and his parents were coming over in the afternoon and bringing some Indian snacks to have with a cup of tea. I made a start on the cleaning, and together with Sophie helping. by lunchtime the downstairs of the house was looking lovely. I had opened the windows to get some fresh air in, even though it's been much colder today. I did not want the house to smell of cat litter!

Vikesh and his parents arrived at 2pm and brought a whole array of savoury foods for us to enjoy. We had pancake rolls, samosas, chickpea balls, spicy bhaji-type things and a delicious, steamed yellow cake that was liberally sprinkled with coriander, and was lovely eaten with chutney.

Both cats behaved beautifully and were happy to be picked up and stroked, which was great. I did wonder if they would run and hide with so many new faces, but they revelled in the attention and Vikesh loved having them on his lap.

Sophie made a delicious masala tea and we had a great afternoon chatting and laughing and getting to know one another. Outside, it was lovely and sunny which warmed up the conservatory so we didn't need to worry about the heating. We are going to have to make some decisions about the cats being out here soon as it will be too cold.

Vikesh and his parents stayed until about 5.30pm and after they'd gone, Sophie and I played cards and relaxed. We ordered a Chinese takeaway for dinner but cut down on everything as we had eaten quite a bit this afternoon!

After our meal, we watched the end of The Creature from the Black Lagoon and I looked up the main actors to see if they were still alive. Unfortunately, they had all passed away even though they were so young and vibrant in 1954. The man who was inside the Creature costume was very handsome, but would have been in his 90s if he were still alive!