Cat cuddles...

Mike left home again this morning but for good this time! He took his television with him, as well as a small table, and various other bits and bobs. Keith took him to Abbie's granddad's house as the van was arriving to take all of their stuff to the new flat in Southampton. It had been great to see him again, but he was looking forward to getting back to his job and his new life with Abbie.

Sophie and I were off to a Cat Cafe in Bedford with my manager, Sara, and Sheila who I also work with. We picked up Sheila at 11am and drove over to Rushden to collect Sara. Her house isn't far from Bedford at all, so it didn't take us long to get there. We parked in a multi-storey and, as we had a few minutes to spare, looked in a couple of charity shops. There were lots of them on the High Street!

We had a booking at the Cat Cafe at 12.15pm and we were ushered in and given a talk about the rules. They have ten cats, a few of which have medical issues (one only had three legs) and we were able to walk around and stroke them, but not allowed to pick them up.

Included in the entry price were various drinks, and Sophie and I chose a flat white... I was amazed this was included as you had to pay extra for a cappuccino or a latte! We soon realised why when our coffees arrived and they were just instant! How they had the audacity to call them flat whites I'll never know!

The cats were mostly asleep in beds in the window lapping up the sun, but a few did wander about. One of them, Steve, was very anti-social and wasn't at all friendly. He kept swishing his tail whenever we went near, and then took himself up to a high bed out of the way of everyone!

We sat and sipped our drinks and more and more people arrived so it was quite busy. We weren't allowed to go up to anyone with the cats, and they were being monopolised at the front of the cafe, so we didn't really get to interact as much as we wanted with any of them. As we all have cats of our own (Sara has four!) I felt that it was a bit of a pointless exercise! However, we did have a good chat, Sheila treated herself to a scarf and a bag as it was her (long-overdue) birthday celebration, and Sara seemed to enjoy going and stroking whichever cat was available.

I do wonder about these cat cafes, though. I'm not sure the cats really enjoyed the attention and a couple were determined to keep out of the way! Once our time was up, we walked down the street to a pub that Sara knew and enjoyed lunch - mostly wraps served with chips or salad. Again, we had a lovely chat and it was very relaxing sitting in a pub in the afternoon!

We dropped Sara back at her house and went in to see her cats (well, three of them). They were gorgeous! 

Back home it was time to relax and enjoy our Friday evening. Keith wasn't at the pub tonight but it will re-open tomorrow, which is good news. Sophie and I enjoyed a glass of wine and watched Desperate Housewives - a brilliant choice!