The kitts! Welcome Gomez and Mooney!

Sophie wasn't working from home today as normal because she's hosting a Halloween quiz this Friday, which is the 13th. Spooky! She had asked us the questions last night when we were sitting in the kitchen and it was brilliant! Her presentation on PowerPoint was great, and we did quite well, although some of the questions were a bit taxing!

She went off to the gym as usual this morning and I managed a lovely lie-in until 8am. Keith and I had decided to set off at 10.30am and go to Jones's before picking the kitts up at 1pm. The weather today has changed from the warm sunny conditions we've had lately, and it was grey and wet when we set out.

We drove to Jones's and I realised we hadn't been for ages. Normally, we visit in August to see if they have the Christmas stuff in (always) so we were expecting lots of seasonal goods on display today. Unfortunately, the buyers at Jones's have gone over to the dark side, and there was hardly anything available for cats... it was all about dogs! Everyone seems obsessed with canines at the moment! There were no cat bowls, only one type of open litter tray and a couple of toys, and that was it! I was very disappointed!

I had a look at the Christmas cards to see if they had my favourite Peter Pauper cards available but even they had disappeared! No wonder we haven't been for such a long time! We paid for the few things we'd bought - a bed, some toys and a fragile litter tray - and decided to pop into the new Lidl at Duston.

We were able to buy a bag of litter in Lidl but there were no cat bowls. I did manage to find a food mat and some treats, but that was it. We had no choice but to go to Pets at Home on Riverside as we were too early to set out for Buckingham.

We should have gone to Pets at Home first, to be honest as they had everything we needed, and more! We bought five food and water bowls, more treats and toys, and a scratching post as I do not want the cats to start scratching the sofa as Monty did!

At about 12pm we set off for Buckingham and decided to try the A508 again. Foolishly, I drove into Roade and discovered the road was closed out of the village. We headed towards the villages of Ashton and Hartwell and followed diversion signs, but we came to a road closure again! It was a good job we'd allowed ourselves plenty of time!

Back onto the A508, we skirted Roade and headed towards Milton Keynes going through multiple roadworks on the way. We arrived at April's house on the dot of 1pm and she led us around the back of her house again. Amazingly, as we went into the shed, the kitts came rushing up miaowing, as if they knew we had come back for them! How lovely!

We put them into the cat carrier (thank goodness we hadn't sold it at a tabletop sale a few years earlier!) and set off for home. They were extremely good and didn't make any fuss at all! As soon as we got home we let them out of the carrier and let them explore at their own pace. I fed them and we put down the litter tray in the conservatory. They seemed to be very happy in there and neither of them tried to hide, which was a good sign.

The rest of the day was spent catching up with the usual chores, so we were very busy, but we managed to find the time to sit with the kitts who were so affectionate! I don't remember Archie and Monty being so relaxed when we first brought them home! We have called the cats Gomez and Mooney and they are proper witch's cats!

I kept Sophie up to date with what they were up to and we can already see their own characters coming through. Mooney is the bigger of the two cats and has three white hairs on his chest. He is more timid and nervous than smaller Gomez who loves exploring and is extremely affectionate. We can see the differences now, which is a relief!

Sophie couldn't wait to get home and see them and we sat in the conservatory with them for cuddlies. They will soon get to know all our cat words, such as "furry bellies", "grub grubs" and "kitts"!

It had been a very busy and hectic day and we decided, foolishly, to cook savoury mince crumble for dinner along with tons of vegetables! Anyway, we managed and also did the shopping list ready for tomorrow. A new litter tray was the top priority as I had already cracked the one we'd bought in Jones's. I'm not looking forward to the litter tray being out for the next 4-5 weeks but they will need to stay in until they get used to the house. I can't wait for the first time they go out into the garden, though, and see them explore!