Saturday, 14 September 2024

Cats, cats everywhere, but not a one to cuddle!

Some time ago I'd bought tickets for a Cat Show taking place at the NEC in Birmingham today, so Sophie and I set off at 10.30am. I was allowed to drive Olive and we made good time on the A14 and M6. I'd pre-booked and paid for the parking and we took the shuttle bus to the arena. It was the second time of visiting for Sophie this week, and she pointed out the hotel where she stayed on Wednesday night.

Before we went to the show, we had a coffee and pastry in Starbucks and chatted about what we wanted to see. There was a talk on the hidden language of cats later in the day and I was keen to attend that. Sophie wanted to see and cuddle a Sphinx cat so we eagerly set off for the show with high expectations!

When we first entered the exhibition space we saw lots of stands selling cat food, cat scratching posts and different kinds of litter. However, it looked like you couldn't actually buy anything at the show except little key rings or trinkets. We wanted to buy some cat toys to take home for the boys but it seemed that most of the stands weren't selling anything directly. We had a look at a cat adoption stand and chatted to a woman who confirmed our belief that people do not want black cats... well, we do! But two is quite enough, thank you!

It was busy with crowds of people and some questionable smells wafting about. Hmmm! We made our way over to the cat village to look at the different breeds of cats, but the majority of them were in their cages sleeping. The ones who were awake were surrounded by a crush of people but they weren't really available to hold and cuddle, so that was a disappointment. Sophie did see a Sphinx cat and the owner said that the cat's skin felt like velvet, but she didn't offer us the chance to have a little stroke and find out for ourselves!

I'd definitely worn the wrong clothes today and I was hot and uncomfortable. We had to constantly dodge people and most of the stands were trying to sell different kinds of food, but we weren't able to buy any as I think we had to take out a subscription. Not with our fussy cats!

I'd been surprised to see people leaving the exhibition as we went in but I think I understood why - only half of the space had been taken up with the show and it was all a bit underwhelming! We decided to leave and drive to Farndon Fields near Market Harborough for lunch!

We arrived at about 2pm and we were seated immediately. Both of us chose salads - Sophie opted for the chicken and bacon salad with croutons, and I decided to have the grilled halloumi with pickled red onion, sundried tomatoes and a garlic and herb dressing. The food was good, but my salad was drowned in the dressing and I couldn't finish it. 

After we'd eaten, we wandered around and bought some treats. It was too early for the display of pumpkins but there were some Halloween sweets and chocolates for sale. We paid for our purchases and drove home through the beautiful countryside, enjoying the sunshine and blue skies.

Back home, Keith had gone to see Sileby so we threw open all the windows and I changed out of my uncomfortable top and jeans. Bliss! Why had we gone to see a Cat Show when we had our own lovely cats to enjoy?!

Our evening was relaxed and enjoyable and we found room for a Chinese takeaway later, which was delicious. We started watching The Pink Panther starring Steve Martin, but it was a bit too silly for us, so we switched over to The Last Night of the Proms instead, where they were playing... you guessed it... The Pink Panther!

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