Surprise, Surprise

I wish you were here to see the faces of my parents on Wednesday. We got up and Richard had already left to "go somewhere". We told mum and dad that he had to go and help a friend and would be back before lunch when in fact he had gone to the airport to pick up my sister who was coming to visit and bringing her grand-daughter with her. He walked into the garden with one on each arm and my dad did a double take and then we went upstairs to mum who was dutifully mopping the stairs bless her and promptly shed a few tears. It was fantastic to have them here and even more special to have family being the first ones to sleep in "the room". It isn't finished but it is certainly comfortable enough. In all the excitement I haven't taken any photos of the room with some furniture in it, but I will do it later. Here is a photo of my great niece, my sister and me at the window of the room.

Our little Smokey is still being as good as gold and just loves being cuddled. I'm not sure what photos to post because I have taken so many. Perhaps this one which is really cute because it seems to show how young he is, because when you cuddle him, he finds a crevice and suckles, perhaps looking for his mummy's milk? How cute is he though?? We had a bit of a panic last night because when it was time for bed he was still outside. There we were out with the torch looking and calling but nothing. We carried on looking for him until nearly midnight and then decided it was time for us to go to bed, because in the end, when we are back in the UK for a couple of weeks, he shall have to stay out, the same as most cats in France. He is already catching various wild life and I can't get upset about it because it is only nature after all. I hope and pray he will still be here waiting for us when we get back; as usual the timing is really bad because we haven't got him here long enough to settle him properly before we go back on the 6th August. All our neighbours have promised to feed and cuddle him, so I'm sure he will be OK. We haven't had him a week yet but I would be heartbroken if he wandered off. I called in to the vet today to buy some Frontline and ask about him being neutered, also to check if he is chipped. The last photo is of my great niece with Smokey, she is having such fun with him and he is loving having a young person to play with. Well I will sign off now and I promise not to go on about Smokey again next time, it must be getting rather boring by now.