I came home this morning to an empty flat. No friendly furry little face to greet me with miows at the door. No scampery legs trotting along beside me, putting him beneath my feet, tripping me with affection as he rubs himself up against my ankles. No jumping up for a tickle when I’ve dropped my bag and sat down on the settee.

Finally, Oscar is back home.

He didn’t have a good journey, apparently. Half way back he started to call, getting more and more urgent as every mile passed. By the time it had become a screech Sal was worried something was wrong, so wound up all the windows and let him out of his box so that he could sit on the back seat. He dived down onto the floor, though, and tried to pull the litter tray out from beneath the driving seat.

He couldn’t do it, of course.

When they got home, and took him out of the car, they discovered the problem. Poor thing had been so spooked by the hot stuffy journey he’d had a major accident in his box, and the movement of the car had got it all in his hair. She had to shower him when they got in. Cats hate water, but I bet he was as perfectly behaved as ever.

Mum told me this story when we went around for a barbeque this evening. We were sitting on the upper patio listening to the music from V2002. It’s amazing how far the sound travels. As the evening wears on the music gets louder and eventually you can hear every word with perfect clarity - from three miles away, at least.

Who needs to buy a ticket?

I thought it would have been a washout. It rained so hard last night that it woke me up - not bad considering even my alarm clock rarely wakes me. I had walked home during a gap in the storm, but all around me was the rumble of thunder and the exciting accompanying streaks of lightning. I must have been in a little pocket of dry surrounded by a curtain of rain.

By afternoon it had stopped enough for a trip into town, but by then the heat was back, and the air was damp and thick as the puddles evaporated, fading back into the sky.

Town was empty, perhaps because of the festival.

We should have one more often.

1. Cat
   Purr purr purr. I'm cat sitting right now, and as I semi-lay, semi-sit in bed typing this she's tucked up beside me, her feet and...
   
   
2. Something fishy
   The road has melted. I drove around to see mum when the sun was at its height and the day was so hot it had...
   
   
3. On the way home
   ...the train was full of guides and scouts. The front carriage had been locked shut so that only they could use it. They had booked...