We have a household of sulks and dis-satisfaction. Poor Roly is most perturbed by the presence of our two interlopers and is spending a lot of his time outside the house to show his disgust.

Sheba has been in a bad way, even before the pups turned up. She had been attacked by something and had several punctures and swelling on top of her head which had in turn caused an abscess to form immediately above her eye. My beautiful cat has been feeling very sorry for herself and looking like a one eyed monster, although yesterday the abscess burst and the swelling has started to retreat and we can see our beautiful and demanding moggy returning to form.

Sheba wouldn’t allow an ‘ugly’ photo to be taken, so here’a one I took earlier.

This morning the pups got me out of bed at 5am, demanding to be let out for a wee and their morning helping of milk. I took myself back to bed when they had been satisfied and waited for Liana to wake me up with her morning call for breakfast. It was gone 8:30 when I next woke – with no prompt from Liana. Very unusual. Normally if breakfast has not been served by 7:45 she acts like the ‘snooze’ control on an alarm clock, with increasingly urgent reminders every ten minutes!

All became absolutely clear when I finally opened the door to feed her – I could see from the door step that she had succeeded in her life’s ambition to break into the feed room. She had pulled a full bale of hay into the middle of the yard and done her best to make it disappear.

Eating too much hay did not overly alarm me, but the thought that she had also helped herself to grain and pellets (that require hours of soaking in water before being served), put me in a panic. As I neared the stable I could see her lying down which added to my fear, as horses with digestive issues will lie down to ease their discomfort, but actually need to be on their feet and moving around.

When she saw me she immediately got to her feet and on inspection of the feed room I could see that not much harm had been done. Just a little grain eaten and no pellets. What a relief! We have kept a close watch on her all day, but she seems fine – she is just feeling very full up and tired from lack of sleep. And maybe a guilty conscience? – no, strike that thought – she is more likely to be feeling absolutely proud of herself!

Who? Me?……. No, you must have left the door open!

Well, what do you expect – you know how clever I am!

She managed to twist and remove an unlocked padlock and then pull back a bolt in order to open the door. So now we shall have to start to lock the padlock at all times (which will be very inconvenient) as there is nothing more sure than, having succeeded in her quest to ransack the feed store for a midnight feast, she will try to repeat this act of brilliance at every opportunity.

That will teach you to put me on a diet!!

Nine days on from their arrival, the pups are doing very well. They are free to come and go from their box during the day and are almost no trouble, although they remain very time consuming – largely because I find them increasingly irresistible. They are less desperate for food as they get older and now wake up quietly, wander onto the newspaper for a pee and wait to be offered their next meal, rather than waking and instantly screaming like a flock of seagulls as they did for the first few days.

So, although the puppies have not managed to charm either Roly or Sheba, they are doing quite a good job with David. I think he has moved on from ‘tolerant’ to ‘slightly fond’ of our house guests.