Cat nap 2

Once again we are moored in the middle of nowhere, but this time we have no idea where nowhere is. It is now 11.30  and Sadie has done another of her overnight disappearing acts. She was last seen around midnight when she brought back a gift of a very fat mouse, with which she was sent out with again. We are getting fed-up with these gifts, particularly when they are alive and very lively. The boat has many nooks and crannies, now probably full of mouse communities. The myth that cats keep houses mouse-free really is a myth. We started our Sadie search in warm sunshine and recently gave up in heavy rain. We have left our phone numbers  with the nearest residents we could find and will get a taxi back later if necessary, otherwise we will stay here until she returns.

1730 and we're still here. however, we've discovered our present middle of nowhere is actually Coven Heath. In fact the two houses our cat search took us to this morning ARE Coven Heath. The village of Coven is about a mile away and somewhat bigger, having a Co-Op, Chemist and fish and chip shop to It's name. Also a real butchers that sells books as a sideline. The local beef today was longhorn from a nearby village. A local sweet corn field is guarded by CCTV, which tells you a lot about today's society. I checked a boat moored about half a mile back on the canal for a confused black and white cat but it was crewed by maltesers ( I'm not sure what the official term for someone from Malta is ). Their English and my Maltese failed to connect, but suffice to say Sadie was not there. I can only assume the Maltesers did not enter the country via narrowboat but I am sure The Australians would have sunk them mid-channel.

With my hatred of war I was naturally drawn to Ian Hislop's The Wipers Times on BBC 2 last night. It was a satirical newspaper produced in the Belgian World War1 trenches by British troops near Ypres which grew more and more popular amongst front-line troops and the British public. It was a brilliant idea and an equally brilliant programme and very funny. Catch up with it if you can. ( us Brits could not pronounce Ypres, hence the Wipers title )