I’ve held off posting this for ages, because I was hoping that the situation would change. But I know it won’t.

BBC first went AWOL about 3 weeks ago. After a week of searching we found him at the farm at the top of the hill where he catches rabbits. Newt brought him home (with a bit of a fight), and all seemed well for a week, then he went off again. We brought him back, and kept him indoors for 24 hours, but as soon as we let him out, he was off again. And this time he hasn’t come back.

We’ve had various conversations with the people at the farm. They started feeding him, because they thought he was thin, and there’s a lovely warm barn with hay bales for him, and apparently another barn with a heater in winter. Add that to the fact that there are people around to stroke him whenever he wants, yet it’s big enough that he can hide if he’s not feeling sociable. And then there’s the field. With all the rabbits. And all the other surrounding fields. And no doubt countless mice, rats and other small mammals to chase. It’s a kitty paradise up there, and frankly, having thought about it, I’m surprised he stayed with us for as long as he did!

I’m not happy to lose my Boo. I’m devastated, actually. But I’m trying to come to terms with it in the knowledge that he’s happy. He knows where we are, he can find his way back, so if it changes up there, he can always come back to us. And I guess that as long as he’s happy, there’s nothing I can do. I can’t keep him as an indoor cat – he’d hate that, and after so much freedom – as a stray, and now this – it would just be cruel. So, he’s made his choice. And we just have to live with it. At least he’s not so far away, and I can always go for a walk that way and see if I see him. And at least we won’t have the bunny carnage next spring.

So today I’ve changed all the ID chip and vet details into the new owners name. I just hope they love him half as much as we did – and still do. So, no more stories about BBC and his ratting, or rabbiting or vet visits. But I still have his photos – and there’s a link here. Please take a minute to look at a couple of them, and remember my Big Black Cat with me.

So it really is true, you don’t own cats. They just choose to live with you for a while.

On the 9th September, me, Newt and my parents went to the Last Night of the Proms in Heaton Park in Machester. It was quite cold, so there are some dodgy photos of me wrapped up in about 10 car blankets. The traffic jams getting into and out of the car park were ridiculous, but other than that, we had a great night.

The music was good (but we were at the back, so it could have been a bit louder for us really), and I got to sing really loudly (and probably very out of tune) and wave my Union flag to Land of Hope and Glory, Rule Britannia and Jerusalem. The fireworks display at the end of the evening was amazing – the fireworks were all choreographed with the words of Jerusalem. So, for example, when it was “Bring me my bow of burning gold” there were gold fireworks arching across the sky, then for “arrows of desire” there were loads of multicoloured fireworks, like arrows. Hard to explain in words, but it looked fantastic, and that alone was worth the price of the ticket.