Miki has her feet up whilst The Stig has been busy.

Well, it's been a funny old week. We start off with a nice social barbeque and then it is change from there in.

First an old friend and teaching colleague died. She was one of those energetic, make-things-happen type people who, although 85 years old, had seemed indestructable until her stroke late last year. So , when she died, it was a release for her as she would never be the woman she had been, the way everyone remembered her. She had planned her own funeral, down to the last word, and when the hearse rolled away, no-one was allowed to accompany her to the crematorium, but instead everyone, family included, had to repair to the Parish Hall for a good, old-fashioned afternoon tea and chin wag! What a way to go. Happy journey, Betty.

Next, my uncle rang to say that my uncle in Sydney was dying. This was a sadness as everyone loved Uncle Bill. And the next day he died, and, as I have no address, I can't send my commiserations. I know he did not need to suffer, but I will miss him.

In the midst of all this it is time to remember that Miki has been with us for one whole year, endearing and enlivening our lives and shaking up the cat world forever! it is sad that she's ended up being Tabasco's replacement rather than his companion and torment, but she's certainly changed the dynamics of house and garden.

And to everything there is a season indeed. After a week of extreme discomfort and Jabba the Hutt-like profile, the Easter guinea pig has finally given birth to the Stig's first offspring. There were four babies, though one was born dead, and they're desperately cute! We're so used to the harlequin colours of Twistie's children that these new solid -coloured piglets are quite a novelty. Two are chocolate and one is dark grey. One of the chocolates has a little dribble of cream down his nose!