Apologies for not emailing sooner but we have been enjoying each other's company.  We thought we would let you know how our cat got on after leaving Avon Cat Rescue…well…first we had to decide on a name and as the ct had adopted or become best buddies (partners in crime) with our two year old boy, some of the suggestions she made were not really appropriate to be calling up the garden!  Then we had a phone call from our nephews to see how the cat had settled in and we recounted of how he had come and had a good examination of the house and then decided that he would grace us with his presence and sit on our laps - across all three of us!  After this he went off exploring again and when we could not find him we looked and looked and he had squeezed into the tiniest of gaps and we believe he was chasing a spider?  When he realised we were watching he came out and smooched around our legs before disappearing off into another small area.  That's it we all said at once, Merlin as he is a magician and can squeeze in anywhere and disappear.  Well, talk about sixth sense; he came every time we called him (except when our boy was tempting him with a toy mouse on a string!).
After two days he had settled in and had become part of the family, even going up to welcome guests (all of whom are cat lovers).
Christmas was special and we all had a giggle and I don't know who had more fun with Merlin's presents … him or our Simon!  They were both equally tired after running around the whole house chasing toys with each other.  Merlin has made himself Simon's protector and sits and watches him sleep and occasionally squeezes onto the end of his bed and then gradually takes half the bed up until Simon fidgets.  Merlin also proved himself to be a snow babe and was out chasing snowflakes and leaping into snowdrifts in the garden and running around Simon's feet whilst we tried to build a snowman.  He has proved himself a skilful hunter and brought us lovely presents of a live mouse (which we could not catch so resorted to asking Merlin to catch it and then we carried him and the mouse out and releasing it), a fledgling and lastly a live bird.  The bird was hysterical as Merlin had released it under a large wooden trunk and did not realise we had shooed it out and whilst we tried to capture it we had to ask Simon to keep looking under the trunk with Merlin to make him believe it was still there.  Doing this allowed us time to release it back into freedom and fly away - ahh!  He also loves to chase insects and I dread to think of how many he has caught and eaten for a snack.
It has been great in the sun as Simon and Merlin play a form of chase the ball off the slide and hide in the tent and just generally run around the garden playing tag in effect.
Merlin has a good appetite and when he thinks no one is looking he sunbathes on the garden table.  He has settled into the family well and has become a well-loved member of the family and extended family.

We are glad he was found and made his way to you or we would not have had the pleasure of his company and humour.

We have had Millie and Thomas since 3^rd May.  They are settling well, enjoying the full run of the house and love being outside.  They soon learned where the food is!  Millie, who is the smaller cat, eats a lot more than Thomas. They love to play together and sometimes get a bit rough with one another.  We were very happy to give them a home after recently losing our old cat to ill health.  She, like 3 of our previous cats came from Avon Cat Rescue.

I am sure they are happy with us.

Jess (3 yr old black domestic short hair) came to live with us on 31^st July 2009 and from the moment she strode confidently out of her travel box, she made it clear that she was completely at home.  Our conservatory, strategically adjacent to the kitchen, was quickly reserved as her private domain.  She wasted no time in settling in and explored every nook and cranny, however small.  She adores sitting in our bay windows that overlook the communal garden.  Jess is also fond of our spider plants and we are fighting a losing battle trying to prevent their destruction.  This little cat, with a big personality, is bright, lively, incorrigibly curious, very vocal and above all affectionate.  We struggle to remember how life was before Jess arrived because she has brought so much happiness.  This adoption has been a great success and our only regret is that we didn't meet Jess earlier.