Mostly I cannot wait for our winter sojourn, Portugal is such a wonderful country and the Algarvian winters are so much milder than England’s. However there is also a little sadness. As every trip we leave our cat behind. We have considered bringing Septimus with us for the winter months, but we would have to drive as I cannot bear the thought of putting him in a plane hold. And the drive is not a short one, we’d be looking at least two days on the road and probably three. So for the last few years he has taken trips of his own to stay with family or had the company of friends at home. He’s happy with both of those options but I do miss him loads. No wonder I can often be seen making a beeline for Portuguese felines. Just don’t tell Septimus!
There are not so many feral cats as there were a few years ago as the local authorities have finally undertaken comprehensive sterilisation campaigns, so most of the ones I say hello to these days have humans or at least are regularly visited. Which of course means they are more likely to say hello back!
