Saturday, 19 July 2014

No welcome home

We all crammed into the car to set off on the journey home today. I felt really sad to be leaving Lochinver and would definitely like to book the cottage at the pottery again. David Grant (the owner) came to say goodbye; he was telling us about the celebrations that are taking place next week to celebrate 40 years of Highland Stoneware - the guest of honour will be Princess Anne. The weather was fine and sunny, with no sign of the storms that were forecast. After a couple of hours (I agree with Ewan that it is a long journey home from Lochinver!) we all stopped for lunch in Inverness and Ally and Cat then went off to catch a bus to Invergarry. They still have another week of their holiday ahead of them with Gerry and Christine who have rented a cottage in Glenelg. This created considerably more room in the car, not because the very slim Ally and Cat take up much room, but because they took their big rucksacks with them, which they had been carrying on their laps because the boot was full.
The remaining three of us still had three hours of travel ahead of us, and by Perth it was grey and raining, although no thunder and lightning I'm glad to say.
But when we got home there was no Jack to greet us. The cat flap in the door is still, his bowls and rugs lie neglected, the whole house feels lonely without him. He will never walk casually round the side of the house again as we arrive home and roll around on the slabs so that we can pat him, or come running down the stairs when we open the front door. How can such a small cat leave such a big empty space?

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