Ming the Merciless - October 2004

I’ve was wondering why all the humans’ belongings were boxed. And then it happened, the ceremonial shoving of me and winnoo into cat boxes. Was it a trip to the V.E.T ?... no it was another move. But this time it was only 15 minutes in the car... the last move being 25 hours, the crossing of two national boundaries, all of which turned into a major competition in leg crossing.

So here’s our new view. Actually it’s a great improvement from Uig but best of all we get to spy on the village people!
The views of the Treshnish and Mull are spec-catular, that is when Mull is visible – an obvious place for a windfarm, a nuclear power station, a plasma fusion reactor and a CO2 sequestration facility... no one would ever see them through the rain.
So, a couple of catcam picies to show you, one of the last yacht of the season? with Lunga and the cliffs of Mull in the background


and another of the fire station last Saturday,



a rare sight as the firemen worked. Sorry, that should read... as the firemen worked furiously to clean all the island’s cars on a sponsored car wash. Coll has never been so shiny. And yes, that is actually JA carrying a bucket. Wot a photo journalist I am, capturing the rarest of events.
Anyhow, I have to go as there are new smells to investigate and the Hotel’s cats Tutti and Fruiti to frighten. Are they male or female? Are they friendly or foe? Are they really living next door and can I creep into the bar to savour a pint and join the growing band in the campaign for real ale on Coll?

The humans have been away, off to see the trees or something strange. They said the autumn colours up the Great Glen were trippie… oranges, reds, yellows and lots of it. God, they’ll be knitting yoghurt next! I can only imagine as I’ve only lived on islands where autumn doesn’t happen. One day there are leaves and the next they have gone.

The day they returned was beautiful and I managed a quick snap of their boat.

No idea if it’s actually their boat or if it belongs to some ancient race of water travellers. As a simple cat I just don't do water. Still, LOTI looked nice against Mull as she swept into Arinagour. And just to the right was a moody bit of light on and behind Fladda (photo) and Lunga.

I hear lots of birdies nest there in burrows. They must be particularly dumb and easy to catch, perhaps there is something in boats after all. I bet the cats there are fatter than even Tutti and Fruiti from the hotel !

Talk of the moment is the influx of thrush like things from Iceland (even though Iceland’s a banned word).. I’m told they’re redwings. And waxwings from the east.

I like waxwings cos they’re pretty, not that I really care what my food looks like. It’s the flavour and easy of catch that really matters.