We enjoyed an early morning cream tea in a Craft Centre (a beautiful old converted church) in Dedham which warmed us up ready for a steady ramble across Constable Country to Flatford. This area was where John Constable and his family grew up. It was also his inspiration and many of his paintings were of the scenery around the River Stour. His father owned The Granary at Flatford and we saw the famous scene of ‘The Haywain’, which also included Willy Lott’s House. Willy Lott’s House featured in Constables paintings a lot and subsequently Willy became famous through this association. After our invigorating walk we enjoyed a drive in the country around some lovely villages - I have never seen so many thatched cottages as I have around this Essex/Suffolk border.

Compare the original painting with the real-life scene;

Skippindar the Punjab Kangaroo relaxing at home.

Wow, what a cutie! Skippy belongs to my friend Heather. Even though Skippy and I have never actually met, I like to think that we would get on well.

It was an uneventful journey down to Essex. We have chosen a field in Boxted which is a couple of miles from the town centre of Colchester, Britains oldest city that used to be the capital when the Romans had control. The castle contains a museum which is particuarly interesting and has a great collection of Roman remains, the story of Boudica - Queen of the Iceni tribe, beautiful original mosaic floors and an atmospheric prison keep. Unfortunately we arrived at the same time as a rabble of school kids who seemed to keep multiplying!

The town centre itself is pretty generic but it has a pleasant park surrounding the castle.

Our caravan site is lovely as we are surrounded by fields. The owners have 2 horses and it’s so nice to see them playing around together. Their son also has a quad bike which he rides around the field after school every day - it looks like great fun!

Mission Felis has now been completed - transporting 6 cats across London to a secret location. All subjects appear to be happy and settling in well to their new home.

Found possibly the best blonde joke in the world whilst browsing the net the other day.

Off on our trip once more and we have decided to continue our jaunt around the East of England. It makes more sense as we have several commitments around this area over the next few weeks.

We decided to reside in Cambridge and have pitched up on a farm about 2 miles south of the city centre. Mainly working at the minute but we did take a day to explore Cambridge - a historic market town. There are an amazing 26 colleges here and we were told not to leave without seeing Kings College and its magnificient chapel (although it is more the size of cathedral). The interior is extremely grand in its decoration and has the most beautiful fan vaulted ceiling.

After a wander around the grounds of Kings College, Trinity College and the small but thoroughly quaint Gonville and Ciaus College we headed to ‘The Eagle’ pub for a refreshing pint of beer.

The Eagle is famous for two reasons:

1) It was a regular drinking hole for Watson and Crick, who on the 28th February 1953 announced that they “had found the secret of life”, when they discovered the ‘double helix’ structure of DNA.

2) The RAF bar still houses the original ceiling where hundreds of British and American airmen signed their names with lighters and lipsticks during the black-outs of WW2.

Our evenings have been quiet - talking to friends or watching a film. We will eventually get around to learning how to play the Guitar and Poker - our resolutions for this coming year.

Up at 4.30am today - the reason for awakening at this unthinkable hour? We are helping our friend Jenny move from her studio flat in London to a 2 bedroom semi in Peterborough.

After a few false starts (she was originally supposed to move in September 2005!) the day was set.

Pete was playing the part of White Van man and did an admiral job of navigating the streets of London in the dark on only 3 hours sleep.

It took us about 5 hours to load up the van. This was mostly due to moving boxes, bookcases and a mattress down 6 flights of stairs - yes, it was a top floor flat.

It was hard to believe how much Jenny had hidden away in this tiny space and Pete had to flex all his brain muscles to fit everything into the huge van we had hired - but he did it - and will now be known as the Master of Packing.

Luckily that was the hard part over - driving to Peterborough and unloading was much quicker and easier.

We were back to the caravan by 9pm and slept like babies.

Working on computers all day isn’t very strenuous so it felt good to be physically tired for a change.

However one week on - we are still aching all over. I hope we recover before Installment 2: Moving the cats.

It was a hectic build up to Christmas but I ended up having a lovely relaxing time snuggling into my sheepskin rug at Nan and Grandad Clarkes with my two brothers and step-sister. It gave me a break from those two anyway and I was spoiled rotten.

I would just like to wish everyone all the best for a HAPPY AND PURRY 2006.

What a whirlwind trip it has been so far! It’s been great seeing some of the many sights that the South East has to offer and now is the start of a new trip around the East of England - I wonder where we will go?

Must go for my cat-nap - will catch up soon.

Lots of Meows

Boo xx

The lead up to christmas is a haze of driving, packing and visiting family and friends. I spent christmas in Sheffield with my family which was lovely as it’s been such a long time since we were all together. Pete was with his family in West Yorkshire and had a great time too despite much over-indulgence.

Spent New Year in London with our friends Ruth and Jenny. All a bit of a haze but we saw a great firework display as the bells gonged in 2006.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Spotted having a quiet drink in Gritti Palace on Hastings Pier - Ian Smith aka Harold Bishop in Neighbours. He was starring in the Panto ‘Aladdin’ at the White Rock Theatre opposite the pier!