I was invited to judge at the Hinterland Allbreeds show on Sunday, and also invited to their pre-show dinner on Saturday night. I tossed up whether to attend the dinner, or stay home and get an early night, but in the end my sociable instincts won out and I went along.

And I am SO glad I did! The show organisers had prepared a little surprise for me, in the person of anonpussynamer who had driven up, along with her husband and friends, for five hours to attend the dinner and show. I had no idea they were coming up; they managed to keep the secret for a couple of months, apparently. Earlier on Saturday I had been replying to comments on APN's facebook page, still with no clue I'd be seeing her later that night.

It was a brilliant surprise, a good dinner, and a lovely day the next day. I had thirteen cats to judge; not a huge amount but enough to provide a bit of competition while still allowing me enough time to talk about each one. Fell in love with my Best Kitten, a gorgeous little cream mackeral tabby boy with a solid body and a smug expression, whose father was a British Shorthair who managed to find his way into an Exotic girl's pen. Oops! So he's a Companion cat, not a pedigree, but the cutest little guy ever.

And got kissed all over my face my anonpussynamer's wild child, a Turkish Van/La Perm cross with the wildest coat and a nature to die for :-) . What a little purr-bucket.