Wednesday December 31st

Unaware that Daisy the feline fiend is watching her through the banisters a few stairs up, Isis asks with two sharp barks to go out.

Daisy doesn’t care for barking. She  yowls piercingly close to poor Isis’s ears. She follows this up with a very loud, menacing hiss.

Isis hears the menace but doesn’t know where the sound has come from. She promptly pees on the hall carpet.

Who can blame her?

Saturday January 3rd

We settle down with our wine and very large slices of Christmas cake.

“Poor Isis,” says Polymath soppily. “She should have a treat.”

“She’s had plenty,” I reply meanly, a second away from my first sip of wine.

“She’s been running on the beach for an hour and a half and it’s very cold. She’s hungry.”

I place my untouched cake on the tall trolley nearby and make for the kitchen. On my way I hear a shriek from the front room.

The infinitely stretchy Isis, standing on her hind legs, has grabbed my cake. By the time I reach the scene she has devoured it and returned for the plate.

Oh dear, all those raisins.

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.com