On this Sunday I reflect on the many Sundays over the past decade that I gave to volunteering at the local cat shelter, before finally “retiring” at Christmas.

I am back in 2002, the year I started there, and its summer that felt as if it would never end, sunny day upon sunny day like a stack of dominos waiting to fall in to a winter that just would not come.

Bubble and Squeak were two of my favourites, brown and white kittens of around three months old. Squeak really did squeak, demanding attention and bouncing with joy on to your knee. Bubble was quieter, hiding in the scratching post and timidly accepting attention with caution in his eyes.

Both were rehomed together, so I wonder how they are now at 12 years of age? I hope they, too, enjoy many memories of a happy life. I am sure I will still recall them at the end of mine, sitting staring out the window of a nursing home and musing on these feline frolics in the photo album of the mind. Will my memories mutate by then, embellished by the imagination of time? Or will Bubble and Squeak still be in my heart, as they were then?

Tessa is happier than ever in her new home. “Your mum bought this place for you, Tessa,” a guest reminded her with amusement on Friday night.

So we gear up for the big adventure outdoors, a life as an indoor only cat soon to be reborn…

We are watching new friends from a distance. Mr Sleek Grey is a regular, a noble grey puss with shining eyes and a silken coat. He was playing with leaves on our lawn today, little knowing a captive audience beheld his every move.

We are blessed to share our lives with these others, their antics only serving to enrich our minds.

I believe that cats were sent to teach us, these intelligent souls have so much to offer mankind, loyal but independent companions. May our pets live on forever…

… a new era of freedom.

Two weeks in to our new home, my beloved Tessa looks with intense interest at our garden: a simple piece of lawn crowned with small patio, but to us even simpler souls it is a little piece of paradise.

Tessa has always been an indoor cat. Her outdoor adventure is soon however to begin: supervised at first, bedecked in a harness, but we will take it slowly from there. One day the grand goal of a CAT FLAP may arise.

What joy, to allow an indoor only cat her first taste of real nature (mixed with some inevitable trepidation in case she runs off…).

But for now, we melt in to the moment and enjoy a present tense of new house, new territory and a new lunge at life.

I happily lost many hours of my life at the cat pens: but they are not lost, they are diamonds in my hands as memories sift through them. 2002, so long ago but so near in clear recall. Pip and Lucky, coaldust black kittens with rare jewels for eyes. How I loved them, they reminded me so much of my childhood cat Emily. They were playful but not mad with mischief as some kittens are; theirs was a contained adventure, timid paws patting the raw delight of life.

Lucky survived to live his cat’s tale; Pip passed away soon after rehomed, I believe it was a car accident but could be wrong. I hope her days at the pens filled her short life with the love and affection she so deserved; happy memories to be with her in the everafter.

Tessa’s sleek black fur shines in the winter sun, as her eyes dance with timid curiosity. Why all these visitors? Who are these people who I have never seen before – and I sense will never see again? Change is rising on the horizon, and inevitability is in the air, times are turning, turning in to … what?

Tessa does not know yet, but she will be moving house, to a larger space hopefully with garden to roam in.

Her lottery ticket to a better life is spinning.

Slowly Tessa licks her fur, and quietly ponders her feline fate.

Soon … her destiny will dawn.

… but may animal rescue shelters continue forever.

Yesterday after 11.5 years I concluded my time as a Cat Pens Sunday volunteer. The final cats I cared for were as ever lovely each in their own unique way. Meaw, grey puss with mysterious eyes, vortexes speaking of other worlds … Fudge, tortie and white delight, ready for some affection. Oscar, a black and white being of joy and playfulness. Dill, grey giant of dignified gait, enjoying a leisurely stroll in the outer corridor. Kaikee, quirky and exuding character, a black beauty with a home lined up already. Finally Leon and Khan, two pretty females who adore (head kissing) each other.

An end of a feline era, and the beginning of new ventures on a Sunday morning: writing my feline inspired children’s novel, progress now to be charted each week.

And more cat pen musings to come: as over the next few weeks I embrace nostalgia and remember some of the more colourful or just simply adorable previous Cat Pen residents.

Christmas is a time of caring and festive fun, so let’s not forget our feline friends at this special time. Their hearts are of honey, sweet souls who crave affection. So a very special hug filled Christmas to Mum’s cats Edgar, Julius and the dignified Rose, who have turned today in to a miaew medley of musical magic, a cat’s guide to harmonic companionship. To all cats everywhere, a very happy feline festive period, may your purrs fade in to forever.

Peace has painted a pattern of quiet joy around the pens, an invisible web of delicious destiny, a future to yearn for.

For homeless cats are being homed! For the first time ever in my 11.5 years of volunteering, the cat pens were half empty on Sunday. The vacant pens were full of the promise of a better tomorrow for all.

The cats who were there: Libby is as adventurous (and still a litte bit hissy) as ever, a handsome dark dilute tortie who needs a large garden if not fields to enliven with her frisky presence. Molly (pure white cat straight from a painting of feline perfection) and Milly (gorgeous tabby) enjoyed a stroll in the outer corridor. Newbies Twinkle, Star and Comet played to their heart’s sweet content for as long as I could let them in the corridor; they are all tabbies of various description, one fluffy, one short-haired with some white, and the youngest (still a kitten) complete with stripes and spots.

I look forward to next week when we undoubtedly will have a full house again!

… sleeps with the finality of feline abandon, a state of infinite relaxation beyond many humans.

She is deep in this tranquil paradise of feline cares: one day, I dare to join her, and forgot this earthly strife.

But for today, I will just watch, and smile.