I was given a cat yesterday

and it will require a lot of care.

No, it is not a "real" cat but a "thank you Cat" sort of cat. It may have taken an entire year to "get it right" but a ten year old needs "to practice and work out how to do it". 

I am not sure how many cats were made before this one was finally achieved but her grandmother told me "rather a lot". I am going to keep the cat nestled in the little box on the cotton wool sleeping mat it arrived on. It is fragile.

As more regular readers of my witterings may remember I try to provide "activity packs" for certain children of my acquaintance. These are designed to provide a few hours of peace for harassed parents and grandparents over the long summer holiday from school. Last year I added some polymer clay to the packs for one family and the cat I now own is the result of some of that clay.

The cat is about seven centimetres high. He is pale grey with pink ears and a black "moustache" for whiskers. His nose is a tiny pink triangle. Around his neck is a pale yellow collar. The collar has a bell - more pink. He also has a tail, a rather fragile tail. I will need to be very careful of him, especially the tail.  

If I can persuade Middle Cat to take a photograph when she is feeling more like usual self then I will try and put one up here.

Yes, it took nearly twelve months for the cat to reach me. Messages kept coming that the recipient of the pack was making me something "to say thank you". I had no great expectations but I am delighted.

Unlike us it seems the modern child is not expected to sit down and write "thank you" notes to everyone who gives them something. I am much more likely to get a message from a parent or grandparent. If I see the child they might be prompted to say "Thank you" by an adult. Of course there are children who say such things unprompted. They do get better at it as they get older. They come to realise that such things are simply regarded as good manners - and that the gesture might be repeated if they remember to say the two "magic words".

It doesn't take much to say the words but the "thank you" I was given yesterday was much more than that.