No, not Britney Spears dropping another sprog.

This is our Abbie queen, Talia. Both cats are still being kept in, but late yesterday evening, I realised Talia wasn't to be seen. Looking around, there was absolutely no sign of her. Neither of us humans had been outside, or opened any of the external doors, since before she'd been fed.

So, same procedure as last year same procedure as last week. Kosh locked on his own in a bedroom, cat flap reopened. Sure enough, a few hours later, Talia wanders in with a mouse (live), which she then ignores in favour of real food.

Our conclusion is that she found the main bedroom window ajar (it was fairly muggy last night) and squeezed out onto the window ledge before jumping down onto the lawn. OK, that's onto nice soft grass, but even so, it's quite a drop, about 4 metres. And it's probably how she 'escaped' last time too, so she's doing it deliberately.

Bugger. We really don't like having to seal the bedroom in this heat.

Looking at the New Scientist web site, I see in the index of the forthcoming issue, this:

When the children you study unwittingly put their lives at risk, should you step in? Years after returning from Vietnam, Rachel Burr still lives with the dilemma

Now, I don't know how many Rachels Burr there may be in this world, but the only one I've met had indeed been in Vietnam. So full marks to me for spotting the name, when I was actually looking for something else. And simonb, pass my congratulations along on the publication.

(BTW, simonb - your lj user info may be a smidgeon in need of update.)