I’ve wanted to show you this for a long time, but sometimes it’s hard to capture the moment.  I’m off work today, and it’s raining, but it’s not all bad because at long last I managed to snap a photo of Alleycat exercising his prerogative and lording it over the contents of the communal water-bowl.  Many a time, when Bernie and Lucy are parched and need a drink, Alleycat gets to the water first, and once he’s there he settles down for a long leisurely drink and the dogs have to wait their turn until Grand Master Alleycat allows them to approach. The dogs are patient, dutiful creatures and they understand Alleycat’s pre-eminence.  Pink has her own ideas about that, it has to be said, and she imagines she’s at the top of the pecking order (which in a way she is) but she relies on Alleycat to keep the peace in the house and who knows where’d she be if she didn’t have Bamber to patrol the fences and keep the Six Foot clear of encroaching cats and wild, ungovernable marauders.