One small cat changes coming home to an empty house to coming home.

A bag of apples, a pot of homemade jam, a scribbled note, a bunch of golden flowers, a coloured pebble, a box of seedlings, an empty scent bottle for the children. . . . Who needs diamonds and van-delivered bouquets?

A teddy bear is your childhood wrapped up in faded yellow fur, and as such, he commands affection long after he is out grown.

Kittens are wide-eyed, soft and sweet. With needles in their jaws and feet.

Give a pup a home and a little love and he will give you his heart forever.

A cat can maintain a position of curled up somnolence on your knee until you are nearly upright. To the last minute she hopes your conscience will get the better of you and you will settle down again.

Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, story-tellers, singers of songs.