One of the nice things about having a sleep-over is that there is a good chance you’ll be sleeping with your friends. Okay, you don’t get much sleep – or it is interrupted – but these negatives are nothing compared to the positives, such as the pleasure of novelty and the joy of being kissed and cuddled all night (not to mention the added bonus of keeping warm – the bigger the body next to you, the better!).

I slept over at the farm last night and just before going to bed I had a message from Rosie:

“Big kiss to Sash. She always looks so sad when I go.”

“I’ll bring her in with me!” I wrote back.

In fact, I had already been looking forward to taking Sash to bed with me and putting her on her own special pillow. Besides which, the king-sized four-poster bed has ample room for two, three or even four – but not five – we tried it one time and we were all overwhelmed.

Intelligent Sasha came willingly into my arms, no doubt anticipating a night of blissful togetherness, and I carried her into the bedroom. We were both a little surprised to find that Inca had beaten us to it and was sprawled over the bed. She looked at us with imploring innocent eyes.

“Okay Inca,” I answered her look, “but move over and make room for us.”

Sash licked my hand while Inca made do by wriggling into a comfy position against my legs and we slept in peace and contentment, with only four interruptions – three for toilet excursions and one for letting Hunter the cat out.

Just before dawn Malaki and Jaz awakened me with kisses – one on the hand, the other on my chin – and, assuming they all wanted another toilet trip, I went through the lounge to open the side door. They didn’t make a move. Five pairs of eyes just stared expectantly at me.

“Oh no, I’m not ready to get up,” I said, and they dispersed to their various mattresses on the kitchen floor, apart from Sasha who came back to bed with me.

No sooner had we got into our sleeping positions – I on my back and Sasha in the crook of my arm – than Inca bounded in and jumped on top of me; she licked one of my cheeks and pawed at the duvet covering me, trying to make it more comfortable. Thank Heavens, after a few minutes she relinquished her territory in favor of her former spot beside my legs. Wise old Sasha made a sweet little noise denoting her sheer delight and even Inca, young but gaining experience, realised that she had taken the term “sleep-over” too literally.