Rose’s last day at the Zedery

They do it to keep us on our toes, I’m sure of it. I’d resigned myself to the death of one of the black barn cats. It was so long since he’d been to be fed, I thought he must have been run over on the road. Although I couldn’t be sure that it was always the same black boy coming as I can’t tell them apart, it’s rare for more than two or three days to go by without them all turning up.

And then, this morning, they were all there. Just the same as usual, neither boy looking unwell or hungry or anything. So they were just being bloody cats.

The rain has been warmer today, so I did the weeding that needed to be done. I’ve got All the Veg, but two sorts of kale, spinach, Swiss chard and two sorts of lettuces need to be covered against chicken attack. Fleece is better than netting because plants don’t get entangled in it; but the chickens can peck through it and they ate a lot of my spinach after destroying the fleece. I’ve weeded and covered and am thinking again about a polytunnel, not so much for greenhouse purposes but as anti-chicken defence. But there is no rush and I had good advice a while ago, and will consider options.

Rose is moving out tomorrow, though she’ll be going back and forwards for a while to sort everything out. Wink is very happy at the prospect of moving in. We’ve discussed a checklist of what needs to be done in the meantime and she will visit for a week or two at a time until her official move.

It’s young Rufus’s birthday on Tuesday and he will be four. His parents hope that his nursery will open before too long so that he can see his friends again, because most of them are going to different schools in September. His parents wanted to buy him a bike and the one they chose was a nice one; ie expensive, so I offered to go halves, rather than buy yet another toy. We are meeting up at a local park on Tuesday and then it’s cautious open garden next Saturday, on the understanding that people don’t stay long so that there aren’t more than is appropriate at any one time. They have a decent sized garden with a separate gate so you don’t have to go through the house. It all seems over-cautious in one sense, because this part of the country has never been badly affected, but absolutely correct in another and we are conditioned to take no unnecessary risks.

All the same, a lot of people, including me and, to a lesser extent LT, were ill in the winter with a virus that we had never experienced before. We can’t help wondering if the bug was around and infecting people long before it was recognised, and only later changed into something that was a killer. I don’t know, but I do know that I was more ill in December than I’d been for over 25 years, and I had some symptoms that I’ve never had before and were those described by present-day sufferers. I’ve been that ill 4 times in my life over a space of 54 years, two of them being flu and one a chest infection, and this was different.

Rose’s cat Rummy came to be fed with the barn cats and I made a fuss of him. After breakfast tomorrow, he won’t do it again and he has no idea yet. He’s an alley cat at heart and, though he is pretty friendly on the whole, it’s only Rose that he loves. He does enjoy joining us for lunch, though, especially if there’s ham or cheddar on offer. I know what to take him as a present when I visit in future.

5 comments on “Rose’s last day at the Zedery

  1. Scarlet

    Lots of people have said this about the virus, that they think they had it at the end of last year. I wondered if my dad had it in November. The last words he said to me were: I’ve never had anything like this before and could you get me a box of tissues. Next thing is that I get a phone call and he’s been rushed to hospital. He was tested for flu but didn’t have it. Last time I saw him they were trying to ventilate him, but they couldn’t get his oxygen levels up, and then he died. I’m not sure if he knew I was with him. I count myself lucky that I could give him a proper funeral. It probably wasn’t Covid, but it preys on my mind. The thing is that before he died I had a weird bug that had no symptoms, I was waiting for it to turn into a proper cold, but nothing happened, obviously this preys on my mind too. It’s probably coincidence, but it is a horrible feeling.
    Sx

    Reply
    1. Z Post author

      Scarlet, I’m so sorry. That’s an awful thing to have happened and not knowing doesn’t help. I’m sorry for the loss of your dad as well as how it happened. I’ve looked back in my diary and I had lunch ten days earlier, on 25th November, with friends who work in London and were having a few days in Suffolk. I haven’t asked them if they were ill. I didn’t have breathing problems but I did get mild pleurisy.

      Reply
  2. Scarlet

    2019 wasn’t the best of years, and 2020 is a nightmare. Dad did have COPD and heart failure, so I think it’s quite possible for him to have had an ordinary cold – but it bugs me, every day.
    I have had pleurisy, years ago – very nasty.
    We will have to wait for the anti-body test to find out if we’ve had Covid – I probably haven’t, but it’s sounds like there’s a fair chance you have.
    Sx

    Reply
  3. Blue Witch

    Wink’s moving in? How exciting for you.

    Wishing both Wink and Roses well in their next adventures.

    Reply
    1. Z Post author

      I already miss Rose so much. She’s not far away, halfway between here and Norwich and we look forward to meeting soon. We’re really thrilled about Wink moving too, so there’s a lot to look forward to. I’ve got a list to work through and so has she, neither of us has moved for decades!

      Reply

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