Birdy rules OK

 This photo and the ones of the puppy were taken by:

Jacqueline Rackham Photography

Birdy rules OK

Birdy sits on some books on my desk, right?

but not set out for her right from the start,

it turns out that she is a smart little mite

having worked her way right into my heart.

When she came to my garden as a stray

I shoo-ed her away with noise and a frown.

She brought me a mouse as a gift one day

determination from her tail to crown.

She glared in my eyes and said “Feed me bitch”!

an understanding between us soon grew,

daily food was her tapestry’s last stitch

now we know quite exactly who is who.

Follows me everywhere, quite devoted

making it most clear, what is her need,

communication vocally noted

“I will start purring, when you get my feed”.

Birdy has lived with us now for well over a year and come Lockdown time, we included her. She complained bitterly about not being allowed out in the garden, up on the wall and away over the garage. She has got used to being a house cat now and on odd occasions when she does escape, she stays close enough to get her back with a shake of the treats packet.

When she first appeared before she moved in her coat was unkempt and she was twitchy and ready with the claws. Now she has a silky shine to her coat, the fleas all gone, and she is a purr machine. There are window seats for her in almost every room. I have bought a cat harness from Amazon and have done nothing so far except put it on her for five minutes a day when I do nothing but stroke her and give her some treats. So she can see that no harm comes of it. She pretends that she can’t walk in it, and flops on the carpet and plays dead, but she can get up and walk, if there is a treat involved. My hope is that eventually she can come into the back garden while I de-head the roses and geraniums etc. I don’t want to lose her.

Lockdown has changed us both, Birdy and me. Things will not be the same for either of us; she will not be a wild thing left to fend for herself, to kill or be killed. 

As for me, I will know for sure that I do not need a lot of the things that I thought I would miss at first stages of it all.

I don’t need to go shopping.

I don’t need to go to the cinema.

I don’t need to go out to dinner

I don’t need new clothes; the ones I have will see me out.

That is set in stone inside my head.

I don’t need rude, bad mannered and bad tempered people.

I don’t need to hug everybody! I am working on a new ward off stance.

The hug may take some time to be re-introduced, if it ever is again. Yet the telling thing about me is that I will still want to test myself with races but everything is a bit out of focus and way off on the horizon right now. It will also be very nice when I can baby sit Jeffrey, my daughters the still quite young puppy, who I have not been able to have much to do with at all during this time. I have always been the emergency dog sitter in the past with previous four legged family members.

 

It has not been a hardship staying in the house but then, my husband and I actually LIKE each other, we are best friends. Neither of us has been unhappy. Worried of course, that there has been no income and business might not ever get back to normal, who knows? We have not got on each others nerves, at all; the extra time together has been enjoyed.

We have partner shared our every other day running, in the first light of dawn. This morning we ran eight miles through the woods and the Garmin Forerunner, (that we are now slaves to), told us at the end that it was the best 8 mile run of the year. But it can actually only the best of the lockdown of which there were six 8 milers in all. With all the running being alternate days that means 4 runs in a week one week and three the next week, although the GF does the last seven days if that is what you ask. Previously we were only doing one 10 km, a five and couple of short ones before that, so our weekly mileage has grown quite a bit and the quality massively improved. Something positive from and uncertain time.  

Slowy does it