Tuesday 11th August 2020

Anyone else still typing 201 before realising it's 2020 now? I mean the year, the decade is eight months old now, I should remember at some point!

Things move fast, and during Tuesday, Jools' offer to drive to Bolton to collect Sylv to come down and be with Jen was considered and accepted. Jen's niece is coming down from Fleetwood, also in the Jelltexaudiwagon.

Jools is to leave at six on Wednesday, drive to Bolton, stay at Sylv's, then to Fleetwood in the morning before returning home during the day, maybe getting back at about four in the afternoon.

The upshot of this is that I am to be home alone, and I/C cats and kittens.

So Jools spends the day making arrangements, then going shopping so me and them mogs don't starve in the 36 hours we'll be alone.

And it is still hot.

We get up at five, and after feeding and clearing up the poo from the night, we sit outside to drink our coffee in the cool morning light. There is a light mist rising just before sunrise, if only it could stay this way all day.

But it can't.

Jools goes for a walk and I think about phys. But not too hard. I will start again next week. Probably.

I go to the garden to pick raspberries and loganberries for breakfast, to go with the last of the strawberries. I mean, if someone told you on a fine summer morning, you would be in your own house, picking home grown raspberries for breakfast? Isn't that living the dream?

It seems it is to me.

I cut the strawberries up, then divide them and the raspberries into two bowls, clean the coffee pot and get it primed, so at eight, once Jools is back and I have had my morning meeting, we can sit outside and eat in the warm sunshine, before it gets too hot.

And then, to work.

The back door and the door into the kitchen is now open, so there could be cats meeting kittens.

Which would be interesting.

And indeed, at one point, Scully comes in to see Cleo looking back at her. A grown kitty cat and her kitten dopelganger. They stare at each other for a full five minutes, then both walk away, slowly.

And that was that.

Poppy is more skittish, trailing in Cleo's wake, always with a huge look of surprise as her pupils are always wider open. She is totally back, so there is no hint of a mouth or nose, just a dark shape, and those eyes.

Cleo goes outside.

Comes back in.

Goes outside again. A little further.

Comes back in.

At one point I see her go out but not come back, I worry we have lost her.

The smell of a fresh poo from upstairs showed she as back inside.

Then trots back outside on another exploration. She slinks from hiding place to hiding place using her patented stealth technology, though each time she is a little more bold. Just a shame about the random pooing.

I find a recipe for flavoured infusions of whisky. I cut up two banana and a vanilla pod and put into two bottles of blended whisky. Will be interesting, and I hope tasty.

The day passes.

We are to have dinner at Jen's. Options were discussed. But Chinese agreed upon.

But there is a problem, I have arranged an orchid meet for half five, but I am sure we'll be ready in time.

So at five I drive off alone, as Jools had given into the heat and had a snooze. She would deal with feeding the four cats, and I would do the orchid guiding thing.

I arrive at Barham and wait for the four orchidists to arrive, and once they all did, we drove in convoy to the woods, parking on the hard standing. Before gathering up their gear, i just had my compact, and we took the long path up the down, through the undergrowth to the beech wood.

I show them most of the spikes, and we talk orchids. Of course.

The orchids are wonderful, just rising from the woodland floor, looking like ghostly BLH, and each attended by a drunken wasp.

As it should be.

At six fifteen, I say I have to go, and walk back to the car. I say goodbye and I am gone. I am home in double quick time, at twenty to seven, but the food was delivered to Jen's five minutes ago.

So Jools get in and we head back to the A2 to Whitfield, where Jools doles out the mountain of food, leaving enough for Jen to have for lunch on Wednesday.

I pour wine.

And we eat.

And talk.

Time passes, it gets dark. And cooler.

But the day is at an end. We drive home. Clear poo, and sit outside some more. It is dark by nine now, but cooler.

It seems a shame to go back inside and climb the stairs were it is ten degrees warmer in the bedroom.