I’m awake
14th December 2020
Hello? What? I’m asleep!
Well, I was asleep.
Hello Baby!
Wouldn’t you like to lie down next to me for a bit, and I’ll just have another snooze?
No? All right, I’m getting up.
I suppose you think it’s breakfast time?
Just give me a minute to get dressed. I know the badge that I need for today.
I wonder if there’s any food in the house.
We can always open a tin. Condensed milk, the very thing.
No, Baby, don’t lick the lid! It’s sharp!
Tasty, eh?
Now Baby, where’s your Mummy? She might like to have something to eat too.
I hope I haven’t been asleep too long.
Um! Um! Are you awake?
I wonder where she is.
Oh well, I’ll have a quick look at the post. I saw a lot of mail on the doormat when I got home last night. Or whatever night it was.
A pizza ad. A letter from the doctor. A letter from the Council. Another pizza ad.
A postcard from Viol Teddy!
I think it’s a picture of a Black Welsh cow, but the background looks more like Pakistan, or maybe India. So perhaps it’s a Black Indian cow.
Oops, better save Viol Teddy’s news for later.
I’ll find something safe for the Baby to play with while I put those scraps together again.
Please, Baby, let me have the bits.
It seems to have a picture of the sun… and a bird.
That reminds me that I completely forgot to say hello to our Stork when I got home from my trip. Or to the cuckoos. Well, it was the middle of the night.
I’ll go now and… Oh! They’ve gone!
The Stork isn’t on his hook,
and the cuckoos aren’t in, or on, their clock.
Of course, the weather is getting a bit cold now. I suppose they’ve flown off to a better, warmer, place.
The Stork said that he migrates to Mali every winter. I expect it’s lovely and warm there now.
When I was away, I couldn’t remember whether I’d said goodbye to them before I set off on my travels.
So I sent them one of my first postcards.
Let’s see what this letter says.
Oh Baby, have you eaten some of it?
Never mind. I think we’ve still got most of it.
Speak of the devil! Here’s a picture of the stork and the cuckoos flying off to the sunshine. Then they fly back to some daffodils.
I think the teddy is meant to be me. I see that the writer of the message rubbed that bit out a few times, probably trying to get a better likeness.
Lucky it’s not written in Bambara, or Songhay, or Syenara, or Tamasheq, because I wouldn’t be able to read that.
But I can understand this. I think it means “We’re off to the sunshine now, see you in the spring”.
Oh, Baby, what are you doing! Come down!
It’s up on the Stork’s hook. How ever did it get all the way up there?
I really don’t think I can climb up to get it down. I’ll put something soft underneath, that’s all I can do.
I’d better leave the rest of the post for later.
I know what we’ll do.
I’ll find the seashells that I brought home for my friends, and the Baby and I can go and deliver them.
Come on Baby, we’re going for a walk!
I hope its mother will have woken up by the time we get back again.
seeing my friends again
24th December 2020
Today has been a very busy day.
While I was at the seaside a week or two or three ago, I collected a lot of seashells.
At first I was just using them for decorating sand-castles.
But then I realised that they were the very thing to bring back as souvenirs for my friends.
So after I’d got home, and had a good sleep to get over all the cycling and the excitement, I put the shells in a bag and set off with the Baby to deliver them to my friends.
I didn’t want to worry them. I made it clear that I wasn’t expecting to come inside their houses.
I put their shell on the doorstep and stood back. Or two shells, in the case of two friends at the same address.
The Baby was very good. I think it likes being out of doors.
We called on Ted and Lopsy. They’ve moved into a new flat, so of course we had to go inside the building to get to their front door.
I’d forgotten to bring my mask, so I held my breath while I was in there.
Teddy opened the door when I rang the bell, and then dashed back two metres. He nearly knocked Lopsy over.
Whoooo. Now we’re outside I can breathe again.
They didn’t notice that I was holding my breath.
Hang on a minute, Baby, just let me breathe for a minute. In. Out. In. Out. Ah, lovely air!
Don’t cry any more, Baby. Lopsy is a very nice tiger, you don’t need to be frightened of her.
That’s it, no more crying.
But oh dear. I thought Ted and Lopsy would be pleased to have me back.
Why don’t they want to see me this week or next week, or some time soon? Why wait till after Christmas?
Right, Baby, this is Walrus’s house. We don’t have to go indoors here.
I’ll put the shell down so I don’t have to hand it to him. I think I can hear him coming.
Goodness, Walrus is very organised.
We went round all my friends’ houses. It was lovely to see them all again.
I think they’ve missed me while I was away.
Though they all seemed to be talking about Christmas. I suppose being stuck indoors because of the Virus, they have to look forward to the next excitement, even if it is a long way off.
They were pleased with my shells, and my bag got lighter and lighter.
But the Baby got heavier and heavier, and by the time I got to my sister Jenny’s house, I just had to take it off and give my shoulders a rest.
Ah, that’s better. It’s only a little Baby, but it does get to feel quite heavy after a while.
Tomorrow? I don’t think that can be right.
I’ve only just got back from my summer holiday.
But if it’s getting anywhere near Christmas, I ought to be tucked away in my cosy cupboard.
Though I suppose that may not be possible this year.
yes, it was Christmas
29th December 2020
My friends were right, and I was wrong.
The day after I went round taking seashells to all of them, it really was Christmas.
So at least they didn’t need another present, because they’d each had a seashell.
It’s years since I was awake for Christmas day. I’m usually in the cupboard.
Luckily I do have some Christmas badges from long ago, so I chose one of them for today.
I don’t know whether Um normally celebrates Christmas, but I thought I should do my best for her and the Baby.
I got out the Christmas tree.
Of course it was all a bit chaotic.
Ruffy phoned to tell me the new rules about the Virus.
That seemed a bit rude to me.
So I quickly threaded a necklace for her.
She put it on, so I think she liked it.
The Baby wasn’t very interested in its present, but it had fun with the wrapping paper.
I wasn’t sure what to do about Christmas dinner.
I’ve heard that some people celebrate by eating a bird. I wouldn’t criticise them. It’s their culture.
My friend Edward is one of those people. This year he’s got a goose.
But I’m vegetarian. And anyway I hadn’t done any shopping.
Someone had given me an enormous tin of rice pudding. I thought at least the Baby wasn’t likely to choke on that.
I found a nice Christmassy tablecloth.
I avoided crackers. I was worried that the bang might frighten Um. Also I didn’t have any.
And I thought it better not to try setting fire to a pudding. I know it’s a risky process, having burnt my paw the last time I tried it.
So we had a simple meal, but it was very nice.
And then we all had a nap.
I think that went off pretty well.
Although we didn’t have any visitors, it turned out to be a more sociable Christmas than I ever had in the old days.
That’s because everyone was sad at not having a big Christmas party, so they all phoned me instead.
So that’s what I did, when they phoned to wish me a merry Christmas.
Gibbs and Points had both chosen secular songs.
Dillion has made amazing progress on the harp that I sent him from Wales.
I’ve thought of a suitable Christmas song to play.
Oh dear, I’m very out of practice. My tone is not as pure and silvery as I’d like.
But I was right. The Baby does like the triangle very much.
Perhaps I’d better try my bagpipes instead.
It’s not very easy to concentrate while I’m being decorated with coloured paper, but at least the Baby doesn’t want to play with the bagpipes.
