2nd July 2021
Kimbleton Tardigrade here. I’m staying at Tom’s house.
Tom fell asleep when we got home from visiting his friends in their various parks, and he hasn’t woken up yet.
Poor old thing. He doesn’t seem as fit as when I met him at the seaside last year.
I don’t know why he wears that anorak all the time. He surely doesn’t need it in his nice warm sleeping-bag.
While he’s asleep, I may as well make myself useful, and try to repay his hospitality.
Tom said that little Strawberry had brought round some gooseberries from her garden. I’ll make them into jam.
While it’s boiling I’ll have a chat with the cuckoos in their lovely clock.
I don’t understand why Bimbo and Tom haven’t got the cuckoos involved in their Zoom Ensemble. They sing quite nicely.
I had to dance very slowly on my t’rung to encourage them to join in.
I tried to do it at the authentic 87 beats per minute, but it’s hard to tapdance that slowly.
I lost my balance.
We tried it faster, but the cuckoos got their beaks tangled.
In the end we compromised, and I think it worked out all right. You can hear that on the Zoom Ensemble page.
I’ve been feeling a bit guilty, because Tom’s not aware that I haven’t been vaccinated against the Virus.
He said something about “Now that we’ve all been vaccinated”, and I failed to tell him that I haven’t had a jab yet.
I’ve been travelling around, so it hasn’t been convenient.
And you do hear all sorts of things about this vaccine.
It could be a government plot to step up surveillance, or even to dispose of those of us that they deem less necessary.
Creepy-crawlies are not high on ministers’ lists of favourite people.
Besides, they say there can be nasty side-effects. I don’t have many cells, so if just a few of them are adversely affected, that could be serious for me.
Anyway, I don’t like needles.
Some people don’t seem to mind them, but I’m particularly sensitive.
When Tom wakes up, I’d better own up to him that I haven’t been jabbed. I hope he won’t want me to leave.
What else could I do that would be helpful?
I know! He’s been talking about hunting for a pocket watch. I’m good at finding things. Sometimes an outsider can spot something that the locals are failing to notice.
I think Tom said he’d got up to L in his search. I’ll start with M.
No watch among the Masks, or the croquet Mallets.
I know where Tom keeps his Manicuring tools.
The first time I saw them, I teased him for being so delicate about his paws, but he explained that he feels that furry people should be careful always to keep their claws short. I don’t believe he actually has any claws, but he wants to be ready to deal with them if they appear.
No watch there.
No watch among the Nightclothes, the Nuts and Bolts, or the Name Tags.
Nor behind the Oxford Dictionary, or in the Optical Curiosities Area.
I got a bit dizzy watching Euler’s Disc. It certainly is a curiosity.
You don’t need to watch the whole video. Just start it off and go and do something else for one minute and seven or so seconds. It will still be going when you get back.
I looked in Tom’s collection of Postcards. No pocket watch.
I looked in the Pedal Bin. There was a nice sock, but it had a big hole, and it can’t ever have fitted Tom.
I’ll put the rubbish out for the Refuse Collection Operatives, but I’ll keep the screwdriver. Tom must have thrown that away by mistake.
I’ll have a look under the phone.
Oh! The phone’s ringing. I’d better answer it, or it will wake Tom.
What a pompous little teddy bear. I’m surprised Tom has such a prig for a friend.
But it’s probably true that I should get vaccinated.
I didn’t mention my horror of needles. I’d like to see even Ruffy find a way round that problem. But I’ll do it for Tom’s sake. Nothing to do with Duty. Just because we’re mates.
All right, off I go.
I wonder which leg I should ask them to stick the needle in.
what’s been going on?
22nd July 2021
What time is it? What day is it? Have I been asleep long?
Oh yes, we went for that very very long walk, me and Kimbleton Tardigrade.
I was tired out after that, and I suppose I’ve been sleeping since.
Nice sleep. I’ve quite warmed up.
I’ve been feeling chilly ever since Um and the Baby left, but I think I’ll take off my anorak now.
That’s better.
I’ll choose myself a badge. I haven’t worn one for a while.
I wonder where Kimbleton’s got to?
They’ll have had to fend for themselves while I’ve been asleep.
Hmm, smells as though they’ve been doing some cooking.
Yes. Oh dear.
Hard to say what that was going to be, but just as well I woke in time to turn the gas off before the whole house burnt down.
I’d better check the rest of the house.
Ah, someone has sent me a postcard. There’s a leek on the stamp. It must be from Wales, or else the Republic of Macedonia.
Curly writing. It’s from Dillion the Welsh dragon.
A whole choir of sheep must sound beautiful.
Well, I’m pleased that Dillion’s enjoying the harp. Fancy him taking it all the way to Wales with him.
Let’s see what the picture is of.
Ah, a Welsh Emporium!
Very nice. You never know when you may not need some ironmongery, china, or stores.
I’ll put the card on my fridge.
Oh, it seems that Kimbleton has taken all my other postcards off the fridge.
Here they are on the floor.
What a mess.
What can have possessed Kimbleton?
My nail scissors and the other manicuring equipment, the optical curiosities, and all the paint-brushes and my grandmother’s palette knife.
And what have they been doing with the pedal bin, and the Oxford Dictionary?
I hope they haven’t been throwing things away. I’d better have a look.
No, the bin’s empty.
Very strange.
But where is that Tardigrade?
Kimbleton! Kimbleton!
Kimbleton?
Perhaps they’ve gone out.
Perhaps they got bored while I was asleep, and they’ve gone away completely.
Oh dear, I’d have liked to be a better host, but sometimes if you’re tired you just have to sleep.
RING RING
Where’s the telephone? Maybe it’s Kimbleton ringing to say where they’ve gone.
Lunch break? I haven’t even had breakfast.
Come to think of it, I’m quite hungry. I hope Kimbleton hasn’t burnt all the food.
blessed peace
31st July 2021
I’m an unfriendly bear.
It’s not a nice characteristic, but that’s how I am.
By the time I’d cleared away all the things that Kimbleton Tardigrade had left out all over the floor, and scraped out the last helping of a cake-and-krispie pudding (it tasted fine once I’d removed the outside layer), and listened to my favourite music rather loud with my feet on the table, I’d remembered some of the advantages of living alone.
Not that it wasn’t lovely to have Um and the Baby living here. I’d give anything to have them back.
Oh dear, I do miss them.
And Kimbleton was very good company. A lively person to have around.
But it is nice to be selfish sometimes, and not to have to mind my manners.
By the stage of maturity of the pudding, I guess I must have been asleep for a number of days, if not weeks. I expect Kimbleton has moved on somewhere else.
They’re a keen traveller.
The first time I met them was at the seaside, but they’ve been all over the place.
It was last autumn. I was sunbathing on a sandy beach, and suddenly I opened my eyes to find a tardigrade looking down at me.
I was startled at first, but they soon put me at my ease.
They found me some new tent-poles, and made a tasty seaweedy sauce to go with the old ones (the poles were celery). A very practical sort of chap.
But now that they’ve moved on, I’ll get back to my old solitary life.
It’s quiet. And slower than when there’s someone else to stir things up.
I might do a bit of yoga. Or practise my Welsh. Or possibly bake something tasty.
Perhaps I’ll make a list of things to do.
BBRRRRRRRING!
Oh, there’s the doorbell. It could be the postman. Or little Strawberry bringing me some gooseberries.
No. It’s Kimbleton back again.
Oh my goodness. I hadn’t realised that Kimbleton hadn’t been vaccinated yet.
Being elderly and vulnerable, I’d have been more nervous about having him to stay here if I’d known.
All’s well that ends well, I suppose.
I hope Kimbleton will be gentle. I don’t much like having things stuck down my throat or up my nose. But it’s in a good cause.
Here goes. Open wide.