keeping myself busy

I’ve been trying to get back into my old routine.

I’m doing a bit of yoga regularly every morning.

That wasn’t so easy when the Baby was around.

It liked to push me over when I was trying to balance.

We used to have a good laugh together, lying in a heap on the floor.

I think Georgina the Yoga Rabbit is pleased that I’m getting back in the swing of it.

I’ve been doing a bit of cleaning too. About time, really.

I suppose it’s the same for anyone with a young child in the house.

You don’t want to get out a bucket of soapy water and risk it being spilt all over the place.

When I was sweeping, I’d get a nice pile of dust ready to collect up in the dustpan, and then the Baby would come and jump in it.

So cleaning is definitely an easier task now.

I made another batch of brownies for Bunce and Snowy.

I’d run out of cocoa, so they had to be a different sort of brownie. Not as brown as usual.

Monkey says that Bunce and Snowy are a lot better now.

He takes them out to sit in the onion patch. He believes that breathing in the onion fumes will be good for them.

They’re still quite weak.

Poor Monkey is exhausted, trying to keep their farm going single-handed.

I’m still hunting for my great-grandfather’s pocket-watch.

I looked everywhere beginning with A, and B, and C, but it wasn’t in any of those places.

D was hard work. I thought there was just a chance that the watch could have fallen down the drain.

It definitely was time to clear out the drain.

I found a number of pencils. They needed a good wash after I fished them out.

It seems funny that I’d have dropped so many of them down the drain without noticing.

It couldn’t have been the Baby, could it?

Yes, it must have been the Baby. It did enjoy posting things through holes.

The little rascal! It must have had such a lot of fun.

No wonder the sink has been draining so slowly.

But no watch.

I checked on all the doors, because most of them have hooks that a pocket-watch could hang from.

The Stork’s hook is still empty.

The Stork said he’d come back. But it’s been a long time now.

I don’t have a desk, or a divan or a davenport, or a daybed.

Then I remembered my chest of drawers. I forgot it when I was checking all the Cs.

I can’t remember what I keep in there.

I think the Baby must have been here. It did like tearing up paper.

It seems to have made nests in all the drawers, and buried things in them.

Here’s the egg-timer. And the book of tongue-twisters. I wondered where that had gone.

And here’s a pocket-watch. Wherever did the Baby find that?

But this pocket-watch hasn’t got a key-hole. I think you wind it up with the knob. This must be my great-great-aunt’s pocket-watch.

I’ll have to keep on looking for the other one.

I’d better check through the torn paper before I throw it away.

Lots of election leaflets. I never saw those when they arrived.

Of course it is very crucial to take part in the local elections, but don’t they know that teddies don’t get a vote?

It’s very frustrating. We’ll be as much affected by the results as anyone else.

Points and Ruffy will be out campaigning, and I think Jenny’s been doing some telephone canvassing.

I suppose I should do something like that, really.

Here’s my Xenakis music, that I played as a duet with Lopsy. I was wondering where that had gone.

I’ll try and reassemble this crossword.

ring ring  ring ring

There’s the telephone.

Was “fondest regards” appropriate? I’m not sure.

I’ve checked my paws, and I don’t think they look green. Oh dear, poor Lopsy.

Now, let’s see what this paper says.

It’s from little Strawberry.

Well, that would have been nice.

The Baby would have loved playing in Strawberry’s garden.

Oh dear, what a pity I didn’t get to see this in time.

I should have tried to take the Baby out more.

It must have been very bored here. No wonder it took to shredding all the paper.

I wish… Well, it’s no use desponding.

I’ll go and visit Strawberry anyway. It will do me good to get out.

I haven’t visited anyone for more than a year. But Ruffy says it is allowed, if we’re out of doors, and spaced out.

I feel a bit nervous.

Of course I’ve talked to people on the telephone, and on those clever Apps, but I’m out of practice at real-life conversations.

When Um was here, we didn’t really manage to converse.

I’ve not been to Strawberry’s house before, but it’s only up the road. Better wear my mask.

I feel like a giant. It’s an unusual experience for me.

Strawberry’s laid out her best linen tablecloth on the grass, and she’s brewed up an apple-blossom-petal tea.

It doesn’t actually taste of anything much, but I appreciate the kind effort.

It’s quite nice to take part in a social event.

Strawberry’s shown me her vegetable patch, and we’ve talked about this and that.

It’s not so very difficult.

But should I have taken Strawberry a little gift? Not flowers, because she has plenty of those.

And perhaps I talked too much. Or maybe not enough.

Now that I’m back home I feel a little lonesome.

I should be practising my triangle, ready for a duet with my cousin Peter on his penny whistle, but I don’t feel like it.

I wonder if the Baby will learn to play an instrument. Percussion of some kind, perhaps.

I’m going to play my bagpipes.

Don’t you think the bagpipes make a nice comforting sound?