Friday 27 March 2020

Gus's blog


The 25th blog of Augustus Lazarus Cooke, (Gus) aged 10½.

Hello everybody. It’s been such a long time since I blogged that I hardly know where to begin so I’ll just dive in and hope for the best.

Susannah and Frankie and the cats – Lenny, Solomon and Zula – moved into their new house last summer. Roxy goes for sleep-overs now and again but she can’t go at the moment because of ‘the virus’.

We animals are quite curious about ‘the virus’. Lots of things have changed because of it. Frankie doesn’t go to school or to tennis, or swimming, or gymnastics and he can’t have any piano lessons and no-one goes out to work unless they are Qui workers. I think the ‘Qui’ means ‘Who’ and that’s the question a lot of people are asking, along with ‘Why’. For instance, no-one is supposed to go near anyone else but the Qui workers are still crowding onto the Toob trains and children whose parents live in different houses can travel between them, but friends can’t go and see friends or even meet them outside.

Lots of people who can’t go to work are worried about money and everyone is worrying about shopping. Mr and Mrs H don’t go out shopping anyway and always do everything ‘online’. What does ‘online’ mean? Is it like walking a tightrope? Anyway, the talk now is about getting ‘a slot’. Apparently, ‘slots’ are almost impossible to find though we see them sometimes in the woods. (Deer slots are easy to see in the mud after it’s been raining.)

Susannah and Frankie come to see Mr and Mrs H every day to see if they need anything but they don’t come into the house and we can’t say hello to them. Instead, they stand outside and shout at Mr and Mrs H and they shout back but it’s all quite friendly. Frankie doesn’t do much shouting – he’s finding it all a bit strange.

When people come to deliver shopping to the house they do a little dance. First of all, the person delivering rings the bell or knocks on the door, then speeds away so when the Humans open the door, the person is miles away and does a bit of shouting. Then the Humans shout back and everyone smiles and says ‘thank you’ and ‘take care’ and then the Humans come back in and wash their hands. They wash their hands a LOT. It’s very interesting to watch.

Everyone is talking about ‘the virus’ but it hasn’t affected us much, apart from Roxy not being able to visit Susannah and Frankie and the cats. She loves going there but Lenny and Solomon shoo her off the bed so she’s always pleased to come home and take up her rightful position on Mr and Mrs H’s bed, along with Herschel and Jellicoe.

We were sorry to have to say goodbye to Isambard before Christmas. He had spent a long time looking after Mr H when he had newmoania and then he got very ill and died. The vets were really upset and sent the Humans a lovely card to say how sorry they were. Jellicoe had been really ill, too, and we all thought he was going to die, but he didn’t, so Isambard’s passing was a great shock to everyone. Jellicoe and Herschel seem to have taken over the responsibility for looking after the Humans. That was always Isambard’s job before.

Today, the sun is shining and the birds are busy and all is well with the world, apart from ‘the virus’, that is.

Be good.

Hwyl fawr am nawr! (That’s Welsh for ‘Goodbye for now!’)





8 comments:

  1. Aaw, I think everybody is confused these days (and a bit frightened).

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    1. We're just reaching the end of week 1. The 'rules',though oft-repeated, are sometimes contradictory. Stay well!

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  2. We are still missing our cat Arthur so much, he passed away 3 weeks ago and has left a big hole in our houehold. Now we are 3, myself, Rosie and Mr. G. We are selling our house and move to Waterloo center into an apartment. The house is too big for the two of us and then entertaining the garden and carrying things up the steps beccomes impossible. I have no regrets ! Except that everything is on stand by because of this Virus ! We have the same rules, except you can take care of a friend, not all have family. That's why 3 times a week we are 3 to meet for a little walk and sit together in the garden. Just heard that Boris Johnson has the virus !

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    1. Ingrid, I'm so sorry to hear about Arthur. I'm sure you miss him very much after sharing so many years with him. I hope Rosie isn't missing him too much. Your house move sounds interesting - it's a shame it's on hold for now, for who knows how long. It's good you can still get out to see friends. Stay well!

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  3. Thanks for the update Gus. I'm so sorry to hear you have lost Isambard, I hope his passing was peaceful and without pain. my own daughter lost her Missy just before Christmas. Missy was every old, 21 in people years and had been weakening for some time, I would go to visit and watch Missy until I saw her take a breath while sleeping before I spent time with my daughter. Then one day Missy just didn't breathe. We buried her in the garden and planted sunflowers where she is now.

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    1. Thank you, River. Isambard died in his sleep at the vets, in an oxygen tent. We miss our big, gentle boy. Missy had a good long life and it sounds as though she had a gentle passing. That doesn't help much at the time, though, does it? Keep well!

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  4. Hi Gus - just lovely to hear from you and get the news from the Jabblog world through your eyes ... take care of you, your humans, and four legged friends ... cuddle up this cold weekend! Cheers Hilary

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  5. Thank you, Hilary, says Gus. I do my best to keep the Jabblogs in order. Stay well!

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