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I was woken at around 2am this morning by the tippy tappy sound of Freya’s paws on the wooden floors. There was an odd light in the house. I dragged myself out of bed and couldn’t find Mirinda. The strange light was coming from outside. The house was quiet.
Having made a slow circuit of the house, I unexpectedly found Mirinda sitting in the glassroom with her binoculars. She was watching for a badger that was, she said, currently under the car.
Apparently, she had been disturbed by Emma barking – I didn’t hear her – and she let her out to go to the toilet and walked around to the front of the house with her. Emma stopped when she reached the car and was interested in something under it. Mirinda said it was as if whatever was under there told her to go away because she suddenly and with great stealth moved away.
Mirinda said there was a hissing so she moved off as well.
By the time I joined her in the glassroom, there was silence and darkness. But then, like a flash, this little badger burst out and headed for the end of the drive. It stopped, momentarily, in order to make sure it was safe to turn onto the road, then sped up the hill, it’s little legs pumping like something mechanical. It was as if we were watching a cartoon.
The excitement over, the household returned to bed.
A little later, at a more civilised hour, I woke up again and proceeded to enact the new Writing Schedule. And, I have to say, it was highly successful. I managed to work through the first few chapters of the second draft, as well as indulging in a bit of a workout in between edits. I felt quite enlivened for the rest of the morning.
Sadly, the same cannot be said for poor Freya. She spent most of the day swaddled in a blanket on Mirinda’s lap. She was clearly in discomfort, a bit unsteady on her pins and not eating.
Late in the day I emailed the vet to ask if I should re-establish the painkillers. Following her advice, I forced a tablet down Freya’s throat and, in very quick time, she improved and was suddenly more hungry than tired: trotting around the house rather than curled up somewhere warm.
We are to see how she is in the morning.
Here she is enjoying the sun on the deck, buried under a blanket with Mirinda.
I should add that the weather was glorious.
