BIRDCAGE

It was quite festive.

The guards took up positions beside the windows and doors; the driver took a garden chair out to the street so he could keep an eye on the bus; the prisoners settled themselves between the kitchen and living room; and I went round with a tray.

Ming was at school.

The only really difficult moment was when I asked Worthing to change Didcott's nappy.

When they came back from the bathroom, they had swapped places. Didcott now carried Worthing.

No-one thought it odd that I cried when I went to wave goodbye - Worthing looked so much like Ming.

* * * * *

The nasturtium survived the night.

Cats endanger it more than slugs do. They like to bat its leaves.

(The cats.)

So I've put a bird cage over it. I don't usually like garden ornaments - but old cage and new nasturtium look surprisingly good together.

The Romanesque has survived as well - and the hollyhock persists - though it has the same number of leaves as when I planted it two months ago. There's a constant cycle of slug damage and replacement. But it's holding its own. So maybe its roots are strong.

* * * * *

Having semi-submerged a crop of flowerpots yesterday, I'm now pressing inverted ones into the soil.

That makes it harder for cats to dig out my plants.

They like newly turned earth.

(The cats.)

(And some plants.)

(As long as you water them in.)

(The plants.)

(Not the cats.)

(I mean - plants should be watered in newly dug earth. Cats shouldn't.)

(Unless you want to get rid of them.)

(The cats.)

(And even then, it only sometimes works.)

(Watering cats.)

(And sometimes, watering plants gets rid of them.)

(If they don't need to be watered.)

Hm.

* * * * *

Ming spent the evening describing The Tudors so Worthing can be Didcott in lessons at school.

"Now do you see why Bleeding Bowls are useful? They'll remind us of Didcott while he's away,"
said Ming.

"But leeches! Leeches! Do we really need leeches?"

Leeches?
What Leeches?
They've gone.

_____

For Tomorrow