We all braced ourselves for Storm Eunice last month and, sure enough, it delivered.
I was lucky. My roof is still intact and there was no loss of power. But I did lose my garden fence.
I was already planning to replace it so it wasn’t unexpected when a substantial section ended up flattened and in my neighbour’s garden.
Flossie was delighted that our garden had suddenly doubled in size. She was even more delighted that she could now share it with her ‘sproodle’ friend Molly who is a regular visitor next door.
Unfortunately for Flossie, the garden is no longer fully secure. And, knowing how Flossie has an uncanny talent for finding the smallest gaps, I have to take her out on her lead until the fence is replaced.
This isn’t fun for either of us. Flossie always seems to want to go out when it’s bucketing with rain and, quite often, she doesn’t actually ‘need’ to go at all. She’s just decided she wants to check out a noise in the neighbourhood or a bird which has dared to fly in our airspace.
We can be found outside early in the morning or late at night, me usually in my dressing gown, coat, trainers and woolly hat in full view of the neighbours. Flossie stands there looking longingly next door and wondering why she can’t roam free.
The real fun arrives when she wants to do her business. She has a habit of running up and down until she’s found the perfect spot. This isn’t so easy when you’re attached to a human.
Back and forth she goes, taking a turn around the big pot which houses the olive tree. And I have no choice but to go with her. She’s determined and that’s her routine.
So, if my neighbours glance out of their windows and see a woman clad in a dressing gown and a woolly hat, jogging randomly around the garden and circling around garden pots, that’s what I’m doing.
As published in the Bath Chronicle, 24 March 2022
Suzy Pope is a certified copywriter and newspaper columnist specialising in pets, business and lifestyle. If you would like help with a writing project, please get in touch.
