BITTER/SWEET
This is my hundredth posting since I started my Devonhouse Blog, and I had hoped to write something positive.
However, it is a rather sad day because this morning we said goodbye to our old cat Flynn.
Flynn was born on 29th September 1994. His mother Ethel gave birth to 4 kittens in the cupboard where Bernie kept the alcohol! My nephew-in-law Mark, when told that she was making a nest in the grog cupboard exclaimed: "But I thought Ethel 'ated spirits" (rhymes with methylated spirits.) Flynn is the tabby and white kitten.
Although he was born in our house, Flynn has actually had three other owners in his lifetime...and each time, for various reasons, he ended up back with us. We had named him Errol, but his first new owner christened him Flynn. I often called him Fearless Flynn, because he was an adventurous animal in his youth. He would sit on the fence and reach his paws out to pat the cows as they walked past.
Each summer, terns come and nest in the trees in front of our house. Terns do not come down to the ground, but each year, there would be two or three occasions when we found a pile of white feathers on the lawn...and Flynn would have a telltale feather still around his mouth, or a guilty look on his face. I do not know if he jumped after them as they swooped close to the ground, or if he climbed the trees.
Because he did not always live with us, and because he was a bit of a loner and an outside cat (by choice) I had a job finding a picture of him in his heyday, but finally came across just one. But for some reason Blogger will not let me download it today, so I will try in a future posting.
The past month or two, he has been staying closer to home and even sleeping on the bed. He was obviously not himself. When he started to lose interest in his food, we knew something was wrong. He spent several nights at the vet last week, and we were hopeful he would recover, but it was not to be.
Funnily enough, it is Bernie, who is not a catlover, who has been his nursemaid during these last days. He prepared a comfortable basket for him in front of the heater....one of the laundry baskets, because Flynn was rather fond of sleeping on top of clean and ironed clothes! He would get up several times a night to try and entice him to sip some warm milk/water or specially prepared egg flip.
His last resting place is under the big White Oak in the woodland in front of the house. The terns will now nest there unthreatened, but perhaps he will hear their twittering above him.
Nearby are other departed felines....Tiger, Nigel, Cyril, Roxy and Keith. Each has a palm planted above the burial plot.
We only have two cats now...it is about thirty years since we had so few! There are not so many kittens round nowadays. The Parks and Wildlife people run a subsidised de-sexing program twice a year, and the vets and the Cat Welfare Society will not give away a cat unless it is neutered. But if the opportunity should present itself to provide a home for another puss, I am sure I would not be able to resist it!