Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant!

Yesterday was pretty awesometastic.

I woke up at about 8:15am, nicely rested. Seamus and I got up, dressed and were out of the house by 9am. We went to Ceres and woke up properly over coffee and orange juice, then a big breakfast each. My God, the beetroot relish was heaven. I love early morning breakfast as Ceres, it's fun to watch the kids running round and the dogs playing :-)

We made out way up to their farm market and bought our fruit and veggies for the week, and ducked into the organic shop for honey and yoghurt. It was fun waiting in line for the fruit and veggies, I watched the chickens and goats and sheep milling around in their enclosure and smelled the wonderful food being cooked nearby.

I had a quick look around the not-food market and bought a second had shirt (because clearly I don't have enough clothes) then joined Seamus in the nursery where we umm-ed and ahh-ed over two different tomato plants and then decided to get both.

By this stage it was nearly half past eleven, so we hopped in the car and drove to East Melbourne so Seamus could go to work. I had a chat with the librarian who reccomended a new (to me) author's books after I told her what I liked and so far I'm very impressed (Donna Leon Suffer the Little Children) If anyone is interested these days my relaxing reading is gory crime novels by middle-aged female British ex-public servants. It's a bigger field than you'd suspect, including Minette Walters, Val McDermid and Lindsey DAvis who is the least gory but the most funny, and she writes books set in Flavian Rome that are by and large historically accurate- what's not to love?

I bid Seamus farewell and drove home, unloaded the shopping and the books, decided that before I hit the housework I'd lie down with a book and... fell asleep for three hours. Ooops! So, gym kinda didn't happen, instead I raced through the housework and went down to Tonik to confirm my booking for my birthday and pay the deposit. When I came out who should I run into but Seamus on his way home from work. We went to the supermarket to pick up supplies for dinner, then came home. I made up some vanilla and berry puddings for dessert and Seamus set himself up for making Moussaka.

Eva and Shayne came over at about 7:30pm for dinner, which was lots of fun. Oysters and lemonade and wine and Moussaka (which was AWESOME!) and pudding and good friends and conversation, perfect! Then we all piled in the car and headed over to Lisa's for the last ever Kent st pub.

Kent st was the last sharehouse I lived in and the last of the MUCAAS sharehouses, so it was a little sad to know it was going to stop being a MUCAAS house. I slipped out the back to the veggie patch to talk to my kitten, Menelaus, who is buried there, and I was surprised that I started crying. I am still upset about his death and wish I could have prevented it, but it's impossible to keep a cat inside that house with the windows the way they are he was always going to get out, and he had a good eleven months, and his death was quick.

Seamus came out and stood with me, and told me not to be silly when I said I was embarrassed to go back inside. he brought me tissues to wipe my eyes and blow my nose and we went back in. I'm glad I talked to him one last time and said goodbye. I just wanted him to know that I couldn't come by anymore but that I'll still think of him and love him.

The rest of the night was great, people were talking and laughing and having fun. It was a smallish gathering, but very very nice. I drove Eva home and got to play with Jezebel and Albert the dogs before heading back.

Today involved sleeping in, wandering down the street for tea, getting a few supplies we forgot yesterday and then coming to work. So far this shift is going alright.

I think I might go have another cup of tea...

Today contained:

1. Waking up still feeling rested
2. Crumpets
3. Work
4. Work being hella busy
5. Tram trip
6. Arriving at Uni
7. Seeing some people at the pub and sitting there for a few minutes
8. Class
9. Meeting Seamus
10. Dinner
11. Ice-cream
12. Train home
13. Going out the back to visit menelaus and wish him Happy Birthday, then cry a little :-(
14. Internet

Soon
15. Bed

I think my job interview went well.

I cried a bit on the train on the way home, I was sad to be returning to a completely empty house. I keep expecting Menecat to pounce on my feet, or to hear the tell-tale sounds of ripping from the next room and have to rush in and check he's not detroying anything important. I realised this morning that I was being careful rolling onto my back in bed because I didn't want to crush him... then I remembered he would not be there.

On the bright side:

I am now glad-

-that Seamus and I have been living here for the past eight or so weeks

-that Mene was house-bound so much after his penultimate accident, it meant I got more time with him and he got more human attention than otherwise

-that he managed to take off his collar and dump it in my room, now I have it as a keepsake on my keyring to remember him

-of every single hair that is on my clothes, in my bed, on my furniture...

-that he chewed my Arts Festival guide

-that I have so many photos

-that he was such a friendly, loving kitten, and made friends easily

-that he never paid much attention to any training or punishment meted out, if he was only to live for a year at least he had fun

-that I had the privelege of loving and caring for him for ten precious months

Oh, and lj tags are a wonderful thing. I type "kitten" in and all the entries about Menelaus from the past year come up.

Menelaus is now laid to rest in the veggie patch.

He loved playing in the veggie patch.

Seamus suggested I bury Mene in a big pot, that way he could come too when I moved, but I said no. He hated to be confined. He hated boxes or baskets or carriers and would fight like mad if put in them. I couldn't stand the idea of him being confined in a pot.

None of our neighbours were home to borrow a spade, so I used Penelope's little gardening trowel and dug a big, deep hole. Seamus brought him out, wrapped in the towel he used to be taken to the vet in, and gently laid him in the grave. We put his favourite toys in too, near his paws. The wind up mouse I got him, the thing-on-a-stick Lisa got him, and the ball inside a ball that Elena bought him almost a year ago.

I started to cry in earnest as we tipped the soil over him. I did manage the old Roman blessing which I've always loved "May the earth lie lightly upon you". And Seamus marked the mound with a rock from the garden.

And that's it. I hope wherever he is there are couches to claw and curtains to climb and paper to shred, all with no spray bottle in sight.

[Edit] We bought some seedlings from the garden section of the supermarket and spread them over the grave. I think they were called Phaecelia. They are flowers that are meant to be good for growing veggies near, purple and spiky. They look loud and handsome and flamboyant and a little violent, just like my beautiful, beautiful boy.

The kitten is no longer bandaged.

Unfortunately, he panicked on the way home and savaged me :-(

Ow.

I already fle tlike shit due to being sick, now I'm hurty as well.