Downstairs’ Cousin Back today to ‘Pick Up Cat’

Today when I came home in my lunch break, I noticed a woman coming out of downstairs’ flat with an empty pet carrier. I approached her straight away, asking if she was the new tenant of the flat (…). She told me (in extremely slurred, junkie-type speak) that she was P.’s (downstairs woman) cousin and merely here to ‘collect the cat’.

I was thinking WTF?? How can P. just leave the cat for nearly a week, not ask anyone (any other neighbour) to look after it/feed it, and then come back expecting:

a. the cat to be alive and well and

b. that whoever has taken it in (I know it’s been taken in by someone) to simply release it again to the cruel-ness?

I used to like P. but she has dropped in my esteem now. Though I’m not so sure any more if she wasn’t fleeing the wifebeater after all. I mean why would she send her junkie cousin to pick up the cat (the cat doesn’t bloody know this person’s tone of voice or anything – why would it come to her?)? Is she too scared to come back? Did the wifebeater threaten to kill her? Also, why did the junkie cousin have keys to the flat? I.e. P. obviously hasn’t returned them to the council.

There is definitely something strange going on there. I wonder if I should phone the council to at least try and find out. Somone also told me that they heard people in the flat on Sat. night.

One thing is for sure – it’s never boring on a council estate!

PS: liking the WP categories as drop-downs. It’s been a long time coming! Though I’ve been considering reducing my categories or getting rid of them completely.

Downstairs Neighbour Suddenly Left Leaving Cat Behind

Image via Wikipedia

On Friday, I found out that my downstairs neighbour had moved out all of a sudden. In fact I had seen a removal van there on Wednesday when I came back from work, but hadn’t connected it mentally with their moving out. I mean, why would they move out? Very nice 2-bed council flat, relatively close to the centre, with nice own and shared gardens around.

No one knows why they moved out, and the woman didn’t tell anyone, even when asked – she just evaded the question and changed the conversation. This is the downstairs woman who got beaten up by her ‘boyfriend’ btw, which I had to overhear a few times.

It’s really odd. The only reason I can think of why she moved out is that she was running away from debts or arrears – that she was so much in arrears that she had got an eviction notice and therefore decided to leave before they came to throw her out.

The other thing is that she left her cat behind. She just fucking left it, saying that ‘someone will take it in’! I.e. she didn’t knock on my or someone else’s door, asking if we could look after the cat, or phoned the cat rescue just to let them know she couldn’t take it with her. SHE JUST LEFT IT BEHIND!

Unbefuckinglievable. How DARE she. After panicking on Fri night where my new BF and I tried to get it into my flat, on Saturday I talked to another neighbour (Val) who said that she had already started feeding the cat, and was quite happy to take it in and look after it.

Anyhow, me and BF then went to the Cats Protection on Sat and got a wee cat for me! Yay! Pics will be posted once I have taken some.

On a different note, I haven’t blogged since Friday as my new BF stayed from Friday eve onwards and only left a couple of hours ago. When I’m with him, I have no desire to blog or any such thing as we focus on one another and spending time (our love is still very new and very intense). Thus it might be that I won’t be able to keep up my ‘every day blog habit’ in future. I.e. week-ends when he’s here with me, I’m not going to blog.

The other important point is that I don’t want to blog in his presence. He knows that I have a blog, but doesn’t know where it is. I know he won’t mind what I write on here, but generally I don’t like the idea of someone being in the same room or flat while I blog. It’s just an intimate, personal thing that I do while by myself 🙂

Holiday has Begun!

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Today was officially my last day at work. Actually, I’ll have to do some bits and pieces tomorrow from home (hmpf), but then I’m getting a hair cut and starting to prepare for da journey. I’m going to an Amanda Palmer gig tomorrow night (at the Cabaret Voltaire) and then taking the sleeper train to London! Full activity plan there for lenina.

It might as well – I have big plans and am looking forward to being free from pollution (humans and otherwise) and to just spending time with ma brain 🙂

I shall write this blog as usual. Of particular interest will be the weather conditions – I’m very fearful of the cold evenings/night 😐

David Hume’s Tomb

Below is David Hume’s (Scottish Philosopher) tomb (from the inside looking out). I went there as part of the Edinburgh Doors Open Day and we got a nice hour-long tour. Very interesting! I didn’t realise for instance that each of the ‘family tombs’ could hold up to 60 people! And that Greyfriars Kirkyard is basically as high as it is because of all the bodies that were buried there, with new layers of soil in between. I.e. all the bodies piling up underneath – originally, Greyfriars Kirkyard was as low as Candlemaker Row!

Edinburgh Doors Open Day Sat 27th

This coming Saturday is Edinburgh Doors Open Day. It means that various buildings that aren’t normally accessible to the public ‘open their doors’ and let us all have a look around!

Not just buildings though – the Doors Open Day programme PDF (for download) also has things like guided walks of the Old Calton Burial Ground. In fact, I think that’s where I’m going to go. Have always wanted to see it 🙂 .

After that the Scottish Storytelling Centre might be a good idea – I listened to a storyteller when I was on Shetland, and it was brilliant!