Khartoum: leaving Shadow and the Budgies

Shadow gets a good grip on Shaun the Sheep

Our grandchildren have "security blankets" in one form or another. As  babies, the oldest granddaughter and grandson each had "Ellies" (toy elephants). It was alway important to know where Ellie was as he was held as the children went off to sleep. I bought third granddaughter a toy lamb which immediately became her security blanket. You can see her sleeping with "lammie" here. I'm not sure what the youngest Hedges is attached to or what Angus and Amanda's cute little boy cuddles, but they're both sure to have something.

Last week while we were shopping in town, we found Shaun the Sheep in the toy section of the supermarket. He wears a tee-shirt that says: I love ewe! So we bought Shaun for Shadow to play with and to use as a security blanket especially while we are away in South Africa.

As we showed Shaun the Sheep to Shadow, he grabbed him and treated him like the enemy. Shaun was lifted by the ear, clutched in Shadow's forepaws and ripped into by the cat's hindlegs.  By that evening Shaun the Sheep was a dirty brown colour (from the dust on the floors) and Shadow the Cat had passed out from exhaustion. (It's tiring work killing a toy sheep)

This blurry photo shows the speed with which Shadow grabs Shaun the Sheep and boot-blacks him with his hindlegs

Going out on break this time is something I wish I didn't have to do ! However Miriam, who loves Shadow and whom Shadow ADORES, will come into the flat every single day while we are away. She will feed Shadow, refresh his water bowl and clean his sandbox. I asked her if the latter was a problem for her, (many people don't like this type of job) but she assured me it would not be a problem! Sweet lady. She will also replenish the budgies water troughs and seedbowls every day and clean their cage every week. In short, she will babysit my pets for me. Hallelujah!

Shadow is still a very young, very inquisitive  kitten  and not capable of finding his way back to our upstairs flat. Should he get out, he would soon be lost in the street. Or he could be stolen - he is so sweet and friendly, it would be so easy to pick him up and take him into another yard.

So I have instructed Miriam and Achmed (the nightwatchman who lets her into my flat when Issam is at work) that all doors leading out of the flat - four altogether - are to be kept closed at all times! I have also typed notices which I will paste onto the doors. Apart from English and phonetic Arabic notices in normal script, I also have the instruction:  "keep the door closed" in Arabic script. Thanks to my blogger friend Rain Drops in Egypt who suggested I use the translation option in Word. 

I believe that Shadow and the birds will be well looked after by darling Miriam and that the doors will remain closed at all times.