Posting days: Sunday and Wednesday and, sometimes, maybe, extra bits in between.

Sunday May 26th 2019

I hang the hosepipe reel on a large hook which is already embedded in the house wall, take the pipe across to the opposite wall, and feed it round the end bricks. Then, I hitch it over a six foot fence pole.

It’s now several feet off the ground, and is too high for Isis to reach.

I let the rest of the pipe drop to the ground, then stash it behind a substantial pile of six by six timber.

Is this the solution?

Well, Isis doesn’t manage to swing on the hosepipe and bash the reel against the side of the house. That’s a relief.

Instead, she retreats to a favourite spot by the fence and lies there looking sad.

Oh dear.

Every day I put out three toys for her to play with. Every day she examines the toys with great care before carrying them, one by one, back into the house. She even lies on the rug and plays with each repatriated toy for a while.

True, today she does spend twenty minutes or so in the garden in the late afternoon. But only because she’s trying to work out how to reach the hosepipe.

When she realises she’s defeated, she comes back indoors and lies on the day bed.

A friend says that she has a long length of hosepipe which isn’t being used. When she comes over in a couple of weeks time, she’ll donate it to Isis: with luck, Hairy One might think it’s an extremely large garden snake.

Then again, of course, she might drag it into the house.

Never mind, as long as she regains her joie de vivre.

*Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or www.dogwatchuk.co.uk