left - Clematis, centre Aconitum carmichaelli 'Arendsii', Rosa 'Bathsheba' & Geranium, 'Delft Blue' 10 October 2023

Summer 2020

It is cold and rainy and I am wearing a flannel shirt. I feel kind of blue. I am going to Mexico City on Thursday (it will be a happy event) but leaving my cats behind tomorrow afternoon at the West Boulevard Feline Hilton is a sad undertaking. When I travelled with Rosemary we could comfort each other in that we would be leaving our needy Niño and Niña alone in cages.

So with all my stuff packed, Mexican Pesos in my wallet, a Covid booster and a flu vaccine today, I am ready for my adventure.

I am sad because leaving my garden, one that used to be ours, behind is almost like leaving the cats.

I picked these flowers today as they remind me of Rosemary, particularly the blue ones. The clematis is one that has no tag. Rosemary was an expert in knowing when to prune the different kinds of clematis. If you prune them at the wrong time you get no flowers.

The waning of the garden reminds me of the last few months of Rosemary when she was sick. Perhaps I should feel a bit less sad as her garden will come back. It will manage, while I am gone, in the same way that when I went to Mexico City the last time, 7 years ago, Rosemary was here and I knew everything was going to be all right.

Niño, Niña and I will spend what is left of today and most of tomorrow on the bed. They will be on top of me and we will exchange that so human (feline, too) affection which the three of us so crave.

And Niño and Niña somehow have a quality that Rosemary had in spades - stability.