Meriadoc

Sadly, Merry died last night, probably in the early hours of the morning. It wasn't entirely surprising: she was quiet (unusual for her!) last night, and although she purred through a hug, and a special bowl of cat milk, she looked very tired.

Although she's been a real pain in the last few months, failing to find her litter tray, and getting in the way, I know we'll miss her madness (she 'visited' our neighbour a couple of weeks ago, walking up to her, shouting for several minutes, and then wandering off), and her laser-intent stare as she minced deliberately up to you. I think, though, that she faded away with relative grace, and she didn't seem to stop purring from when she moved in with us, 14 months ago, until we said 'good night' to her for the last time.

It's been awful weather this afternoon—torrential rain, high winds, and fog over the Pennines coming home—but I didn't want to leave her, so we went out this evening to bury her. She's now in the copse, a few feet from her old companion, Christmas (who died last autumn, and who's marked with Christmas Roses). I think we'll plant a catnip there, in the spring, probably a Nepeta racemosa 'Walker's Low', which she seemed fond of—for now, her grave's marked with an old roof-stone.