Up at 7:15 – late. Jack was out of the door by 25 past to catch the bus as it passes through town (he normally takes it more sedately, catching an earlier service bus to get to the point where the school bus more or less starts to guarantee a seat). He made it.
Esme up next & then the others. a little more pressured morning because we were late – got them eggs for breakfast & I didn’t over or under boil them, so that was a minor plus. Esme was late getting dressed so was all panicky when I asked Eve to feed the rabbit (Eve was ready first). Some screaming & snatching of the bag of lettuce from Esme & some pouting & huffing from Eve because she wanted to feed the rabbit & though t Esme would just do it, so in the end they followed me out to feed the rabbit. & then I sent them back in & Eve cried… The rabbit had died in the night… passed away peacefully by the looks of her… Oh dear… Well, she’d been a bit ‘off’ since Friday/the weekend. Got herself to the downstairs of the hutch & stayed there. I moved her back up to the enclosed hutch area on Sunday. Although she was not eating as much she was eating, but … well she was not so well & we hoped that she would get better again as she’s done before, but alas not.
Eve was the most upset.
Jack was also quite cut up about it when he got home in the afternoon.
Esme was …. upset, but she seemed to be taking Eve’s lead a little… I saw Esme into class & she was OK going into school & everything, but when she saw Mrs Durham she crumpled when she told her that, “The rabbit’s stopped breathing!” & had a good old cry. It took a couple of attempts to tell her teacher the same thing through sobs; we just ended up telling her. The girl whom Mrs Durham had been consoling about … possibly just leaving mum was a little taken aback & sort of hung about for the spectacle a little. Ah, poor little thing, but still it seemed a little odd. I imagine she got over it, as I took my leave to find Eve’s teacher looking at her. Eve was quite upset going into school & Louise took her up to class to explain as t why she was upset. Realised when she had told Eve’s evidently ‘relieved it was not something worse’ teacher that the class was silent & that they were all looking on. Having excused herself to go to the toilet (tissues?) Eve had followed Louise to Jude’s class along the way getting tissues fro another former teacher of hers. Eve went back to class with her teacher & we headed out for obligatory shopping.
Jack didn’t text that he had found the PE kit lost on the way home last week, so we went home to go out to get trainers etc. While Louise chatted to her mum I found an appropriate shoe box, cleaned out the hutch. popped some straw in with rabbit in her box, dug a hole & popped the box in the cleaned hutch. I guess our nieghbour Caroline will have been able to read that picture well enough when she came home later… she quite like rabbit.
Off to Bradford to get the required kit etc. Picked up some more shirts for Jack as well because… well, the cuffs on his present ones are already near impossible to get clean.
Home & pick up the kids.
When we get home we inter the rabbit. Wet cloying mud & it’s now raining. The hole was quite wet at the bottom. Eve & Esme cry quite a lot & I suspect even Jude had a little cry.
They calm down & go off to play. Jack comes home having only just read the text & he’s quite upset the rabbit has gone.
Round up the kids to take them swimming. Esme is trying to annoy me a little on the way home with some pointed defiance, & I take the bait (unfortunately) & am a little grumpy with her.
play, bath, & I manage to read a very, very fidgety Esme to sleep, & then my brother calls. Wow – I’ve not spoken to Neil for ages, so there’s quiet a bit of catchup while Louise reads Harry to Jude & Eve.
That’s about all – excepting Hamish turning up just after 9:30 as he’s missed the bus sfter scouts & needs to call his mum for a lift… I guess it’s good to be considered a ‘safe haven’ & was a nice surprise for Jack when he was out of the bath (certainly got him out of the bath as well).
right – I’m off to bed now.
