Sadly the little cat didn’t make it past the third day. I went with Jeni as planned to visit her but the dodgy bridge to Fish Island was being repaired,closed to traffic, only one way for a long time& only open for motorbikes .As the vet was to meet her on his bike I said for her to walk across and I would take the tuktuk home. Jeni waited for ages for the vet unable to find his surgery and he wasn’t answering his phone eventually she gave up and came home, only to receive a message that little puddy cat didn’t make it. Oh we were all so sad here. I missed her popping in to visit me still do , playing soccer with her. An air of melancholy drifted over our space. Jeni posted about it on her social media pages, she got so many replies, people who had lost their pet after 18 years and here we were crying over a little stray we had only known a few months. But the cat made lockdown a little bit easier for us all . The couple in unit 3 loved her, and Bill in the other flat would put water and food out for her,even our cat hating landlord became attached to her.

Jeni moved out on Monday, before she left we had a little ceremony and buried puddies favourite toys both of us blubbering as we did. It was sad and a bit mysterious as the vet has not contacted Jeni since regarding payment, maybe he too is sad , who knows. Jeni has moved about 5kms out of town on the road to Sihnoukville. I went with her in a jam packed tuktuk. The driver strapped her cane chairs on the back, small table upside down , boxes and cases, just enough room left for 2 people to sit. He helped unload and charged $5.00 for the move. Its actually quite lovely out there. Set along what I would call a country lane . She has a shop next door and the Kampot Yacht club is opposite, yes in name only but its a little bar/ café. While I was there I saw what looked like a flock of multi coloured sheep /goats stroll past walking with them was a very fit shepherd, a foreigner. I googled sheep in Kampot and he has been breeding his flock and now starting to make organic sheep cheese. Good on him , it was surreal tho you don’t expect to see this in a tropical country, certainly the first sheep I have seen in 20 months. I managed to get a few pics. I still have only seen one monkeys bottom and that was this time last year when my son and his girlfriend were here on my first visit to Cambodia last July. I can’t believe its been a year already since I was laughing with my friends from Melbourne, Kristian and Stu, on the green boat with Tim, and my son Ben and his girlfriend Bec here. Good times, good memories never to be repeated as the Green boat is no more.

On Monday not only did Jeni leave but the couple in number 3 left as well. A German lady who has been in China for 20 years has moved in to Jenis place . Geoffery is still stranded not able to go back to Vietnam until Vietnam issues visas. Its all very complicated for a lot of people. Yesterday was Canada day and my landlord was having a celebration at his café serving Ceasers which apparently is a traditional Canadian hangover cure and all in vitamin drink. I was intending to have one but opted out and went for coffee instead. It has this clamato juice in it , I was a bit afraid I wouldn’t like it and insult my landlord. While I was there I was chatting to a guy whose girlfriend went back to Aust to visit her family and now cannot leave so they are having a long distance relationship as are a lot of couples here.

I have put my outside table inside in readiness for the wet season which is slowly making its way here, yesterday it rained for about an hour a torrential downpour. Its actually really good as I can look out at the beautiful glossy garden as I sit here at my table typing away. My garden seems to like the natural rain, its not that anything is obviously growing but I know they look as though they are, slowly I might add. This is the hardest garden I have ever tried to grow, I have stopped blaming the seeds , the dirt and am starting to think I don’t know what I am doing !!!

I am starting to prepare to go home. First I am saving as much as I can . I have emailed my former landlord to give him heads up on my return if anything comes up in my price range. That’s my downfall my budget only can extend so far with the price of wifi and electricity and water I have to be quite frugal . I am sure I will find something in my price range. I will probably have to do a 2 week quarantine and hope that the government will still be paying for it. a risk I have to take . I will try and get 2 days a week work , have my feelers out for that also. Personally I would love to volunteer with Cambodians in Melbourne but we will see how everything pans out. So of course now I have my novel to complete, edit do second draft by end of October. I will do that easily as long as I don’t procrastinate too much binge watching 5 seasons of Death in Paradise doesn’t help!! My favourite shop here is Sakura , the Japanese second hand shop I should ban myself from going as I buy something everytime I walk through the doors. Admittedly they are very cheap, yesterday I bought a lacquered box and 2 bowls I paid 2.50 for the 3 of them . Somehow I will send all my trinkets back home before I leave, don’t think I can part with them . So I must stop mmmmm.

Have been noticing pomegranate trees they are all fruiting now , some people put plastic bags over the fruit so no one will steal them or maybe for the birds. I am missing my daily dose of mangoes tho , there are mangoes around but are not juicy and are all wrinkly and stringy. I wish I loved dragon fruit as they are plentiful at the moment, I like them but I can’t eat a whole one and they are a bit bland for me, watermelon to the rescue, I can make juice easily lots of mortar pestle pounding involved .

Take care everyone until next time.

5th