Penny Poos, Lovely Grey and the Birthday Monkey

Well, it's been a very odd week. Firstly, Kayleigh swallowed a penny.

'It'll go through, ' I said. 'Give it a couple of days, it'll reappear.'
Andy was doing veterinary calculations. 'We usually say that a pound coin will not pass through a kitten,' said he.
'Kayleigh is NOT a kitten,' said I. 'And she has swallowed a penny, not a pound. I think she'll cope.'

Anyway, a trip to Casualty confirmed my diagnosis and sure enough, a couple of days later, the penny  reappeared via the medium of poo, and all was well.

Secondly, the students at school seem suddenly transfixed by my increasingly white hair. The sixth form boys have declared it to be highly original and unique. On duty in the mist early in the week, they pointed out that it blended in with the sky.
'Yes,' said I. 'Thanks for that observation. Makes me feel so much better.'

And then a Year 7 girl gazed up at me and said, 'I love the way your hair matches your cardigan. It's like slightly off-white but very sparkly snow.'

Hmmmm...

And then thirdly, Mum appeared on my birthday with a monkey. Not a real one, thank heavens because I think the hens AND the cats might have had something to say about that, but a small toy monkey that was presented to Mum on the occasion of my birth by my ancient aunts Pollie and Nece, who both read this blog but are sufficiently far away from me at this precise moment in time that I can refer to them as ancient without fear of a slap round the back of the leg.

'This monkey is as old as you,' said Mum. 'I didn't give it to you when you were a baby because I thought you might chew its ears off, but I am passing it on to you now.'

So, 47 years on, I am old enough to be trusted not to chew the ears off a monkey and swallow them.

I keep looking at this monkey. It keeps looking at me. Its hair has kept its colour better than mine. It's got less wrinkles. Presumably because it never had to suffer the indignities of being chewed by a baby me 47 years ago.

I wonder why this monkey has suddenly appeared in my life.

'Is it an omen?' I say to Andy. 'Is it a sign?'

'No,' says Andy. 'It's a monkey.'