Taking a pause from packing to relate some things from the island. Well,
OK, I'm procrastinating again. But my shoulder is hurting and I'm taking
some time off to let the painkiller kick in before I continue taking
down books from the shelves.

Frank gave his usual concert that lasted the whole three-hour bus trip.
nothing new there, but I was interested to see how Miranda would behave
during such a long trip. When I took her to be spayed in june, she
cowered at the back of her carried and shook so that the whole carrier
shook with her. Poor baby was terrified. I was worried that she would be
the same way now, but she was a complete angel! She slept most of the
time. People on the bus came and poked their fingers at her through the
carrier door and she would briefly sniff them and then go back to sleep.
She also slept on the boat trip. Excellent!

As I think I mentioned before, Miranda behaved very sensibly when we got
to the island. I carried her into my shack and kept her inside for a
while, just to show her this was home. Then I opened the door for her.
She cautiously peered outside, then gradually went outside. The first
day she kept right to the shack, the next day she enlarged her exploring
a little, the next day a little more... She was afraid to go out on the
cliffs until she saw Frank go out there, and then she followed. I was so
proud to see her behave so sensibly, cautious but brave at the same
time. She was happiest when someone was there to throw her pine cones
and small sticks.

When Miranda's brother Emil arrived and was let out the door of their
cabin, he just started off into the unknown, not stopping to even look
where he was going or where his home was. Silly boy. He didn't wander
very far, though, but with my sister's cats at my mother's cabin, he had
better keep far away from them. They are fierce in defending their
territory.

At first, Miranda didn't like her brother at all. He came running at
her, and she slipped under my shack, where her safe place is. Then
gradually she started staying put but hissing at him if came too close.
Now when I phone them on the island, they tell me Miranda and Emil are
starting to play together. I'm so happy for Miranda that she's found a
playmate! This also gives me hope that she will soon accept the new
little boy.

Frank told you of his encounter with the hissing shoestring (actually,
adult adders are quite a bit larger than shoestrings...). Thinking about
it afterwards, I'm chilled at the thought of everything that could have
happened. At the moment, I acted purely on instinct and concentrated on
warding off the cats from the adder. Not the easiest thing, since they
were so interested, and Frank was hell-bent on picking a fight with it.

Apart from this piece of bravery, Frank took it pretty easy, sleeping
most of the time. Every morning, when I go to take my morning dip, he
sits at a distance from the jetty and looks on with this concerned look
on his face. When I come up from the jetty, he comes to meet me and
meows at me. I interpret it as, 'Oh, good, you didn't drown today
either. Now get me my breakfast, woman!' Miranda soon started escorting
me to my morning dip, too. So cute. Nikki used to do that, too.