The Uni Adventures: Raymond the house plant.

I don't know what it was that made me pick him up that afternoon shopping in Sainsburys... Maybe it was the way he was sat all alone on a shelf with a 50p label hanging from his stem. Or was it because of his vibrant green leaves and bright red cluster of flowers? ...Perhaps it was because a plant seems to make a house a home...

Whatever it was, when buying the week's food shopping with Laura that first month in September, something inspired me to reach for the little plant and take it home.

When we arrived back in the kitchen I reached into the carrier bag and pulled it out, presenting it to the others with a grand flourish and a flick of my tail.

"Tadaaaaa!" I grinned, plonking it on the table.

"What's that?" Ace frowned, poking at it with his paw.

"A plant! It livens up the place, don't you think?" I said, tilting my head.

 "It's pretty!"Lisa nodded in agreement.

Andy leaned back in his chair and raised his eyebrows. "Should we name it?"

This inspired a whirlwind of ideas, and we conspired for a good ten minutes before somehow resulting at the sparkling, blossoming, heroic title of:

RAYMOND!

"Raymond." I nodded, "Yup. I like that. 'Ray' for short. That sounds pretty cool, huh?"

"Just needs some sunglasses and he's set" Al grinned from his perch on the kitchen counter.

And there Ray the houseplant came into our odd little group! Over time his leaves drooped and crisped, Andy accidentally kicked him across the kitchen, Ace knocked him off the microwave, and Ray looked started to look very sorry for himself. The others shook their heads and doubted he would make it through the Christmas holiday, especially after we smothered him in fake snow, wound tinsel around him, and sat him in a paper Christmas hat twice his size.

But we returned from our break over December to find him flourishing beautifully! His plant pot became a storing unit, and whenever somebody had something that they wanted to share, they gave it to Ray. By the time summer hit, he had acquired a 5p coin, a flapjack, a pen lid, a piece of crossword and a Japanese bottle cap.

Still going strong, Ray has soldiered through the hard times of life and set an example for us all: It doesn't matter if you're kicked about a bit, you just need to wrap some tinsel around yourself, sit in some sunlight for 2-3 weeks and before y'know it, you'll blossom!

The time I moved out of Laura's house!

Hello friends!

So, guess what!! I have big news!
And when I say big, I mean

BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGG!

I am moving out of Laura's house!
We're off to the humble little town of Farnham to go to the University for the Creative Arts! Yayyyyy! Now, you might be wondering how I could get into University after that whole College-no-GCSE fiasco... But, lemme tell you, it pays to be a fox. You need some diversity in life, and I think having an animal studying in their midst is pretty diversical. But they rather liked my blog, and I get to sit in with Laura in her illustration classes and learn about lots of snazzy things, and lend a paw if she needs it. Plus, I still get to live with her! Yayyy! Otherwise its back to the wild for me! And I'd really miss my teapot if that was the case.

So, what comes before moving? Packing. And tidying. And packing some more. And then A LOT more tidying. And then some more tidying on top of that.

During our intense packing mission, Laura and me were in the midst of the dangerous task of clearing her room when a strange noise sounded. It was like the squeaker on a cuddly toy, but infrequent and varying in pitch. It sounded kind of sad or worried. We were pondering on whether it could be a mouse, but it just didn't seem like that kind of squeak.

So, Laura's dad was called to the scene like a superhero to a falling building; our protective detective. However, our 'Superhero' happens to be terrified of mice and frogs, or anything small and anonymous. He came up and stood in the doorway armed with a broom, listening intently. He craned his head out into the room, as far as it could go without him tumbling in. He strained his ears to try and deceifer the noise and it's location. Convinced, he walked across the landing and peeped outside the window, telling us: "It's outside. It's definitely outside."

But pffft, this attempted get-out didn't fly, and soon he was ushered back to the doorway. We backed out for a second to watch the master at work. And that's when the most amazing thing happened...

The day before, Laura had gotten a new phone, and the ringtone for it is a tuneful little whistle. After 5 minutes of intense concentration on her dad's behalf, Laura got a text. The phone - sat on the desk beside her dad's ear, merrily tweeted out it's little bleep. Laura's dad shot back, throwing his broom-gripped hands into the air, and stumbled backwards in the most comical fashion imaginable, landing with an 'oof!' in a pile of cardboard on the landing.

Ohhhh we laughed til' the tears rolled. A wonderful memory to leave home on.

The following day we packed up the car and Laura and I wandered around the house together, reveling in the sights and memories of it all. I clambered up into Laura's arms and she cuddled me close as we padded downstairs. After hugs and goodbyes with her mum, we made tracks to the car and pulled away, the wheels crunching along the cobbly drive and the house getting smaller and smaller until there was just trees, anonymous buildings and then the open road.

Two hours down the motorway, we pulled off down the turning to Farnham. Soon enough, after a little detour, the car chugged to a stop in a carpark over looking some of the buildings of the University. We tumbled out into the sunshine and popped to get our keys, where we met a second year student who took us to our house. We trooped through the heavy wooden door and up a double flight of stairs that are overlooked by huge wooden-framed windows that flood the room with light. We arrived at the door marked with a number 8, in went the key, and we took our first steps into our new home.

Safe to say, we weren't expecting much, but on first appearance the large brick walls, metal bed frame and bare mattress made it seem a bit like a prison cell. There was a sink, mirror and shelf in front of the door which was joined to an open wardrobe with draws underneath, which was all next to a wooden desk. A blue notice board sat on the wall above this, and a window was set in the wall folding out from that which was lined with red curtains and overlooking a beautiful green park and trees:

The view from our bedroom window

The view from our kitchen window, which is on the 2nd floor, is rather impressive too!

The view from our kitchen window

The house is set in a row of other houses that faces another row, with a patterned brick walkway in between, lined with grass and trees in front of each row, called the Student Village, which looks like this:

Another view from our kitchen window: The Student Village

After trooping back and forth with the luggage and unpacking, we strolled into the town to have dinner with Laura's dad. We had a lovely natter and a mouth-wateringly tasty salmon salad (yes, salmon). We then returned to the Student Village, had our cuddles goodbye and then watched the car roll away: All on our lonesome.

And the strange thing was, it didn't feel strange. It felt kinda natural.

Our room looks a lot homlier now too with the addition of posters, duvets, teddies, cushions and fairy-lights.

But there you have it - we're now all moved out! And so begins life at art school!

Yayyyyyyyyyyy!

All my love,
Fox