An unfathomable four and a half months since she left, and our hearts still ache for the loss of Pie. The suddenness of it, like a sink hole opening up and grabbing her, still leaves me with a feeling of being winded, unable to believe it, struggling for breath. This community has been just fantastic, not only because of the real affection I feel for Pie here, but also because I know so many of you know what it is to love a creature from the heart of your being, and also, sadly, what it is to lose them.

I've been hugely touched by the many tributes people have written and the gifts they have sent in honour of our Pie.

My friend, Viv, painted this portrait of Pie, on her last night in her "earth clothes"

Time moves on relentlessly, the seasons change. Pie left us in dark of a cold, cold Winter. Now it is Summer, the crops have grown tall, the roses are out in the garden, and the birds dart back and forth between the feeders and nests full of squawking chicks...

Right outside my kitchen window, the blackbirds have nested and are raising their second clutch. 

There's one rather rounded one I've noticed, with a great deal to say, and a great deal of flapping at mealworm time to make sure she's first in the queue. When I'm standing at the window, she sits in the nest and stares straight at me with an expression I can't help feeling I've seen somewhere before.