The story of Toby the Tortoise

There are good tenants, bad tenants and eccentric tenants.  Jasper our tenant definitely fits in to the third category.

Jasper was introduced to us by one of London’s most prestigious estate agents a couple of years ago as he wanted an apartment in Notting Hill to be near his children who lived nearby.  It was agreed and he moved in alone with his children able to visit periodically, not on a daily basis which became the norm.

A couple of years went by with the occasional request from Jasper which was nothing too unusual.  It was only when he decided to leave early, that the strangest request was made. I received an email from his PA asking that when Toby the Tortoise comes out of hibernation could I contact them so they could collect him.

At first  I wasn’t certain whether I  should take this request seriously or not.  Where could the tortoise be hibernating? The property has a terrace with a bed of plants and shrubs.  Surely Toby wasn’t somewhere deep in the earth?

After Jasper had left leaving the apartment as if a tornado had hit it ,I went about tidying and cleaning it ready for the next tenants.  I searched everywhere for Toby, to no avail.

A few weeks later in the Spring I returned to the property to plant some flowers as the new tenants were moving in imminently. To my amazement there in the corner of the bed near a laurel bush was a small tortoise shell  the size of a saucer. I was not expecting to see such a small one. At first I was afraid whether it was alive or not so I gave him a gentle nudge and lo and behold he moved his back leg, albeit it very slowly. I was so relieved that we had found him alive and well!  I went inside and quickly sent a message to Jasper’s PA “LOST and FOUND TOBY is ALIVE!” She was very grateful and arranged for him to be collected the following morning.

When I went back outside Toby had disappeared I thought oh no where is he? .  He had circumvented the flowers which I had newly planted and had made his way to the other side of the terrace.  I had no idea that tortoises could move so fast. I quickly found a shoe box and deposited him in it after making holes in the lid  and putting some leaves in it. I had to make sure he would not escape again and be returned to his rightful owners the following morning.

The lengths good landlords go to for their tenants!!!!!