While Britons adapt to life on coronavirus lockdown, one woman has shared the hilarious methods she used to have a chat with the people living across the street.
Sian Cosgrove, 24, said she had not spoken to her neighbour in Leeds despite living opposite for almost a year, but decided ‘what have I got to lose?’
With that in mind, Ms Cosgrove, who is a trustee at Support After Rape & Sexual Violence Leeds, wrote a sign that read ‘what is the black and white cat called?’
Sian Cosgrove struck up a conversation using a message scrawled on A4 paper after spotting her neighbour’s cat sat at the upstairs window of her house
Ms Cosgrove, who is a trustee at Support After Rape & Sexual Violence Leeds, wrote a sign that read ‘what is the black and white cat called?’
The neighbour responded with a window sign of their own that read ‘Walter’ and a relationship was born.
‘He’s an inside cat that lives over the road,’ Ms Cosgrove told the PA news agency.
‘Me and my partner had been calling him Eric because we didn’t know his name, but he was always sat in the window looking majestic.
‘It was annoying me that we didn’t know his name but we see him every day (all day every day now we’re in lock down) so I asked!
The 24-year-old had not spoken to her neighbour in Leeds despite living opposite for almost a year
The neighbour responded with a window sign of their own that read ‘Walter’ and a relationship was born
‘I didn’t expect to get a response but they were really good sports about it.’
The messages between residences continued, with Ms Cosgrove writing another sign that read ‘great name, Walter is a handsome boy’ and the reply reading ‘he says thank you’.
And while the exchange has delighted people on Twitter, with more than 750,000 likes on the original post, Ms Cosgrove said it has helped her during the lockdown too.
The messages between residences continued and the exchange was shared on Twitter
‘Feeling part of a community has felt huge for me while we’re in lockdown,’ she said.
‘We’ve lived here for nearly a year and never spoken to them, but I figured what have I got to lose. I was so chuffed when they posted something back!’
After Sian took to Twitter to share pictures of her conversation with Walter’s owner she was inundated with pictures from other proud pet owners.
Walter now has an Instagram account and has attracted thousands of followers
‘I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams the sheer number of cats I’ve seen in the last 24hrs and for that I will forever be thankful,’ she wrote.
And Walter’s new found fame has led to an Instagram account being set up in his honour – that has amassed more than 5,000 followers in less than 24 hours.
Amongst the posts is advice from the ‘indoor’ cat on the different types of activities to get up to while in quarantine.
The suggestions include ‘lick plastic bags all over the house, particularly in the middle of the night’ and ‘ try out new places to sit that don’t look like they would be at all comfortable, like laptop keyboards or important paperwork.’
After Sian took to Twitter to share pictures of her conversation with Walter’s owner she was inundated with pictures from other proud pet owners
