Back for more …

What? Two posts in the same month?! I must be slipping up ……

Easter has come and gone, along with some rather yummy chocolate. My white choccy egg with champagney truffles didn’t last long, and Lucy the milk and white chocolate lamb didn’t manage to stay around for much longer, either! I tried to compesnate for the over-intake by going for a looooong walk up to Selsley Common with Kelvin, Tallis and Kalika. The dogs loved it although they were utterly cream crackered that evening as a result. And I’m still aching even now from all that leg stretching!

Up on Selsley Common

We found a dog toy (a ball on a rope) hanging from a tree on the dge of the common, and this provided a source of great entertainment for Kalika. It’s just as well there was a cattle trough on hand to slake her thirst (though why she always has to jump right into the trough and go for full immersion is beyond me!).

We left Tok at home to snooze and rest as he’s still on the recovery road after his op. But he’s doing well and is now up to two 25 min walks each day.

He is also undergoing hydrotherapy to help stabilise and strengthen the joints in both his legs.

Two of the cats are off for their annual MOT today, and we’re hoping to stock up on Scampy’s pills while we’re there, is stocks are getting rather low. I don’t envy Kelvin the task of enfolding two cats into their respective baskets and carting them off to the vet. Work is definitely preferrable!

A long intermission …

I seem to have failed rather spectacularly in keeping my blog at least vaguely up to date. I didn’t realise quite how far I’d slipped until a quiet afternoon tempted me into some surfing … and I found myself checking out the site. I will make no promises but I might get better at this blogging thing …

And so to update. We are now a three dog, four cat househol. We decided (Kelvin decided!!!) to keep the remaining puppy. He is now named Tallis and is very firmly and definitely part of the family here. He’s very good natured, friendly and bouncey, with a constant wag on offer and enough beans to populate a coffee plantation!

That’s him at the bottom of the post, in case you haven’t realised …

What else to report? Scampy, our elderly lady tabby cat, has a hyperthyroid problem which was the cause of her weight loss. The vet seems very happy that the medication she is on is controlling the condition, and I’m happier now I only have to fight to get a tablet down her once a day and not twice.  She seems healthy and glossy- coated and can still moves around with great speed if she really has to!

We’re learning about the challenges of caring for someone with dementia now that one of my aunts has been diagnosed with this horrible, theiving disease. I say thieving, because it robs the person of their individuality and leaves behind someone who isn’t quite the person we ‘know’. Fortunately, my aunt seems to be receiving good care and is comfortable in the home where we’ve had to get her moved to, but it’s still a hard thing to come to terms with. We’ve a case conference coming up next week to discuss treatment and next steps – but I can’t make it. I know my mum and brother, and other family members will be there but I feel guilty about not being able to take part.

So. I’ve done it, delivered an update. I’m off to Symphony Hall in Birmingham this weekend to take part in a come-and-sing day – the work is Mozart’s Requiem. I’ve not sung it before so I suspect Sunday may be challenging for me and for anyone who might have the misfortune to be standing near me!

Watch this space for a post-event report ….. but don’t hold your breath lest my new resolution falters at the first hurdle!

I'm quite comfy here, thank you.

Seven down, one to go!

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I am delighted to say that in spite of my misgivings, we have managed to find lovely homes for seven of our beautiful puppies. The last girlie went last evening, to a new home in East Grinstead, where we know she’s going to be loved to bits.

We’ve already received some bulletins from the new owners, complete with pictures, telling us how well the puppies have settled in, and of the joy they’re bringing. It’s lovely to know that we’ve given them the right start in life ….

We still have handsome Flek at home and he too, needs a home, tho’ Kelvin would dearly love to keep him. Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to another long weekend during which I’m hoping to find at least a little ‘me’ time. That is, time when I’m not doing hoiusework stuff, walking the dogs, caring for the puppy etc. I want to PLAY (in the craft room, of course!!!!!!).

I’ll let you know if I manage to grab some time and succeed in doing any scrapbooking or card-making.

Meanwhile, enjoy that photo of one of our ‘boys’ settling into his new home ….

Anyone want to buy a puppy?

The windswept look ....

The good news is …. we’ve sold five puppies. Two have already gone to their new homes. Thus Brown Boy has become Monty and Flash is now known as Millie.  While they might not be the names we’d have chosen (with our weird taste and all that!) we think they will suit the two puppies in question . Early reports suggest they are settling into their name abodes and being spoilt rotten!

Three more puppies are due to be collected this weekend, leaving us with two black girlies (Tuning Fork and Flag) and the last remaining brown boy, who we call Flek.  We’re hoping that having just three to look after will be less of a strain and a little easier. But I’m anxious to find homes for the trio as soons as possible – I want my life back!!!!!

With the Bank Holiday weekend almost upon us, and with two days off at the end of next week, at least I might get some time to play with my craft supplies. I’ve not done a scrapbook page for ages and I feel the itch of creativity nagging away at me.

Meanwhile, on an altogether different note, last night I had to visit the dentist for an emergency appointment. The result was that I left with one tooth less than Iarrived with. I’d had problems with the wretched thing before, starting years ago when a drill-happy dentist added a filling to it that wasn’t needed. To cut a boring story short, first the tooth itself began to crumble around the the filling. Then a few weeks ago a huge chunk broke off. This was followed by the filling dropping out. For a few days it was fine, if a little odd-feeling. Then whoa! came the toothache.  Hence my visit to an emergency walk-in centre.

They were very good there, I have to say – caring, concerned and very professional. And after about 15 injections, they whipped the offending monster out quicker than you could say ‘smile!’.

Boy did it hurt later that evening when the drugs wore off!

PS Why do dentists always ask you questions when you’ve got your mouth open for inspection and there’s no possibility of you answering?!

The weekend cometh…

And hurrah for that! I don’t know where this week has gone – it has all become a bit of a blur for me. I started the week making an unexpected work-related trip to London. Tuesday was taken up with meetings in the centre of Birmingham. Wednesday I managed to squeeze in a day in the office where I tried catching up with my work world …. Thursday I was at a reservoir near Leek, Staffordshire  …. and today, I am closer to home, working out of satellite office near Cheltenham.

Trouble is, these days, my life seems to be a constant round of get up early, go to work, come home, cook/eat tea, sort out puppies and go to bed – no room for any LIFE! The seagull … oops, I mean puppies, are waking us around 5.30am every morning which doesn’t help!

Yesterday, we took our eight, fast-growing puppy monsters into the special area we’ve prepared for them in the back garden. They were a bit bemused at first but now – wow! Do they enjoy it! They have two dog kennels where they can go and snooze, and plenty of space to chase, sniff, explore and do all those other more unmentionable things puppies like to do.

The cats are understandably wary of the new addition to the garden although they do seem to have sussed that the puppies can’t ‘get at’ them. I feel sorry for Willow, though as we have seen even less of her than usual since the monsters arrived, and I don’t want her to feel pushed out by our temporary residents.

The adverts have started going up / out inviting people to come and buy our brood. We’re having a puppy party next weekend, too, so our friends and neighbours who just want to come and ‘ohh’ and ‘ahhhh’ can drop in and become part of the chaos that our life has become.

The dogs – ie Tok and Kalika have been really good while all this mayhem is going on around them. We’re hoping the weather will be good over the weeknd so we can take them for a long walk across one of the nearby commons so they can have some proper attention from us … with no puppy interference!

Oscar does a good line in drape!

This is just to prove we haven’t forgotten all about the cats! Here’s our lovely Oscar, making himself at home.

 

Willow puts in one of her rare appearances indoors … and yes, she’s safely on the bed upstairs, well away from the noisy puppies!

 

About time!

A sleeping Flash

There’s been a bit of a gap, hasn’t there, since my last posting here! I supoose it’s a sign that I’ve been a tad busy of late, not to mention the fact that I haven’t been able to add updates from work. However, now I’m back…. So, where were we?!!

We’ve had a temporary expansion to our household in the shape of eight gorgeous puppies. They are Vizsla / Collie-Lab crosses and I defy anyone to say they’re not cute! Mum is Kalika, our manic Collie-lab, and dad is Tok, our velcro Vizsla.  Kalika has been an excellent mum to her brood and taught them how to sqwauk like seagulls, nibble, lick, bounce and one or two other unmentionable things!

Sadly, two of the the original 10 puppies were stillborn, but we’re very relieved that remaining eight – more than enough for any mum to manage – seem in excellent health.

If you think you might like to give one of our menagerie a loving home, then leave me a message here and we’ll get in touch. There are four girls and four boys; three black pups and five pale toffee ones.  All the back pups are girls! We think the black pups are going to be smaller dogs – with lovely slender legs!

Feeding time for the seagulls, I mean, puppies!

I hope you like the photos I’m putting here for you to drool over!

Good news – about time, too!

Yes, yes, yes! At last I can report that I have finally, after months of searching and attending a seemingly endless stream of interviews, been offered and accepted a new job.

I’ll be leaving the current job at the end of February and starting my new role, with a certain utility company, on March 3. I am really looking forward to it – albeit with some trepidation – as I can’t remember when I was last happy and settled and doing a job I loved. I’m hoping that this new challenge will give me all these things, and more.

I’ve been lucky in my current post in that I have been blessed, in the main, with supportive and helpful colleagues, but that in itself isn’t enough to stimulate my little grey cells. So it’s a case of onwards and upwards. Dad would have been so chuffed for me, I know. Wish he was here to share the pleasure ….

On a considerably less serious note, you’ll be glad to know that I have survived yet another pantomime run. Dick Whittington had five full performances, culminating in a no-holds-barred production on Saturday night to a more than full house. Judging by some of the heckling in the second half, generous amounts of alcohol had passed the lips of some of the audience, but our fabulous dame (aka the local postman) was more than a match for them. It was enormous fun but so, so tiring. It will take me all week to recover!

Hello, 2008 …

OK. So am am not the most frequent of bloggers – maybe I don’t have much to say? But I couldn’t let the start of a new year slip by completely un-noticed, could I?

So we’re here, sliding into 2008. We didn’t have any wild celebrations at home, but did toast the dying moments of the old year and the birth of the new with a glass or three of bubbly. Mum was there to share the moment with us which was great, and she really seemd to enjoy herself. Surprisingly, she has turned into a great fan of the dogs and seemed entirely relaxed sitting in the menagerie with both pooches happily nestling up to her. I never thought I’d see that!

 What will 2008 hold for us, I wonder? A new job and a new home would be a great start!

For John and Jill ….

Some sad news to impart. Our friend John sadly died earlier this week. He was a special person and too young to die., and although we knew it was imminent, and had to happen, it didn’t make the news any easier to accept. We rang his lovely wife, Jill, to say how sorry we were, but words seem so inadequate … I really wanted to be able to wrap my arms around her and hold her tight for ages, but we live miles and miles away. I don’t think virtual hugs have the same healing properties.

Life with the menagerie goes on. It is strange how much smaller our brood seems to be now we no longer have Jessye with us!  Squealy Neeley did a disappearing act earlier this week – he went out before we went to bed and refused to reappear until nearly 9pm the following day, which was very unlike him. I was imagining all kinds of fates, and Kelvin wondered if perhaps he’d gone off to look for Jessye, who was, after all, his mum…. Still, he came back safe and well, and keen to feed his face with the latest bargain BOGOF cat food!

 Now that Tok has been given the ‘all-clear’ by the vet we’re able to take him out for walks with Kalika. He really does seem to like being out and about again, but we’re being cautious and making sure he doesn’t overdo it as we don’t want to spend any more time at the vets if we can help it!

The photo, by the way, is one of my favourite shots of said wandering cat! Isn’t he a cool dude!

Why isn’t Oscar bald?

Oscar is our big, black, fluffy cat. Well, you can see that from the photo, no doubt. (Or you will do when I get it posted up!) What you can’t see is that wherever he goes, he sheds loads of fur – sometimes quite big clumps of it. My question is: if there is a hundredweight  of fur on the floor, how is that he still has so much attached to his body? Shouldn’t he be bald by now?

The other week, he groomed out great chunks of fur from the base of his tail, something he does do from time to time, Usually the fur does grow back but it takes a while and in the meantime, his tail looks decidedly odd!

Meanwhile, the Dyson continues with its valiant attempts to hoover up all the escaped furry clumps …. perhaps we could fish the fur out of the cylinder and knit Oscar a tail-warmer to keep him snug until his own coat grows back properly?!

Speaking of coats growing back, Tok’s shaved area is beginning to look less and less pronounced. Maybe by Christmas he’ll not be two-tone-Tok anymore!  He visited the vet today for a knee-and-leg check-up and it seems our efforts in restraint and on-the-lead walks have been having the desired effect.  He still has to take some tablets, apparently, and will have to have a low dose for the foreseeable future – the medication will help keep the knee joint lubricated and help  prevent any early signs of arthritis. Or something like that!

Hurrah! We can now take Tok and Kalika for walks together instead of having to juggle our lives and activities around taking one and then the other.

Maybe the back garden can now begin to recover from the recent months of stick-chasing by Kalika – she can go for real leg-stretchers in the woods next door instead!