Short Report Card

Pagan Tarot

Half-term week was fabulous, not least because DH was home for the whole week. OK, that was mainly to take care of Wilhelmina the Volvo's MOT and any issues arising from that (a new tyre and whole set of brake discs and pads, so she is not a cheap date), but even so - we even had some grown-up time on our own, as the kids had a sleepover at Belo's, after which he put them to work weeding his garden.

Sure, I can tell you what we got up to, why wouldn't I ? 

We ate, drank, went to sleep early, and slept til late - as one ages, one begins to truly appreciate a long night of uninterrupted sleep all the way through until mid-morning. In separate beds. It was blissfully good.

But lest you think that all I did was lie around delicately munching peeled grapes, let me show you the front garden. It is only tiny, but what with the weather (drought then floods) and other things, I had really left it to itself for the last year and a half. It just shows you how messy Nature is when unsupervised:

And after a few hours and half a bottle a little sip of wine, we have this slightly less messy and with more gaps/spaces result:

 

 

Tottering away dragging my trowel behind me, I decided that the only thing that could possibly revive me would be more wine and a doner kebab the size of my head; then I collapsed in a catatonic heap of digestion ....

 But now I must be off and attempt to be productive - another shawl needs blocking. I finished it yesterday - binding it off took all afternoon (really, it was like a squillion million stitches AND a picot bind off) sitting in the sunshine; I have the sunburnt inside knee to show for it. How do you burn just the inside of one knee ? All these mysterious things that I never used to worry about.

Monday Moan

Tarot of Durer

Well, it must be Monday because here I am moaning again. Not whinging, as that would be a Wednesday, right ? And the Universe must have me tagged as a soft sap for lame ducks. Meanwhile, I have me tagged for being psychic: I foresee another trip to the vet in this holiday period.

Jewel the rescue cat is in a cone of shame to prevent her from licking, scratching and biting herself - she has an allergy to flea bites, and even though she is treated regularly with the one vet prescribed product that works for her, every now and then she breaks out into a self-mutilating frenzy.

In addition to that, suddenly over the weekend Sebastian has been scratching and licking himself to pieces: usually we see this in spring and summer as he is allergic to grass. But it is winter and there are no flowering grasses right now. He also is treated regularly with vet prescribed anti-flea product, and has no fleas: I have checked him over exhaustively.

He does have some rather large hot spots which I totally sympathize with him must be horribly itchy. 

So he and I have had a shower this morning in his very expensive anti-bacterial dog shampoo. I guess I won't have any bacteria either now. I sure smell medicinally sulphurous, even after a shower on my own to wash and rinse it away.

He now has one of DH's shirts on to prevent scratching and licking while I wait for his steroid prescription to be ready for collection from the vet:

He is still cute and gorgeous if a bit grumbly. Also cute and gorgeous is Mini Diva (who is very grumbly), and who has been sneezing like some really sneezy thing, and also shares the allergy sensitivities - again, not hayfever season and she has no bug bites. So there is definitely something going on.

The only thing that is new or different is that last week we had some building work done, and an internal plaster and lathe wall dating from the Victorian era when this house was built was removed and replaced: the dust was unbelievable, and went everywhere.

On top of this, Sebastian's insurance renewal has come through for next year, and it is now just about the same amount as the Wilhelmina the 2.4l Volvo V70 estate; and if we switch insurers, although it would be tons cheaper, anything connected to his pre-existing condition ie. allergy, will not be covered. Wilhelmina has developed an electrical fault which drains the battery as soon as you look at it, so she will be visiting the garage very shortly.

 

The thing is, the dog is mine and the car is DH's. And you can't cuddle a car.