Life goes on

It feels strange to continue blogging with mentions of more mundane everyday things, but that is exactly what we have been doing.

One thing about dogs is that they don't have time for what happened yesterday and are concerned totally with now. So, my rather sad and contemplative mood was quickly interpreted as weakness by the stinky dog and he saw it as his chance to take over! On our daily walks all thoughts of sadness had to be put to one side while I concentrated on trying to be a strong confident pack leader! On some occasions it works but it doesn't stop the little sh*t from testing the water every morning! Never mind, I will have the last word on this as he has an appointment at the vets next week to have his b*llocks removed! We decided that there can only ever be one 'Gremlin'.

It has been unseasonably hot and dry here, with temperatures in the 30s and no rain. Everywhere looks parched and bare. It is a bit cooler at night, which at least gives us the chance to cool down and get some sleep, but dog walks need to be done early and late, when the harvest mites seem to be at their worst. These little larvae get under your skin (literally) around the sweaty areas of clothing, such armpits, groin and under your bra. They inject you with something to dissolve your skin, feed off it, drop off and leave you with the most annoying itch that lasts for days!

As I seem to be doing an animal blog, I will conclude with mention of the cat, who seems to be getting more and more demented! He is now quite deaf, miaows loudly and is hyper affectionate for the first time in his life, wanting to sleep as close to me as he can. I fear his kidney's and thyroid are on the way out, but as he is old I don't want to go through the ordeal of vets and tests and tablets and more tests that will eventually end in him getting to the end of his life anyway, so I just keep and eye on him, let him eat what he wants and worry about how many more boxes of cat food I will need to stock up on!

Warm and furry

We called in to see Ian's mother the other day while we out her way, and she decided that I might find her sheepskin footmuff a useful addition to our French home. With nightime temperatures of -12 at the moment by the land this may be the case (although I can't imagine us ever having time to sit still at the moment). In the meantime Mandi the cat has found a use for it as a bottom warmer!

Farewell Norma

I was worried about Norma before I left. I know that she had limited time left but seeing her condition as I left for Ireland I did wonder whether now was a good time to go away. I told my neighbour to phone me if she was worried. Last night, while we were enjoying a meal with neighbours in our dining room (complete with dust sheets as tablecloths, tools all around us and no ceilings) I got a call. Norma had been missing for two days and despite searches and contacting the vet she had not reappeared. The feeling was that she had taken herself off to die.

I spent the night trying to think about places that she might be. I went through all her secret hiding places in my mind and sent a text the following morning. As we were wandering round yet another hardware store I got a call to say that she had been found in a nearby garden and taken to the vets. She was almost dead so the vets had to put her to sleep.

I called the vets, tried to reassure everyone that they had done the right thing, and agreed Norma's funeral arrangements. (A few days in the freezer and the off to the pet crematorium..I am not sentimental about these things and don't feel the need to have some sort of memorial ).

So, Norma chose her time and is now at peace but when I return on Saturday the house will feel less like home without her.

Norma update

I have decided to discontinue Norma's treatment, or at least some of it as I don't think it was making a significiant contribution to her quality of life. She actually seems a bit better and more like her old self although I know now this is likely to just be temporary.

The morning after

Despite Norma's expensive medication (which meant she perked up for a week or two) there is no getting away from the fact that she is a frail, elderly cat at the end of her life. She is still thin, doesn't really seem to know where she is most of the time, can't always recognise things such as her very important food bowl and mostly spends her life asleep. However, the sun appeared on Saturday and she decided to join us in the garden. She walked up to shed, sat in the sun for an hour, followed us around a bit and then settled down for a rest in the evening. By the following day her exertions had taken its toll and she could hardly move from the cat basket. She seemed in pain and yet again I found myself thinking that I was keeping her alive more for my benefit than hers. When I think like that she usually improves for a day or two!

My brother knows all about feeling bad after the previous day's activities. He took part in the Eton
Triathlon with my sister and brother-in-law. This has become an annual competition for them as it is near to home, and close to their respective birthdays. It is the alternative to getting p*ssed on your birthday called wrecking your body in a vain attempt to try and kid yourself that you are still as fit as you were at 25.  My brother ended up getting smashed! He was in an altrication with another bike rider (a friend of the brother-in-law as it happened) and was thrown over the handlebars, breaking his collar bone and doing some nasty soft tissue damage to his hip that meant when he finally left Accident and Emergency at Wexham Park Hospital he was in a wheelchair. Today, with the aid of a concoction of pain killers he can take a few gentle steps and was optomistically hoping that he would be recovered in time for his annual golfing trip to Scotland in June. (I suspect that he won't be, as, being the wrong side of 40, his injuries will take more than a few weeks to heal. I did tell him that if he had been in the Tour de France he would have just had to keep on going!) So, the Birthday supper they had planned was spent in all the luxury that the NHS has to offer. My brother was taken to hospital by ambulance and I assume that they were paramedics provided by the events organiser since they got lost in the way and it took them over an hour to go 5 miles. They went from Eton, to Slough via Reading which as anyone will tell you who knows the area is a 'bloody long way round'. They blamed in on their Sat Nav.. but I am not so sure....!

Finally, I read somewhere that Black and White cats are the least popular and more difficult to find homes for that any other colour. I told this to Mandi as he sat and thought about the meaning of life.

A spring weekend

The high pressure continues; resulting in lovely sunny spring days. The downside is that the cloud of volcanic ash hanging over much of Northern Europe, and grounding all air travel, is going nowhere fast. We all know people caught out and unable to get home. However my mother lives near Heathrow and was telling me tonight that for the first time since she moved in she has been able to open her windows and sit outside and hear the birds singing. I am quite glad I do not have any trips booked for the next couple of weeks as I feel now we are in a catch 22 situation as if the planes are allowed to fly tomorrow I would not be convinced that safety had been put before commerce.

All of a sudden it seems, everything is in bud. Ian and I spent some time on Saturday clearing up the garden. On Sunday we went out on the bikes along the coast to Pevensey and Norman's Bay. In the evening Norma and Ian watched TV together!

Reviewing the focus

I was beginning to think that I may have to change the description of this blog as being about life, llamas and cycling to omit the cycling bit since I haven't ridden my bike for ages. We have had so many things to do at the weekends that cycling had become a thing of the past. However, this weekend Ian decided that as he is no longer riding to work everyday he would like to go out for a bike ride. Yipee! This is one advantage of  Ian not working in town as he now has some energy! We decided to go along the Cuckoo trail, a fairly flatish disused railway line that we have ridden before. We did about 20 miles all in all and for the last three I thought my legs had dissolved! It brought home to me that if you want to stay fit once you are past 50 you have to put in the hours. We stopped at Wessons cafe in Horam for tea and a bun. The cafe was quiet except for 10 or so bikers. They were very quiet and polite and I joked with the owner that I didn't expect to find all the varieties of herbal tea in a bikers cafe! Today my rear end is suffering!

I also haven't written much about llamas, since our focus has been so much on making progress on the house and making our way there that the llamas have taken a bit of a back seat. I have written more about the problems with my current animals, especially the aged cat Norma who was approaching deaths door a few weeks ago. However, as Fiona (of Two Shelia's and Dog) predicted she has made a miraculous recovery on her medication and now looks like she might be fit enough to get her rabies jab and chip and maybe last a little longer. What I would disagree with however is that the cost is reasonable at a combined cost of £40 per month ! Must have gone up! The other problem is that now Norma is feeling better she is putting up more of a struggle when I come to give her the tablets! I have a technique that involves me pinning her between my legs and thrwing the pill as far down her throat as I can get it. However, she is quite good at preventing it from going down and discretely spitting it out at the food bowl!

Finally, this blog has really been more about building the house in France than all the other things. With that in mind we are off Wednesday for 10 days. We have a full van and a list of jobs longer that we have time to do. Ian is pleased as I agreed that he could start work on garage. There is some logic there as if the garage is done then we can store things in it while we finish off the floor in the house. He is now exitedly planning the concrete slab. We have also applied to have Internet connected, but this is France and so far we have not heard back so we will still have to resort to the neighbour's Wi Fi connection!

Birthdays and cats

This weekend it was Ian's birthday and I made him a mad cake. The picture on the top was an edible version of one of my photos! Actually his birthday is not until tomorrow!

We are still without a kitchen at Ian's but work is progressing!

Norma the cat is enjoying a new lease of life since starting on her medication! However, getting the tablet down her throat is getting harder now she is getting fitter!

Dilemmas of pet ownership

I have had a dilemma playing on my mind for the past week. I was always quite sure that I would take Mandi cat with me to France but thought that probably Norma wouldn't make it, as with her advancing age and frailty, nature would eventually take its course. I then realised that to take any cat out of the country I would need to get them pet passported, which basically means a microchip and a couple of rabies jabs and saying goodbye to the best part of £150! It also needs to be done a little in advance (moreso if you want them to come back ever) and so the time was approaching to head for the vets.

But, what should I do about Norma? The idea of the journey seems cruel in itself and something she may not survive. After agonising about this I finally took them both down the vets to ask advice. I must admit I was quite nervous and I don't really know why. Maybe it was the thought that this was the start of the end for Norma.

Mandi went first. He had his rabies shot and chip and seemed quite happy with things. He goes back in three weeks for a booster and then a blood test. Next up was Norma. She was agitated and not happy. She struggled to get away (not like her) and generally looked stressed. The vet examined her and then decided that she almost certainly has hypothyroidism, and when I read about the symptoms it seems very likely. Blood tests were done, (Norma fought and struggled and I think the vet thought that she might pass out!) She was given some ACE inhibitors until the results of the blood tests come in and I am £202  poorer! Ouch! Still, it may be that with all this Norma will be well enough to at least travel to France and if not then I am hoping that someone will take her on a palliative basis for the last few months of her life. It seems to me to be a lot to ask of anyone but I have been quite suprised that there are in fact a few people that may consider it. People can be great sometimes.

(Of course I will be gutted about having to leave Norma behind but then I keep reminding myself that it is not about me and my feelings)

The cats arse

This morning was a bit of a rush. I rushed to put the bins out (too lazy to do it last night). I rushed around hanging up my wet washing, assembling my lunch and eating my breakfast. I grabbed the things I needed for my sports bag and then my handbag. That's when I had a panic as I couldn't find my purse. My last memory of it was from the evening before when I paid for some things in Sainsbury's in the self checkout and put the purse back in my coat pocket. I unloaded the car when I got back and rather than make two trips I carried everything in one go and then threw it all on the floor when I got in. So, my purse could be anywhere! I searched the usual places, the unusual ones and absolutely everywhere else I could think of. I had thoughts of it lying in the wet car park and of the money racking up on my credit cards! I phoned Sainsbury's but nothing had been found so reluctantly I got on the phone and cancelled my entire life. I spoke to call centres all over the world. I heard the strangest Irish Indian accent I had ever heard. I waited in queues, I gave out my mothers maiden name more times than I have ever used it in a day, and eventually, after an hour, found  myself cashless, cardless,  and identity less!

Wearily I walked downstairs and contemplated who I could borrow £20 from to last me to the weekend. I decided I needed a coffee and walked towards the kitchen. The cat saw the opportunity for food as got up to follow me and there underneath his big, fat, furry arse was my purse! I didn't think to look there!

So you'll think of me all day

Yesterday was spent on public transport. Bus to station-train to Brighton-train back -bus to other part of town- walk back- train to East Croydon- (got on wrong train)- got off at Selhurst-train to London Bridge-train to Sidcup. All this was because I was picking up my new car from Ian's house and driving it back! I finally got in at 10.45 in the evening!

During the morning I kept smelling a rather nasty urine smell. First I thought it was from the Station (drunken men peeing on the platform), then the toilets on the train but when I could still smell it sitting in the classroom I realised that it might be something on me! Had I stepped in something nasty? I started smelling all my items of clothing, shoes, bag etc; and then I found it. My hat had a distinct smell of cats pee! The mystery was solved..when left to his own devices Mandi the cat usually feels the need to assert his authority by making everything smell of him. Although neutered he still manages to smell pretty bad! He must have got my hat the day before and decided to make sure I remembered him all day!

What do you do at this point? I had already worn the hat all morning so any nasty smells were already all over my hair. Do I take the smelly hat off and have a cold head or do I continue to wear it and keep a warm head but accept that people will just think I am the mad woman who smells of cat?

Norma thinks again

Norma must have heard me talk about euthanasia the other day and decided that it was not her time just yet! She perked up and even ran around the living room for a while. She is begging for food again and eating well!

Norma drags herself into 2009

Back up in London again after a quiet few days in Eastbourne. I felt quite bad to leave the cats as Norma, the old girl is looking more and more frail and has taken to howling rather loudly in the early hours of the morning, when she wakes up and doesn't seem to know where she is. She still eats although not with quite the same enthusiasm as before and when we are in she seems to want constant reassurance. It occurred to me today that it is not going to be too long before I have to think about her future. I have never had to make that decision about a pet before and it is not one I am looking forward to.

Stereo purr

I have just come from the sofa. The three of us were dozing. I was lying down trying to stay awake during the news, Norma was in her usual place across the back of the sofa, against the radiator and Mandi (black and white cat) was on the arm rest next to my head. I awoke from my snooze to stereophonic purring.

What happened to the cat flap?

I noticed last night (while making a cup of tea) that it was really cold in the kitchen; especially around my ankles! I couldn't work out the problem at first until I looked down and saw that the cat flap was missing. It took me a while to figure out what had happened and many theories went through my mind. The first was that someone had been trying to break in and had tried to get in by removing the cat flap, sticking their hand through and somehow unlocking the door! I soon realised that this was unlikely as the door was still locked and nothing was missing. I was confused as I couldn't see the cat flap anywhere. However, after a look outside with the powerful torch I found it half-way up the garden, the door broken beyond repair. Later I noticed that Mandi had a few cuts and scratches and I figured that the most likely explanation was that one of the neighbourhood cats had come in for food, Mandi had tried to fight him off and they had both gone crashing through the cat flap in a hurry. I have ordered a new cat flap but in the meantime it's still cold in the kitchen! Ian says that if he catches any other cats in the kitchen he will take them outside and pee on their heads and that should stop them coming back!