It’s been a dramatic week for us!
Well OK, so I’m talking relatively here. We have had worse dramas.
Little Timple, one of our cats, was constantly gagging. Now any cat owners will know that this is a regular occurrence. They quite often have hair balls which they have to cough up, and once you realise it’s just that, it’s something that resolves itself quickly.
But this day was different.
I had left for work in the morning and Timple seemed to be having a hair ball problem, but I assumed he would be fine. Ten hours later when I got home, he was still in a lot of distress.
Gordon, as you can imagine, was in a lot of trouble for not taking him to the vet, and by now it was only the emergency vet on call.
I telephoned them and they said to monitor him and as long as he wasn’t having trouble breathing to bring him in at 8am.
So it was Timple and me in the spare bedroom and him next to me on a towel for the night.
I have to admit that although he had a few episodes, I just stroked him to calm him down and we cuddled up together and went back to sleep. It was lovely and just like when the children were little.
Next day I had to go to work and Gordon took him to the vet, who suspected a bone stuck in his throat.
Timple had a little operation and they removed not a bone but a huge blade of grass.
Gordon kept it as a souvenir as it was the most expensive blade of grass ever – £400 later we had Timple home with a very fancy bandage on his paw where the needles went in.
Our pets bring us so much joy, but it’s worrying when they are ill because, just like babies, they can’t explain what hurts.
Birthday girl
It’s a long time since I had a baby in the house. Emily was 27 the other day, so we went to Liverpool to spend the day with her.
She had booked for us to paint pottery together and what a great idea that was.
It was the quietest I had ever seen our family. The concentration was immense.
I thought painting pottery was something for kids’ parties, but all the other people there were also adults and some of the painting was extremely intricate.
It was a lovely relaxing way to spend an afternoon. I will let you know what our works of art look like when Emily picks them up.
Princess Diana statue
Of course, what some people think is wonderful art others think is horrible. The new statue to commemorate Princess Diana has certainly drawn mixed opinions.
I personally don’t like it at all. I’m not saying it’s easy to recreate someone in a statue, but I think it misses her beauty and her character completely.
However, if William and Harry like it that’s all that matters.
It’s not something the rest of us have to worry about. A photo of us on the mantelpiece will be how we are remembered. It’s pretty unlikely we will be a statue in the garden.
I don’t think I’d want to be one, would you?
Mind you, funnily enough we have Gordon’s radiotherapy mask in the garden. When you have radiotherapy, a huge shield is built in the shape of your face for protection and to make sure you don’t move. You can take it home with you at the end of treatment – so Gordon has a statue after all.
As I write this, I’m not sure if England have made it to the Euro final but we will be watching the match anyway.
In Bedford where we live, there is a huge Italian community, so when Italy wins anything, everyone drives around the town beeping their car horns.
When Italy beat Spain on Tuesday, Gordon and Ollie drove down to the town centre with the roof down soaking up the party atmosphere.
The only downside to all this Euro 2020 mania is the sight of out of shape men and women wearing football shirts that were designed to be worn by athletes. However, the one good thing about Scotland being knocked out is that you can get fabulous bargains on Scottish football shirts.
Ollie definitely looks very Scottish in his!
Have a good week,
Yvie x
