Hospitals. Canberra and Gooseberry Bushes

ANZAC Parade Memorial, Canberra
ANZAC Parade Memorial, Canberra

Over the last week or so  things have not been so well for some of the people I receive mail from – some of the posts I follow  – and this  distresses me because  I look on you all as extended friends and I find it all the more sad where animals, dogs or cats, are concerned. I have  parted with three dogs and two of them died in my arms. The little man still gets excited about going out but he spends a good bit of the time with me carrying him and I suppose it must look strange – me walking along with two dogs, one on a leash and one in my arm.  But he likes to see what’s going around him and he does enjoy his outings.

We were at a medical appointment yesterday and did not get home until after 6pm. At one point there was talk of admitting Annabell into hospital as her blood pressure was 210/70 – well that’s what they told me. But in the end it was decided to let her come home. Poor thing was tired and  rather than start to try and make something for dinner, I got a take-away on the way home. After dinner she went to bed and has been sleeping since – well almost, I did hear her get up once during the night. Of course, I did say that 2014 was fairly reasonable thus far, and that’s true but only because I am keeping things organised and can make sense of all the appointments, but having a blood pressure of 210/70 is, to say the very least, worrying. Also receptionists calling me and changing days and times  of appointments doesn’t help  :o) But we are fine – we can manage – me, herself, the dogs and a Filofax.

DSCF0006
ANZAC Parade from the National Memorial

She needs to rest so I am chief cook and bottle washer for the time being. Goodness, it’s perhaps as well that I actually like to cook. There are some things she cannot eat so I have to be careful but this evening I made Omelette with cheese, onions , vegetables and a small side salad, a slice of  chocolate cake and cream. I fed the dogs after the dishes were washed and put away – oh yes I am very domesticated. I suppose that’s the price of growing up in a household of females. But she is able to cope fairly well and is still cheerful and things are not quite so bad and once they get to the bottom of this and perhaps the two appointments this coming week will help to do just that.

The garden, whilst not neglected, has had little more than merely maintenance – i.e. sweeping up leaves and keeping things tidy. Although I did plant a Hibiscus in a new (to me) and unusual way.  I cut the bottom off a planter and split it down the side. I dug the hole for the Hibiscus larger than necessary and put the planter in the hole. I then  put a good  amount of propagating sand in the bottom, put in the Hibiscus and filled up the rest of the planter with the sand – then watered it in. In a few days I will remove the container and hope that the plant takes. Surrounded by the sand I think it might. And the Gooseberry Bush is pushing out shoots, so the cooler weather is good for it.

The Man sleeps a lot, which I expect is good for him. He still gets excited about going out and now is actually sending me a summons when HE thinks it’s time to go  :o) I take them out at 7:30 because the sun has started to go and the flies are a lot less. At about 7:20 he starts barking and whining and it’s as if the little character can tell the time.

Whilst herself was sleeping today I wandered through my files to find some photographs of our trip to Canberra. I would like to back there and perhaps we will if and when herself is up to the travel.

Could we start again, please?

At the start of the week we were breaking records for heat, and sending out bushfire warnings  by Thursday we were breaking new records – for rain. Talk about a weird week. It’s Saturday 8am and we have just had yet another downpour. At least there is one consolation and that is that both of my rainwater tanks are overflowing. The major highway, west of here, was closed down and drivers were diverted  to the longer and more isolated highway to the north.They were also advised to fill up because there would be no fuel for at least 200klm.  Some localised street flooding here but nothing much to speak of – no homes were in any danger. Adelaide floods because Adelaide is on an ancient flood plain and there is the runoff from the Adelaide Hills. There a few dips in the roads here and we do get a bit of water at these places, but nothing  comes near any of the houses – not like Adelaide.

Some years ago (2005) I took a party of teenagers to the National Capital of Canberra. It was amazing since very few of them had ever been out of the State – actually, some of them had never been out of the Eyre Peninsula. One of the stops we made was at the South Australia/Victoria Border and irrespective of the time ( day or night) stop was made for photographs with the border post  – Welcome to Victoria – very much in the  photograph. We went by coach, which had two drivers, was fully air conditioned, had a television and a DVD player. Nineteen hours on the coach was ok – frequent stops for comfort and food (yes there were facilities on the coach), watching movies, reading and just chatting or listening to music.

We had a bad year last year and the start of this new year has not been too bad. This is not to say that everything that bothered us last year has gone – it has not, but we are learning to cope with it and move on. Herself contracted MRSA some years   (5) ago and we are still living with the aftermath of that. In order to eliminate the infection drugs were pumped into her through a picc line but although they seemed to control then eliminate the  Staph infection, they compromised her liver and kidney functions. She spent over three months in hospitals, mainly the Royal Adelaide, which meant me traveling back and forth  and staying in Adelaide for days at a time. When she came home, we still had to travel back to the RAH for check-ups – we still do but not as often. A few years ago she became quite anemic and it was discovered she was losing blood. She was taken into hospital and given blood transfusions.  It was thought that this would solve the problem – and it did – for a while. Now we are back to square one again, she is losing blood, is anemic, very tired and the doctors are not sure what to do since the blood transfusion  should have solved the problem.  However, 2014 is better in that I have things better organised than I did last year. I can organise and to some extent control the visits to the doctor, to fit around a timetable – the specialists are very different. Being in the country we have no specialists here – they all have to come up from Adelaide and these times I cannot adjust. We have to attend these at the time and date specified. Today I have managed to get the doctor at 4pm – next Monday a Specialist at 11am. I was due to attend a meeting in Adelaide but we have a hospital visit  on that day so it will be an apology But we are fine and everything is good.  I am fit and healthy, except when I do silly things, like go up and down ladders at home all day wearing only sandals and cause some damage to my foot, but otherwise, fit and healthy. The Man is still pottering around, slowly and slightly unsteady. He seems to cope with falling down a bit,  and it seems to distress me more than it does him. I think the time for the wheels is just about upon us.

Fire, Floods – it’s a weird place!

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous  in 36 hours.
From the Sublime to the Ridiculous in 36 hours.

The temperature shot up to 44c again and is expected to stay high until the weekend. The dogs are  curled up asleep  under the air-conditioner. I said that I had gone into a stationery shop called Kikki.k to get some things for a friend but what I didn’t say is that I left my Scanda Filofax on the counter. They telephoned herself who contacted me on my mobile (cell) phone. I was  way too far away to be able to turn around so I asked her to contact them and ask if they would post it to me and I would pay the postage. They said they would and told her not to bother with the postage. I was very thankful that they were really good people and sent my Filofax back to me.

Even a mere five days without it was a trial since I use it for just about everything, and all the medical appointment dates for herself were in there. I always keep it close to me but I believe I know what happened. I had written what I needed to get  in my FF and I laid it down on the counter. When I got what I had asked for the assistant put it in a bag — and – I think she put it down on top of my Filofax and I lifted the bag but not the Filofax underneath it. Still, all good and I have it back again. I will not forget this when I go back to Adelaide in a few weeks. Kikki.K is a Swedish design stationery Shop. TeeHee – when herself took the call she thought the girl was saying “This is KKK” which sort of scared her a little  :o)

The heatwave broke last night and since about 1am we have had heavy and constant rain. Fortunately no thunder – just rain. I just hope all this is being repeated

Trying to save the Festival
Trying to save the Festival

across the gulf and if it persists it should bring relief to the firefighters at the Bangor blaze. It was still hot and sticky when I took the dogs out last night and even with the rain it will take a while for the place to cool down.  Well, that was nice, but it’s still hot and sticky and everything has dried up very quickly. The Bangor Fire is still not out but the rain did help to give the firefighters a slight break and gave them the opportunity to  strengthen containment lines.

Things, however, are different in Adelaide, which has just gone from record heat to record rain in 30 hours – and the rain is still falling. Sections of the city are impassable due to flooding. Yes it has hardly stopped here since it began two days ago. but it is much heavier in the lower areas of the  State – Adelaide and the metropolitan district. It has put the Adelaide Festival, this weekend, on alert and already some of the parklands, where the show is held, in under water, as the underground car park of St. Andrew’s Hospital.. Still, our floods are small scale in relation to the floods in London and other parts of England. But, it is still raining. It should be interesting when I take Chienne to the vet. this afternoon.

Chienne relaxing
Chienne relaxing

I have always meant to say, but forgot,  that our Vet.  is Mustafa Bozkurt who was born in Adapazari, Turkey. He was invited to be part of a movie being partly short here because of his Turkish background. The film, starring Russell Crowe, is called “The Water Diviner”and is being filmed in the far north of the State before it moves to complete filming in Turkey – the area close to Gallipoli.  It’s only a little to do with the battle, more of a father trying to find his sons after the battle.

OK – Just got back  from the vet and there is flooding on the roads – large puddles – but the rain was pounding down and at one point I really couldn’t see ahead of me and I simply put on my orange hazard lights – it was a bit scarey. Even herself said that she can’t remember ever seeing rain like this here. Neither can I. Made it back but Chienne was a scared little dog.

Parole, Fires and Roundabouts

So Schapelle Corby is to be released on parole. I have always believed in her innocence  and it may well be that I am just Naive, I really hope that I am not proven wrong. Since the very beginning I have always felt that she  was not guilty and that her father and brother had a lot to do with  this. For nine years now, she has been a feature on Australian News and Television and when she is released and the media frenzy dies down and moves on to its next target, I really hope  she will be allowed to serve out her parole in relative obscurity, but I guess there is little chance of that happening for a long time.

The Bangor fire broke containment lines and caused alarm and panic, but the tireless work of the Firefighters have brought the fire back under control and  within new containment lines being stregthened. What a strange place Ausralia is, one third burning, one third in severe drought and one third relatively normal – or at least what passes for normal in Western Australia, although to be fair, they do have the occasional  Severe Clyclone to contend with.

This is the "Younger" Man
This is the “Younger” Man

Adelaide people say that our little town is boring and I expect they have the truth of it – we don’t have a Nightclub Street where alcohol fuelled violence is a normal weekend event, we don’t have complete strangers walking up to other complete strangers and  “King” punching them for no apparent reason and causing serious injuries, we don’t have police pursuits  screaming through the streets, women can still walk the streets, with dogs or power walking or just walking home   and most damming of all, we have never had retards street racing through the town, running a red light and killing  a mother and her baby. Yes, I guess we are a bit of a bore, really. All we have is just high youth unemployment, high absenteeism from school,  break-ins to cars, vandalism and graffiti. Nothing much, really. But all that aside, the real major topic of conversation, in the local  press and on Facebook, is that we have a council which seems to have an obsession with roundabouts – it’s sticking them everywhere – like  ” Have roundabout plan – Will travel”  I mean it’s not as if they are significant, like the roundabouts at the main shopping centre, which directs the traffic from four major roads,  these are little piddly things.  Still, Adelaide has them everywhere so I suppose we should too. But how boring is that when traffic flow and roundabouts are the major topic of conversation?  It’s a worry :o)

not a well girl
not a well girl

I think my Ford is not a well girl. After passing the area of the fire on the way home from Adelaide at the weekend, she started jerking as if  there was an interruption to the fuel. Normally I woud have looked at the feul filter and changed that if necessary, but on this engine, I don’t think I have one and if I do everything is so sealed I have no idea where it might be- heck I can’t even find the air filter. I think I will have to send her for a service before I have to go back to Adelaide in a few weeks. Well, yes, she needs a bath, but that’s cosmetic, not internal.

Adelaide, Driving and Bushfires

Friday Adelaide:

They grow them BIG in Scotland.
They grow them BIG in Scotland.

The run down to Adelaide was quiet and uneventful. The temperature was  38c and it was hard to get out of the air – conditioned car at times  :o) I managed to get all the things I wanted done and was able to get repairs to my Filofax. It’s close to 25 years old and with TLC it should be still going in another 25 years.

Rundle Mall was  most entertaining, despite the heat. I always like the buskers in the Mall.  I had been asked to get a couple of things but in that I failed – out of stock. Of course it was crush room only – half the Mall is being dug up again so there were narrow walkways at either side of the construction areas.  The fellow in the photograph is quite real, I had to crane  my neck just to talk to him. Lots of people were taking photographs with their children standing next to him. Actually, If you really look at the hands, they don’t really match up with the size of the person, so, although I was not about to ask, the person was real enough, but I don’t think the height was. But regardless, he was walking well and it really was well done – however it’s done.

Tomorrow the temperature will be 42c and I will be driving in the hottest part of the day. By the time the meeting finishes, I do not stay for lunch, and I get on the road again, it will be well after 1pm. Of course that’s depending on several people  not talking for as long as they generally do.

Saturday -Adelaide

got bigger as I got closer.
got bigger as I got closer.

Head off to the conference this morning. It’s only 7:10 am and already there is a bit of heat in the air. As I said yesterday, I hope the “hot air” is kept to a minimum and I can get away at a reasonable time. All very good and I was on my way home by 12:40.  From Port Wakefield onward there were constant warnings about the fires off the Main Highway. I was concerned when I saw the smoke cloud from far off and knew that I was heading in that general direction.  Beyond the Tin Man there were police cars and emergency vehicles and several ambulances. We were safe, but that is the

Now out of control
Now out of control

nearest I have ever been to a bushfire. The emergency services on the car radio were informing people to be ready for evacuation and that the fire had breached the containment lines and was now out of control and the flames were now visible as it sweeps towards the National Highway.

Sunday – Home.

This is now the worst fire since Black Tuesday when the Mount Remarkable National Forest went up in flames and threatened the towns of Wilmington and Melrose  not to mention the fuel depot at Mambray Creek. Unfortunately Wilmington as well as Warnertown are both in the firing line.  The fire can now be seen from here  as it lights up the horizon on the other side of the Gulf.

Specialists, high heat and driving again.

The entrance to the RAH
The entrance to the RAH

As I suspected the doctor wont do anything much until he gets the report from the Specialist. He did talk about sending her to see another  Specialist at the RAH –  This person is a Kidney Specialist and it is believed that the amount of drugs they  put into her system to fight the MRSA have compromised the kidney functions. But I’m not sure if this will point to why she in loosing blood.  These people are very difficult to get to see since they are all based in Adelaide. We have to go back to see her doctor in ten days – or earlier if he calls to say that the report is available.

I will be driving down to Adelaide on Friday morning in a predicted 38c and returning on Saturday afternoon predicted temperature of 41c.  Oh Joy! The forecast has gone up by 6 degrees since the start of the week. I have not, as yet booked my hotel, but I will take a chance and do it tonight. They are pretty understanding when I have had to cancel because the meeting has been cancelled, but since we have people coming over from Sydney cancellations are less frequent.

Australian footwear!!
Australian footwear!!

There are a couple of things I want to get done in Adelaide, not the least of which is to find a shoe repair shop and have them replace the press stud on my Filofax. I would get it done here, but we don’t have a shoe repair shop – sad, I know, but there you are. Many people in South Australia wear either thongs or sandals – mostly teenagers wear thongs and shoes are just foreign to them. The   Outback joke is – At a wedding, in the Outback, how can you tell which female is the bride?  Simple, she’s the one wearing the white thongs!  I have  included a photograph just so we are quite clear what I am talking about  :o)  Do I wear them -No I do not. I wear sandals about the house, but not outside, and I  generally wear Reebok  or black dress shoes. Apart from anything else, they are dangerous to wear when driving.

Took the dogs walking last night in the cool when the sun is going down and the flies are much less. I  was very pleased with the Man and he walked – slowly – the whole way. I wasn’t in any hurry, so I just let him set the pace. He did well, but sometimes here in the house he get a bit wobbly and falls over

Sleepy time.
Sleepy time.

but he just gets up and carries on.  In this heat, even at the end of the day,  Chienne has slowed down a bit so walks are  casual, leisurly affairs. Do not in the least envy people I see striding out with their dogs as if they were competing in a marathon.

Medical Tests and another Road Trip

Australia’s National Highway 1 was created in 1955 and is the longest National Highway in the world. It circumnavigates Australia, linking all the mainland Capital Cities together. It is some  14,500 klms. long, the nearest being the Trans-Siberian Highway followed by the Trans-Canada Highway.  We are not part of the National Highway Grid. We join the Highway 60 klms Northeast of here and then travel along its route to Adelaide. I said once that I would like to drive the National Highway, going where I felt like going and stopping where we felt we had driven long enough for a day. Sadly that never happened and with the state of herself’s health, it probably never will.

The garden has not quite been abandoned and I still have to go out every few days to sweep up  6 million tons of leaves – well, ok, perhaps not quite that amount it just feel like it at times. There is no point in planting anything at this time because the ground is much too warm and besides, I think it’s much too hot to be spending hours out in the sun. All I am really doing is sweeping up and keeping up the watering as much as I can. I have already lost a number of plants, including the Hibiscus, despite watering and mulching.

20140201_133847
The girls at the Barbecue

The RFDS simulator was set up in the Reserve from 9am – 4pm and we were fairly busy. However, I had to leave about 1pm to take herself to the hospital for tests. Likewise with Friday, busy,  but I was with herself at the hospital – this time for a stress test – which was a failure. Not that she failed the stress test, but that she could not walk at even the slow speed that they wanted her to do on the treadmill. The test was abandoned. But we did go for chest x-rays. Saturday and I  spent all day in the Woolworth Carpark with the simulator and a barbecue. Both areas were very busy and it being a hot day, Woolworth were good to us providing cool drinks and chilled watermelon.

Today the unit is down at the foreshore but I believe that due to the extreme heat it was closed down fairly early. Tomorrow ( Monday) it goes back to Adelaide. Four days and we were very luck to have it out of Adelaide for one day,let alone four. It is fully equipped  and is a training unit for medical personnel  new to the RFDS.

The Main Highway

On Monday (Tomorrow) I take herself back to the doctor and  see what happens next. In essence, nothing much can happen until the Specialist gives his report, but we’ll see what transpires tomorrow.  On Friday morning I set off for Adelaide and will be away until late Saturday. I will have to keep an eye on the weather because I really don’t want to be driving 400 klms in a 43c heat. True the AC is pretty good, but that’s not really the point. It puts a fair strain on the engine. However, I will take an extra container of  Coolant and a container of water, and if it is hot – no long sections – frequent stops. Of course I generally have two stops anyway, The Tin Man and Port Wakefield. From Port Wakefield into Adelaide it’s four land motorway all the way. But that’s good Adelaide only spends money on roads that benefit Adelaide – country roads generally get ignored. Oh well, election in five weeks.

Dogs, Hospital and The RFFDS

AussieThis is the Australia Day long weekend, which means that, other than supermarkets, most places are closed until Tuesday. I took herself to the doctor on Friday and he has ordered blood and other tests  to determine where we go from here. We should have the results in a few days. Our fire crews came home on Friday night after ten days away. The fire is still burning but our crews were relieved by crews from another area, so they can have a bit of a rest. The temperature has calmed down a little and at the moment it’s about 34c and expected to climb to about 42/42c during the week. Hot but bearable. Thankfully last week was rare and we really do not get extended temperatures of 48c. However, what we do still have is the wind and that is keeping the flames going.  Fortunately I do not have to travel to Adelaide since the smoke from the fires is causing a few problems on National Highway 1 – our main road in and out of here.

I visited the Vet on Friday morning and asked for a repeat of the flea treatment for the dogs. We have never had fleas before but because offrontline the hot dry conditions this year, there is a lot about and many people who never had the problem now have. However, I got on top of it right away and for the last three months I have been treating the dogs with Frontline.  I didn’t wash their beds – I dumped them and bought new beds. The raised beds and the dog houses, I  washed with an antiflea treatment. I took the Man to the groom and she found no sign of reinfection, but me being the sort of paranoid person I am, decided to extend the treatment for a further three months.   One pack set me back $96 -that’s about 48 pounds. I will be down in Adelaide in early February and I know where to get Frontline for half that price. But then. I wont really need it but it’s good to know for the future. I also discovered that I can buy the packets on-line.

20140130_090802We brought the RFDS Simulator back, which was fun and a bit novel judging by the looks we were getting from other drivers. It’s here for the next four days and we will certainly make the most of it. Our main sponsor for this year – Woolworth – are organising a barbecue for us and we will have the simulator at their carpark on Saturday. It is a fully equipped training model laid out with the same equipment that would be in the aircraft.

This afternoon I take herself to the hospital to see the specialist. The telephone call came through yesterday when I was out of town and although it it short notice, I don’t mind in the least because the next appointment woud not be until March. The specialist will complete his report and we will know on Monday of next week what  is to happen.

Lost in Cyberspace – again!

By look looks of things we might have sorted out the email system this time. The emails that arrived two days ago are still there and nothing has vanished into cyberspace. So that’s good because I am expecting some emails from Adelaide in the next few days and they are important and I cannot afford to lose them. I have a gmail account, which I rarely use, mainly because of the problems in changing my email address on so many different official forms.

I did say that the immediate danger has passed for the moment but there are still two fires burning out of control in inaccessible bushland. Large areas of New South Wales and parts of the Grampians are still a concern. We still have the one on the other side of the Gulf and that is almost contained.

Herself is unwell – anemic and very tired –  and she is still loosing blood and we don’t know how or why. I really hope it’s not something that is in any way, shape or form, related to the MRSA. It’s been five years this year since that  horror ordeal.  I don’t want her to go through anything like that again. It may be something as simple as the blood transfusions, which we did three years ago. I hope that’s it and not something more sinister.  If it is transfusions, the doctor makes arrangements for her to go to Day Surgery at the Hospital where she will spend most of the day. I have made the appointment for Friday so we’ll see what happens

This on-going mail problem is really bugging me.
This on-going mail problem is really bugging me.

***Insert yelling and fearful curses*** – The mail has vanished again – everything over the last three days has just gone – not deleted – just gone – as if it never was. It’s not in the recycle bin and it’s not in the deleted files folder, it’s just *poof!!!*  gone. I have directed mail to the AppleMac  deleted Outlook from this PC. Everything should now go to the Apple. I am sooooo frustrated – I thought we had solved the problem. I have told Herself “do not NOT upgrade to Windows 8 – stay with Win. 7.” I just couldn’t believe it!  Where is Sherlock Holmes when you need him?

It’s raining – actually it’s been pouring for most of the night. All we can hope for is that the rain is not just localised and that it is raining on the other side of the Gulf, which will help to contain the fire and perhaps allow our own fire crews to come home. Fire Crews from all over the region are there, including several of ours. It was reported yesterday that the fire had broken through the containment lines, but was being brought under control again. This rain should help- this fire has now been burning for a week or more.

I took the dogs out last night and I thought the sky looked a bit suspicious but I felt we could have our walk and be home before anything happened.
We didn’t make it and down it came when we were on the homeward section. Tell you what, I had carried the Man going out, but he was leading the charge and tugging on the way home, particularly the last 200 yards or so. He dislikes being wet.

Emails, Apple and the Guru…

A sledge-hammer would do the job just as well!!
A sledge-hammer would do the job just as well!!

Monday 20

This morning the email arrived. I answered two comments – one from Turkey and one from Manhattan – and started reading about dancing and traveling oop north then went off to do something else. When I came back the mail had gone – just vanished – and this is happening a lot. I have decided that I am not going to solve this conflict so I will go into town and order a new battery for the MacBook and put that back into service. Outlook for AppleMac is reliable. It may take a few days, cost more,  but I think it’s the best option. Not that I really need a new battery, but when I bought the MacBook three years ago I was getting nine hours from  a charge. I liked this because it meant that I could disconnect from the house here and go to work and not have to worry about taking a charger with me. I could also take it to Adelaide for the same reason.  Because it is one of the ‘early’ MacBook Pro the battery is not the best and these days I am lucky if I get four / five  hours out of it.

I’ve had the Guru  (No. 1 son) over and we have made some changes to Outlook that we hope will solve the problem and at the moment the mail seems to  be stable. This on-going problem with my mail system and the fact that Windows 8 and Outlook are not best friends has had me worried more than I can say.  I felt that people might think that I was using it as some sort of excuse to ignore them, and nothing could be further from the truth, because it’s all mail, family and friends,  not just posts and comments. I probably worry too much about things and people, neither of which, in this instance, I  have much control over.

The worst of the heat is now over for the moment, at least in South Australia and the dogs are getting out a lot more. I took them out last night  and where the Man is concerned, it’s  – one third walk – one third carry – one third walk. Still he’s a happy little soul and much loved by everyone, he’s just getting a bit slow.   More than Chienne, the girls want to play with him, but the problem is that he is old and he can be cranky and he does not like being  set upon by six and seven year old girls. I am so glad that he has no teeth, because he has snapped at  Rhianna a couple of times. Chienne wouldn’t mind in the least, but they want to play with the little cute and fluffy one  :o)

I have said before that I do not play the “stat”game but I expect,  like everyone else,  I like to have comments. I try and respond as soon as I can. I expect most

Not related to anything - I just like it.
Not related to anything – I just like it.

people do, but here is where my ‘paranoia’ sets in and I find that I make a comment and whilst there is replies to all the comments around it, mine stands out lost and alone. I go back in a few days, and it’s still there. I read it and re-read it and wonder if what I said has caused offense, or if the person does not consider it important enough to bother responding to, or it’s a stupid comment and ignores it. It’s a worry.

Tuesday 21

Went up to the Vet at 10 am this morning to get more medication for Chienne and to get the capsules of  “Frontline” which can only be issued by a Vet. Remembering that he closed down from 6th December to 6th January, I arrived at the surgery to be told that ” the Vet has an appointment so we’re closing down for the day. “. There is a new Vet in town and I am told she is very good with animals. Two of my friends go there and they tell me she really is a pleasure to work with.  Oh, I am so tempted!!