A better week for Coco

 Our dog has caused more than her share of drama in the last 10 days. After I published last Monday's post I discovered that she had been given the wrong strength medication.  Three times what it should have been!  No wonder she had felt better quickly. Fortunately it wasn't too drastic, it just meant that she had been on the highest level of 300g rather than the normal level of 100g. It just means we have to wean her off them a little slower.  She will have her last tablet tomorrow and then we need to see how she is. 

There's been much excitement in the family as Rosie celebrated her 7th birthday.  She was SO excited, and was awake at 4am ready to start the day with a bang.  She was soon sent back to bed to try and get a couple more hours sleep!  She had her party at a local craft centre on Saturday with the theme of KPop Demon Hunters which meant that our daughter had to spend much of the morning weaving in a very thick, long purple plait into her hair and then spray dying her own hair purple.  It looked fab and she looked great in her fancy dress outfit.  So, now the next exciting thing is Christmas!

Are you organised?  I am not at all.  I have only bought two presents so far.  I need to get in the zone and decide what I'm going to buy everyone!  Maybe I'll begin with getting some wrapping paper and cards to start the ball rolling. Or maybe my first job will be to start making list of what needs to be done/bought/cooked, I do like a list!

What a week!

 Have you heard the expression 'that was a game of two halves'?  Where a situation changes quite dramatically in a short space of time. Well that sums up my last week.

First the good part where I met my pen friend in London. We had such a lovely day and the weather could not have been more perfect (and unlike a typical British November day!) We met at the Eros statue in Picadilly Circus, then walked down to Trafalgar Square.  Had a gluhwein at a German Christmas market, walked down to the Millenium Bridge, enjoying the sights as we walked from one side of the Thames to the other. We found a lovely traditional British pub for lunch.  Then we went through Borough Market and wandered around that area in the afternoon before reluctantly saying goodbye and going our separate ways.  It was SO lovely to see her and her husband and the hours just flew by.  I even got to see some places I'd never visited before, like China Town!

But the next day was definitely not so good.  Coco had us awake at 4am trying to go downstairs but unable to manage the steps.  I had to go and pick her up and in my half sleep and without wearing my glasses I stupidly tried to carry her downstairs.  I got about four steps from the bottom when I overbalanced (it's not easy carrying 10kgs of dog when you're not really awake) and slipped down the rest of the stairs.  I let her out in the garden but something was obviously wrong with her.  We made an urgent appointment with the vet as soon as they opened and rang Rachel to let her know that we were seriously worried about her.  She immediately got in the car to come over - Coco was originally her dog - and the three of us drove to the vets.  

The vet said she was in a lot of pain in her back but she seemed otherwise to be in good health so would we like to try to medicate her to see if it were nerve related.  She couldn't say what was causing it and to find out exactly what it was would require an MRI which she would not recommend as it would require anesthesia which you want to avoid in an elderly dog. By now all three of us are in tears as we honestly thought we were going to have to make a big decision that we didn't want to make. If the medication didn’t help we would have no option but to make that decision.

So she is now on a couple of strong painkillers and anti inflammatory pills and thankfully she seems to be responding to them.  It has been a hell of a weekend desperately hoping to see an improvement.

Here’s hoping she continues to respond to her tablets and that her poor back feels better soon. It’s been a horrible weekend, watching her every move and we must have cried pints of tears on Friday. Keep improving, Coco 😘

An exciting week ahead

 I have something really good on my calendar for later this week.  When I was 10 I belonged to The Monkees fan club - I loved Davy Jones!  There was an article in the fan club magazine asking if people wanted a pen pal and I signed up straight away.  I was matched with a girl called Cindy who lived in Chicago and we are still in touch today, 57 years later!  We have met three times and on Thursday we will be meeting up again.  She is visiting London on her way to join a cruise ship in Southampton and has a day free when Paul and I are going to go into London to meet up with her and her husband.  How exciting!!! 

In other news, I finished the sweater I was crocheting

So I am now starting a new project which will be a blanket for Rosie.  The chenille yarn is ordered and I am keen to get going on it.  One of the great bonuses about joining my Knit and Natter group is that as well as making new friends, it is encouraging me to always have a project on the go.

I ordered some new glasses a couple of weeks ago and they are now ready to collect so I am looking forward to that.  I haven't needed a new prescription for four years so I am kind of fed up with these frames, I have definitely had my money's worth out of them!  Glasses are so expensive around here.  I need to have varifocals and the actual lens costs about double the cost of the frames.  Every time I go they mention the fact that I have the beginnings of cataracts but they aren't bad enough to operate on at the moment.  I'm in no hurry as I am squeamish about eyes.  You know the test they do for glaucoma where they puff a jet of air into your eye?  I cannot stop myself from jolting backwards when they do that, it's a good job the chair isn't on wheels or I'd be bouncing off the wall!

I hope you have a good week planned.  I'm already thinking about what we are going to do in London, I'm sure the time will fly by and don't want to waste a minute!  I'll report back next week.

It's been a while ...

 It's been many a week since I've written anything other than book reviews here and I'm tentatively writing a new post with good intentions to get back into the swing of blogging.

I've withdrawn into hibernation mode for various reasons and have spent more time that usual supporting our daughter who is going through a very stressful time at the moment.  That of course is shorthand for increased child care duties!

October included the half term holidays in this area and as our daughter's new job involves working in London for a couple of days a week, those child care days started early and ended late!  Then of course we had our other grandchildren for a whole day together.  By the end of that week we were shattered and in need of a day out on our own to Cambridge.  John Lewis is already in the Christmas spirit and I must confess to getting a few stocking filler presents.

There was a birthday celebration for our youngest grandchild, Olive, who has hit the dizzy heights of four.  She is very proud of that fact and will tell everyone she meets that she is not three anymore.  Her birthday party on Saturday had a halloween/Moana theme to it as she couldn't decide what she wanted to dress up as.  The cake was definitely on the side of Moana, look what a lovely design our daughter in law made for her.

Leo is fanatical about his football now and I can't resist his little face when he asks me 'will you be coming to watch the match on Saturday Nanny?' so we seem to be standing on the windswept sidelines for every home game.  That takes me back to many a cold morning watching our son 25 years ago!

My 'knit and natter' group organised a night out a couple of weeks ago.  We met for a meal at an Italian restaurant and then went to see the 'Jersey Beats' show at our local arts centre.  It was such good fun.  Meanwhile our husbands met up for a curry at an Indian restaurant in town. I always forget how many hits Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons had and must confess to singing along for most of the evening.

Talking of 'knitting and nattering' - or in my case - crocheting and chatting, I started making a ripple cardigan a while ago as a project to take with me on Fridays and it is nearly finished.  All will be revealed when it is finished.

Here is the video of October, 1 Second Everyday