As I have said before, there’s always something. Something to go wrong, or get in the way, or just vanish for absolutely no reason. Well, this month there’s been a bit more than just something and this overload’s the reason I didn’t post last time. Generally there are a few hiccups, living in such different circumstances, especially as we are getting a bit older but we’ve managed to cope pretty well even with heart attacks and concussions throwing us a wobbly moment or two. The last few weeks haven’t had anything as drastic as these but it is the sheer relentlessness that has slowed us down.
It is getting cold now, which is not a surprise as winter sets in from November onwards. There are some glorious sunsets and frosty spider webs along the fences, enough to raise a smile on cold days. I am also trying to persuade myself to enjoy the occasional glorious sunrise. I’m getting rather too acquainted with these as Chloe, our oldest dog, is now showing signs of dementia and a tendency to wake at odd hours and bark, pacing as she shouts. We love her very much but this is a difficult thing to manage and we are worried that she is disorientated and scared.
She doesn’t see too well and is a bit deaf so I have to get up, carry her outside and then lift her back in again. It is very cold in the morning and I am still coping with the injuries from falling a couple of years ago so I’m slow and extremely cautious. Jacqui decided to try some music therapy to lull her back to sleep and found the combination of some lights on, a couple of treats and Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach’s Cello suites generally works. We are aware of the joke by that our dog’s favourite composer is Bach. There’s still an element of sleep deprivation involved for us but she’s doing well for her age (18 and a half) and we wouldn’t be without her. There is, after all, always something.
We had our own medical “something” last month too. After being told several times it was not possible to transfer Jacqui’s eye appointments from Limerick to Nenagh in Tipperary it suddenly happened! This will save us the 5 – 7 hour journey and waiting times as well as the stress of coping with such a huge, crowded hospital. The Nenagh clinic is much newer, better organised and very efficient. On the downside they decided to inject both her eyes at the first appointment, a very painful procedure that left her struggling to see for several days. This was certainly more than “something”, though they have a proper plan for her cataract surgery, something Limerick hadn’t checked or addressed for 16 months.
As we needed access to the rear of the kitchen I tried to unlock the back gate which keeps our back garden dog-proof. Alas, it was completely frozen and rusted. In the end I removed the entire bolt and jammed it shut with a heavy rock. We intended to get a new bolt but before we could Charlie escaped early one morning. I think the strong winds pushed it open a little though I had seen some odd paw (or hand) prints on the door that morning. It’s certainly not our dogs as they are far too small to reach. The first I knew of Charlie’s escapade was a faint bark out in the orchard. I saw the open gate and came very close to panic as if he went under the fence and onto the road we might easily have lost him.
Generally his recall is not good, the one thing that stops him being a perfect little boy, but that morning, for the first time, he responded at once. I got him in, locked the doors and collapsed in tears. It was just too much! As the roads were almost impassible from rain and thick mud spread by tractors we couldn’t get out to buy a new bolt. Instead I improvised with an old doorjamb, more rocks and the legs off an old table. Charlie was curious when I took him round to inspect it and he does always go up the side to check on whatever is running through the garden at night but the gate is locked securely and he can’t get out now.
Well, we pushed on with the essential work around the house and found a gardener who would also power-wash the paths. Despite my attempts at scraping they were all slippery and covered with moss, a hazard for us both. After getting up early (again) and waiting our gardener finally arrived and did a very good job though it was an extremely noisy and stressful 6 hours. All seemed well until Cynthia started vomiting foam and fouling in the house, culminating in a large pool of bright red blood. (I have a photo I took to show the vet but I’m not going to inflict that on you).
A weekend visit to the vet was needed with some careful nursing and a follow-up last Friday but she seems much better now. The vet agreed the debris (moss, earth and all the newts and frogs leaving their footprints and worse) could be the cause. She’s a very clean girl and washes her paws if they get dirty. Or maybe she found a newt and got something on her face.
In the middle of all this Chloe decided to throw a fit with crying, whimpering and heavy limping. I was worried she’d slipped on some of the moss piled up by the lawn. If she’d broken her paw it was probable the vets would not be able to operate given her age. Well, Jacqui checked her feet very carefully, trimmed and shaved her claws and hey presto! She was fine.
There are a few other things – annoying but not as scary as the dogs. We got the new mini computers that fought every step of the way as I tried to wrestle them into something we could actually use. Eventually the first one seemed to decide to co-operate and now plays music (though not using the program we wanted), has Excel and Word running fairly smoothly, has a functioning email and virus checker and shows pretty pictures when turned on. We didn’t ask for the pictures but they are interesting so we are happy to admire them for a few seconds.
The weather continues to be awful with borderline storms, heavy squalls and high winds. There have been whole chunks of the evening when there’s no TV signal and we still have occasional mini power cuts. These can often be for a few seconds but they play havoc with timers and the computers. Still, despite this we are coping well again. Jacqui is getting very nimble with her “extra legs” and we hope we’ve moderated most of the slip hazards. She’s using some of enforced rest to get out her artwork again that is lovely to see. I decided I wanted to explore something a bit different and went back to the Open University to try their “Open Learn” site. It is wonderful and I had real trouble choosing my first free course. I settled on some extra maths as I fancied a challenge and it has been very interesting so far. Jacqui maintains I chose it as it also offers the hope of definitive answers amidst all this uncertainty. When I finish I fancy a short course on fossils – or maybe architecture, or maybe…
Well, there’s always something waiting.
Thank you for reading, keep warm and safe and I will see you all before Christmas.
Jennie