33:365(+1)

Cloud is very well known at our vets.  You may think that's because we've been going regularly since I first mentioned the problem she's been having with abscesses, etc.  But no, the reason she's so well known at the vets is because she is so hyper every time we go there. The background story is that Cloud hates going in the car (which we do to get to the vets and the dog parlour) and by the time we get wherever we're going, she's worked herself into quite a state. However, that doesn't stop her from jumping out of the car and dragging me in her excitement to get into the surgery where she whimpers and pants, while alternating between hiding behind my legs or jumping up to put her paws on my lap.  And while all of the above is going on, she's still wagging her tail like mad!  The receptionists, vets and nurses (all women ;o) ) find this quite amusing and say she's one of the happiest dogs that comes to visit them!

As for how she's getting on ... the wound on her side is healing better than any of us could have expected. They now don't think she'll need surgery as the skin is knitting together nicely and they'll review her case when we go again in a week's time.  She's now on her fourth lot of antibiotics and is likely to stay on them until they're happy that everything's cleared to their liking.

In the meantime, she now has a selection of three t-shirts to choose from - though I think this pink and white polka dot one is a favourite! ;o)

xx

16:365(+1)

I have to choose which of these photos will be used for the 16th.  I love the one of Alice after our little walk but Cloud was in a pretty bad way yesterday and I feel that should be documented too.  Might end up with both in my Project Life.

The vet is a bit concerned about Cloud at the moment as this particular sore doesn't seem to just be an abscess. There is some infection there but it certainly doesn't appear to be a normal abscess. I won't go in to all the details (it's pretty yeuch!) but she is on strong antibiotics at the moment to try and contain whatever it is before they have to do some surgery on Thursday. The antibiotics really seem to have helped and the swelling has gone down a bit today. She's still quite happy in herself but from the vet's point of view, that in itself could be worrying as she would expect something like this be causing her more of a problem. I don't think the vet had actually seen anything like it before herself. Jon will be taking Cloud back up to the vet tomorrow evening and we'll find out more about the surgery required then.

xx

Our first walk

One of the things I've been looking forward to is going for little walks in the neighbourhood with Alice. Today we had our first little walk.

 We didn't go far. I didn't know how far Alice would be able to walk before getting tired and I didn't want to end up having to carry her long distances to get home again ;o).

 We walked to the end of our road, up a small hill and then she had a short carry until we got to the top of our path again before she walked back round and home. She enjoyed stopping to look at little rocks and stones and the twig in the photo above must have been quite tasty ;o).  The only thing I hadn't thought through was how I was expecting to take photos on this walk while holding Alice's hand or reins and keeping her upright when she wobbled!  These two photos were all I got, one near the beginning of the walk and the other when we got home :o)

 Once inside again Stripey Horse got some attention (she likes the Stripey Horse books too)

and not long after, the postman arrived with her new peg hammer bench. I'm quite impressed with this one - it's sturdy, the pegs aren't too stiff to hammer and the hammer is a nice size.  It may be a little while before she's got the hang of it but she enjoyed pushing the pegs and playing with the hammer for now.

Alice has been asleep for about an hour now and soon I'll have to go and pick up Claire and then take Cloud to the Vets (for a nasty absess :o(  )

xx

What have I been doing??

Well, apart from the usual - washing, ironing and housework - I've been shopping ;)

 where I couldn't resist this little outfit in M&S

 and Claire got these :)

 I've been spending lots of time with this beautiful little girl

 who is growing up way too quickly

 and is such a happy little girl (though you wouldn't think so from this photo ;o) )

 She loves being talked to and chatters away back to us

 And this one is just because it's cute and was what she looked like after being out with Mummy

 I've been enjoying the blue sky and the new leaves forming on the trees

 And taking Cloud out for walks

 Today we were joined by Claire and Alice - which started out well

 Cloud was waiting for me to finish taking photos here ;o)

 3/4 of the way round, Alice wasn't quite so impressed any more and let it be known

 then fell asleep just as we were about home :o)  She did sleep for half an hour after we got back so it wasn't too bad!

And finally, the sewing machine is back in use and I'm busy quilting again. Hope to have the finished item to show soon.

Now it's your turn, what have you been getting up to?
xx

Friday

There's a fair bit going on here at the moment and blog posts may be a bit sporadic for a while but hopefully I'll get back to regular posting soon.

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Today has been a bit of a run around day, mainly down to Cloud. I mentioned a while ago that she had been on antibiotics to try and clear up where she had chewed/scratched her side. Well, she started scratching again a little while ago and then we noticed other lesions coming up on her body. We decided she needed to go back to the vets and I managed to get an appointment this morning. It seems that she has a bacterial skin infection which is what's causing the lesions and itchiness. The vet shaved around the affected areas

On the photo above this is the site that started it all.

Poor Cloud is getting fed up wearing her cone and her face has been getting really dirty because she hasn't been able to go to the dog parlour until we sorted out what was going on. She is now on a 20 day course of antibiotics and we have to shampoo her 2 to 3 times a week with the anti-bacterial shampoo the vet has given us. Fortunately, when I phoned the dog parlour after getting home from the vets, they said if I could take her up staight away they would do the first shampoo for me and groom her. A couple of hours later and I got the call to say I could go and pick her up. She looks like a totally different dog!

The groomers have clipped her really short so that we can shampoo her easily and so that the infected areas can be treated properly. She looks so little now ;o) but seemed a happier dog when I picked her up. I've also trimmed down her cone (because her head looks so little now) which makes it easier for her to drink and sniff around outside.

In this photo you can see some of the red patches where the sores have come up.

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However, despite everything that's going on, I have managed to do a little bit of craftiness. My knitting needles are out again and I'm trying a new pattern. This one is slightly more complicated than the previous one but it's not that difficult - I just have to concentrate on what I'm doing while I'm knitting. I enjoy having a pattern to knit as it makes it less boring than plain knitting. I've done a little bit more tonight and the back of the cardigan is nearly finished now.

We have Michelle, Matthew and Josh coming to stay tomorrow night - looking forward to seeing them again as it's been a while. Somehow I think there may be some wedding talk going on ;o). We have a few overseas visitors arriving over the next couple of months which will also be exciting but I'll tell more as the time gets nearer.

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Have a wonderful weekend

xx

Dog walk

Today, when I took Cloud out for her walk, we went a different route. I turned up this path to see where it led to.

We eventually came out just down from the main road. Where we live there is a hill which ever way you go and the one near our house is a killer. This route we took today seemed much easier to me and is one I will certainly use again ;o)

When we get to the top of the hill and turn left, Emily's school is just across the road. It takes her about 5 minutes to walk to school and home again.

The Forest Way path goes down to Forest Row on an old railway track.

Heading up the hill in to town we see the Church clock tower

and pass Sackville College.

The start of the High Street. The Rose and Crown pub, which is the Tudor style building you can see in this photo, is where Dad had his 80th birthday lunch last September.

Cloud and I take the road to the left of the cook shop in Middle Row,

it's certainly a lot easier going down this hill than walking up it :o).

We took a round about route today which led us past our old house. We lived in this house for nearly 5 years before moving to the next one. Seven years after that we moved to the house we currently live in. I think seven years in one house is the record in our marriage, I wonder how long we'll live in this one ;o)

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Finally, a thank you to Mel for talking about Turkish Delight hot chocolate on her blog. I was in Waitrose today and saw some, bought it and tried it tonight for the first time. It is yummy! (if you like Turkish Delight that is ;o) ) and best of all, I can still have it on Weight Watchers! Thanks Mel!

xx

Our morning dog walk

On our dog walk this morning I remembered to take my camera. We don't do a terribly long walk but we are lucky that we live in quite pretty surroundings. This field can be seen just down the road from us and a lot of people walk their dogs there. It also stretches up behind the houses just behind us and we can access it from there too.

A little bit further on and you can see the old Manor House through the trees.

This garden is on our route and is well looked after. At the moment the snowdrops are all coming out and there's a mass of white snowdrops just waiting to open.

On the homeward stretch. The red postbox on the right is just behind Mum and Dad's house (their's is the one with the hedge) and this morning Dad was in his bedroom and waved as we walked past. :o)

This was taken once we got home. My face looks quite red but I have to admit that it wasn't particularly from exertion, it was because it was bitterly cold this morning. My nose and chin felt quite numb by the time we got back. This is also why there aren't any more photos, my hands were freezing and I wanted to keep them in my pockets as much as possible. I guess next time I'll have to remember to take my gloves and hat!

I think even Cloud was quite happy to get home - though she knows that she gets a doggy treat once we get inside.

xx