The big one
It seems I have to wait a little longer for things to get better. Pepper was back on the Baytril for her snuffles when she developed a rather wet eye (hello, blocked tear duct), then things started to go wrong round her back end. My heart sank when the vet told me she could feel a lump inside her; we all crossed our fingers and willed it to be impacted food – not something I thought I’d ever be hoping for in one of my bunnies. Later that day, we got the worst news: there was a growth on her kidney – now 4 times its normal size – and it was most likely malignant lymphoma.
Once again, and all too soon, we had a tough decision to make – really, nature had made it for us. All I wanted was for Pepper not to be in any pain, so whilst she still had some spark and dignity, I chose to let her go.
After all that Pepper had cheerfully battled through, perhaps it was inevitable that something insurmountable would one day come along. Having dealt with snuffles, myxomatosis, a severe eye infection in her left eye then a blocked tear duct in her right, I was sure that any day now, Pepper would get a break – surely no rabbit could be that unlucky? Lloyd told me that Pepper’s lucky break was getting to come and live with us; but it’s me who feels like the lucky one. My pocket-sized little madam with enough attitude for a whole warren of rabbits has gone to find George; and the garden and our lives are that much emptier without her.
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Tags: Pets, rabbits
The chickens came first
Christmas may be over, but that didn’t stop the hens from giving us a welcome present today:
As it was left neatly in a perfect little dimple in the snow on the garden path whilst we were out, there’s no way of knowing who the generous chicken is…although I thought Suzi was looking quite pleased with herself. Due to the recent rapid growth of her wattles and not inconsiderable comb, Lloyd is half convinced that Suzi is more of a Steve – but that will have to be resolved another time. Right now we have to fight over who gets the boiled egg and soldiers.
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Tags: chickens, egg, Pets
George
This week hasn’t really been the start to the year that I had in mind. Hearing scrabbling and thumping from the bunny house outside as I was sinking into sleep on Monday night, we went out to find George in a very bad way. Just half an hour later, we were stood in a room with the emergency vet being told that a bug was attacking his nervous system – and his symptoms were so severe there was little hope of a recovery even though we’d taken him for treatment straight away. The poor bun couldn’t even sit, never mind stand, walk or eat. I felt quite sick as we had him put to sleep; he was 2 years old. It’s just so unfair. Part of me can’t believe he’s not still outside, hiding somewhere – it all happened so fast. I’d give almost anything to have his head tucked under my chin in a big cuddle one more time, losing my fingers in his thick, gorgeous fur. Pepper seems to be coping well enough without him, though it kind of breaks my heart to see her outside all alone. She looks so small and vulnerable without George by her side.
Despite my reluctance to commit to any kind of dreaded resolution, I went and joined the 365 Days group on Flickr. I am contrary if nothing else, but hopefully the challenge will do me good. I hate having my picture taken – at least this way, I get to be in charge of the camera. Thinking up ideas for more photos will be a good way to keep my mind occupied so I don’t sit around moping. I refuse to let the past few days set the tone for the rest of the year – things will get better.
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Tags: 365 Days, Pets, rabbits
Nudges
Knowing all too well my ability to drift in life like a leaf on a stream, lately I’ve been feeling the need to make an effort to nudge myself down paths more of my choosing – no matter how small or seemingly insignificant the nudge may appear: tiny acorns and mighty oaks and all that. I’m not really one for setting resolutions – who really needs another disappointment waiting to happen? – but without a handful of thoughts to guide me, I’ll be back in my stream:
- Make my garden beautiful. Simple, right..?
- Do a Toy Society drop. I love seeing the softies people have sent out into the world for a stranger to discover.
- Sponsor a child. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, so it’s about time I got on with it.
- Make more time for me. Far be it from me to dismiss time spent staring out of the window as time wasted, but there is only so much daydreaming one girl can do before days disappear without trace. So I want to focus on spending my waking hours doing the things I really love: taking photos, reading, making things, being with my loved ones – in short, living.
I’m sure there will be more ideas, I’m looking forward to them. 2009 has been pretty rough for a lot of people I know; I hope everyone gets what they need out of 2010. See you on the other side.
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Tags: craft, garden, New Year's Eve
Such magic
Not for the first time do I realise that I am full of good blogging intentions which frequently fail to deliver. Conveniently, the time for making resolutions is almost upon us; no doubt I can make some promises to myself to improve on this, which will be carelessly broken in due course. In the meantime, I’ll make amends with a handful of snaps of life from the past few weeks.
Coveting the V&A café decor…
Picking a favourite from the V&A museum…
The new occupant of the Christmas tree…
A mysterious brown paper package…
..and its contents. *squeal* We are going to have so much fun together.
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Tags: camera, christmas, gift, V&A
Sweet promises
Our continental shopping spree could be described as a moderate success. I have to keep checking the wall cupboards in the kitchen, as a (somewhat paranoid) part of me is convinced they are easing away from the brickwork under the weight of multiple bottles of red wine – so that’s Lloyd’s needs taken care of. After sampling deliciously zingy (and very drinkable) lemon bonbon cocktails on a night out a couple of months back, I’ve been searching for butterscotch schnapps – an unlikely but essential ingredient – to recreate the experience at home as and when the mood takes me. It seems there isn’t much demand for it in Calais supermarkets, despite the varied selection of strangely coloured and flavoured liquids that were on offer. I was hoping to pick up another packet of Kinder hanging chocolates for the Christmas tree this year, but they were also nowhere to be found. At this point, I probably should have grabbed the Hello Kitty advent calendar as a small comfort, since the worst was yet to come (have you guessed where this is going yet?). I’m not certain exactly how long it was that I spent staring at the well-stocked shelves of the chocolate aisle; other shoppers came and went, browsing and choosing quickly and moving on, whilst I was left empty handed. Apparently my beloved Lindt dark chocolate with the milky middle is no more. 
It would be only a mild exaggeration to say that I was fighting back the tears as the realisation set in… Naturally, I felt the need to compensate for this absence with a variety of alternatives in the hunt for a new favourite – hopefully the raspberry goo, crème brûlée, and lemon meringue pie flavours will live up to their enticing wrappers. The Milka Caramel looks especially promising, though could be good, or could be horribly sickly – I will report back in due course. I consider it my duty. In the meantime, it’s taking everything in my power not to devour the entire box of fruit macarons in one go. I’m sure there’s a good reason not to, I’m just struggling to think what it might be…
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Tags: chocolate, food, shopping
Stocking up
It’s been a bit of a sickly household here recently. Halloween brought me a delightful (ahem) cough and cold, so when I wasn’t dishing out sweeties to ghouls at the door, it was sofa time for me. Over the past few weeks, perpetually ill bionic-bun Pepper has been fighting off a nasty eye infection. After kicking myxi’s arse, we thought her troubles were over – at least temporarily – so it was something of a kick in the teeth to have yet another problem to deal with so soon afterwards. I couldn’t help thinking that it would be typical for her to be dispatched by a bit of a funny eye after getting over myxomatosis and repeated bouts of snuffles. Happily, the vet gave us the news yesterday that the eye is now almost totally healed; there may be some scar tissue, but the danger of Pepper losing the eye has gone – which was a real risk for a while. If there’s any justice, maybe the little bun can stay healthy for a bit now; I know she’s not the only person who’ll be pleased when the thrice daily eyedrops are all finished.
In an effort to be more organised than my usual pre-Christmas daze – it always seems to show up unexpectedly early – I’ve made some token gestures towards starting shopping for gifts. Tomorrow we’re pushing the boat out (if things go terribly wrong with SeaFrance) and heading over to Calais to raid the supermarkets; primarily for Lloyd to re-stock the wine rack, however much he denies it. The tinkling, jingling rattle we’ll hear coming from the back of the car on the way home is music to his ears. I’m going in search of my favourite Lindt chocolate, plus a few requests from friends; trust me, the chocolate is worth leaving the country for. Once that’s safely in the trolley, I might be able to focus on the gifts.
Filed under: Pets, Travel | 2 Comments
Tags: christmas, food, rabbits, shopping, sick
When the temperature drops…
…so do Dita’s feathers. Once again, the daft little Pekin has chosen to moult now that the weather’s started to turn a bit chilly. She seems to be feeling a little self conscious about her rapidly balding head, hiding away from the camera behind the last of the hollyhocks. I really can’t blame her – she looks utterly ridiculous.
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Tags: chickens, garden, weather
Vegging out
Is it possible that my lack of bloggery could be down to spending too much time eating instead? An afternoon spent at the twice yearly local food fair saw us come home with a haul of the usual culinary essentials – chocolate buttons, chilli jam, smoked cheese – and refreshed our enthusiasm for our own (somewhat feeble) produce. Perhaps they felt hard done by in their grow-bags or somewhat sidelined on the garden path, but for some reason the tomato plants never really delivered, despite looking quite promising early on. The most likely explanation is that we really don’t know what we’re doing out there, and they probably require more care and attention than we gave them credit for; often the fruit would start shaping up nicely, then just as we’d think about picking it, turn rotten without even starting to ripen. Luckily, the effortless butternut squash plants did us proud – I’m not sure how many fruit we should have expected, but we harvested 5 to ripen on the kitchen windowsill. Having eaten one roasted for dinner in the week, I feel like I’ll never buy another one from a supermarket again – at least not in the autumn. Yum. Small but perfectly formed, and entirely delicious.
I wasn’t terribly impressed with the meagre quantity of 6 smoothie hats that my slowpoke needles produced for Innocent’s Big Knit this year, so when I saw they’re now asking for Veg Pot warmers too, I took this second chance as an opportunity to redeem myself. Handily enough, there’s no awkward decreasing required – my stitches tend to be so tight that it’s always a bit touch and go – so now I just have to remember how to cast off. Yeah, just a minor detail in knitting – how to get it off the needles…
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Tags: food, garden, grow your own, knitting, the big knit
…and relax
It feels like we’re turning a corner here. Things got a bit hairy for a while with Pepper & George’s myxi – who are thankfully healing up nicely – and distinctly hairless with Dixie. Our little old lady of the bunch had surgery for a hernia in her belly, and while we all held our collective breath – she is slowly approaching 6 – everything worked out fine. Perhaps even more of a relief when your vet tells you he’s never seen anything quite like it; typical, my pets are so attention-seeking… Little Pie is winding down for hibernation, so once his worming treatment is complete next week, he should be ready for his box in the shed. The vet said he’s managed to put on enough weight to hibernate, despite the less-than-perfect weather.
Speaking of old things, we made a relaxing day trip to London at the weekend for my birthday. I know, “London” and “relaxing” aren’t words I usually use in the same sentence, but was such a chilled out day. Lunch was a picnic from Whole Foods with the squirrels in the park, followed by an afternoon at the Natural History Museum. I’m not quite sure that pointing at a taxidermy of a manatee, pygmy hippo, narwhal and an unattractive model of an indeterminate dumpy-shaped dinosaur (among others) and cooing “It’s YOU!” is the most appropriate display of affection for one’s wife on her birthday… but it did make me laugh. Naturally, I made him buy me a Very Hungry Caterpillar mug in the shop, so I guess we’re even now.
Filed under: Out & about, Pets, Skippy | Leave a Comment
Tags: birthday, rabbits, tortoises
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