Sunday, December 14, 2008

Jenny


Jenny broke her leg yesterday.
It was one of those times while playing - what kids do best - that it happened. An innocuous spill from her toboggan forced her to land heavily upon her right foot, causing the lower part of her tibia, where it meets the ankle, to chip. Luckily there was little pain, but swelling and discomfort prompted her to have it checked out.
Smart girl! After reading the x-ray, her doctor immediately booked Jenny into surgery for early this morning in Cranbrook. The surgeon was able to push the chipped piece of bone back into position and hold it there with two pins.
The pins will need to be removed after several weeks, but non-surgically. The doctor will simply have to draw them out - no anaesthesia needed and no pain. Surgery now is so much less invasive than in the past - she has no incision nor any sutures.
Jenny was brave, the procedure went well and she is now resting in relative comfort ...the lower part of her right leg encased in a large, white plaster cast with her wee toes sticking out the end.
Get well soon, Jenny Benny!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

sometimes...

Never be too happy.

There is bad stuff out there that will raise its ugly head exclusively when things are going well.

At best, I will be cautiously happy.

Monday, December 08, 2008

...and the cat came back


His name is Scat and his is big and ginger.
Eleven years ago he adopted us and our little house down by the lake.
We don't know where he came from - he simply followed Beth home one day.
Starved and lonely, he made himself at home upside down in front of the fire.
We named him Gwendolyn, after a character in a book about a stray cat named Scat, who eventually found a home and was renamed.
Then we discovered he was a he...
When I moved out of the little house by the lake into the big house overlooking the lake, I brought Scat with me.
Scat would have none of it, and returned time after time to the little house.
We realised that was Scat's home, so there he stayed.
Until now.
One afternoon a short while ago, Beth came to visit and asked if I would take Scat to live here once more.
I laughed and said no, we already have two cats and a dog!
And Eugene is not really an animal-lover.
Several days later, Bobby and Jenny began to plead with me to take Scat.
He is over twelve years old and began having accidents in the little house once the weather turned, and that did not go over well at all.
He didn't have a litter box in which to go, and he was loathe to do his business outside once the days drew shorter and the weather colder.
My heart went out to both Scat and the kids.
Well, I had to ask Gene the big favour - and he said yes!
He might not have as large a fondness for animals as I, but he does have a heart of gold.
Scat has been here for two weeks now and he has settled in quite nicely.
He and Tnu have playtime daily.
Usually, just after breakfast, they gallop noisily about the house, leaping, tumbling and bouncing from one piece of furniture to the other.
Smoke, who is at least eighteen years old and still going strong, pointedly ignores Scat, but I know he secretly likes the big orange guy.
Our dog, Tucker, loves all the cats, and I have an idea she thinks she's a feline of the canine variety.
Scat loves dogs.
I have been keeping Scat in the house for obvious reasons, but he escaped the other day, only to be rescued by Beth from his old haunt.
Today, when I experimentally opened the door to let him out, he poked his head outside, then turned tail and dove back into the warmth of the house.
Welcome home Scat!

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Oh





Well, lo and behold, it's finally snowing.
There's only about half an inch on the ground - it's a start...
At least I feel more like decorating the house today.
The Christmas songs are playing on the stereo, the sky is overcast, flakes are falling and we are getting ready to begin cooking breakfast - eggs benedict, bacon and mandarine oranges.
The three cats and the dog are fed and I've my morning coffee beside me.
All is good.

Monday, December 01, 2008

Hey Santa !

Check out the fire dogs!

The Paagman Family's team of Freisians. Val and Koos might be familiar with their bookstore in The Hague...

And here's His Jolliness Himself.