Life!

Haven't posted lately, been too busy with all the glitches life has thrown at us. I have had yet another chest infection, which makes 3 since December. So I have had a chest X-ray and need to have blood tests. I am taking pro-biotics to counteract the anti-biotics the Doctor prescribed, and Echinacea to try and boost my immune system. It seems to be down to the atrocious weather we have had this year, so changeable the body doesn't know what is going on. Sarah has had several bouts of tonsilitis along with Rowan who brings back delightful germs from pre-school and playgroup.

Minnie our 3 legged cat deteriorated and we took her back to the vet where we saw a different vet. She said she thought the problem was a tumour in the leg which was pressing on the main nerve to the foot causing the weakness and loss of feeling. She was of the opinion that she would only get worse and that she was suffering now and should be euthanased. I was on my own as Phil stayed at home because we were waiting for couriers to collect parcels, so I had to decide myself. There was really no decision, it had to be done. The vet couldn't get a vein in Minnie's front leg due to the problem, so she had to inject the drug into the abdomen. She said it would take longer, so I sat with Minnie in one of the treatment rooms. It took forever, she gradually slipped into a coma, but was still breathing. After about 30 minutes the vet came back in and was surprised she was still alive. She gave her another injection straight into her kidney as she said she was so far gone she wouldn't feel it now. She went quickly after that. I cried all the way home and Phil did too when I got home. We both knew she wasn't going to come home alive. I buried her in the front garden under the willow tree as the back garden is getting a bit full up, what with  poisoned cats, rabbits and chickens. Minnie is the first of our older cats we have lost in a long time. The last ones were the poisoned ones, Dermie, Hamish and Tio. I suppose we can expect it now as most of them are over 10. Connor is much better now his teeth have been sorted out. He is eating like a horse and his fur looks much better as he is grooming himself again. He is 16 and Mollie is 17. Small is only 6 months younger.

The last problem has only just been sorted. The accelerator on the Peugeot 607 jammed on when we were coming back from the vet on Saturday with one of the chickens which had a twisted neck. Phil took it apart and found the reason why the accelerator was so stiff, which it had been from new (to us). the cable was frayed into a bird's nest where it went through the bulkhead to the pedal. When he tried to pull the cable through it snapped. He found it was only held by abut 6 strands of wire. We were so lucky it didn't go on the motorway down to Devon. We hadn't even done our shopping as we had to go to the vet first. Luckily out new neighbour Ray was going to the tip on sunday and dropped us at Morrisons to get the basics. We had to get the part which was £49. We asked Boots, our mechanic neighbour to get a price for us, but he said £54, so we got it from Lutterworth Ford. We had to go in on the Post Bus to get the part and it was a kit, you had to put it all together yourself. Trouble was, it was different to what was on there originally. Fortunately, after some time and probably lots of swearing, Phil managed to fix it. He says it doesn't feel the same and there isn't much acceleration, but I imagine it will feel different after a new accelerator being fitted.

Back to brighter things. I have started going to a drop in knit and crochet group at the church in Lutterworth. It is run by one of our friends. This Friday I am taking in a hand crank sewing machine and my spinning wheel to give a demonstration. Saturday is the Spinner's Guild meeting. I missed the last one because I had the chest infection then. I want to spin some white wool so I can start dyeing wth natural dyes. I need this for Sarah's course in September.

Talking of Sarah, I went down to Devon on the Jubilee weekend to the Garden Festival at Coombe Trenchard Gardens. It is a lovely place, beautiful old Arts and Crafts house. There were so many lovely plants and beautiful furniture, wrough iron slatted furniture with Gothic arched back chairs. We were doing bunting making workshops in the Gardens Illustrated marquee. We took about 4 hand cranks along to demonstrate. We didn't make much money, only sold some bunting and a few rosettes, but the object was advertising the Studio and craft workshops. We got friendly with the editors of Gardens Illustrated and Homes and Antiques, the magazine Sarah was in. There were so many nice people there and we had a lovely time. Even the weath stayed good until Saturday afternoon when we were packing up.

The only down side was the clutch went on Sarah's Audi and we were stuck about 6 miles from the venue. Fortunately Casie, David and Rowan were on their way over to go to the Garden Festival, so we had to wait for them to turn up. We sat on the grass verge on a picnic blanket and made rosettes until they arrived. They took us to the Gardens, had a look round ant then they went and towed the car home. David took Casie to work and then came to collect us. We stopped at the Pizza Ape on the way home for food. It's always good there. Very eventful day

Spinning and birthdays

I haven't had much chance to do any spinning in the last 2 weeks, been very busy cleaning and servicing sewing and knitting machines. Rowan was 4 yesterday, doesn't seem possible, time has really flown.

Our 3 legged cat Minnie has managed to damage her remaining front leg. We have no idea how, but she suddenly started shuffling along the floor on her forearm, and was unable to bear any weight on her wrist. We took her to a vet we don't actually like because we couldn't get her in to see our normal vet. The vet thinks she has wrenched her shoulder and there may be some nerve damage in her wrist. She said to give her 2 weeks and if there was no improvement she would need to be euthanased as she wouldn't be able to cope with no usable front leg.

We have taken her to our normal vet and she agrees there is nerve damage and no sensation in Minnies foot. She has given her a reprieve and anti-inflammatories for another week as she had a dog who recovered some movement after 4 weeks. Unfortunately she is constipated and we are trying to sort that out now. That seems to be causing her a lot of pain.