Solace in the Garden

Jade had keyhole surgery 2 weeks ago, and some loose bone was removed from her right front elbow. The vets looked at the other leg with an invasive camera but found no work to be done there. I collected her the same afternoon and spent some days lifting and carrying her, but she is back on her feet now, and it's hard to stop her jumping on the furniture and getting into the garden to chase cats. Hopefully she'll soon be her old self, but in less pain. But for the next month I'll still have to carry her upstairs at night. I was so worried about carrying her back down without mishap that I devised a novel way of doing it, with her sitting on my lap as I slide from step to step on my bottom. Picture that, and have a giggle. It works, though.

Unfortunately, I've had a health scare myself and have to have more hospital tests this week to find the extent of the problem. Fingers crossed it's not too bad. I'm getting very tired so have to pace myself and rest in between jobs.

In the meantime the house project continues with lots of help from my family.My daughter has been here for a week to remove the last items from my old office and paint it. I've ordered a carpet and, when that is laid, I can turn it into my new bedroom. We bought some shelving for the new study area and I'm starting to fill it, but still have lots of stuff lying around in boxes.

The garden was badly neglected over the winter, and I thought the frost had killed off the arum  lily plant. But it has come back with three beautiful flowers.

The one at the bottom has been nibbled by something, but the other two are pretty well picture perfect.

The beetle thinks so too. Can you see him in the bottom picture?

Jade and the House

Jade now has a firm diagnosis - some degeneration in part of the bones in her elbows. She'll be having keyhole surgery next Monday to remove bits that are grinding together and causing pain on weight bearing. I brought her home yesterday afternoon, still rather sleepy and subdued after the anaesthetic for the scans, but otherwise ok.

With everything else going on I haven't had time to update you on the house changes, but the sideboard has been cleared, cleaned and put up for sale on Gumtree. It seems there is a market for retro 1960s G plan style furniture. If it doesn't sell it will go to a charity.

Everything from inside it has been sorted. A lot just went into the bin. Some will be off tomorrow to the Pound Puppy Animal Rescue for fundraising. They are also going to have all the books that have sitting on Green Metropolis for several years - I've just discovered that, sadly, that website has closed down. A few other items I may try to sell myself. Anyway, I now have my dining table back and ready for use. Compare the pic below with the one in last Wednesday's post

Jade is in Doggie Hospital

Today I took Jade to the specialist vet she was referred to, and I decided to leave her overnight as they didn't have time to complete all the tests and scans today. I could have taken her home and come back in the morning, but I'd have had to punch through all the peak time traffic to get her there by 8 am, so this is easier for me. Apparently she is getting lots of fuss made of her and is making lots of friends, but I worry about whether she will eat for them as she is a fussy eater. I had to starve her this morning and she won't be able to eat again after midnight, but I suppose a couple of days won't hurt too much.

I'm not feeling too good myself actually - another reason for not bringing Jade home and having to get up at the crack of dawn. Rather nasty cold symptoms with painful throat and neck. Making me very tired as well so I hope I can stop worrying about Jade, get an early night and have a good sleep.

I expect a call in the morning to give me an update and be able to collect her when she has recovered from the anaesthetic in the afternoon. Looking forward to the welcome I'll get then and praying for her in the meantime.

The Sideboard that Has to Go

 This is the last drawer of the sideboard that I have to empty

Most of the rest of the items it disgorged - those that have not already been binned - are now sitting on the table.

My next task is to decide what to do with it all.  Binning it is the easy way, but I can't bear to throw away things that will be useful to someone.

Coming Down from the Clouds

After that last wonderful weekend it was back to my projects at home. Tuesday afternoon saw my new glass splashback installed to protect the new sofa which arrived the next morning. With the newly painted walls and the new curtains and blinds, it all looks very swish. When I get some colour coordinated cushions it'll be even better.

Of course the rest of the place is in chaos. The sofa and dining table are now rather squashed so the next thing to go will be the sideboard, so the table can go further away from the sofa. The sideboard cupboards and drawers had been taken over by my hubby. I'd been putting off sorting all that because it is a mess - he had a habit of pushing things into it and then forgetting them for ever. I've made a big hole in the sorting now, and when I've finished I'll clean it up and probably offer it to a local charity.

The  breakfast bar that used to sit where the sofa is now, is to be installed in my new study alcove to act as a long desk and shelf. I'm expecting that job to be started by a friend on Thursday. So the reorganisation is coming along in fits and starts.

But the real worry at the moment is Jade, who is now very lame. we don't have a proper diagnosis for tor her problem as yet, but I have an appointment for her at a specialist vet to do an assessment next Monday. This is at Ringwood so it'll be almost a full day out. I do hope they can find out what is causing it so that it can be treated. It will also be very expensive but they are going to claim it on my insurance. I'm so glad now that I took out one of the best ones. I had been thinking it was a lot of money to pay out every year, but now I realise it was well worth it. Just a MRI scan would make a big hole in my meagre savings, which are already being depleted by the house makeover.

It's been a lonely week too. Jade and I have been on our own in the house and not seen many people to talk to on our short forays outside. Long treks are out of the question while Jade clearly finds it so painful to walk. How people used to manage without telephones I just can't remember, although we didn't always have one in our house when I was a child.