Truce

Comfort

Ophelia nestles on not one, but two sleeping bags, piled up on the sofa after their use by an overnight guest. It never ceased to amaze me how she, and Ruby, are magnetically drawn to soft, squishy, snuggly places to rest, patches of warmth and roast chicken.

This picture, taken by my housemate, reminded me of the story of The Princess and The Pea.

And I am thinking, as I sit here, typing in a peculiar and uncomfortable position because of the clutter on my desk, which would take just a few minutes to tidy away, or even a few seconds to dump into a pile on another surface which I am not using, how willing I am to tolerate discomfort.

Sympathy please

We have a very sore paw.

Luckily I have a full first aid kit and a strong stomach. And a great vet. I was thinking of leaving the NHS and joining pet doctors instead. And insurance. Phew.



It was all a little stressful as Ruby has that classic boxer genetic weakness - Aortic Stenosis ... a type of heart murmur which makes any general anaesthetic procedure a lot more risky. However, I decided that if she was still capable of bounding up mountains then she'd probably be ok ... and she pulled through just fine. The vets said she was the nicest, best behaved boxed they'd ever had in ... apparently she was sitting on the receptionist's lap, which is something she does whilst I work at my desk. At 28kg though it's not something I encourage for long periods!

So, we are 3 days into 10 days of being confined to the house except for very brief on-lead excursions into the garden to do the required business. She has perfected the art of hopping, and insists on showing her bandaged paw to anybody who passes her.

So, it's been a while. I'm not certain why ... busy with work, christmas, assorted annoying health problems ... and then of course there is the point at which something has been on my 'to do' list for so long that it becomes almost impossible to actually do it. What is that about? Thanks to all who have noticed my absence - it's nice to be missed!

I think actually it's also about pictures. I've not been taking them ... hence I have nothing to say. Or at least no external conversations to be had. More pictures is the plan!