Thursday

Today was a difficult day in many ways - it started off quite well with a walk to Elena's to give her a hand with making something called Kibbe in readiness for a function at the weekend.  Unfortunately, things did not go quite to plan and Elena didn't feel brilliant so I did what I could and then left her to have a rest.

I walked back taking the scenic route which takes us round the outskirts of the village.  The local Capari (caper plants) are in full flower and when they flower they look beautiful but the plant itself is very invasive so we pull them out as soon as we can.  The locals pick the fresh shoots and pickle them and they pickle the flower buds before they open - they are considered something of a delicacy.  I don't mind the pickled leaves if they are young enough that the thorns have not been allowed to develop too much.

Once home I decided I should tackle the mountain that is my ironing basket.  I have recently bought some new curtains for the spare bedroom.  The colours in the curtains pick up the pale green and pink we have used elsewhere in the room.  John was keen to inject a bit more colour and the old curtains were cream and very boring.

I actually got two pairs because we have a door to the garden in this bedroom and we do normally have a curtain at that door so the additional pair would allow me to make a door curtain failing that I will make a bed runner and some cushions.

I got a little way through my ironing when I realised that there was something seriously wrong with Boris.  I had taken a photograph of him and Charlie snoozing on the decking but hadn't noticed that Boris's collar was missing and that his face was swollen almost beyond recognition until he came very quietly into the bedroom where I was ironing.  He is never quiet as he is a cat that always announces his arrival.  When I looked at him I couldn't believe the state of his face.  Had he been kicked, had he been bitten, had he been stung, had he eaten something, had he got his collar caught somewhere and struggled to release himself - no idea but all I know was that he was disfigured.

I called John in and he managed to open Boris's jaw and feel all round his face.  We couldn't see any puncture wounds and he could open his mouth without crying in pain.  We bathed the area and dripped water into his mouth.  He didn't like it but he made no noise and licked a little of the fluid.  He then ran outside and I tempted him with a little food which he ate but then he disappeared.  John found him out the front but when he picked him he seemed terrified and it wasn't until I got him in my arms that he stopped shrieking and struggling.  We managed to get him to settle on our bed and we lay there with him watching his breathing and checking for any signs that his condition was getting worse.  Under his chin was clearly causing him great discomfort and initially he lay very awkwardly on the bed but as time went on he became a little more relaxed and after about two hours he was lying with his feet stretched out in front of him and the swelling appeared to have gone down a little.  We were due to go out this evening but if he had not shown any signs of improvement I would have wanted to stay with him.  Eventually we were satisfied that he was not in any imminent danger so got ready to go out.

As we were about to leave we had an interesting visitor making its way towards our car - the goats were grazing in the green area but this one had gone off piste!

Our outing this evening was to the Sunset Breeze restaurant to attend a dinner in memory of one of the ladies who used to play badminton at John's club and who passed away very suddenly.  Your smile will be missed Maureen and you would have been very proud of how your lovely husband and son coped with this evening.