Friday - hot and bothered

I am beginning to have some sympathy for parents with a new baby which will not settle, or to recognise the effectiveness of sleep deprivation as a form of torture because John and I have had the worst night's sleep ever and (a) the temperatures are unbelievably hot for this time of year and we don't have air conditioning and (b) we can't open the windows because Mr Boo has to be confined indoors for a week wearing his collar so he is shut in the bedroom block so that the other cats can have some sort of normality as they are slightly freaked by his appearance and I don't want them moving out.

Boo kept us awake from about 3.00am until 7.00am desperate to get out but has now settled in his favourite spot under the bed and is sleeping like a baby whilst John and I are wandering round like zombies.  This is not too bad for John because he is on complete sport rest at the moment to start the healing process of his meniscus tear so can have a snoozy day at home babysitting Boris.  I, on the other hand, will be going down to Emba to play pickleball and see Mum and Dad on what is probably the hottest day of the year.  I am hoping to shed about a stone running around the court - the games will be tough because Liselotte is back from Denmark.

John and I are unconvinced about Boo's collar.  The edges of it are very sharp and there is an uncomfortable join to it plus it keeps swizzling round.  If Boris rubs up against your legs the collar is really scratchy so I will have to make sure he doesn't do that to Mum or Dad or else their thin skin will be completely shredded.  It would appear that the collar itself has scratched the wound and made it bleed which is a shame because it was absolutely perfect and tiny when we brought him home.  I rang the vets and they have told me to tape over the edge and the join - we have done this but remain unconvinced because he keeps getting one or other or both of his ears tucked back stuck inside.  We are in two minds as to whether to get some of the puppy booties they sell in Jumbos and remove the collar - it might be worth a try but we are going to see how he gets on tonight - it might just have been first night nerves or something.  Needless to say the next week looms large - it is going to feel more like a month.  Apart from the fact the Boris hates being kept in and can't understand why the others are treating him like an alien he seems to be ok in himself.  He is eating and has used the cat litter although doesn't like it and I am going to be finding bits of it for years to come the way he kicks it about.

As expected the afternoon's sport in Emba was hot hot hot - I don't think I have ever sweat so much and Liselotte's husband John was boiling when we finished.  There are fans but no air conditioning and windows that we can open but even so with all the running round we do it is like being in a pressure cooker.  We had good games, really good games as Diana has come on absolutely leaps and bounds and is now a pretty mean opponent with some cracking hard flat shots in her repertoire.  Mum plays some corkers too - she is particularly good at the net with dinky little shots that are unplayable.  I would like to think that I would be as enthusiastic and accomplished when I am 82 but somehow doubt it.

It was so hot today that even the Peugeot complained as I had a warning come on saying that the Engine was too hot.  Not bloody surprised as it was showing 45 degrees when we began the long ascent from Emba to Droushia.  It cooled down but only when I had the heating on full blast which was particularly unpleasant.

People ask if we get a view of the sunset here at Villa 10b and generally I would say no because the main part of the garden is facing North and the sun dips down below the houses of the village but tonight as I was out watering the pots the setting sun was just poking through a small gap between the bedroom and the gazebo.  The sky was a pale yellow and the sun was a ball of fire.  It is going to be another hot day tomorrow - let's hope we will be facing it having had a better night's sleep!