Saturday - exhausted

It is too blooming hot here for June - and at the moment it doesn't look like its going to cool any time soon .  The trouble is that confining Boris to barracks means we cannot open the house up like we would do at night to let the cool in so it just gets warmer and warmer.

Last night I slept with him in the spare bedroom - he was marginally less stressed than the night before but cries when he is hungry and cries when he wants to go to the toilet because he really doesn't want to use the litter tray but eventually has to.

I think we got up around 5.00am this morning.  The other three put in a short appearance for breakfast and then spotted the freak in the cone and shot off.  Charlie is awful towards Boo - growling and spitting and they used to be such good mates it is a shame and I am worried that the longer this goes on the more permanent the issue between them.

The cone, known as a Buster or Elizabeth collar they have given Boo is lethal - it is so sharp around the edges that it has cut his poorly ear even with the tape I put round it so John dispatched me off to get something to put on Boris's paws to stop him scratching if we removed the collar for a while.  This would give my shins a rest to because when he rubs his head around my legs it is quite painful.  The best thing I could find were some baby socks 0-3 months which looked tiny until I put them on his paws and he walked straight out of them so we had to tape them on which lasted all of five minutes.  We allowed him to go without collar and socks and monitored him and save giving his head a wash he hasn't scratched at all and the ear looks to be ok and stitches intact.  The ear is bloodier than it was because of the collar.  Boo is ok in himself but so desperate to get out that John picks him up and walks him round in his arms.  I contemplated getting a harness and lead - we did have one but lent it to Elaine when she had a cat she wanted to introduce to the garden slow time - we said we didn't want it back because we never envisaged needing it.  He is currently under close scrutiny and any signs of misbehaving and the cone is straight back on.  He does seem happier without it.

Needless to say the heat and the sleep deprivation is taking its toll and so both John and I have a distinct lack of energy.  I really wanted to get on and do a bit of gardening today but couldn't really face it.

I am amazed though how some plants survive and thrive in the garden given the extremes of conditions they have to face.  The clockvine has now reached the top of the kitchen and is beginning to make its way along the railings in both directions which is great and will look absolutely stunning when it is in full flower.

This gets cut back to the ground in the late autumn and every year I think I have killed in and peer at it regularly to look for growth and then all of a sudden its asparagus like shoots break through and then there is no stopping it.  I am so glad that I was instructed to cut it right back because otherwise I would have been unlikely to do so and the plant wouldn't be anything like as good and floriferous (great word don't you think) as it is.

It is a shame that the one which Mum and Dad bought for their archway down in Emba didn't survive - I think it was just too hot for it which is a shame.

I am also amazed that eventually the bougainvillea in the pot has put on some growth - this is because having been an interesting stick since the bad weather in January we were about to dig it out - I am really glad it has come back - the bougainvillea is just synonymous with the Mediterranean in my book and the garden originally had one before we had to dig it out and move it to make way for the wood store.  It didn't survive the move - or we didn't give it time to show signs of survival.

The moral of the gardening story here in Droushia is to stick with what grows and not try and introduce delicate or labour intensive plants.  With it being so hot at the moment there is a distinct lack of colour everywhere as things look tired - I was looking back at the photographs from our silver wedding party last July and there was much more of interest then.

We were watching the rugby from New Zealand today and it was absolutely hoofing it down - real monsoon conditions - for a moment that actually looked really inviting - will just have to make better use of the pool!!