We have had a couple of days to ourselves having delivered Joyce and David back to Emba. I am feeling exhausted as the whole cat saga has taken its toll and then the other night, or rather early morning (4.00am) our doorbell went twice in quick succession. We think it was an indication that the batteries were low - whatever it was, it had me out of bed in double quick time thinking something terrible had happened but there was no-one there and the PIR light had not gone off so thankfully there had been no-one there. Needless to say that had disturbed me enough that I did not get back to sleep and I realised that Chivers was not in so kept half an ear out for him although he did not return and was not there in the morning which had me worried. He did put in an appearance later on thankfully.
On the subject of the cats it is remarkable just what a recovery Minnie has made in such a short space of time especially as she seemed so poorly on Tuesday. It is a testament to the vets, particularly Susannah who fussed her and cuddled her and hand fed her, that she has not been freaked out by the experience and taken herself off. She is very much around and can be found in one or other of her favourite sleeping places. She is eating well and in some ways more approachable than normal. Bless her - she is such a sweet, gentle cat it broke my heart to see her in such agony and screaming in pain (if cats scream).
The update on Charlie is that he is being really, really good - John's ingenious collar contraption doesn't bother him in the least and keeps his wound from being licked to death (the same cannot be said about his forearm but we have some 'bitters' to put on to discourage him). The abscess has begun to respond well to the antibiotics and is reducing in size and colour and seems to be dry so by the end of the tablets we are fairly sure that he will not need to return to the vets.
The past couple of days has given me the opportunity to do some chores around the house because I noticed that everything seems to be covered in a layer of dust and a layer of cat fur. The vet explained that the current excessive shedding is a sign that the cats have been stressed so hopefully it should lessen. I am not one of life's natural housekeepers but I do like the house to be clean and tidy, what I don't like is that no sooner have you done it than it needs doing again. I had moved all the furniture in the conservatory and swept and mopped the floor and then Charlie bounced in chasing a ball and left little paw marks all over my nice clean surface.
It is the first round of the play-offs for the lower leagues this weekend - I can honestly say I am so glad that we haven't had to endure that nail-biting experience as The Mighty Blades secured their place in the Premiership automatically.
We shall have our fingers crossed for the Bobster and Di whose team Charlton play on Sunday against Doncaster although Mattie Blair (Doncaster) is a close friend of my nephew Mikey and a really nice chap so I will have slightly split loyalties. (As it happened Charlton won this leg 2-1 but Mattie scored for Donnie so maybe that was the best result all round!).
We also had our fingers crossed for Sunderland (supported by Arodes John) - they won their first round tie against Portsmouth. but it could be that it is a Charlton v Sunderland final and then we are going to have to say may the best team on the day win. The play-off final is the most heartbreaking of experiences for the losing team - John knows as he has witnessed far too many - I even went to the woeful performance the Blades put in at the Millenium Stadium.
On Saturday it was the name day for our village church - St Epifaneios. I am guessing that the hasty clearance of the village roads was probably because of this otherwise no-one would have been able to get anywhere near to watch the celebrations. We have been in the past but did not go this year partly because we only learned about it on the actual day. I used to have it in my diary so not sure where that disappeared.
Apparently Epifanios was the bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches and apart from that I don't know much more about him.
This is obviously a big day in the village and so many of the Nicosians who have a second home or affiliation to the village are here to enjoy the celebrations.
I have got John to change the batteries in the doorbell - I shall do a headcount of the cats this evening and I will have everything crossed that I get a decent night's sleep. I really should be looking at what to pack for my trip back to the UK but as we have Joyce and David again next week I will need to leave it until after they go back to Emba as I have nowhere to put the case. It is Mum's birthday next weekend and I really want it to be nice for her but I know sometimes these milestones are difficult - sadly my magic wand isn't working too well and sometimes the weight of it all lies quite heavily upon me and John.
On the subject of the cats it is remarkable just what a recovery Minnie has made in such a short space of time especially as she seemed so poorly on Tuesday. It is a testament to the vets, particularly Susannah who fussed her and cuddled her and hand fed her, that she has not been freaked out by the experience and taken herself off. She is very much around and can be found in one or other of her favourite sleeping places. She is eating well and in some ways more approachable than normal. Bless her - she is such a sweet, gentle cat it broke my heart to see her in such agony and screaming in pain (if cats scream).
The update on Charlie is that he is being really, really good - John's ingenious collar contraption doesn't bother him in the least and keeps his wound from being licked to death (the same cannot be said about his forearm but we have some 'bitters' to put on to discourage him). The abscess has begun to respond well to the antibiotics and is reducing in size and colour and seems to be dry so by the end of the tablets we are fairly sure that he will not need to return to the vets.
The past couple of days has given me the opportunity to do some chores around the house because I noticed that everything seems to be covered in a layer of dust and a layer of cat fur. The vet explained that the current excessive shedding is a sign that the cats have been stressed so hopefully it should lessen. I am not one of life's natural housekeepers but I do like the house to be clean and tidy, what I don't like is that no sooner have you done it than it needs doing again. I had moved all the furniture in the conservatory and swept and mopped the floor and then Charlie bounced in chasing a ball and left little paw marks all over my nice clean surface.
It is the first round of the play-offs for the lower leagues this weekend - I can honestly say I am so glad that we haven't had to endure that nail-biting experience as The Mighty Blades secured their place in the Premiership automatically.We shall have our fingers crossed for the Bobster and Di whose team Charlton play on Sunday against Doncaster although Mattie Blair (Doncaster) is a close friend of my nephew Mikey and a really nice chap so I will have slightly split loyalties. (As it happened Charlton won this leg 2-1 but Mattie scored for Donnie so maybe that was the best result all round!).
We also had our fingers crossed for Sunderland (supported by Arodes John) - they won their first round tie against Portsmouth. but it could be that it is a Charlton v Sunderland final and then we are going to have to say may the best team on the day win. The play-off final is the most heartbreaking of experiences for the losing team - John knows as he has witnessed far too many - I even went to the woeful performance the Blades put in at the Millenium Stadium.
On Saturday it was the name day for our village church - St Epifaneios. I am guessing that the hasty clearance of the village roads was probably because of this otherwise no-one would have been able to get anywhere near to watch the celebrations. We have been in the past but did not go this year partly because we only learned about it on the actual day. I used to have it in my diary so not sure where that disappeared.Apparently Epifanios was the bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches and apart from that I don't know much more about him.
This is obviously a big day in the village and so many of the Nicosians who have a second home or affiliation to the village are here to enjoy the celebrations.
I have got John to change the batteries in the doorbell - I shall do a headcount of the cats this evening and I will have everything crossed that I get a decent night's sleep. I really should be looking at what to pack for my trip back to the UK but as we have Joyce and David again next week I will need to leave it until after they go back to Emba as I have nowhere to put the case. It is Mum's birthday next weekend and I really want it to be nice for her but I know sometimes these milestones are difficult - sadly my magic wand isn't working too well and sometimes the weight of it all lies quite heavily upon me and John.
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