The DHL man came with our kitchen appliances on Monday (yey!). In his excitement, Basil's front went in one direction and his back legs in the other. Unfortunately he couldn't get up onto his back legs after this.
In a dog of Basil's size and age this is a real problem, however Monday night he started to get onto his back legs and today he could wobble around. The vet has given him anti-inflamatories, and we need to give it some time. He's not been great on his feet for a while now, so we're not expecting miracles, but as long as he can have a wander and sniff, get to his food and be able to go to the toilet, then he'll be fine for a while longer.
On the plus side, Basil is getting his tablets in a spoon of pate, which he thinks is a very good thing!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
We Are Offered a Home Visit by the Virgin
Ian was a little surprised to be offered a home visit from the virgin. As he recovered from the shock, he realized that the nice people at the door were asking if we'd like a visit from the statue of Mary, mother of all pains, the virgin mother and village saint. However I can't help wondering what it would be like. Do we offer her a carrot and glass of sherry like Father Christmas's reindeer, offer a her a cup of tea...? I don't know, however I guess a safer bet is that it would involve a lot of praying and penitence.
Quite nice to be asked though - perhaps they realize that we're really not going away!
We flooded last Thursday, the day before Viv, Helen and Sian were arriving. The flood was followed by a power cut which was unfortunate. I think it was worse than last time as the water went into every room bar the shower room. At least this time there was only one flood, however. The drain just can't cope with the volume of water, and this has been made worse since we've had the drain drain into our yard, rather than into the street. We'll get some sandbags, however longer term we'll get Manuel to dig a storm drain into our well.
These big storms are never out of the blue. I am rather annoyed with myself for laughing at the severe weather warning that we saw on the weather forecast rather than putting together an action plan. A big water drum would also have helped. I did go and get Manuel's from out the back, but the rain had stopped by then.
Sadly we had to have little Batman put to sleep on Monday. It was very sad. Poor little fellow deteriorated quickly over the weekend and there was nothing we could do for him. He faced one last challenge that was too great for him. We've buried him by the new sun terrace with Billy. I like to think that where ever he is, he has his little tail back and can run and jump like other kittens.
Quite nice to be asked though - perhaps they realize that we're really not going away!
We flooded last Thursday, the day before Viv, Helen and Sian were arriving. The flood was followed by a power cut which was unfortunate. I think it was worse than last time as the water went into every room bar the shower room. At least this time there was only one flood, however. The drain just can't cope with the volume of water, and this has been made worse since we've had the drain drain into our yard, rather than into the street. We'll get some sandbags, however longer term we'll get Manuel to dig a storm drain into our well.
These big storms are never out of the blue. I am rather annoyed with myself for laughing at the severe weather warning that we saw on the weather forecast rather than putting together an action plan. A big water drum would also have helped. I did go and get Manuel's from out the back, but the rain had stopped by then.
Sadly we had to have little Batman put to sleep on Monday. It was very sad. Poor little fellow deteriorated quickly over the weekend and there was nothing we could do for him. He faced one last challenge that was too great for him. We've buried him by the new sun terrace with Billy. I like to think that where ever he is, he has his little tail back and can run and jump like other kittens.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Photos
Today Manuel started - and finished - on the wall in what was the garage and will soon by our outdoor kitchen. It won't go right the way up, the main thing is to make a divide between where we'll store things and our outdoor kitchen.
This is another view looking through to the back yard.
This is the stairs going up to the sun terrace. If you look closely (click on the image to see it full size) you can see Henry and Bob looking through the gates at us.
These are our chicks - nearly full size now!
Miss Moppet and Schukes looking at Batman.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Batman Goes to the Vets
To be delicate, Batman's irregular toilet habits, or indeed complete lack of them, was becoming a problem so we decided to take him to the vets. We took him to our vets in Llerena, who were no doubt delighted to see us.
As we took batman from the cat box, I could see that the poor vet wondered where to start. Luckily, we were able to communicate that yes, we knew that he didn't have a tail, and yes, we were treating him for lack of tail.
He was worried that Batman might have had stones in his bladder that might have been stopping him going to the toilet. This would have been very serious, so we were happy when he came back and said that it was 'just' a bladder infection. This would make it difficult for him to do 'cacas' or 'peeeeeees'.
Batman was given some antibiotics and some special diet food to help with the bladder problem. Oh yes, the super-expensive diet food. However, because our vet couldn't find the price, he let us have it for free!
This may turn into a longer term problem, however it's a case of one step at a time.
Of course, we had a few minutes of confusion. The vet injected Batman and we assumed it was a sedative, so were wresting Batman into a relaxed and sleepy position. We were a little confused as to why he wasn't becoming sleepy, even when Ian had the poor little chap in an arm lock, telling him that he would be feeling 'sleepy' shortly. We couldn't understand why Batman wasn't sleepy. It was because the vet had given him antibiotics, not a sedative. I do hope the vet realizes that we do not normally forceably hold our pets into a relaxed position...
As we took batman from the cat box, I could see that the poor vet wondered where to start. Luckily, we were able to communicate that yes, we knew that he didn't have a tail, and yes, we were treating him for lack of tail.
He was worried that Batman might have had stones in his bladder that might have been stopping him going to the toilet. This would have been very serious, so we were happy when he came back and said that it was 'just' a bladder infection. This would make it difficult for him to do 'cacas' or 'peeeeeees'.
Batman was given some antibiotics and some special diet food to help with the bladder problem. Oh yes, the super-expensive diet food. However, because our vet couldn't find the price, he let us have it for free!
This may turn into a longer term problem, however it's a case of one step at a time.
Of course, we had a few minutes of confusion. The vet injected Batman and we assumed it was a sedative, so were wresting Batman into a relaxed and sleepy position. We were a little confused as to why he wasn't becoming sleepy, even when Ian had the poor little chap in an arm lock, telling him that he would be feeling 'sleepy' shortly. We couldn't understand why Batman wasn't sleepy. It was because the vet had given him antibiotics, not a sedative. I do hope the vet realizes that we do not normally forceably hold our pets into a relaxed position...
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Fox
Fox that we saw when we were cycling towards Bienvenida last week
Llerena from a different view point, we were cycling towards it via country lanes.
Me! Llerena is in the background
Kitchen
We're getting ever closer to our kitchen. We're buying the electrical appliances this week, which means we have to pull our fingers out and decide how we want the units to look. We're currently thinking of a 'cocina de obra' which is a traditional built kitchen with the base units made from brick . Yes, exactly the same as the one we had taken out from the old kitchen! We've been talking about making a polished concrete finish to cover the bricks, instead of tiles. We'd originally thought about plaster mouldings, but decided that this wouldn't be practical. When we were telling Manuel about it he seemed to know exactly what we were talking about - he must wonder why it has taken us three years to design a kitchen that is exactly the same as the one he took out....!
Batman's tail is healing well, but he does have good and bad days. We still have problems getting him to eat every day. I think he gets constipated - probably as a result of his injury. Hopefully we'll eventually get him onto a diet that is well balanced but that he has no problems digesting. His back legs have turned a dark blond color as the stuff we use to clean his tail has peroxide in it. He looks rather dashing!
It is noticeably darker in the mornings and evenings now. Manuel is starting work at 8 from Monday as it is too dark earlier.
Batman's tail is healing well, but he does have good and bad days. We still have problems getting him to eat every day. I think he gets constipated - probably as a result of his injury. Hopefully we'll eventually get him onto a diet that is well balanced but that he has no problems digesting. His back legs have turned a dark blond color as the stuff we use to clean his tail has peroxide in it. He looks rather dashing!
It is noticeably darker in the mornings and evenings now. Manuel is starting work at 8 from Monday as it is too dark earlier.
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Manualidades
I am recovering from a morning of manualidades with my class. They go back to school next week so I said instead of a class today we'd have a morning of crafts. There were only three of them as I forgot that today is Extremadura day. We made salt dough which we dried in the oven, shrink plastic and paper flowers. They managed to coat everything in a liberal helping of paint and glitter. The salt dough didn't dry completely and the paint helped it to return to a gooey mess, so I am sure the parents will wonder why we made painted splodges.
Jesus has finished painting the back of the house and it looks great. He has also taken four of our chickens. We have him one of our cockerals and a mix from this year. Hopefully we gave him two girls.
We came home on Saturday and found one of our chickens in the field behind us. I think that it must have flown over the wall when Manuel came in in his van. Needless to say, Ian running round the field after a squawking fluffy chicken was a sight I'll remember for a long time!
Jesus has finished painting the back of the house and it looks great. He has also taken four of our chickens. We have him one of our cockerals and a mix from this year. Hopefully we gave him two girls.
We came home on Saturday and found one of our chickens in the field behind us. I think that it must have flown over the wall when Manuel came in in his van. Needless to say, Ian running round the field after a squawking fluffy chicken was a sight I'll remember for a long time!
Friday, September 03, 2010
Sun Terrace
Manuel is getting on well with the sun terrace. The roof is nearly on. We wanted to sneak out and climb onto the roof when they finished today to take a look and see what it looks like from up there. Obviously, however, we were too scared to go up and look - I think it was climbing their scaffolding and the risk of stepping on something we shouldn't and then having to explain to Manuel why the roof had fallen down when he arrives tomorrow. Manuel and Mario hop around like mountain goats (I'll never forget watching them when they had the electric tile cutter balanced on the apex of the house roof) however we feel decidedly wobbly at the thought of climbing their scaffolding. However, not to be put off, Ian stuck his hand with the camera through where they have yet to finish and we got a bit of an idea what the view will be like.
The underneath part of the sun terrace will be the garage and where we part the car at the moment will be our outdoor kitchen. Not bad, seeing we don't have an indoor kitchen yet.
It's all busy-busy here today as Jesus is here too, painting the back of the house. It's very bright!
Here are some pics....
When the roof came off and they took the door frame away.
Today, with the roof almost in place
Looking up through the roof from the inside, the wall at the back of the sun terrace is quite low by the look of things (and Ian demonstrating why he's a graphic designer and doesn't climb ladders for a living).
Yey - we have a view (of sorts!). This was as high as Ian's hand would reach, so I reckon is about 6 inches off the floor of the roof terrace.
This was taken when Ian turned his hand round, so here we're looking at the roof of the long barn, I'll admit that it's not a hugely exciting picture...
The underneath part of the sun terrace will be the garage and where we part the car at the moment will be our outdoor kitchen. Not bad, seeing we don't have an indoor kitchen yet.
It's all busy-busy here today as Jesus is here too, painting the back of the house. It's very bright!
Here are some pics....
When the roof came off and they took the door frame away.
Today, with the roof almost in place
Looking up through the roof from the inside, the wall at the back of the sun terrace is quite low by the look of things (and Ian demonstrating why he's a graphic designer and doesn't climb ladders for a living).
Yey - we have a view (of sorts!). This was as high as Ian's hand would reach, so I reckon is about 6 inches off the floor of the roof terrace.
This was taken when Ian turned his hand round, so here we're looking at the roof of the long barn, I'll admit that it's not a hugely exciting picture...
The Bat Box
We were pleased to see Batman sat in a shoe box yesterday. This may seem odd, however a cat in a box is a very typical site, all our cats love sitting in boxes. If there's a box on the floor there's bound to be at least one cat in it. This was the first catty thing that we've seen him do so we're taking this as a sign that he is heading in the right direction.
We're having problems with his diet. When he arrived we were so desperate to get him eating we were trying him on all sorts, with the result that he got constipated and then he had diareah which was a major step backwards. Now we had him in a routine of eating chicken, but decided it was time to put him back on dried food again.
We know that he can't eat normal cat food, he can only eat kitten food. However he's been turning his nose up to dried kitten food. We wondered if this was because it was too crunchy so we moistened it, which he still didn't eat.
However I dropped a piece of pasta on the floor and he tucked into that so we gave him a bowl of pasta which he finished. We gave Babbity and Moppet - who spend their whole lives eating - his moistened food and they turned their nose up - so it is possible that there was something wrong with his food.
So our current plan is to put him back onto chicken which we'll mix with pasta and worry about getting him onto dry food when he is stronger. He is getting better all the time - but we've still a long way to go. He's a little cutey and takes everything that happens to him in his stride, so looking after him is quite easy.
We're having problems with his diet. When he arrived we were so desperate to get him eating we were trying him on all sorts, with the result that he got constipated and then he had diareah which was a major step backwards. Now we had him in a routine of eating chicken, but decided it was time to put him back on dried food again.
We know that he can't eat normal cat food, he can only eat kitten food. However he's been turning his nose up to dried kitten food. We wondered if this was because it was too crunchy so we moistened it, which he still didn't eat.
However I dropped a piece of pasta on the floor and he tucked into that so we gave him a bowl of pasta which he finished. We gave Babbity and Moppet - who spend their whole lives eating - his moistened food and they turned their nose up - so it is possible that there was something wrong with his food.
So our current plan is to put him back onto chicken which we'll mix with pasta and worry about getting him onto dry food when he is stronger. He is getting better all the time - but we've still a long way to go. He's a little cutey and takes everything that happens to him in his stride, so looking after him is quite easy.