After days of knee pain I went to see the doctor today. It seems as though I might have torn a ligament so badminton is off until the New Year and I have an anxious wait to see if it'll mend.
I'm also exhausted and that's not just with knee pain. Mountain Man and I are doing a night each with Vespa, the idea being that at least one of us will get a good night's sleep, but I seem to do sympathetic waking up at all hours on my nights off, which isn't great. Last night was my night on however, which coincided with Vespa having 'one of those nights'.
It started so well, with me going for an early night as I'd been up at 5.30 yesterday morning and out the door before 7 so I could get to a meeting in Glasgow. I was pretty tired when I got home so MM agreed to me going to bed early and wasn't thrilled to be woken up from a very deep sleep at 10.30 by Vespa demanding a pee.
At 2.30 am I was woken again, but this time, after a pee, Vespa wanted to play with Odi. I'm sure you can guess what my response to that was! After 20+ minutes trying to get him to quiet down I decided on the 'parrot approach' and covered the front of his cage (the sides and back already being covered) so he couldn't see out at all and it all went instantly quiet. I couldn't get back to sleep until well past 4 though and the 6.30 wake up squeak wasn't at all welcome.
Now I'm tired and in pain and those two things don't bode well for a good mood. To add to that the weather is shite and I feel utterly miserable. So watch out MM, Vespa and Odi, you have been warned!
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Thursday, 20 November 2014
Disaster strikes
Not with either of the pups, but me.
Both puppies are doing ok. Vespa seems to go to bed every night and get up so much bigger the next day! He's due for jags on Saturday so will get weighed. It'll be interesting to see how much he's really put on.
Odi's feeling under the weather with her season, but is battling on regardless and in the 2 weeks she's been back has still managed to kill a couple of toys, while Vespa, who's been with us over a month, has killed none. I think she'd prefer to go to bed with a hot water bottle and some chocolate until her season's over, but no such luck for her as she's continually either being shoved out of her bed or having to share it by her young companion. Also I don't think she really likes the 5.30 am start as she doesn't get fed til 7 and that's an awful long time for her to wait, but I'm really pleased that at least Vespa sleeps for around 7 hours now.
Meanwhile my so-called 'good knee' has done something and is causing me a lot of problems.
A few weeks ago I got up from the floor and it cracked extremely loudly and since then has given me a lot of pain. Last night I got up for a pee and it locked, which was ultra painful and didn't help with my sleep which isn't good at the best of times. I managed to hobble back to bed and wait til the pain subsided, but it's not great today.
I'm going to give it until next week to settle down, but if not then it'll be a visit to the doc who no doubt will tell me it's wear and tear etc etc.
Having no knee in my right leg makes me ultra conscious about my left one, but there's nothing I can do but hope.
Both puppies are doing ok. Vespa seems to go to bed every night and get up so much bigger the next day! He's due for jags on Saturday so will get weighed. It'll be interesting to see how much he's really put on.
Odi's feeling under the weather with her season, but is battling on regardless and in the 2 weeks she's been back has still managed to kill a couple of toys, while Vespa, who's been with us over a month, has killed none. I think she'd prefer to go to bed with a hot water bottle and some chocolate until her season's over, but no such luck for her as she's continually either being shoved out of her bed or having to share it by her young companion. Also I don't think she really likes the 5.30 am start as she doesn't get fed til 7 and that's an awful long time for her to wait, but I'm really pleased that at least Vespa sleeps for around 7 hours now.
Meanwhile my so-called 'good knee' has done something and is causing me a lot of problems.
A few weeks ago I got up from the floor and it cracked extremely loudly and since then has given me a lot of pain. Last night I got up for a pee and it locked, which was ultra painful and didn't help with my sleep which isn't good at the best of times. I managed to hobble back to bed and wait til the pain subsided, but it's not great today.
I'm going to give it until next week to settle down, but if not then it'll be a visit to the doc who no doubt will tell me it's wear and tear etc etc.
Having no knee in my right leg makes me ultra conscious about my left one, but there's nothing I can do but hope.
Saturday, 15 November 2014
Into the routine
While Mountain Man has been away helping the BBC Children in Need Rickshaw Ride to get over 2 million pounds I've been at home doing 'routine'.
This revolves around puppy feeding, puppy playing, puppy walking and puppy sleeping. In between I've tried to get some work done with limited success. I had a report to read (about 100 pages) and it's taken me 3 days to get to the end and as to how much I've digested, well that's questionable. The rest of the work I need to do has had to take a back seat until MM comes home to rescue me.
Yesterday we had a visit from the Puppy Supervisor to sign paperwork for Vespa and so she could enlighten me as to what's going to happen with Odi. Apparently it's all down to when she comes into season. And here's the extraordinary thing... the PS left the house at 2 ish and within 2 hours Odi had come into season. I'm sure she was listening to all the permutations of what might happen if it didn't happen soon!
Vespa is responding well to the housetraining situation and is asking to go out and doing his business when asked. We've had a few puddles on the floor, especially the first couple of days of Odi's return as she drinks water by the gallon and he seemed to think it was only polite to keep up with her... the consequences were his needing to go out every 20 minutes, which was exhausting for me but quite a good exercise routine I suppose, but he seems to be back to normal now. And today, miracle of miracles, he walked to the village shop and back on his lead without demanding to be picked up once. Ok, it is only 200 yards away and it took 5 minutes to get there and 5 minutes back, but I was really chuffed.
The two of them are getting on pretty well. Odi's pretty patient with him most of the time and has, today, allowed him to get in her bed for a bit of a cuddle. Before today every time he got on her bed she got off.
MM comes home tonight and then is off again tomorrow on Borders Search and Rescue training, so that's me sorted until Monday when hopefully I'll actually get something more done than opening the door for dogs to go out!
This revolves around puppy feeding, puppy playing, puppy walking and puppy sleeping. In between I've tried to get some work done with limited success. I had a report to read (about 100 pages) and it's taken me 3 days to get to the end and as to how much I've digested, well that's questionable. The rest of the work I need to do has had to take a back seat until MM comes home to rescue me.
Yesterday we had a visit from the Puppy Supervisor to sign paperwork for Vespa and so she could enlighten me as to what's going to happen with Odi. Apparently it's all down to when she comes into season. And here's the extraordinary thing... the PS left the house at 2 ish and within 2 hours Odi had come into season. I'm sure she was listening to all the permutations of what might happen if it didn't happen soon!
Vespa is responding well to the housetraining situation and is asking to go out and doing his business when asked. We've had a few puddles on the floor, especially the first couple of days of Odi's return as she drinks water by the gallon and he seemed to think it was only polite to keep up with her... the consequences were his needing to go out every 20 minutes, which was exhausting for me but quite a good exercise routine I suppose, but he seems to be back to normal now. And today, miracle of miracles, he walked to the village shop and back on his lead without demanding to be picked up once. Ok, it is only 200 yards away and it took 5 minutes to get there and 5 minutes back, but I was really chuffed.
The two of them are getting on pretty well. Odi's pretty patient with him most of the time and has, today, allowed him to get in her bed for a bit of a cuddle. Before today every time he got on her bed she got off.
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| Cuddle time |
MM comes home tonight and then is off again tomorrow on Borders Search and Rescue training, so that's me sorted until Monday when hopefully I'll actually get something more done than opening the door for dogs to go out!
Wednesday, 12 November 2014
My girl comes home
Yesterday I had a meeting in Edinburgh so left Vespa in the capable hands of Susan, who puppy walks Folly the German Shepherd/Retriever cross, for the day.
At about 11 am I got a text from the Puppy Supervisor to alert me Odi was on the puppy wagon and we arranged to meet at Straiton outside Pets At Home for pick up at 3.30. After the meeting I did a hasty shop and made my way to the meeting point. It was a strange feeling when Odi jumped out of the back of the PS's car and, although she seemed a bit subdued, she greeted me and then jumped into my car as though it was just yesterday I'd dropped her off and not 3 weeks ago.
Once home and told very firmly to leave the toys in Vespa's cage alone, I fed her and she settled back to being at home no problem. I, though, was in bits. It was very emotional for me to have her back and I'm not used to her being subdued. Of course it didn't last, neither my emotional bit nor her being subdued!
Susan brought Vespa back at about 6 and the 2 of them got to know each other and sort out who was going to be top dog (Odi though Vespa was trying hard to assert himself) and after Vespa was fed and I poured myself a glass of wine, we settled into an evening of Odi showing Vespa how to rip toys! In the 3 weeks he's been with me he hasn't so much as put a hole in any of his toys and within minutes 2 toys were already consigned to the waiting room of Dr Vee's Toy Surgery ready for morning opening time!
What with all the newness it didn't surprise me at all that Vespa woke during the night and needed out, but apart from that it was all quiet until just after 6.30 this morning.
I realised pdq that I've got to get into a routine, so it was up and out and fed, time for a play, then bed while I went and showered and dressed. Then it was Vespa's turn for a quick walk to the village shop for eggs and back, then he went in his cage while I took Odi out on a longer walk. On our return it was playtime again, til time for food and then another sleep. So far so good and I think this will be the pattern of our days. It would be good if Vespa was exhausted enough tonight to sleep through (he was beginning to before Odi got back), but I'm not holding out hope for that while he gets to know the new regime.
Odi's been wonderfully patient with Vespa and has relaxed totally into being back at home and even she seems quite pleased when he goes off for a sleep though!
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| Vespa and Folly |
At about 11 am I got a text from the Puppy Supervisor to alert me Odi was on the puppy wagon and we arranged to meet at Straiton outside Pets At Home for pick up at 3.30. After the meeting I did a hasty shop and made my way to the meeting point. It was a strange feeling when Odi jumped out of the back of the PS's car and, although she seemed a bit subdued, she greeted me and then jumped into my car as though it was just yesterday I'd dropped her off and not 3 weeks ago.
Once home and told very firmly to leave the toys in Vespa's cage alone, I fed her and she settled back to being at home no problem. I, though, was in bits. It was very emotional for me to have her back and I'm not used to her being subdued. Of course it didn't last, neither my emotional bit nor her being subdued!
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| A bit of a subdued puppy |
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| The calm before the storm |
What with all the newness it didn't surprise me at all that Vespa woke during the night and needed out, but apart from that it was all quiet until just after 6.30 this morning.
I realised pdq that I've got to get into a routine, so it was up and out and fed, time for a play, then bed while I went and showered and dressed. Then it was Vespa's turn for a quick walk to the village shop for eggs and back, then he went in his cage while I took Odi out on a longer walk. On our return it was playtime again, til time for food and then another sleep. So far so good and I think this will be the pattern of our days. It would be good if Vespa was exhausted enough tonight to sleep through (he was beginning to before Odi got back), but I'm not holding out hope for that while he gets to know the new regime.
Odi's been wonderfully patient with Vespa and has relaxed totally into being back at home and even she seems quite pleased when he goes off for a sleep though!
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| That dog sure knows how to relax! |
Monday, 10 November 2014
A week goes by
Can't believe it's been a whole 7 days since I last posted and Mountain Man has offed and left us to do his bit on Children in Need Trishaw ride and in that time Vespa has peed in Tesco, and pooed both in there and in M&S. Luckily I had my kitbag with me on both occasions, but I think I need to take my makeup bag with me as well to cover my embarrassment. He was very good in Boots though and made a firm friend with the pharmacist, which is always useful!
On Friday my dear friend Shirley came over for her birthday lunch. I was going to take her out, but the thought of having to deal with a puppy and feed ourselves in between his feeds etc etc was just going to be a bit stressful, so she very kindly came to mine. Given it was her 60th I thought it was lovely of her. And, I took a pic of her in exactly the same position that I took of her and Odi a year ago, when Odi was 9 weeks.
He had so much fun having Shirley here that he collapsed into his basket when she left and fell asleep for hours!
Then on Saturday Milo the French Bulldog puppy (now 4 months old) came for a play. They had a great time together.
Although he's still a wee thing, Vespa has grown a lot in the 3 weeks he's been here. He's gone from the very first hole in the teeny Guide Dog collar to the 3rd hole, which is about an inch, and he's beginning to feel quite heavy when I have to carry him.
He's still very cute though.
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| Vespa with the Boots pharmacist |
On Friday my dear friend Shirley came over for her birthday lunch. I was going to take her out, but the thought of having to deal with a puppy and feed ourselves in between his feeds etc etc was just going to be a bit stressful, so she very kindly came to mine. Given it was her 60th I thought it was lovely of her. And, I took a pic of her in exactly the same position that I took of her and Odi a year ago, when Odi was 9 weeks.
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| Odi at 9 weeks |
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| Vespa at 9 weeks |
He had so much fun having Shirley here that he collapsed into his basket when she left and fell asleep for hours!
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| Thank you Shirley! |
Then on Saturday Milo the French Bulldog puppy (now 4 months old) came for a play. They had a great time together.
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| Vespa and Milo fight it out |
Although he's still a wee thing, Vespa has grown a lot in the 3 weeks he's been here. He's gone from the very first hole in the teeny Guide Dog collar to the 3rd hole, which is about an inch, and he's beginning to feel quite heavy when I have to carry him.
He's still very cute though.
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| Butter wouldn't melt |
Monday, 3 November 2014
And it goes on
Poor Odi isn't coming back tomorrow after all. She's now got kennel cough and so is at Leamington Spa for yet another week. We're keeping our fingers crossed for next week, but given what's been going on with her I'm not going to even hazard a guess as to whether or not she'll be back then.
Meanwhile, Vespa's cuteness factor goes on. We were in Galashiels this afternoon and a whole shop went 'aahh' when he sat on command and just looked at me. I was told to come back anytime (is this a pattern?) and I was just so pleased with him. Of course it changed seconds later when the little bugger wouldn't walk down the street on his lead and insisted on being carried!
We took a trip to the vet for a quick weigh in and he's put on over a kilo since he's been with us and now weighs in at 5.5 kg. He's still teeny, but has grown so much he looks almost double the size from when he came.
Here's a couple of extremely cute photos so you can go 'aahh' too:
Meanwhile, Vespa's cuteness factor goes on. We were in Galashiels this afternoon and a whole shop went 'aahh' when he sat on command and just looked at me. I was told to come back anytime (is this a pattern?) and I was just so pleased with him. Of course it changed seconds later when the little bugger wouldn't walk down the street on his lead and insisted on being carried!
We took a trip to the vet for a quick weigh in and he's put on over a kilo since he's been with us and now weighs in at 5.5 kg. He's still teeny, but has grown so much he looks almost double the size from when he came.
Here's a couple of extremely cute photos so you can go 'aahh' too:
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