Vet Review

Yesterday was the day I was going to make the fateful decision about Meg
It just so happened to coincide with my nursing night shift...a night shift that saw us move into a brand new , all singing and all dancing Critical Care Unit......
It's like the original Jurassic Park.....no expense was spared.......frigging hell.....there was even a machine that reads the finger prints of the nurses and dispenses medication in a sort of game show way...........but we didn't know where anything was!
All night, all I could see was nurses hurrying around like loons shouting things like " where are the frigging saline ampules ? !!!!" at each other!
Anyhow
Because the rosy faced vet wasn't available yesterday, I had arranged to speak to her today.....so with a heavy heart I came home this morning wondering just how Meg was faring ...another refusal of food.....more weight lost..........another curled up, sick looking dog and the conversation with the vet would be a sad, fraught one......
Another day...another roller coaster of emotions.
As it happened....my offer of a half dozen chicken meatballs from the Spar, went down as welcomed as well thumbed copy of "50 Shades of Gray" at the Llanasa Women's Institute.....Meg ate every one, and even Managed to take a large chunk of a jumbo sausage for good measure!
Ok, she had had the shits...but that seemed all........I can cope with the shits.....especially after the shift I had at the hospital!
Like I said it's a roller coaster ride of emotions.
And so, she clambered up onto my knee as I dozed on the couch. Her eyes are milky, but alert.....and her affect is brighter ...it's almost as if she knew that today wasn't going to be the day we took that final trip to the vets.

Hey ho.....

Food For Thought

Generally I am not too fussed with " modern art" but recently I was moved by the work of Eric Ravelo, who is a cuban artist. His photographs titled " The Untouchables" are incredibly powerful

"The first image refers to pedophilia in the Vatican. Second child sexual abuse in tourism in Thailand, and the third refers to the war in Syria. The fourth image refers to the trafficking of organs on the black market, where most of the victims are children from poor countries; fifth refers to weapons free in the U.S.. And finally, the sixth image refers to obesity, blaming the big fast food companies.

Family

My delightful neice ( in law)...Rebecca

With my great neice Evie

God I feel old

Jumbo Sausage

Meg had the shits in our bedroom this morning, which was a bit of an unplanned moment as it
took an age sorting out the " bits" between the bare floorboards.....cue big sigh!
I was almost late for " fat club" because of it all, but the fact I lost another 3.5 lbs made up for the rush! ( i've lost 1 stone 1.5 lbs in just over three weeks!)
On the way back I stopped off at Sainsburys for some essential " poorly dog" supplies - namely  a scented candle and a whopper jar of hot dog sausages ( Meg had eaten a whole  sausage last night!)
I was served by a middle aged , bleach blonde checkout woman. She was the one that was always " over familiar" with Chris and I when we did did the weekly shop before changing allegiances to Tesco ...you know the sort..friendly middle aged fag hag!
Anyhow...
Picking up the jar of hot dogs, she rolled her eyes like Sid James and chirped up  playfully" Big Night In eh?"
I couldn't resist playing up to her and the other people in the queue and replied rather too loudly
" I 've got an old bitch at home who is just gagging for one of those bad boys!"

James Horner

It was with great sadness that I heard of the death of the film composer James Horner today. He was one of the giants within the film music industry and his scores have graced many a movie.
My favourite piece of his music comes from the forgettable movie Bicentennial Man and is called
" the gift of mortality"....it was used to great effect as a musical backdrop to this clip of the silent movie " Wings" from the 1920s
Watch the clip and listen to Horner's haunting music
And get a hankie ready....

Gone With The Wind Sky

The view over the Ukrainian Village at 21.50 this evening

This morning, after a robust conversation with the rosy faced Irish vet , I organised for Meg to have regular daily injections of anti sickness medication and regular painkillers. I also asked for her to have an injection of steroids. Sometimes it is useful being an intensive care nurse.
I also informed the vet that if these medications designed for comfort didnt work then I would bring Meg into the surgery to be put down on Wednesday.
I needed a clear plan , and this morning, I had one.
It was time to make a concrete decision
Meg rallied a Little this afternoon. She's eaten and looks brighter  and although, I know that the outcome of the war is clearly defined...I feel that just for today the battle has been won.
We both had a slow amble on the field at locking up time and after I sat the little Welsh Terrier on my knee we both looked up at the big and wonderfully theatrical "Gone With The Wind" sky up over the Gop.
Like Scarlett and Tara.......a famous quote comes to mind about Meg's illness......with wednesday hopefully on hold just a little
I can say just tonight....... "After all tomorrow IS another day"

Poundland Drug Deal.

I think I was mistaken for a drug addict today.
I was in " Poundland" looking for cheap carpet cleaner ( please dont tell the Prof) when I caught one of the store staff giving me a dirty look.
Admittedly I wasn't looking at my best , but You don't dress up for poundland do you?
I picked my carpet cleaner, added a tin of fabreeze in a fit of extravagance and was at the till when the store woman gave me another funny look.
I saw her glance at my shirt pocket, and then I knew why she looked like a bulldog chewing a toffee

For in my pocket were three syringes full of anti emetic medication  I had collected from the vets this morning in readiness for me to inject Meg with over the next day or so.

Que Sera Sera

Oh dear...yesterday I was all a bit like this

Wasn't I?

I am a bit more 

Like this today.... Thank fuck for that!

Sleep, nice weather and some perspective has given me back a little of the old Doris Day " Que Sere Sera"......I think a break has helped too. Instead of dinosaur mayhem, we took ourselves off to the cinema at Broughton and sat through the rather gentle " Mr Holmes" which is a deligtful panacea to mundane home crap!

 

 Mr Holmes is set in 1940's Dover, where the famous detective is living a quiet country life alongside his bees. Frail, and going senile, Sherlock ( Ian McKellen) is cared for by his unhappy housekeeper Mrs Monroe  ( Laura Linney) and her bright son Roger ( Milo Parker) and it is through Roger's inquisitive nature that 93 year old is able to resolve his last major case and come to some mental peace in the twilight of his life

At first I wasn't sure that Mr Holmes , was working for me, as the traumatic battle Sherlock' has with his memory has a completely different pace to the flashbacks he experiences of the former Edwardian mystery and an odd recalled trip to a post bomb Hiroshima but like all Sherlock Holmes' mysteries , everything dovetails together rather nicely by the end.
McKellen is simply wonderful in the title role, as is Parker, who holds his own rather well against the old trooper, their scenes together have a weight and a heart that drives the narrative forward so well.
Laura Linney in the rather difficult role as the practical and uneducated mother provides the perfect foil for Mc Kellen's sharpness and is rather moving in her scenes with him.

Its a lovely film
8/10