Last Friday, good news

Tags

Canada, CANCER, champagne, games, home, PEI, QEH, teepee

Friday was a good news day, could not think of better news really, our life is back to normal now.

Will and I, went to the Cancer Centre for a meeting with the Chief oncologist and the surgeon, there is also a third chief of the Chemo dept with whom we will speak this week.

Basically the news is that Will’s cancer is gone, the examination with the miniature camera they inserted through his nose showed on the screen in living colour, that the tumour had completely disappeared, the CT scan also showed that all was normal and so did the blood work. The news stunned us, we were expecting some good some bad, but not all good positive news. It took us some time to understand that the menace had passed, a long 8 months of dread was finally over. Will has to go back in 3 months for a check-up but that is a routine in such cases. We are so relieved. Now Will has to continue putting on weight and so far he is doing well. Hooray for us!

In other news, the Canada Games have started and the illumination done in the park behind us and in the port area is quite magical. Organizers and athletes are wearing green and white uniforms. Concerts every night in the cruise terminal. There is even a Canada Games flame. It all looks good.

Teepee tent in the park beside our home, a bit of cheating here since a teepee is usually made of

birch bark. It is lighted up at night with multicoloured lights all around in the park, quite beautiful.

A lighthouse, there are many around the site, again a symbol of PEI given our rugged coast line.

The Circle of the flame of the Canada games at Founder’s Hall

So far our Winter has been a YoYo winter, some days hot like a Spring day around 15C and some days sort of cold at 5C or Friday at -8C, very irregular and next to no snow on the ground. So much so that I like many thought we could not hold the games with such unpredictable weather. Yes it is again one of the warmest Winter weather to date and the Winters on PEI have been getting warmer each year.

This photo on Water street shows the entrance to the Port and as you can see we have only very thin ice and it does not cover the entire surface. Don’t try to walk on that, you will sink. In fact this year we have the least sea ice on record, the water is too warm which is not good for sea life.

So to celebrate the good news, we bought some Pol Roger Champagne. Now a little funny story here, I went to the Liquor store and could not see the champagne display so I asked the clerk who informed me there was none to be had. I was very surprised to hear this and the clerk added that no there was none on the Island in any other stores. How could this be? As I said this I turn around and there just behind me is 3 brands of French Champagne, what they do not have at the moment on stock is Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, but that is not a brand I like. So the clerk realizing what she had said then showed me in the other room what was on offer and Pol Roger is an excellent label. I know that 2022 was not a good year for the Champagne region in France, climate change again did a lot of damage.

Christmas Day

Tags

Christmas, Cornish Hen, Food, home, life, Plum Pudding

A quiet day it is, it started to snow around 8am this morning, no wind, just gently falling flakes of snow, sort of dancing around and covering the green fields with just enough snow to make it look like Christmas day.

My best wishes to all of you who celebrate Christmas, I hope this to be a good happy day today with your friends and family. If you are on your own, enjoy the Peace of the day.

So this Christmas meal will be very different for us this year, no one has been invited and it is only Will and I at the table. Will of course is restricted to his special hospital diet, he insisted in preparing a festive meal for me, with a Cornish Hen with an apple stuffing and a glaze. Vegetable roasted and of course the Rum butter sauce for our plum pudding from our friend in Vancouver, Ginny. We have our Christmas crackers and the festive silverware and champagne. I will start the meal with some good Smoked salmon with capers and onions.

Nicky and Nora those little sweet dachshunds have given me a gift certificate from Amazon. They are elderly now but remain the best little companions.

Watched the message from St-George’s Chapel of HM the King, what a beautiful message, so well done and addressing the King’s message of interfaith dialogue. The King wants to be the Defender of ALL Faiths not just the Anglican Faith. To do so, Parliament will have to pass a Law to allow him to do so. There is apparently no time now before Coronation Day when HM will take the Oath to change that detail, will see if the Prime Minister will move on it quickly.

This week we invited friends to visit Will for coffee, we certainly have the cakes and cookies all home made to pass around. We also have Geld which I buy for Hanukkah and give away. I always buy too much Geld.

Some pictures of Dec 25 in Charlottetown. It really taking me many days to write this one. We are now the 27 Dec.

Do you see the nose, Yes this is Nicky all wrapped up in his blanket and snoozing away on the sofa. He prefers it if I come and sit by him, then he snuggles right up to me and sleeps profoundly. Let sleeping dogs lie, goes the old saying.

A more simple table setting this Christmas for dinner, dinner for one and Will already had his special medical dinner. He made me dinner, starting with smoked Salmon and capers, then vegetables and roasted Cornish hen and of course flaming plum pudding for dessert. A beautiful brandy fuelled blue light, so festive. The best part WILL was able to eat some without difficulty, now that is a big step, a first in 6 months.

Christmas Morning finally some snow, just a bit but nice enough in the quiet streets and with some sunshine.

Now onwards to the New Year Festivities which will be calm and quiet also.

From House to Château

Tags

Chateau, France, home, life, renovation

Quite some years ago a book came out entitled A year in Provence, it was a best seller, everyone read it and many then travelled to Provence and bought homes with dreams of turning them into B&B and living on French wine, baguette and cheese without speaking French. Then came Under the Tuscan Sun, later another book entitled A year in Tuscany came out. Same idea of idyllic life in Tuscany without speaking Italian. Tuscany is only one province of Italy, the rush of tourists saw a sharp price increase and though we could travel for lunch in Florence from Rome easily, we often preferred to travel across to the Marche Province on the Adriatic for our annual vacation. Or how about Sicily? love that Island, it’s food and splendid wines.

So from buying a house, renovating it and doing a Shirley Valentine number many realized that it was not that simple and the difficulties quickly mounted. The BBC did a series on Provence and Brits who had come to discover it charms as detailed in the book. Most within 2 years discovered real life is not a book, many sold and moved out, too many problems, language and different attitudes and differences made for more problems than they had bargained for. Same in Tuscany, unless you have oodles of money and can come and go at will, think again.

Now we have gone from buying a house to buying a French Château no less, with grand gates and huge parkland plus many other buildings like a chapel and barn, keepers cottage and stables. All in need of major rebuilding, renovations and continuous maintenance. This idea is out there and the internet offers opportunities buyer beware.

One is the Chateau de Gudanes in the Pyrennées, an Australian family bought the half demolished castle about 10 years ago and have been rebuilding it, a major undertaking. They now have a shop on the internet and they sell stuff which is suppose to be items from chateau life. The couple who bought the place appear to have split up, only the wife remains and as for the kids it is not clear if they returned to Australia. Apparently renovations continue but lately I noticed it is always the same pictures of projects from some years ago. They no longer have the teams working nor the experts from Paris coming down to help out.

Château de Gudanes

Another Chateau is La Grifferaie in Anjou, bought by an American Evangelical couple who plan to use the place for Bible studies for Americans. The rest could be used as a B&B. The couple is from Oregon, they really look out of place in Anjou.

Yet another is the Chateau de Purnon, bought by a young Australian couple, a huge place. I wonder where do they get their money to buy such an estate in Aquitaine. There are lots of Château for sale in France, some are in pristine conditions while others need major work. In this case the couple speak French which is a big help in an isolated region. They are also getting some governmental help on renovations for this Château built in 1717.

Chateau de Purnon

The BBC had a series on mansions and great homes bought by people who had a dream of renovating such places. Many such great homes were built more than 200 years ago and required expert work. Some where nothing more than ruins, why would you buy such a place. One fellow who had made a fortune in IT renovated an old Bishops palace with ornate rooms, this required experts to rebuilt and restore decorative elements, the end result was truly magnificent but you wonder how much did it cost.

The unusual case of John Montague, the Earl of Sandwich and his wife the Countess who live at Mapperton a place mentioned in the Doomsday Book, the mansion house dates to 1540 with their daughter-in-law Julie Montague, their son Luke Montague Viscount Hichingbrooke, her husband help run and renovate the Estate as a business venture. The beautiful gardens of Mapperton can be rented for weddings. On the Estate they even have their own church which dates back to the 12th Century. Julie and Luke run the place in order to pay for the upkeep which is considerable.

I do wonder where this fascination in people comes from, I recall some visitors at Government House here in Charlottetown which was built around 1834 and remains to this day the home and workplace of the Lieutenant Governor of PEI. This visitor said to me how wonderful it would be to live in such a grand mansion. Knowing the background of the place, I do not think so, such homes are rarely comfortable and are more designed for representational purposes than relaxation and home life.

MAPPERTON HOUSE

Sono in Spiaggia

Tags

Beach, home, ice cream, life, PEI, Summer, vacation

For the last 2 weeks we have been at the Beach, so this is why there has been no blogging. What I cherish most here is the perfect quiet, the only noise is nature itself, the many variety of birds and the surf. We are surrounded by forest, marsh and the sand dunes of the beach. It is so pleasant that living in the city you forget how it can be.

The nearest small town is 10 minutes down the road where there is a liquor store and a small grocery store with all the conveniences. Many nice cafés and little restaurants here and there in and around Kensington. The big town is Summerside 20 minutes away, pop 15K, we go there for the Ice Cream at Holman’s which is located inside the former mansion of the Holman Family with its beautiful garden of old trees and plentiful flowers. By far the ice cream at Holman’s is made daily and in small batches, once sold that’s it. The taste and texture is wonderful and the owners follow high standards to produce it, it is well worth the drive down the road to Holman’s.

In PEI usually you hear a lot about COWS ice cream which is owned by a big Corp. ADL and is a major producers of dairy products. The quality is industrial and it is flogged at the tourist crowd.

Going to Kensington on country roads where you share the road with farming machinery, surrounded by farms, you should know to slow down once you see the sign up ahead for the town, the speed limit drops from 80Km to 50Km and the police cruiser is hidden in the field, they watch for speeders. In fact the small police force of Kensington (5) has a FaceBook page and they are well known for their humour.

The weather of our first week was quite nice with walks on the deserted beach. Now since yesterday a big storm has come in and it is windy and rainy with big waves. It appears that it will be like this for the next day or so. We return home on Saturday, I wonder how I will find the city with its noise. Both Nicky and Nora will be happy to see us and probably will stick to us like glue, creatures of habit that they are.

Last night 21 July was our 14th Wedding Anniversary, we married between assignments, I completed my Beijing posting came home to Ottawa, the house had sold and in those few days we prepared for our next post Rome. Got married with our long haired dachshund Reesie present, he would be coming with us to Italy. A friend had offered her beautiful garden for the event. It was small and simple and with a few friends present. Then a few days later we flew to Rome and wonderful years in Italy. Now all this seems so far away.

For our anniversary we have this habit now in PEI to go to The Mill in New Glasgow, the award winning chef is Emily Wells, her food is beautiful and the dishes always very well prepared. She is a chef who knows how to bring out the flavour of each ingredients and balances it all carefully. The restaurant was once an old mill built in 1874 on the banks of the Clyde River, simple but beautiful dining room on a quiet river surrounded by parkland. The meal was great and so happy to see Chef Emily again.

So at the beach I brought one book to read, but while we went to Summerside we discovered a bookstore Seaside Books owned by a lady called Nancy, it is a second hand bookstore on Water street, the selection was eclectic and very interesting. I found books by John LeCarré and by Lord Jeffrey Archer. However the style of LeCarré I like because it reminds me of my former life. Archer writes about detective stories and it has the feel of a TV script which I find annoying. I also bought a book on Jung and his mystic approach to psychiatry. Though Jung himself often said he was not a mystic and did not believe in it.

The greatest find came from Nancy who showed us a book of paintings on Venice over a period of four centuries, with accompanying text. It’s a big coffee table book, cloth binding weighs about 20 pounds, in mint condition. A spectacular book which Will loved at first sight.

Tonight we are going to the theatre in Rustico which is a fishing village further East from us. The Watermark theatre produces great summer stock plays, we are going to see the Gin Game by D.L. Coburn.

Such a nice staycation just 50 minutes from home but feels like we are thousands of Km away.

P.S. photos to come

Fifth Anniversary

Tags

5 years, Anniversary, Friends, home, life, PEI

The first of May 2021 marks our five year stay in PEI, it was already 5 years ago we arrived from Ottawa, with the puppies and all our earthly belonging. We are so used to living on the Island, in Winter we never leave town, we know pretty much everyone and have truly settled here. Our days are full of activities and people to see.

Last night we invited our friends who suggested the apartment we have now and who helped us greatly to get settled in. We had a wonderful dinner with them, leg of lamb and Mezzeh.

After this pandemic and the disaster we see in our old town of Ottawa, we are so glad to be here and to have a quiet life. Little did we know then how coming to PEI was a lifesaver for us and how it made going through this pandemic so much easier.

I always wanted to live by the sea and this also is a dream come true. Going to our beach cottage in July is loads of fun. This year like last year we will miss our friends and family who cannot come to visit us. But we are hopeful that 2022 will be different and a possible adaptation to the new normal.

We really cannot see now living elsewhere, this is home.

PEI seen from the International Space Station.

The two little ones

Tags

dachshunds, home, PEI, Rome

Both our Nicholas and Eleonora (Nick and Nora) will turn 13 this month, Nora is one week older than Nicky. Strange they have been with us since they were 6 weeks old in Rome. We knew them or first saw them at 2 weeks with their respective Moms and other siblings in Capena.

Both have loads of personalities and each very different. Nick loves his routine and wants you to stick to it and not change anything. Nora is the fighter, constant guard dog 24/7 and track hunting dog. She too loves her routine but has a very different one from Nick.

Nick loves the sunshine, the hotter the better. He is not as friendly as Nora, more distant with people. However if he likes you then you are his buddy and you cannot leave ever. Nora is the I love everybody, kiss,kiss and plays coquette with people for cuddles.

They both love their treats and expects lots of them, fact is they get more treats from Will than from me and they know that, so I do not get pestered about treats, they simply go to Mister pushover. Treats are multiple, bits of celery, bits of carrots, bits of cheese usually gouda, pieces of kibble, small piece of ice, anything I chop in terms of vegetables, they want a taste and the best is the liver treats home made by Will, they go nuts for that one. But they have developed a system, knowing that they get a treat when they return from a walk, they will pretend they want to go out, open the door and no I am not going but you give me a treat now. It seems that the simple thought of going out is good enough to warrant a treat, in their book.

The other funny thing is Nicky who insist on sleeping next to me on my chair in our living room. He will even fetch me to come and will be very insistent about it and look put out if I ignore him. So while he will sleep for an hour on the chair with me in the evening, he will wake up at 10pm and look at me, this look means I have to go out for my evening walk. Upon returning he wants his treat and then will make a fuss to go to bed. This is where we have a conversation in French, in fact all the words we use with them are in French, manger, maison, dodo, biscuit. Sometimes we don’t even have to make a full sentence, the simple Veux-tu … (Do you want) Nicky knows this mean manger (to eat), no need to say it. They know where to sit while they wait for their meal, do it does not stop Nicky to wimper, Nora is usually quiet.

So at 10 pm he goes to his bed and I bring the biscuit, of course Nora wants a biscuit also but she is not going to bed at all, too early for her. He then proceeds to fall asleep for the night.

Nora on the other hand always wants to nestle into the sofa all wrapped up in her blanket, but she knows that she like Nicky must to go her bed. She is not happy about that and always tries to negotiate. Once in bed, lately she started to whimper like a little baby, so we go in to see what his wrong, nothing of course but she wants another treat. Nicky of course wakes up and he too wants a treat. So lately it is up to 4 treats before she goes to bed and stops her whining. With Nora it is always about pushing the envelope and getting her way. It is very difficult to get angry at her, she knows which buttons to push to get what she wants. Nicky is not so clever about that, much more, hey its my routine follow it, approach.

It’s home made real liver treat time, pieces are the size of small brownies.

Funny enough they cannot be walked together, though in Rome we did with no problems, once in Canada that changed. Nicky can be super aggressive with other dogs either with Nora present or not. Nora on her own barks at other dogs and is not sociable. However with horses, we have them on the street in the old town or with cats she is indifferent, pays little attention to them. Crows which are plentiful here, she will chase but Crows are not easily intimidated and they have sharp nasty beaks, so we keep her away from them.

We want more liver, more!!!!!

A little routine

Tags

cocktail, cookies, dashchunds, home, life, routine

I was going through my old blog on blogspot.com and came upon an entry in 2009, saying that upon my return from Albania, I travelled to Tirana 38 times in four years for work, Nicky established a routine with me, one of many he would make. Nicky like Nora is very smart and in Dachshund fashion he likes to establish routine for us to follow. He started young, we can say the same of Nora.

At this point Nicky was about 8 months old. Here is what I wrote:

The weather is much colder now, must be around 9c this evening in Rome. The puppies were happy to see me much yapping and jumping and then this evening Nicky did something he has never done before, he jumped on the sofa snuggled up against me and fell asleep next to me while I was reading. Will says he was looking for me all week. When I came in, he came really close to my face and just stared at me for the longest while as if he wanted to say something, like where have you been. 

Nicky after his first haircut at 8 months in Rome. His weight was 4.2 Kg.

So this was the first routine and now every day in the morning and in the evening Nicky comes and sits next to me, snuggles up and falls asleep. If I do not sit down he comes to get me to go sit.

Every night around 5:30pm we will have a cocktail. I make them. First I get the glasses from the cabinet, as I put them down on the marble counter, even if I do it delicately and quietly, you will suddenly hear this thundering cavalcade from the other side of the apartment some 40 feet away, sounds like brontosaurus running down the corridor. It’s Nicky and Nora, despite the fact that they might have been sleeping, hounds do a lot of sleeping, they heard the glass being put on the counter and they know, it’s cocktail time, meaning that they get a bit of ice.

A little sliver of ice for Nora and Nicky, cocktail time.

Nick will position himself next to the ice box drawer with Nora behind him. Looking at me intently, much excitement as I open the drawer and rummage for the ice. I will choose a thin small piece for him and for her, being careful when I give it to him he does not bite my fingers off in the excitement. They love the crunch of the ice. Our previous dachshund Bundnie loved ice which had melted in gin tonic or in a bloody Cesar.

This is the I am going to bed look, according to the clock it’s 10pm, Nicky goes to bed at that time, his decision not mine. Often he will be snoozing beside me on the chair and suddenly wakes up and looks at me. He is prompting me now to get up while he quickly goes to his bed and I bring him a biscuit (cookie). Same routine every night without fail. Nora on the other hand is sleeping on the sofa and she would stay there all night if we let her. However she also wants a biscuit at this time though she has no intentions of following Nicky. Both of them since they were 7 weeks old have been sleeping in their SkyKennel bought years go from KLM. They use to have an excellent service for pets and we would transit Schiphol Airport often. So we got them the SkyKennels, they have their blankets and just wrap themselves up and sleep.

Of course there are lots of other routines, about walk time, who walks first, no they do not walk together, no point in trying leads to disagreements. Who enters the house first. Meal time and the list goes on.

Party

Tags

cuisine, home, life, Paella, PEI, Seafood

Well this is truly the end of Summer and the weather has turned cooler at night dropping to 12 C. which is 53 F. and with the wind it is cold, you need a sweater or a jacket. Last night we organized a dinner party in the garden of a friend just one block away. We are allowed to have a gathering of 20 people outside in a garden. Our friend organized her garden with tables and chairs and handled all the logistic, it was very nice of her to do so much.

The people we invited are all long time friends. Will made his gazpacho which required 5 Kg of tomatoes and other ingredients. It is very good and was a big success. We asked another dear friend to bake a Paella for us with all manner of seafood, crab, lobster, mussels and shrimps, also chicken thighs and chorizo sausage. It was very good and a big hit.

The making of the Gazpacho.

The dish is 30 inches wide and can feed 30 people.

We had planned to do this around mid May to celebrate four years on PEI,  but with the pandemic we could not then. So now that the regulations have been relaxed and we have no more cases, we could have an outside gathering.

Another friend prepared beautiful shortbread and strawberries in chocolate. It was great fun and a good chance to see people we had only spoken to on the phone since March or seen en passant on the street.

School starts on PEI on Tuesday and we hope that all goes well. The Federal Government has given upwards of $22 Billion dollars to help all our Provinces with re-opening schools. This came about in a negotiation with all Provincial Premiers and is being respectful of their jurisdiction on Education which is solely theirs. What is funny with this pandemic is how the Provinces who are jealous of their jurisdictions are getting the Federal Government to pay for what is essentially their responsibility but are not shy to critic if it is not done the way they want.

 

 

We have been played…

Tags

dogs, home, life, Vet

Well we were back at the Atlantic Veterinary College, AVC at UPEI with Nick and Nora for their annual shots and physical exam etc. Our Vet, Dr West is a charming man with years of experience. Because of the pandemic the protocol is for us to stay in the small parking lot of the college, the lot is surrounded by gardens with mature trees and you can enjoy a nice breeze in the shade. One garden is dedicated to poisonous plants. Nick and Nora were whisked inside by the nurse. Dr West came out a little later to tell us what was happening and while talking about the hounds, Dachshunds belong to the hound family,  he told us something we knew from having dogs for 30 years, that they (Nick and Nora) were playing us to get what they wanted.  Walt Disney lied, they are not all sweetness, they are mostly calculating.

Reesie Of Chicago and Bundnie of Cairo in Ottawa in 1995 in the Fall on our home deck.

Nora of Capena and Fantastico Nicky in Ottawa in 2013 in our den.

Our Dachshunds we learned are too clever for words and by constantly observing us they get to know which buttons to push to get a treat, we say Biscuit or wanting to be put up on the sofa, or wanting their blanket re-arranged so they can nestle, go out for a walk, they usually decide where we will go or a myriad of other demands. They are also punctual about meals 07:30am for breakfast and 5:00pm for dinner and do not forget. We get dirty looks and low growl if the service is not punctual. Walks at 10am and then at 2pm and 4pm finally at 9pm.

Right now it is a few minutes, 10 to be exact, before dinner and already Nicky is moaning as if in pain for his dinner. Nora simply let’s him do it but gives pleading looks. We also have a routine for breakfast which is always followed by a small piece of banana, after dinner a small piece of cheese usually gouda. At cocktail time as I reach for ice for drinks, they expect a sliver of ice each. Little rituals we cannot depart from.  If food is being prepared they are in the kitchen and will not be moved.

When it comes to their health, we do watch carefully, last Thursday night I spent 5 hours at the AVC but it was worth it and yesterday Dr West confirmed that Nora was better and this week she would make a full recovery. Nick got his shots and will have to return for teeth cleaning and so will she. Hopefully it is just a cleaning not extraction. Vet service in Canada is very expensive compared to elsewhere in the World.

Though they are cunning, they are also adorable and we created this situation by spoiling them and catering to their needs. They learn very quickly if food is involved and never forget. Will often remarks how they cannot remember commands unless their meal is being prepared. Nora also has the habit of listening to you as long as you are in sight, the minute your back is turned, she will revert to what she was doing completely forgetting whatever you said. If we scold her for something she takes this offended look. Our Bundnie who was a short hair Dachshund use to turn her back on us if displeased with us.

Now it is just past 10 pm and Nicky has been sleeping next to me in the living room, he suddenly wakes up, looks at me with his big eyes, I ask him if he wants to go sleep  or Do Do in French and he jumps down and runs to his kennel and blanket because he will get a treat. Nora follows this little manège and does not move from the sofa but she too will want a treat. When she finally goes to bed she will get another treat and Nicky will wake up just so he too can get an extra treat. How they can go from deep slumber to wakefulness in seconds is beyond my understanding.

So we will just have to live with it I suppose and think of ourselves as personal assistants to them. As long as they are in good health and happy that is all that matters.

 

 

 

Nora

Tags

Charlelletown, Dacshunds, home, life

Well we had quite the scare, Nora our 11 yr old wire hair Dachshund was very sick on Thursday,  it all started in the morning with blood in her stool and vomiting her morning breakfast. All day more blood, at 4pm I called the AVC at UPEI where we always go if both Nora or Nick need anything. Nora is well known at the AVC because she always clowns around and the staff love her.

We live just 5 minutes away from the Atlantic Veterinary College, so I rushed over. The new protocols due to Covid 19 means that once in the parking lot you have to call and the Vet and Vet students meet you at the car. It is a small lot only 12 parking spaces and they came to pick her up. The look on her face was priceless, she really did not want to go with them, she did not say anything but she looked panicked. The AVC has excellent service and you will often get a lot of consultation with other Vets and Vet Students, it is a teaching Vet Hospital part of the University of PEI with a North American reputation.

It appears that Nora ate something, maybe mulch which is everywhere in gardens. So blood tests were done and after 5 hours of me waiting in the parking lot and getting briefings and questions from the Vet on my phone. I was told that Nora had some kind of intestinal issue, though it was not clear what. Otherwise she is a healthy little dog with no health problems. The Vet gave us medication for the next 5 days and instructions to bring her back immediately if she per example would not keep food down or if the bleeding continued in her feces.

In the morning we gave her, as per the instructions, a small amount of food, she was very hungry but we did not give her anymore. Nora was not a happy Dachshund. If did keep it down and has eaten more since throughout the day with no problems, however the bleeding continued. Today Saturday, the bleeding has stopped and Nora has returned to her normal self and behaviour, which can be endearing to a point, we cater to her whims and she talks to us in a complex modulation of growls. We are still restricting her diet and she is puzzled by that, the routine is changed. If all continues to go well by Monday we will return to the normal schedule.

This is not the first time Nora has given us worry, she is only 3 inches off the ground so she is always looking for something to eat, dachshund attitude. Luckily Nicky is more picky, he won’t eat what is on the ground, unless its on the kitchen floor, like today, Will is making pies and a piece of dough fell to the floor, Nicky was on it in a flash and gone, at least dough is safe. The two of them are little monsters of attention. Makes for a lot of worry and we are happy she is feeling better. Next week we will be back at the AVC for their annual shots for both of them.

Nora enjoying the sunshine on the deck yesterday

Nora today snuggling on the sofa under her cover. She is feeling better. Every night we have to entice her to go sleep in her kennel, her maison, she would much prefer to sleep on the sofa, more to her liking. She gives us such looks, quite the actress.