Only a week, but the third house we've stayed in!

Encouraging Gypsy cat to drink milk after her funny turn

As usual time has flown past. We had a hiccup on Saturday, just about to go out for the day when little Gypsy had a turn of some sort, she jumped off the sofa only to find her legs weren’t really hers, and not just because they were asleep. She made it to the kitchen only to be sick, she was obviously very shocked and stressed. I immediately rang the vets, where she doesn’t often go, she tends to savage them if they try to do anything apparently! They were closing in an hour for the bank holiday but would see us as an emergency, so across the road to Gill to borrow a cat basket and off we went. 

Ron the heron surveying the canal from a tree top

By now she was suffering from nystagmus (no, I’d never heard of it either) which is dilated pupils, rapidly moving from side to side. The vet nurse took one look and took us to a side room as this is an indicator of her brain being in overdrive with a potential for another fit, so keep her calm and dark, which we did for the next hour and a half till the vet saw us. She had quietened down by then, been put on a warm bed as her temperature was low and did manage to walk in a straight line for the vet. This made me very happy as she’d either been staggering or leaning against things when we’d left the house. So blood test, and cleaning out of the ear which may have been affecting her balance and take her home.

The very nice Queens Park in Loughborough

The call from the vet with the blood results came very quickly and was good news, all the readings were in the normal range, though one kidney result was top end of normal. Poor little Gypsy just slept all afternoon and evening, waking only to drink despite visits from Gill and us offering her all sorts to eat. She did continue to improve and was back to her normal self by the time Peter returned home, so our initial fears that she’d had a stroke seem, fortunately, to be unfounded however looking at her age, her weight loss, her increased drinking, the quality of her fur and things, with my best vets hat on I suspect she is beginning to have kidney problems. Poor Gypsy, poor Peter and poor us!

Wollaton Hall near Nottingham

We finally made it to Wollaton Hall where we had been about to go on Bank Holiday Monday, Brian’s Birthday. Had a lovely day out, the Nottingham Industrial Museum, a very interesting woman in role play as a nail maker, the Hall with its collection of stuffed birds and animals and a random man wandering about with a parrot. What’s not to like? We followed this up with a meal out thanks to the gift card Fiona had sent, not the best, as they were obviously suffering bank holiday fatigue, but a good round off to the day.

Jackie with a very friendly parrot

Peter and Jenny arrived back on Tuesday so we had a very pleasant meal with them before Jenny went home as her son was delivering her cat back to her. One last coffee in bed with Gypsy, who just makes you smile, on the bed, 'you may fuss me till I’ve had enough, however if you stop before I’ve had enough I’ll just gently pat you....'

And Brian too!

Change of plan then followed, not back to mum, but back to Sooty, as Abi had been in hospital since Sunday, she’d gone to the doctor thinking she might have a flea bite or two, only to be told to go straight to hospital where they went through meningitis, chickenpox and measles, before finally settling on an allergy to the antibiotics for her root canal needing tooth! She had been completely out of it at times, but by the time we got to the hospital, having had a cup of tea with Mary, her mum, who really needed to talk, and then to go home, she was almost back to normal, only a few barely visible spots (there had been more, she’d posted them on Facebook) and making as much sense as usual 😉. We waited two hours till she finally got discharged and took her home.

He even gave little kisses

Big Ted having his MOT done

Yesterday both Big Ted and the car were booked in for MOT’s, that neither of them were due, but would put them at a more convenient time for us next year. The van passed with flying colours, but sadly the car needed a new spring fitting. Thought we’d better do this before taking mum and Charles and Caroline away, so, very conveniently, left it with them.

A good evening in the Weighbridge pub with mum, before today pottering in Redditch. A curry tonight with Helen and Ian before going to my brothers tomorrow for a party. Charles is 16 today and Caroline is 14 on September 11th.

What Jackie didn't mention was the mild panic she was having over the entrance door height. When I booked 'Big Ted' in I'd told them he was 3.1m high and they measured their door at 3.17m. Not much clearance and we were a bit worried how accurate the 3.1m height of Big Ted is. Here he is being driven in - all pretty close!

And we thought Big Ted was big! Whilst waiting for the MOT this huge vehicle pulled in to fill up. Two panels this side and two the other side slide out to give an immense space inside. The owner was telling us it is just for the two of them and they tow a car behind as well. They are leaving the UK in November for a three month trip in Spain, perhaps we'll see them on the road (lets hope we don't meet them coming the other way on a narrow road!)