Awaiting a Royal Invitation

So, the saga continues, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Missys op on Thursday went well, and her day 2 check on Saturday passed with flying colours. The vet tech was shocked that her hock was dry, clean and free from "lumps, bumps, oozes and bruises", to quote. 

However, it's been another weekend of short walks and Missy enjoying long snoozes on the sofa. She isn't sleeping properly because of the cone and the bright mornings - her teepee is currently dismantled as she keeps knocking it down with the cone, and we never realised before how much the light affected her in the morning. 

So we've been doing our best to keep her calm, rested and as low activity as possible. Which is hard. Really hard as we're in week 3 of this. 

Next weekend we have family visiting, and there is lots of jubilee things planned, including a garden party at my house. (My aunt has already declared she's going to wear the dress I made for my cousins wedding, which I find very flattering!). So we used the time to really push on with the house and garden, which have largely been ignored for three weeks. I hasten to add its all clean, just not tidy. Dog blankets and beds and cones of shame in every room kind of untidy, and plants I really should have repotted and put out weeks ago. 

Hubby told me not to worry about it, and that I have to stop holding myself to so high a standard, a terrible habit learned from my mother - no matter what, everything has to *look* perfect. We've had a bad scare with Missy, we are still waiting on more test results. No one will care that the skirting isn't finished and the doors don't match the new colour. No one. 

Still. I made a damn good attempt this weekend with the garden. It doesn't help doubly so that my mother likes to exaggerate my green thumb, and I'm worried it won't live up to expectations!

However, it wasn't all work and no play. We attended a members exclusive event at Jupiter Artland, where they unveiled the newest exhibit. There was cocktails (and mocktails), weird canapés and sweet popcorn to be had as we wondered about and enjoyed the atmosphere and seeing parts of the house that are normally closed to visitors. Some people did bring dogs, which made me feel guilty, but it was a good evening to be had. Hubby and I both agreed it wasn't to our tastes, but that's what art is about, creating discussion. 

Today we broke and took Missy on a wee adventure. Overtoun House provided the perfect backdrop for a special photoshoot (next week, I promise!), and she got a short 15 minutes walk in the woods as a reward for being so good.

The place is a bit of an urban legend, said to be haunted after more than 50 dogs have leapt off the bridge to thier deaths. Whilst not one for superstition and ghost stories, Missy was on a very short lead as we crossed! Apparently mink live under there, which experts think is the cause, or it could be the fact that your level with the tree tops, so squirrels appear an arms length away from you. We didn't loiter long, and quickly crossed it to enjoy the woodland below! 

I've been avoiding chores with lots of last minute sewing (BILs birthday gift and a Jubilee sampler amongst them). I managed to sneak away from the pumpkins long enough to put together this adorable waistcoat for my nephew:

More photos on insta! 

I'll pause there for this week before I spoil anything else, and will be sure to keep you all updated on Missy too! 

A Short Respite

Well, things haven't gone as well as we'd hoped. Whilst Missys results were on the whole positive, the lump on her leg requires further surgery. The biopsy results showed an infection, so we were prescribed more antibiotics (Missy officially rattles now) and after good improvement in terms of theunp coming down in size, she is booked in this week for the (hopefully) final op.

This weekend was the reschedule of having my eldest neice and nephew visit (the original being cancelled as I have covid). We decided against also taking Wee Ben as Missy was being a bit grumpy about the cone and stitches.

So, to take advantage of having just Missy, we went to Jupiter Artland (members dogs only, so a location we wouldn't be able to go to with the other dog). 

I'll be honest. I wasn't sure if it would be successful. Whilst neice loves art, nephew has never even set foot in a gallery. With it being a pokemon community day, I had a distraction lined up, just in case. 

It was a tremendous success. They both had a great time. The tactile nature of the place was really engaging for nephew and neice was in her element. I'll be honest, the stunning backdrops and my willingness to indulge her spontaneous photoshoots really sealed the deal.

There was lots of stops for Missy (although she was wanting to go further and faster), so we were confident that she was quite happy. Taking her somewhere new paid off as she slept properly for the first time in days. 

Nephew liked the "inside out" house best, an installation where the internal foundations are rough hewn rock, and the "dark woods" room - a chamber crammed full of tree trunks in the darkness. This one encouraged a lot of discussion about the nervous claustrophobia it triggered, and a return of the out-grown fear of the dark. The primordial fears, straight from Little Red Riding Hood and all Brothers Grimm.

I was shocked though that neices favourite was Mimi upside downside (and a top 3 finish for nephew). I know it was aimed for thier generation, but it still took me by surprise how well they responded to it. Missy and I sat it out, completely because she wasn't wanting to settle and nothing to do with my clown phobia... 

Today we wanted Missy to rest. It was a short morning walk and then we left her tucked up on the sofa in her cone of shame and went bowling. Another thing we couldn't have done if we had had Wee Ben.

I was shocked to have won overall (more luck than anything), but a good time altogether. 

Then it was lunch at home and we dropped them back off, leaving with promises of another weekend together.

Missy is tired and happy, so my main mission was completed. And the kids had a wonderful time, which is an absolute bonus for me. Big Sis and BIL didn't get up to much with thier freedom, spending Saturday working and then Sunday in bed catching up on well deserved sleep. Not exciting, but gratefully recieved nonetheless!

Next weekend will be a quiet one, so I don't know if there will be updates or not - my main focus will be on Missy and making sure she's OK. 

Girl Down on the Girls Weekend

So... You may have been wondering why no post last week?

We spotted a lump on her leg Sunday at 10am, she was in the vets for 10.20am and by end of play Tuesday, was sporting her least favourite accessory. 

Since she was going under, we got the flesh tags under her arm removed too, so needless to say, she's a very unhappy puppy.

This weekend was a spontaneously planned girls weekend - with a month to wait, I thought we'd be fine and nothing could go wrong. 

Famous last words. 

The plan had been a sneaky 2 night stay near Loch Lomond. Two girls needing an escape from the rat race and a pup on the look out for adventure. Hubby had planned an errands weekend with his brother, so Missy being out the way and having fun elsewhere was an ideal scenario. 

I'll be honest, it took all my strength to admit that she was better to stay home. She would be happier in her own space and it would be better for my friend and I to not have to worry about over walking her. 

By midday Friday I still wasn't packed. I was hugging Missy on the sofa debating if it was worth going or not because, whilst hubby is 110% capable of looking after Missy, I was lamenting the thought of abandoning her.

I did go in the end. And I'm glad I did. It was a quiet, low stress weekend where we just chatted away, played board games and worked on our sewing. 

We did manage to leave the hot tub (my fellow mermaid found this just as hard as I) and we visited Geilston Gardens and did the Sweenys Loch cruises. 

Ironically, both are dog friendly. 

The gardens were outstanding. In full bloom, we saw every colour imaginable. Bees were aplenty and bird song filled the air. A beautiful morning. 

The cruise was good fun too. The audio tour was informative, but didn't go on too much, so we could chat away and enjoy the gentle motion of the ship. My friend is into her mindfulness, and it was good to slow the pace down and just enjoy the moment as we sailed through the gateway to the Highlands and watched the landscape change to mountains. 

There was more laughter, good food and good company.

A fine way to spend the weekend, even if I did insist on buying Missy some treats as an apology for leaving her!

Here's hoping her 10 day check on Thursday goes well and there will some short and sweet adventures next weekend. 

Bringing in the Bank Holiday Weekend

It will come as no surprise to hear that it was another busy weekend. Our Dundee friend is about to start a new job which will involve weekend working, so as a last hurrah, we had him visiting this weekend.

There was a pretty packed agenda: firstly IRL roleplay, then board games and finally 80s themed mini-golf. There was also a big wrestling match, but that was far too much testosterone for me, so I had a virtual catch up with the girls and enjoyed a stitch and bitch whilst the boys cheered and boo'd upstairs.

Missy wasn't forgotten. There was plenty of walks, but nothing too out-of-the-ordinary. We did get out to Beecraigs and went up Cockleroy today. Sadly the weather was dull and the view not as breath-taking as usual, but Missy found bunnies to hunt and chase, so it was a success anyway.

I've been pushing on with various projects which has been good, although I'm struggling to prioritise things - too many things I want to make! Plans are afoot for adventures over the course of May and June too, although I think next weekend will be kept quiet so we can all recharge a bit for the summer season.

Hopefully.

We'll see. Should be.

Probably not!