One of the spin offs of Alice dog being downstairs at night is that the cats are all very firmly in our room and mostly on or in the bed , albeit taking turns .
First Toby and Jessie squabling on top of the quilt when I first go to bed , later when D arrives Kitty appears and decides she is suffering Desk Wars Withdrawal Syndrome and needs more Human Contact . Interestingly she chooses me .
I am propped up against three pillows at quite a steep angle and attempting to drink Galaxy Hot Chocolate for some reason ( usually my bedtime drink is lemon and ginger tea , which is certainly less messy) . Kitty approaches slowly but surely and insinuates herself further and further along my person until she is stretched along my top half almost in an upright position herself because of the angle I'm at , and her nose pressed under my chin . Drinking hot chocolate is already tricky wearing my glasses but I need them to read . With a cat like Kitty on board , almost impossible . Kitty , you may recall , is a lardbox on legs , rotund and narky if thwarted . I move with care .
Later , Alice gives a howl and I am not sleeping . Its 2 am so I go down to see if she needs to be out . We are becoming obsessed with whether she has had a poo since her last meal ... exacerbated by the fact that when I came down the morning before there was a chocolate log left for me in D s room , where she hadn't been able to wait . I was relieved it was a solid and not a Mr Whippy ( I am recalling the importance of consistency from my previous dog days , poop scooping is no one's favourite occupation but some days are definitely better than others ) .
She seems fine and I settle her on the bed again , and request that she keep off the sofa ( which I know she ignores once my back is turned and really we aren't that bothered as long as she can be prised off when we want the sofa . )
I return upstairs deciding to read my new book , Mr Golightly's Holiday ( Salley Vickers ), highly recommended . D is asleep but as I turn back the duvet at my side I see that Pearl has crept in and is insisting on a full third of the bed ... I squeeze in between her and D , and whilst Im propped up and reading that works fine , we each have a third of what is a massive bed .
Kitty reappears and not appreciating that Pearl is under the covers , comes back to attach herself to me again and inadvertantly walks on Pearl's head , which appears from under the covers , resulting in Aghast Posturings from Kitty who furrs up like a hedgehog and spits and stares . Pearl stretches more langorously ( spelling ? ) and is now wanting a full half of the bed .
I finally fall asleep squashed tightly up against D ( he's not complaining though ) and with my arm around Pearl .....
Sunday, 4 November 2007
Things you see when you have a dog to walk at seven am ...
This was an amazing sight dog walking yesterday at seven . Its a little dark but if you click to enlarge it its still worth a look . The road leads down to the sailing club beach where Alice loves to run .
Toby inspects Alice .....
Our first attempt to catch one of the cats ( Toby ,here ) coming gingerly into the room to have a closer look at the stick insect creature ...
Saturday, 3 November 2007
Bliss.. I think my headache is lifting .
Another thing about Greyhounds , they are very popular out on the street . Took her out first thing again and realised how timid she is when faced with big aggressive looking dogs . there was no one around at seven am to speak off , but in our return she spotted a huge shaggy Alsation heading towards us , held on a lead by a man who realised before I did that Alice was getting scared . It became clear to me when she tried to cross the street and then pressed up tight to my legs . maybe she's been given a hard time by a big dog at some point in her life . Being a Rescue dog means we have to work all these things out . The man guided his dog past and she was fine .
Later in the morning I went with D to the European Farmers market held in the old station near us .... amazing stalls from Europe with huge hanks of sausages right above Alice s nose , all manner of fresh baked cakes and pastries in boxes at eye level , trays and trays of olives and cheeses of all description just where with a bit of a stretch she could grab . It was heaven for her , scary for me as I saw this morning how quick she can be when she wants to nick something ( the cats rejected food ) , she was off along the hall carrying the cats bowl before I had turned around . And everywhere , people wanting to stop and pet her , say hello to us and ask us did we rescue her , aren't greyhounds amazingly rewarding dogs etc etc . I had no idea greyhounds were so popular and evoked such passion and feeling .
We arrive back at the house in time for breakfast and within minutes three of the cats have been into carry out another brief inspection before going back to their vantage points on the landing . Jessie is probably the most curious today , Toby clearly the most alarmist as he tiptoes slowly slowly towards her , stops , looks , stops then silently and slowly reverses back out of the room , hardly appearing to move a muscle as he goes .
The Volterol last night worked well at chasing the migraine . I was awake at two am for a while and came down to lie on the sofa and talk to Alice . No howling though , so that problem seems to have been quickly resolved .
I fall asleep into dreams of wierd stuff.
I am in another country and need to see a doctor after some serious problem , perhaps my heart . A private doctor agrees to see me at her home and whilst she is considering what tests to gve me , another woman appears , a blonde haired woman in her early thirties , with a young child . The woman joins my consultation and I am surprised . The doctor tells me she wants to meet this woman , who I then notice is connected to a feeding tube ( into her tummy ) . I am then told she has had to buy herself a new lung which has been installed . I am led to believe that she has a very limited life span .
We go out into the Doctor's garden and she encourages us to play with some kittens there . I realise one of them is half kitten half rabbit , rabbit's face and tail and cat body . I take a photograph .
I remember how Volterol always gave me bad dreams when I was hospitalised with migraine when I was pregnant . I was in a single room in an old maternity hospital in Newcastle , the Princess Mary ( which closed before I gave birth ) . The room was big and old fashioned by todays standards and had two balconies leading from windows. I was always hot and had the windows open but the voile curtains pulled as the light bothered me . The voile would blow in the breeze and I would wake sweating in the night , convinced there was a presence , possibly a burglar , on the balcony watching me . The nurses told me it was the Volterol causing the bad dreams and not to worry .
The girls have taken Alice out and I hear the pattering of little cat paws , all coming down to check that she is out .....
Another thing about Greyhounds , they are very popular out on the street . Took her out first thing again and realised how timid she is when faced with big aggressive looking dogs . there was no one around at seven am to speak off , but in our return she spotted a huge shaggy Alsation heading towards us , held on a lead by a man who realised before I did that Alice was getting scared . It became clear to me when she tried to cross the street and then pressed up tight to my legs . maybe she's been given a hard time by a big dog at some point in her life . Being a Rescue dog means we have to work all these things out . The man guided his dog past and she was fine .
Later in the morning I went with D to the European Farmers market held in the old station near us .... amazing stalls from Europe with huge hanks of sausages right above Alice s nose , all manner of fresh baked cakes and pastries in boxes at eye level , trays and trays of olives and cheeses of all description just where with a bit of a stretch she could grab . It was heaven for her , scary for me as I saw this morning how quick she can be when she wants to nick something ( the cats rejected food ) , she was off along the hall carrying the cats bowl before I had turned around . And everywhere , people wanting to stop and pet her , say hello to us and ask us did we rescue her , aren't greyhounds amazingly rewarding dogs etc etc . I had no idea greyhounds were so popular and evoked such passion and feeling .
We arrive back at the house in time for breakfast and within minutes three of the cats have been into carry out another brief inspection before going back to their vantage points on the landing . Jessie is probably the most curious today , Toby clearly the most alarmist as he tiptoes slowly slowly towards her , stops , looks , stops then silently and slowly reverses back out of the room , hardly appearing to move a muscle as he goes .
The Volterol last night worked well at chasing the migraine . I was awake at two am for a while and came down to lie on the sofa and talk to Alice . No howling though , so that problem seems to have been quickly resolved .
I fall asleep into dreams of wierd stuff.
I am in another country and need to see a doctor after some serious problem , perhaps my heart . A private doctor agrees to see me at her home and whilst she is considering what tests to gve me , another woman appears , a blonde haired woman in her early thirties , with a young child . The woman joins my consultation and I am surprised . The doctor tells me she wants to meet this woman , who I then notice is connected to a feeding tube ( into her tummy ) . I am then told she has had to buy herself a new lung which has been installed . I am led to believe that she has a very limited life span .
We go out into the Doctor's garden and she encourages us to play with some kittens there . I realise one of them is half kitten half rabbit , rabbit's face and tail and cat body . I take a photograph .
I remember how Volterol always gave me bad dreams when I was hospitalised with migraine when I was pregnant . I was in a single room in an old maternity hospital in Newcastle , the Princess Mary ( which closed before I gave birth ) . The room was big and old fashioned by todays standards and had two balconies leading from windows. I was always hot and had the windows open but the voile curtains pulled as the light bothered me . The voile would blow in the breeze and I would wake sweating in the night , convinced there was a presence , possibly a burglar , on the balcony watching me . The nurses told me it was the Volterol causing the bad dreams and not to worry .
The girls have taken Alice out and I hear the pattering of little cat paws , all coming down to check that she is out .....
Friday, 2 November 2007
Today .. and last night ....
Alice is definitely a people person .
We left her downstairs last night .
I think my preference would have been to have relocated her cushion to the bedroom with us but we had decided that the cats need some semblance of privacy and safety until they feel more at home with a large stick insect who smells of dog and lumbers about the place on her stilts of legs .
We settled her on the cushion in the sitting room , with access to all the downstairs rooms , and settled ourselves in bed . Both of us reading somewhat anxiously for a few minutes . I do my usual switch off of my lamp , then watch from under the covers as D continues to "read" as his eyes close and the magazine or book starts to swing in the breeze as his hands lose their grip . He sleeps in the upright position until the book falls at which point he is adept at opening the eyes and glancing round to see if he has been noticed dozing , and immediately continuing with that " me ? asleep ? nah ..... just your imagination " look . So just as he starts to doze , a truly blood curdling howl from downstairs .
I wait . he sits upright , clearly unsure whether he is dead or alive , and I start to giggle . Alice , I say and oh , there she goes again . Surely a wolf , and not Alice .
I go down and she is on the sofa , very pleased to see me and slides onto her cushion " what me , on the sofa ? nah .... "
Back upstairs , this continues until I remember what Wendy her foster mother said about not talking to her but rather banging on the outside of the door which is a Barbara Wodehouse technique apparently .
But in order to do this I have to shut her in the sitting room . By now its 1 am and my head is banging . I take a migraine pill and shut the door on her . Next time she howls , I go down , bang on the door and depart .
I lie in bed waiting for the migraine tablet to take effect . The fireballs in my head start to turn to ice .( The side effects of the Triptans , feels like ice coursing through the veins .) All will be well . Soon the pain will be gone and sleep will come . I pick up my book , one of the most depressing Anita Brookner's I have ever read . And yet I always read them all . But they are truly bleak .....)
I hear scrabbling and scratching and my mind turns to what Alice might be doing ..... another high pitched howl and now a single , but loud bark .
I wonder what Seamus and Claire next door will make of all this . Not much possibly , although they were very good when Pearl ran into their house and chased Ivan , their cat . And ate Ivan's dinner .
I go down .
Open the door .
Scene of devestation . Alice , this is not ok , I say sternly . She looks hurt .
Devestation is not so bad , mainly a snow storm of tissues . She has also torn up two hat boxes used to store " things " ie junk which we dont need but somehow are unable to throw away . . so the junk is scattered to the four corners .
I'm decided . I won't lock her in again . The cats hate that too and always pull up the carpet if we accidentally shut them in anywhere .
Alice slides onto the sofa and when I ask her to return to her cushion ( I'm clearing debris at this point ) she tries again , slips up onto a corner armchair and tucks her feet in tidily . My heart goes out to her . Poor little soul , she needs to be in my bedroom ....
But the cats . ?
I return upstairs , D is half asleep and says , perhaps sensing my weakening , we need to stick to it or the cats have nowhere ....
At the next howl , which wakes me from a deep sleep when I am dreaming I am staring at a row of teapots on a wide pine shelf , he is out of bed like a shot , into his robe and downstairs . I hear a few quiet words and he is back .
Silence .
next thing I know its 6 45 and the alarm is reminding me that I forgot to reset for 6 30 which was when Nat and I planned to take her out .
She is thrilled to see us , dancing and wagging her tail and grinning . Wendy has taught her well though and she doesn't jump up ( we 've been advised to turn our backs on her if she does ) and stands still till we attach her lead . N is in charge and we step out into the mild November air , grateful it isnt frosty yet .....wonderful in fact to see the sun rising near the castle by the sea and N is well pleased with how easy she is to manage . Tomorrow night will be better , as she begins to realise we are still there in the morning . I hope . ( But even if she howls all night she's still wonderful and exactly the dog we dreamed of . )
The cats are mainly staying upstairs . Pearl , being deaf , seems least bothered and has been down once or twice today . Though after a trip to a Cat Call and the pet shop this morning and a foray into Wilkinsons to buy a very cheap single duvet and cover for her to sleep on in the car , my migraine moved past the medications and took hold again so I retired to bed having dosed myself again ( stepping up to the suppositories provided for extreme times )and both Pearl and Toby snuggled in with me . I am out for most of the afternoon .
Kitty is most put out though and spends most of the night and today under the bed , appearing only this afternoon when hunger drives her to the bathroom where supplies are temporarily located .
N is reminding me that I've just been sick , and shouldn't be on the laptop . She's right I know , but the volterol has given me a temporary respite .
One more thing , I received a wonderful letter this morning from Marisa , who has Birmans and from whom we got Pearl .. she has changed jobs and sounds much happier . Lovely to hear from her and lovely to receive a proper letter . Emails are great but nothing beats a letter coming through the door . Ok Nat Im getting off here .....
We left her downstairs last night .
I think my preference would have been to have relocated her cushion to the bedroom with us but we had decided that the cats need some semblance of privacy and safety until they feel more at home with a large stick insect who smells of dog and lumbers about the place on her stilts of legs .
We settled her on the cushion in the sitting room , with access to all the downstairs rooms , and settled ourselves in bed . Both of us reading somewhat anxiously for a few minutes . I do my usual switch off of my lamp , then watch from under the covers as D continues to "read" as his eyes close and the magazine or book starts to swing in the breeze as his hands lose their grip . He sleeps in the upright position until the book falls at which point he is adept at opening the eyes and glancing round to see if he has been noticed dozing , and immediately continuing with that " me ? asleep ? nah ..... just your imagination " look . So just as he starts to doze , a truly blood curdling howl from downstairs .
I wait . he sits upright , clearly unsure whether he is dead or alive , and I start to giggle . Alice , I say and oh , there she goes again . Surely a wolf , and not Alice .
I go down and she is on the sofa , very pleased to see me and slides onto her cushion " what me , on the sofa ? nah .... "
Back upstairs , this continues until I remember what Wendy her foster mother said about not talking to her but rather banging on the outside of the door which is a Barbara Wodehouse technique apparently .
But in order to do this I have to shut her in the sitting room . By now its 1 am and my head is banging . I take a migraine pill and shut the door on her . Next time she howls , I go down , bang on the door and depart .
I lie in bed waiting for the migraine tablet to take effect . The fireballs in my head start to turn to ice .( The side effects of the Triptans , feels like ice coursing through the veins .) All will be well . Soon the pain will be gone and sleep will come . I pick up my book , one of the most depressing Anita Brookner's I have ever read . And yet I always read them all . But they are truly bleak .....)
I hear scrabbling and scratching and my mind turns to what Alice might be doing ..... another high pitched howl and now a single , but loud bark .
I wonder what Seamus and Claire next door will make of all this . Not much possibly , although they were very good when Pearl ran into their house and chased Ivan , their cat . And ate Ivan's dinner .
I go down .
Open the door .
Scene of devestation . Alice , this is not ok , I say sternly . She looks hurt .
Devestation is not so bad , mainly a snow storm of tissues . She has also torn up two hat boxes used to store " things " ie junk which we dont need but somehow are unable to throw away . . so the junk is scattered to the four corners .
I'm decided . I won't lock her in again . The cats hate that too and always pull up the carpet if we accidentally shut them in anywhere .
Alice slides onto the sofa and when I ask her to return to her cushion ( I'm clearing debris at this point ) she tries again , slips up onto a corner armchair and tucks her feet in tidily . My heart goes out to her . Poor little soul , she needs to be in my bedroom ....
But the cats . ?
I return upstairs , D is half asleep and says , perhaps sensing my weakening , we need to stick to it or the cats have nowhere ....
At the next howl , which wakes me from a deep sleep when I am dreaming I am staring at a row of teapots on a wide pine shelf , he is out of bed like a shot , into his robe and downstairs . I hear a few quiet words and he is back .
Silence .
next thing I know its 6 45 and the alarm is reminding me that I forgot to reset for 6 30 which was when Nat and I planned to take her out .
She is thrilled to see us , dancing and wagging her tail and grinning . Wendy has taught her well though and she doesn't jump up ( we 've been advised to turn our backs on her if she does ) and stands still till we attach her lead . N is in charge and we step out into the mild November air , grateful it isnt frosty yet .....wonderful in fact to see the sun rising near the castle by the sea and N is well pleased with how easy she is to manage . Tomorrow night will be better , as she begins to realise we are still there in the morning . I hope . ( But even if she howls all night she's still wonderful and exactly the dog we dreamed of . )
The cats are mainly staying upstairs . Pearl , being deaf , seems least bothered and has been down once or twice today . Though after a trip to a Cat Call and the pet shop this morning and a foray into Wilkinsons to buy a very cheap single duvet and cover for her to sleep on in the car , my migraine moved past the medications and took hold again so I retired to bed having dosed myself again ( stepping up to the suppositories provided for extreme times )and both Pearl and Toby snuggled in with me . I am out for most of the afternoon .
Kitty is most put out though and spends most of the night and today under the bed , appearing only this afternoon when hunger drives her to the bathroom where supplies are temporarily located .
N is reminding me that I've just been sick , and shouldn't be on the laptop . She's right I know , but the volterol has given me a temporary respite .
One more thing , I received a wonderful letter this morning from Marisa , who has Birmans and from whom we got Pearl .. she has changed jobs and sounds much happier . Lovely to hear from her and lovely to receive a proper letter . Emails are great but nothing beats a letter coming through the door . Ok Nat Im getting off here .....
Thursday, 1 November 2007
The moment we have all been waiting for
Alice arrived this afternoon after Nat was home from school which worked out well . ( the friends came round later after she was all settled in ) . Kitty relinquished the cushion and disappeared upstairs . Pearl , our oldest and bravest Birman has been in to inspect Alice , walking along her full length as if she couldnt quite believe any creature on four legs could be quite that long . Jess has now also been for a peep , but Toby and Kitty are staying behind the baby gate , installed this afternoon at the top of the stairs by D to ensure that the cats have a bolt hole if they wish to keep their distance initially .
D is fretting a little that the cats may starve ( despite all evidence to the contrary , see Kitty's midriff) and has taken them supplies upstairs ( he's kind like that ) .
She is a lovely dog . Settled in very well as predicted , is fast asleep having had a walk with Wendy before she dropped her off then another to the sea with me ( she seemed a bit scared of the dark and pressed up against me whenever we stopped to cross the road) .
Pearl wondering...
..whether strictly speaking we need a Greyhound ....
Pearl this morning , before Alice's arrival .
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Migraine Days
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