Alice was comatose most of the night . We settled her on the sofa wrapped in a blanket as her back was cold . Her belly , which is largely hairless , is always a hot water bottle waiting to happen . I worried about leaving her downstairs on her own , especially as she had not been out since 5pm and was resolutely refusing to shift , closing her eyes firmly when any suggestion of the yard was proposed . No food , no water all day . Vomiting several times . I'd scanned various websites and convinced myself she had Bloat ( the stomach in deep chested skinny dogs flips over , ominous phrases like Time is of the essence , get ye to a vet without delay, ringing in my eyes ) but D pointed out that the number of Bloat symptoms she didnt have as well as the ones she did .
I went up at eleven , came down at midnight , two am , D was down at four , and I got up with her at five thirty am . At that point , she looked so weak and wierd I decided she needed to drink no matter what it took . I brought water to her and tried to pull her upright , not easy when she is in the cockroaching position and with sad eyes to boot . But she got the message , staggered up from the sofa and followed me shakily into the kitchen where , wonders , she started to eat ....

I stayed up with her till 6 30 am , wrapping myself up with her on the sofa , until D came down looking for me . I then slept till 8 .
How do people with new babies manage it ? Im exhausted now , and I didnt even miss that much sleep . I just want to sleep for a week .
ZZZ

Toby exhibiting the Flehming response in bed this morning ....

Well , Ive searched high and low for a picture of Toby pulling the face that is him Flehming , or failing that , one of the other Birmans Flehming , or finally , any old cat found on the net Flehming , but sad to say all I could come up with was this picture of a tapir , (and after all I have an affinity with tapirs CatCalls: The Tapir)doing the business .

Those of you who have spent any time around cats will be familiar with the face that goes on when one of your friends smells a smell he or she appears to find quite gross ( but is perhaps perversely quite interested in in a hormonal kind of way ) .

Toby had snuggled himself between us this morning and finding himself hard up against D s left upper arm , breathed in and then whee hee , he was Flehming . Its the greatest look , unless of course its your armpit that's been tagged .... the lips draw back , the cat kind of stops dead as if he can't bear to move , breathe, anything . In fact he looks aghast .. then he takes a long slow breath in all the while the mouth open and the lips back , still managing to look horrified , eyes big , pupils dilated . he may move his head around from side to side in very slow motion , as if saying to the world at large " hey you people Get This ... what a whiff ! "

Then just as you alert the embarrased armpit owner ( who usually hurtles off to the bathroom ) , and reach for the camera , he gives himself a little shake , gives that Who Me look and yawns and settles down again for the day .

Maybe thats why there are so few Cats Fleming pictures on the net or in my portfolio?

This pedometer lark..

Pedometers - John Lewis Since I can't get out and count steps I will at least post you what I will be counting steps with , and tell you that yesterday , after arriving home with my purchase at three pm , and attaching it to myself at roughly four pm , it having taken me around an hour to get the thing out of its packaging , get the battery cover off , get the battery into the right place , find the " inner ring " which it cautioned me against losing , and then programmed ( what is my weight in kg ? upstairs to the scales , oh shit I do need this exercise so badly , what is my stride length in cm , and later after consulting with my sister via text , how come hers is 50 cm if mine is 90 cm , I mean my legs are marginally longer than hers but .... ? ) and then deciding whether to attach it to my belt , carry in my bag , carry in my pocket or wear around my neck , I managed to clock up a grand total of almost four thousand steps by eleven pm , and given that ten thousand is the suggested number for weight loss and optimum health then this is Promising . And I checked and it doesn't include little shuffling steps taken around the house between kettle and fridge and chocolate supply , nor stairs , though if I stride purposefully along the hall and back whilst waiting for the toast to brown then these are added . No cheating there then .....
This pedometer lark could be fun .

Oh and for anyone who is wondering why I didnt purhase the five quid version , the shops are all sold out . And I'm far too impatient to wait to order one online ....after all I have done without my Roomba and my clothes .....

The very day I'm attached to my pedometer ..

Alice is unwell . No wonder she was not interested in her new coat from Iceberg Creations .... she didn't wake us at five thirty am today and when D went down to investigate he found her sitting in his office looking bemused and staring at a large Pile on the newly cleaned ( by him ) rug . I didn't even hear him say " Oh Alice , why not come and ask ? " so he must have said it very softly , but when she didn't follow him into the kitchen which she normally does whilst he prepared her breakfast , he assumed she was feeling a bit guilty . I woke up and smelled the coffee , as you do , and arrived in the kitchen just as he placed her freshly cooked and cooled mince on her mat , and just in time to see something I've never before seen , Alice sniff at her food then walk off . We stared and stared . We followed her and D threw his arms round her lest she should still be feeling sheepish . I hugged her and told her he wasnt cross . She looked at me then sat down . Unprecedented . Alice doesn't do sitting . She either lies at full stretch or on her back . Sitting must not be comfortable for bony greyhounds . Then she started retching , so we headed her for the yard . Since then it's been either her lying on the sofa in her blanket , or retching out the back . Poor lamb .

And the very day I'm attached to my pedometer for the first whole day ...... counting steps ..... my numbers are likely to be low .

Yes , I succumbed to the temptation to buy one , but it was after all in the interests of pursuing the twin Gods of Exercise and Health , and I did read earlier this week that even Alzheimers can be pushed that little bit further into the distance by the former .

And , speaking of cravings , so far , I havent bought a Roomba and I haven't bought any new clothes . My New Year's Resolution is Intact . How many of you can say that , 19 days into January ?

And now its properly on I'm refusing to look at the camera .....

Such a shame she disapproves , the fleece is so soft , the reflective strips are very flash , she looks thoroughly silly in it , yet silly with a touch of style .

Hopefully she will get used to it .
I think its the having to step into the front legs she disapproves of , its not very Greyhound after all . And I guess the cats are all going to laugh like mad when they catch a glimpse ....

Oh well , I love it .
I wonder if I should have got the bigger size though ? Its just like buying clothes for me !

I'm sorry I just don't think it suits me .

Customs?

Alice's new coat has arrived , according to a card ( and not the much longed for parcel ) through the door whilst I was drying my hair this morning .... how come I always hear the people demanding money , but not those delivering goodies ?
But it has been quarantined by the post office who have taken it away and will not bring it back until I pay the £ 13 plus they tell me it owes in Customs Dues . How does this work ? If I order something from the States , do I have to pay the Post Office ?
The thing that really gets to me is the thought of that long snaking queue going from the post office counter all round the car park twice and back ... oh well thats tomorrow .
And then Alice will have her fleece .
Roll on snow and ice ?