Pearlie's corner of the HotBed

Why do I never Learn ?

Long session at the Day Job on Monday with lunch provided ... sandwiches with butter which I can't eat ( so I didn't) and things on sticks and quiche , which I did . Three quarters of the way through quiche , deep in conversation ( about greyhounds .. what else ) , sudden realisation , quiches are made of eggs , mostly . Eggs for me spell Migraine ... Uh-Oh ....... too late ..... tell myself it will be fine . For years I ate loads of eggs with no problems , I've been fine the last few days blah blah .

Rest of the day: no problems .

By nine pm , trouble is brewing . Pain building in my neck , flashes in the eyes , starting to yawn and generally feel wierd . It can't be the egg: can it ?
I know it is , though I go into denial for a few minutes before taking myself off with the latest wonderdrug , the Maxmelt ...this is the one that's so hard to get out of the foil packet that if I'm anywhere beyond minute one of a migraine it completely defeats me .

I swallow the wafer and settle against the pillows in bed . Three cats have beaten me to it and Toby budges up to let me into my spot . I pick up a book having found I'm quicker to fall asleep , even with a throbing head , if I can sit propped up and read for a few minutes . If I lie flat the pain is greater and sleep comes less readily . Toby wiggles closer and then settles his head onto my arm and purrs . This is the first time he has done this and I feel oddly moved . Pearl , whose favourite spot is the corner of the bed , where she pushes the pillows to one side to make sure she is against the hot mattress ( the water bed is permanently heated but the other cats stay on top of the duvet and don't get the full benefit of the heat ) looks across as I start to move around and she comes over and burrows under the duvet and turns twice like a dog making a nest , settling herself against my thigh . Soon she is purring with a high pitched whine , almost a crooning which she does when life is pleasing her more than usual . I am soon asleep in an upright position , rambling as is the norm when D comes to check on me , subject matter monkeys and departments . Occasionally I see him laughing and even laugh myself , recognising my own disconnectedness , but unable to make sense .
The following day I am out of action to the extent that I miss Holby City .
I vow another egg will not pass my lips . It's hard though , when I'm distracted and they masquerade as other things .
I have an obsession with Onken Greek style yoghurt with honey just now . It is a rich cream coloured stuff like smooth rich ice cream with non of that off white sheepiness of some Greek youghurts .
I shall stick with that .
Oh yes and green olives . Which Iam still obsessed with .

Today despite being slightly hung over with migraine drugs , I had to drive to the ofice in D' s sporty type car with no gear stick . ( Described thus as I have forgotten the name for a car that is the opposite of manually driven though I know it has a name ) . D's daughter and her partner and two year old daughter have had to take flights to New Zealand today and he has driven them to Manchester airport needing my car for its luggage space etc . What should have been an exciting trip was never going to be straightforward as they were going to introduce their daughter to her grandfather , who had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer .
But the awful tragic news came yesterday morning that he had rung the previous night to another family member to say he didn't know whether he would make it till they got there ( their flights were booked for three weeks time ) and then that he died yesterday . So they are making the journey now for a different reason .
Life is such a strange thing at times ......how things work out , or seem not to work out .Some days I think things happen for a reason , but its hard when we have no idea what that reason is . And sometimes things can seem so cruel that to suggest there is a reason can seem callous or crass . Other days I believe there is neither rhyme nor reason to anything . And then there is the law of Karma .
Whatever is operating here , I drove with a sick anxiety this morning and I guess their long journey will be undertaken with a much greater sense of what they are heading towards .
I hope that even in the midst of loss there will be happy moments and joy for them all.

Memories of arriving in Germany at the age of seventeen to stay with my German penfriend for a few weeks . Shortly before I arrived her father's body was recovered from the Rhein , missing for weeks after suicide . This was one of the happiest holidays of my life , something of the deep sadness and sense of loss seeming to bring us all closer ?

What would you think ?

High Seas

Google searches

As my statistics seem to pick up , I get curious about who is reading me . I know BetteJo , and Joan , and my sister of course , and sometimes D , though I suspect he gets fed up with the silly references to his foibles etc , Nat now and then I think ( more then than now ) , Marisa maybe , one or two catcaller families , one or two friends , maybe Neil of MarketingMyNovel fame http://www.marketingmynovel.blogspot.com/ Freddie' s dad occcasionally , and then there s the rest of you that I don't know about , well I know you come back time and again but I dont know who you are or how you found the blog .
So sometimes I look at the google searches that bring people here . Makeover 2000 is ever popular . Seal pups on the beach . Dressy up clothes for the Roomba gets somebody most weeks , mostly from the States . The one I love best , that has brought people this way on several occasions is Perpetuating lettuce ....I cannot for the life of me imagine I wrote anything at all about lettice , perpetuating or otherwise , but hey there it is time and again , drawing the crowds . And there was me thinking posting a picture of a naked woman ( though not me necessarily, was the way to go ) .

Today , someone found the blog via a search for "flehming response in cats" . Now I recall searching high and low for a picture of a cat making this face , having tried for days to catch one of my four on camera . But , with digital it's really really hard . Cat makes face , you grab camera . You may even think you caught shot , but camera seems to take the pic a fraction of a section after cat has stopped making the face and is now smiling happily again .
So in the end I took a picture of a flehming response in a tapir ( having a thing for tapirs at that time ) .
Today , I follow the leads via the google search and find this , Question or comment on some vets site . I nearly wet myself laughing .
I quote .

"My big fat Tom sniffed another cat's backside. Then he held open his mouth and stared alot. What is he doing?"

Posted 1 week ago

Underneath is a neat little explanation of flehming and then loads of great pictures .... Pah !

Where was this cat's backside , and indeed his face , when I needed it all those weeks ago ?

The one where CatCaller fails at everything ....

Oh Dear . After a cracking start yesterday with the insulin injection , this morning its a whole different story . I arrive at eight am as arranged . M and G are both very friendly , G more so than yesterday , and I picture the injection going swimmingly as somewhere in the back of my mind I have a feeling there will be a hitch , though I struggle to imagine what , as she was really quite accommodating yesterday and afterwards we seemed to stay good friends .

In the kitchen , there are two bowls of uneaten food , leftovers from last nights dinner , provided by the neighbour and I wonder if this is not a good sign . Maybe they won't be hungry ? G has to be seen to eat a little amount of food before the injection otherwise it's not safe .

I chatter cheerfully to the cats , telling them about the tin of kippers I am about to open for them and about my morning so far , pausing at one point in my description of rising at 6 30 to let the dog out even on Mother's Day , to wonder about the flat's soundproofing and whether the neighbour can hear my inane prattling ......

The cats look at me with interest and G comes to the edge of the mat to watch what I'm doing , though neither she nor M seems particularly bothered about the kippers . M yesterday was definitely showing an interest in the sardines-put-out-to-temp-G by this stage of the can opening .

My heart sinks .

I think NLP and visioning the result I want and picture myself in front of G daintly eating her fish whilst I prepare the needle , rolling the insulin in my hands , drawing up the amount and then checking for air bubbles , checking and re checking then concealing the syringe in my hand whilst I tempt G to let me stroke her and bunch up her fur and ... you know the rest ....

To no avail .

To no avail .

I am a failure . G is sitting staring at the kippers . M is staring at the kippers . I am staring at the kippers .

No one has opened a mouth , except me , to make silly coaxing noises and talk nonsense about nonsense .

G has walked around the entire flat , showing me all the rooms .

I have followed her with a bowl of fish , then a bowl of chicken , then more fish .

Finally she turns her back pointedly .

I pick up a magazine and sit on the sofa pretending to read , my mind racing . I know J told me it would not be the end of the world if she missed the injection one day . That the important thing was not to inject if no food on board .

I move the food closer . The cat moves away .

I give up , write an explanatory note and decide to ring J and explain myself .

I carry out my other tasks with a heavy heart , say goodbye to the cats . G rolls over and over towards me , quite benevolent and well disposed .

Later , on the beach , a solo surfer is out there . I use my camera to film from a great vantage point . I have somehow missed the action . Completely missed him standing up and riding along the huge rolling waves . Missed the waves .

I post the clip because its Mother's Day and a great day and failure or not the sea always looks itself .

I am wearing bright orange stripey socks ( no Grumpy Cow candles to boot ) , recieved 2 not 1 card ( takes some explaining that one ) , and we got the best sofa s in Lui 's in the village for breakfast .

What more could I ask for ?

Wishing you all a Happy Day , whatever your story x

CatCaller falls for a Crane

Its not often I fall for expensive arty things .

I have periodic obsessions , the latest being the Roomba ,CatCalls: No Greyhound CatCalls: Roombanot that that was arty , but I did really really want one , and I rode that storm and now I'm quite content again just to do the hoovering with the Dyson ( if you get my drift ) . Or rather for D mainly to do the Hoovering with me doing the odd bit now and then .....

I digress .

There was an obsession just before the Roomba but Ive temporarily forgotten what it was .

But this crane , phographed above , is something else .

Spotted this morning at Kirkharle galleryKirkharle Courtyard, Kirkharle, Northumberland, Creative Arts Centre plus Coff , it was love at first sight .

It would sit perfectly in the new , to- be- revitalised porch , albeit tripping people up as they pass .

Alice would love it . I can see her now , mistaking it for a rescue greyhound like herself , and pecking at its neck like she does with smaller , vulnerable teddy bear style dogs on the beach .

I see myself hanging sundries on its beak ( necklaces , scarves , dog leads , the like )

My sister reckons I'm attracted to it for its beak which , like Alice's greyhound snout , bears more than a passing resemblance to mine .

( And hers , for that matter ) .

Ive said it before , I'll say it again . Watch this space .