I am a worrier by nature and I have to really keep focused on positivity and gratitude, rather than obsessing over things that most likely will never happen. Since we got little Poppy, I have watched her leap fearlessly off of things, bounce across the garden, dash under our feet and fall over frequently. I try hard not to panic because she is just so tiny and fragile. I was so worried about her falling off of the stone wall in the front garden, then she ended up doing so very clumsily, but without injury. Afterwards she jumped off of it repeatedly until she mastered leaping off of it seamlessly. The same with jumping over the gate to the pen. She climbed over it awkwardly at first then was jumping over the gate with minimal effort. It tells you a lot about her character, she is not a pup who will be conquered by the world!
I worried but she stayed safe despite tumbling regularly. Then on Monday we were having horrendous wind storms and when I was moving some items from the front to the back garden, the wind blew the back door very hard and it hit little Poppy from behind, knocking her over onto her back. Then the door was sucked back open by the winds and slammed shut hard against the side of her little body now wedged into the door jamb. She screamed so loudly it almost stopped my heart, I thought she might be dead. I picked her up and held her until she calmed down. We set her down and she could not stand on her right front leg. Norm took her straight down to the vet and they x-rayed her to see that she had broken her right upper leg between the shoulder and the elbow. They booked her in for surgery the following day.
The vet sent her home with a boatload of pain meds in her system and she slept for hours. She woke in the evening, wolfed down some chicken breast and water, awkwardly had a pee and a poop and passed back out again. We re-medicated her for bed but in the chaos of it all I mistakenly gave her a double dose of baby Panadol: the one for that night and her pre-med for the next day. We went to bed and let her sleep in the bed with us between our pillows and I heard her yip a time or two when she turned in her sleep and bumped her leg but she slept pretty well until 6am. Meanwhile I panicked I had overdosed her and she might stop breathing so I kept waking up and checking that she was breathing all night long and was a bit of a wreck all day.
Norm took her to the vet the next morning for her surgery and we picked her up at 4pm. The receptionist said that she yelped so much when in the cage on her own they had to hold her to shut her up. She was wide awake when she and Norm came home. He showed me a copy of an Xray from the vets. It looks like they used a large paper clip.
The day after surgery Poppy was her usual self. It took a bit of mastery to coordinate her balance to be able to pee and poop. We had to be careful about how we handled her but she went about her business as usual. She was fighting with her toys and hopping around, but then by evening I noticed that she would wince a bit or yip occasionally if she bumped her leg. She would zoom around the room or she would struggle to lie still if we were on the couch together. I realised that was when her pain meds started to wear off. She overdid it the first day and then she had a day of doing nothing except sitting on my feet or sleeping.
It is interesting with an injury how humans feel such self-pity and children or animals just carry on without that mental angst associated to illness.
Lily and Amelia flew in for a visit on Thursday evening. Amelia was besotted with the sight of Poppy but then when we kept nagging her to be careful and Poppy started jumping up on Amelia and scratching her or nibbling her toes, she was less enamored.
On Friday Caitlin came over with Bree and the girls opened their Christmas gifts and tried them on. To clarify there was no ‘opening’ there was just gifts being handed over. They got some lovely things and the majority of them fit perfectly. Both girls got a few dresses and looked lovely in them. Lily got some leggings and long linen tops. Caitlin got some pajamas and some Chanel makeup.
I bought a whole selection of neutral mix and match clothes for Bree so Caitlin does not have to even think about what to put on, she can pull a top and a pair of pants out and have a cute outfit. I also only bought pants and tops so she can wear them longer than the one piece baby grows. I bought a mix of short and long sleeve tops as well. I got both girls a spider man swim towel and big soft swim towels with their names on.
For Amelia I bought her the softest gown for after swimming, lots of cute pants and tops and a dress or two. Amelia got spider man PJs. In addition to her clothing gifts I got her a baby doll, a little Barbie on a horse, and a toy with wooden pieces you thread together onto a string to make a sort of train. I thought it would be something good for plane trips when you have little space to play but a lot of time to amuse them.
On Saturday morning Lily was out of the house early as I had booked a Thai oil massage for her as a birthday treat. I had Amelia and Poppy to keep amused and we had such a laugh. One of the nice things about that age is that they can make a game out of anything. Just insert a silly noise or something and boom – game. We played for ages just climbing two steps and collapsing. Then Millie made up a weird flamingo like dance where I held her hands and she did some weird moves. That was the root of much hilarity. By the time Lily got home, Amelia and I were rolling around the grass laughing like loons. These visits are so special for us to bond.
Caitlin, Wes and Bree came over on Saturday to do a belated Christmas dinner. I had told the girls my stress levels were too high to cook anything in this heat so Wes cooked the gammon (ham for you yanks) and Lily roasted a chicken, made roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts and carrots. Lily also makes the most amazing gravy. It was a feast for kings (and queens).
After lunch Amelia and Lily had a swim. Amelia is now able to swim independently with her arm bands and absolutely loves it. After hanging by the pool for a bit, Wes and Caitlin decided to take Bree home because they could not get her to sleep. She was so exhausted her little eyes were bright red, but she stayed happy and cheerful, she is such a smiley little baby and is so interested in everything going on. Her and Amelia would sit and stare at each other, I do hope they are best friends for life. I adore my cousins.
It was so lovely holding both of my granddaughters in my arms. I am just so blessed.
We all had some dessert and then Wes, Cait and Bree headed home.
After they left Lily, Millie and I sat outside in the back garden and Amelia played with her kitchen and the bits and pieces in my fairy garden. Poppy followed her around diligently. They were so adorable.
Last Saturday I attended a new women’s circle. My friend Tamlyn picked me up & I when I saw that she had GPS on I did not bother paying attention to where we were going and only started questioning our journey when we arrived in Fishhoek. The map wanted us to turn on the main road but that seemed a bit strange so we looked at each other and shouted ‘It is in NOORDHOEK not FISHHOEK!!!!!’. We ended up being about 6 minutes late when in fact we would have been about 20 minute early had we not been such ditzes. (Ditzi? What is the name for a collective group of ditzes?)
Anyway.
Once we found it, it was a lovely venue right in the heart of Noordhoek village. There were quite a few women there and we had to awkwardly shuffle in after they were already seated in their circle. I was sitting on my cushion before I realised I was still wearing my sunglasses and my handbag was on the other side of the room. I already felt bad for being late & the leader made a few references about being short on time and that they had no time for the final session (thank the Creator as it was a ‘dual’ where we had to join in with someone else & discuss something about what each of us had, I did NOT want to do that). However we ran out of time because she said people could speak ‘as long or as short as they wished’ and some of the women spoke a really long time without actually saying anything or just saying the same thing over and over. Of course as I am a newcomer maybe it made more sense to the repeat attendees? It was incredibly hot and there were only a few doors open so there was no breeze or even a waft of fresh air. We were on the floor but not against a wall so I could not lean and my back was killing me so it was hard to concentrate.
The thing that I discussed in my turn was a post I had seen. It had fallen in with what I had been thinking about the previous day. I was sitting outside and appreciating the lovely plants, little fairies, birds and various odds and ends I now have in the back garden. I feel so grateful to have a gorgeous little spot to relax. I thought that there is so little which I could even wish for in life. I should relax and enjoy it.
It was a long session and only finished at 5pm. Funny thing, it took us 15 minutes to get home since of course we know where we live. Hilarious. We will decide if we want to go back again as it runs once a month. I prefer a morning session rather than have your entire day taken up and it is a bit of a mission to get there over the toll road.
I have also joined a new Neurodiversity Study Group. I am not in the actual group, I am a ‘scholarship’ attendee so I get the recordings afterwards to do in my own time. I only wanted the teachings, I do not need the community, so it is good to not be tied into a specific time (especially as it is a US led course). I could not afford any of these US based courses so it is fabulous to have the scholarship option.
Loadshedding has reared it’s ugly head again and we have had load shedding all weekend. It is exasperating! Our TV charger has not been used in months so it only lasted 1.5 hours last night and died just before the end of the film we were watching.
Lily and Amelia were off to the airport this morning at 7.30am but we were confused and Norm and I only realised late last night that she needed to leave that early and Lily was already in bed so we had to wake her this morning. Amelia was a bit grumpy because she was being rushed but I managed to get a yogurt down her while Lily packed. Norman drove them to the airport while I looked after Poppy.
It cooled off today and is lovely outside.
Today I will be pottering about in the garden and I may have a swim later on. I need a day of rest and calm. Work has been very busy. I do love a new project but it can be a bit overwhelming getting access and your systems in place. But I can only do my best and as always that is what I am giving the client.
Until next time, Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxoxxo
Kitten in the City 