Another checkup.....

We were at the vets today for a post op check with Ruby. Pain free and doing well. We have to use the cream until Sunday then stop, it is very slow to heal. After that, we can swap to a skin balm to carry on if necessary. He advised us to find a way to cover her inner thigh more, especially at night, to stop her licking it.

Called in at the shops to buy her some children’s shorts that have a knee length leg. I cut out the back of them to accommodate her tail and pull them high enough up. She will wear them under her body vest at night. Hopefully they will work!

On top of that, she is producing a little milk in her rear teats. So we have to watch out for that getting heavier or her teats going hard to indicate mastitis:(

If so, she will need more medication to stop it, something her ovaries would have done.

Onwards, upwards and occasionally sidewards we go.

Post Op pictures...

I think it is fair to say, Ruby had a shave and a half:

You can see top left, one of her patches of shave rash/clipper burn:

It is the worst one. She had two smaller patches which have now responded to healing cream. The one above is going to take a bit longer methinks! She still has a few raised shaving pimples as well.

Here are her three1cm incisions where the instruments and laparoscopic camera went in:

She has had her last pain killer this morning. Cream has to go on twice a day for 7 days then hopefully, the rash/burn will be healed.

She is eating normally now and raring to go though still has a bit of a tremble and moan every now and then. I gave her a slightly larger than normal tea last night (tripe), which she woofed down.

A strange day.....

Welcome to Caroline Cobb via Bloglovin.

Today Ruby had her ovaries removed by laparoscope. All went well, and she has 3 tiny incisions. Recovery time is just a few days rather than the normal 2 weeks.

DB took her out after waking for a walk around the village before popping her into her car crate. That gave us time for a cup of tea without her wanting breakfast.

The drive in was longer than expected due to being the first day back to school after the half term break.

She was trembling when we let her out but settled fine inside.We signed the consent form and were able to escort her through to the ward to see her safely in. We went off to have a light breakfast and do some shopping before returning home.

A quick weed in the garden, bed stripped and bedding into the washer. It dried today no problems.

Ruby was ready for picking up at 3:30. We had to wait halfway to the ward as she had developed a rash. The vet checked her over and prescribed some steroid cream, it was a bad shaving rash.

We ended up buying her a not too expensive post op suit as she isn’t allowed to lick the cream. Painkillers for two days, light food and a post op check in a few days.

She curled up tightly to her dad when we got in and was dropping to sleep so he moved into the lounge:

She had a bit of cooked chicken and rice for tea and a small piece of dried tripe to chew on. She is now curled against his feet.

Well, that’s a first for us...

Yesterday though sunny, was a bit chilly for sitting in the garden. Today was a different kettle of fish. After cooking our Sunday meal, we ate it in the garden. It was so warm my skin started to tingle as it started to burn!

The beach....

We took Ruby to the beach the other day. The sea was quite a way out but the beach was busy with people and dogs. Eventually we worked our way past them all and got to the sea.  On the way, she decided to try and catch a gull. Taking off like a rocket, ears flapping in the breeze, she was a sight to behold! Off course, she didn’t catch it, nor did she respond to our recall.

Eventually she stopped and turned to return. Even at that distance you could sense her panic as she couldn’t find us. Good I thought to myself, that will teach you to ignore us. Eventually I gave in and waved and shouted. She bombed back to us. After that, when she got more than 30’ or so away, we whistled and she came straight back.

She had a good trundle through the calm sea, getting filthy on the way back. The cafe was heaving so we parked on a road and DB got us chips and curry sauce. Once home, she was hosed clean of muck and sand and had a good sleep.

Our MP’s

Are a total disgrace at the moment. Deceased die hard voters must be turning in their graves. No matter the party, they are squabbling like children, each refusing to budge one jot and dragging our country into chaos over Brexit. The EU must be rubbing their hands with glee.

A similar thing is happening over the pond.

Whatever happened to us all to deserve such idiots in charge of all our lives?

Happy Birthday Ruby

She is One today! Out of all the pictures we took, this one made us burst out laughing:

Yuck and yum...

For tea yesterday we tried a tin of curry sauce, it was disgusting. Now my MiL used these to make a nice beef curry so I can only presume the recipe has changed. I added several things and it was still unpleasant. I won’t be buying anymore!

My new bread maker also bakes cakes so we gave one a whirl, ginger cake. The tin was a pain to line but I got there in the end. The cake took an extra 5 minutes to cook but smelled lovely. It was more like a ginger flavoured sponge yesterday, today it is better. Tastes lovely. We had a slice with sieved brambles and custard for pudding.

Another investment

The good thing about the UK, is that February and March (or March and April) depending where you live, are council tax free months. Rather than the council take this tax every month, it is taken over 10 months, giving your finances a boost this time of year.

We both love home made bread but I am getting to the stage where elements of it are becoming tiring. After a year or more of deliberation, we have invested in a bread making machine. I am not a purist and homemade bread is just that, whether it be by your own hands or a machine as far as I am concerned.

We bought one the other day and after washing what we needed to, made our first loaf, a basic quick white. We chose the large size, medium crust and 55 minutes later, here it is:

One crust removed to show you the inside:

Close up of the crumb:

It smelt wonderful, tasted gorgeous and had a lovely springy feel to it. The machine is pretty quiet which is another benefit. We put it through our slicing machine (just fitted) and got 12 slices from it. My own made bread would give us 16 smaller slices, so all in all, a good comparison.

Success....

The other day, despite not many of you understanding my post, I was moaning about not being able to play my favourite video games. For more than 18 months and after much research, I decided to invest in a programmable gadget to help me. It took a bit to sort it out. After quite a bit of stress on my behalf and DB having earache by the end, here it is in situ in the PS3:

Once inserted and programme 1 is activated, I can play any game I wish. DS had bought me a PS3 game for my birthday last year but despite research telling me I would be able to play it, they lied, I couldn't. Now I can - result!

Some times you just have to bite the bullet and take action.

An unusual lunch

I made extra vegetables and mashed potatoes to give us a lunch for another day. DB had cheese added to his, dry fried to make the outside brown and crunchy, made into a sandwich:

By the time I had added the leftover cabbage to my mash, to make a bubble and squeak sandwich, there was too much, so I ate it as it was:

Both were delicious. Never had a cheese and mash or bubble and squeak sandwich, give it a whirl!

Bless her!

Went to change the vet fleece on Ruby’s bed this morning and it was wet, poor thing, she must have been desperate! Removed it and the fleece mattress and got them in the wash. Also washed her day cushion cover. I like to wash them every 7 to 10 days.

A week late but we also applied her flea treatment. She doesn’t mind having it done but sometimes runs away in a grump afterwards but needs must. I’m not too worried if all of it isn’t applied as her weight is in the middle of its range and almost all is applied. It would be easier to give a pill but for the most part, this is easy and cheaper.

Got to take her to the vets this week for her pre-spay check. Hope to get that done the end of this month or so. She will soon be a year old, where does the time go!

Well done ladies.....

Our Federation Cup tennis team won all their matches to get to the top of their group. It obviously took its toll on Johanna Konta as she collapsed after losing the second set, but went on to take the third and win her match. She then fell exhausted to the floor again.

It was a shame they weren’t on terrestrial tv, playing in Bath, and I won’t sigh up to the channel it was on so missed out.

Finally....

Ruby has left the beginners training class and moved to the intermediate one. DB had to leave halfway through as she was staring longingly at him and not paying attention.

The roaring wind outside wasn’t helping, making all of them a little skittish. One of the labs decided she didn’t like a particular corner, refusing to go anywhere near it each time she approached.

We bought Ruby a calf hoof to chew one, she likes to chew but not things that aren’t hers, thank goodness. It is more quiet than the bone, just hope her teeth can stand up to it. A slight smell but no doubt we will learn to ignore it after a while.

Get off your band wagons...

I am already fed up with the media and social backlash over Liam Neesons comments during an interview about his latest film, dealing with revenge.

Would there be this backlash if he had said the rapist he was referring to was white, or sky blue with pink dots, I think not!

He was talking about wanting to take revenge and how little control one has over ones feelings when in the grips of it.

The professor of Black Studies from Birmingham City University Dr. Kehinde Andrews, was on tv to put his point of view across. However, for me, the complete opposite happened. I felt he was starting to use his own context on the matter; referring to Neeson wanting to lynch a black man.

Neeson to my knowledge never used the word lynch (which Dan the presenter reiterates more than once) but the professor kept saying it didn't matter, that what Neeson was referring to was wanting to go and lynch a black man!

The definition of lynch in case you want to know is "an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging or other ways of execution" If Neeson in this instance was acting alone, he was not a mob so can he be accused of wanting to lynch someone?

Get a grip professor, you didn't put anything into context and I felt, your comments were bordering on inflammatory and more likely to incite further backlash.

The also played comments by John Barnes, who did put it into context and I felt was getting slightly exasperated by the whole thing. He referred to Neesons comments about the feeling of revenge in certain circumstances and how one deals with those feelings, not only at the time, but years later on. Well said John.

I keep thinking

of moving or duplicating my blog to aWordPress version. Haven’t decided yet but blogger have just announced another round of changes. I shall wait and see how things pan out.

On top of that decision to be made,  I am mega cheesed off. Absolutely EVERYTHING is irritating the hell out of me. Lack of sleep isn't helping. I am now averaging just 3 hours each night. I am lucky that half a tablet of the 2 a night version of Nytol is enough to get me to sleep so have decided to have quite a few days of those to see if that helps (which it usually does).

Poor DB, he must be cheesed off with me, as I keep getting so annoyed at things. If the beeper on the cooker goes off to signal something, off I go, moan, moan, moan. Ruby is also bearing the brunt poor girl. I try to shut doors so she isn't following me all the time which irritates me further even though I know she just wants to be with me or hopeful of some food. We always end the day with a cuddle though so she knows she is still loved. She is lying under my chair whilst I'm typing:)

My eyes seem to have changed yet again as my current reading glasses aren't quite focusing which is giving me eye strain. The ones I normally use for computing are also slightly out of focus. I have a set of glasses for watching the tv, they too are also slightly 'off'.

Yesterday, I spent (with DB helping because I was getting so annoyed), half an hour upgrading our old PS3 software and upgrading a new game software. DS had bought me a requested video for my birthday last year and I was finally ready to have a go.

EX-PLO-SIONS again....

Despite players online telling me I would be able to set up the options as I need, nope, wouldn't do it, they just were not there to be selected. So not only could I not play the game, it became a wasted birthday present.

I am in the less than 10% minority of gamers who need to invert both X and Y axis. Inverting the Y axis is normal in all game options but rarely the X.

Imagine you have a pole stuck through your head, coming out the back. In inverted mode, if I stand behind you and push that pole to the right, your head would move to the left and visa versa. That is the X axis mode. In gaming, a normal X axis means if that pole is pushed right, your head turns right. An inverted Y axis means that if I push the pole up, you look down. Normal Y axis in gaming pushing the pole up you look up.

Its to do with how your brain is wired apparently and us 10% get moaned at by the rest for daring to ask for an X invertion option, so sad.  Even people the same handed as you may play differently.

In essence, it means I can hardly find any interesting game to play. Don't even get me started on gaming companies who begin a trilogy of games only to stop after the first 2, meaning that you never have an ending.

Oat and vegetable porridge...

Sounds disgusting but that's fine as it is for Ruby. I read an article recently, from a vet that feeds their dogs on a raw diet. He suggested that if you want to slightly cut down on the amount of meat, increase vegetables (therefore reducing calories) and add oats, then porridge is the way to go.

He recommends just cooking the oats first so yesterday morning, I gave it a whirl. Into a microwaveable bowl went 80g of oats and double the weight of cold water. It was cooked for 3 minutes.

Whilst that was doing, I chavelled up in my food processor, 6 medium carrots, 6 outer green leaves of a savoy cabbage, and a 1" slice of swede. This was added to the porridge and left to soak.

Once ready, I used my 2" ice cream scoop to dollop amounts into silicon cake pans and froze them:

I got 12 of those plus another 3 scoops. She was given one scoop for lunch, to test it out, along with a dried green tripe stick. The rest of the leftovers will be given over the next 2 days. Providing she tolerates them, I shall continue to do this as it is a way of filling her up and reducing calories a little.

I am also increasing her wet green tripe to one packet every other day. She adores this and it is the most beneficial but lower calorie food she can have. Watch this space!