Mostly about Louise

I've just got back from dropping the men off at the end of the day and I don't think I really remember any of the journey as I was in a bit of a daze. This isn't really what you want when you are driving, I know, but that's life. I managed to not crash though probably more through luck than judgement and so here I am to update you on what has been an emotional 24 hours.

Roast chicken (the tatties are our neighbour's, the cabbage is our own)

After publishing the update yesterday I headed outside and did some pottering around clearing things up, collecting tools inside and also pruning some bushes that were impinging on the path at the side of our property. When I got back inside I found my parents had been waiting for our skype call that we had arranged but fortunately we'd not missed them and had a lovely hour long chat, arranging their next visit as well as a holiday for me next year back to England. The conversation ended when our roast chicken was ready to be served up and it was just as tasty as it looks here. I might have had seconds and there certainly weren't any potatoes left over when we finished.

And so to the main saga.

What we were doing at 1.30am

The swelling above Louise's eye had been getting worse and worse all day and by the end of the day we were both pretty much starting to panic.We tried to relieve the pressure slightly by nicking it with a needle but only a small amount of blood and puss came out and we didn't want to go too deep as it was so close to her eye. Mid evening she knocked it on the bars of her cage and split it slightly which caused her to yelp in pain. We cleaned this up and then A went to bed and eventually I followed but I just could not sleep so I laid up watching her and then trying to get her to relax while cuddling me. Eventually I dropped off to sleep but we were both woken up when Louise suddenly screamed and jumped onto the bed. When we turned the light on it was immediately clear what had happened; it had burst and the poor puppy had blood running down her face.

When I woke up this morning, this is what greeted me

We spent a fair amount of time cleaning her up and calming her down, obviously she was not very happy, and then headed back to bed where again I struggled to get over. Eventually I did but then A woke up and about 4am she got out of bed to clean Louise's eye again. She didn't come back to be and woke me when she left to get the men, as I'd had a substantial lay in which was a very good thing as I was pretty emotionally whacked. I got up pretty much immediately and spent the time waiting for A to get back by cuddling Louise and washing up. The fact that the abscess (which is what I am now thinking of this as) had burst was actually a good thing in a sense as she had much less pressure on her eye. I was feeling massively guilty because I think The Other Brother had offered to ring the vet yesterday but at the time I hadn't understood him.

Getting immediately to work

As soon as I thought it was time for A to get back with the men I went down and waited. We wanted to go straight to the vet, with Bekir, as soon as they got back. It took a few minutes to turn around, mainly as I forgot to put the pictures of her on my phone to show the vet, but then we were off towards town. He wasn't taking us to the vet that we knew of but rang someone and got directions to a better option. When we reached this there was a woman sweeping the entrance area who said the vet wasn't working today but the other one was so off we headed again and after a bit of a saga trying to ring him (we'd beaten him to opening time) a very friendly man arrived who took one look and decided to clean it out. The first thing he had to do was give her a general anaesthetic which proved to be  quite traumatic for us as she screamed and screamed when the needle went in. It was so bad the vet told us to leave the room and called us back in when it was done. We stopped with her while she fell asleep and very quickly her tongue lolled and she went floppy. The vet placed her on the table and started working.

Poor Louise in surgery

We both stayed away at first, unsure whether we would be allowed near the surgery area, however after a while I went to watch and I'm glad I did. I didn't end up getting as graphic photographs as I thought; there was one moment when he was washing the wound out and you could see right inside her head which was quite scary to watch. The thing that REALLY annoyed us is thinking back to the first two times this swelling occurred, when we took her to the other vet, and he didn't even bother to examine her. Was this the same thing, or something else? Has she been ill all this time and just not complained. Even yesterday, before the bubble burst, she was bouncing around and acting just like normal so it's possible that back then this infection had started and a simple course of antibiotics could have solved it and now she wouldn't have to have such surgery as this, and be put through injections and the pain and extra infection risk of an open wound.

I'm not happy about this, as you can tell.

After a bit he injected her twice more (one was a shot of Vitamin C, I have no idea what the other was, and sent us away for half an hour or so while she came round. A and I headed to the bank to sort those tasks out and then we went past a hardware store to buy a big pot (for canning purposes) and some metal buckets for ash and kindling. The chap was really nice, spoke pretty good English, and helped us find the right things for the job though as we left we saw some black trays that would have been better. No matter, we'll see how well these work out and can always pick up more another time. We headed back, via the market where there were some amazing oversized  vegetables for sale including a 60kg pumpkin, and back to the vets. After a few minutes he knocked on the window to call us into the surgery and showed us a very groggy looking Louise who had just woken up.

Shortly afterwards Bekir returned from having a quick coffee and we asked for a collar for Louise but this vet didn't have one. We headed to a pet shop (no luck) and then the original vet who let us down so badly and finally to another pet shop who ordered one in to collect tomorrow. Now we just have to hope she doesn't scratch too much at the wound. We picked up a load more terracol for Bekir on the way back got home just before lunch. A whole morning was lost to progress on the tiles however Louise is so much more important it doesn't even matter.

Putting wooden frames for the new windowsills

So we got back and I calmed myself down and did a quick sweep around to get some progress shots. First of all Sally and Gyuner had been working hard in our absence knocking out the old windowsill on the landing windows and getting ready to replace them with new reinforced concrete ones. The frames were pretty much finished when we got back and before lunch they made sure to finish this before stopping for their break.

Concreting in the drainage

The driveway people had also made some good progress and were more than half way down pouring the concrete to seal in the drainage down the edge of the drive. By the time I got out to check this out they were on with their BBQ and Bekir had gone down to get involved as well; obviously there was no time left for it to be worthwhile mixing the terracol before he'd have to stop anyway. I took him away from the BBQ for a little while to talk about how many trees we could fit in the new orchard and we measured it out and he said five across however after chatting about it we have decided to just go for four across to give more space between each one.

The final bits of the tiling is finished

The tiling on the balcony had finally been finished and there was no sign of the tiler at this point. It looks amazing and the tiles we have chosen go really well so that was a good thing. The other good thing was as I was out there Louise came pottering after me which was great; she was still very unsteady on her feet but cheerful enough to look at.

Sickly puppy having breakfast

I was so starving when we got back, having missed breakfast, that I asked A to make some porridge which she did and I wolfed it down while working (I had no time to settle back in as I was immediately dragged into my day job). Louise was very hungry and had a few pieces of chicken which disappeared immediately and then she had a bowl of porridge which also went down very well. We then spent the rest of the day trying to encourage her to rest as much as possible, and not scratch at her face as our attempts at a home made cone failed miserably.

First use of the new man toy

After lunch I went out with Bekir and Gyuner and we talked through his task for the rest of the day. We also had a lot of fun getting the new pneumatic drill out and getting it working. This meant that Gyuner was the first person to use it but he put it to good use. So we'll have four trees in a row across this space, and probably six rows, eventually, coming towards the building and leaving an avenue before the closest row to the house where the washing line is hanging. Maybe tomorrow we'll be going to get the trees from the market. Exciting times.

Cement goes in for the new windowsills

I ended up being pretty much stuck to my desk from that point onwards and so I only got out for pictures when I absolutely had to get some fresh air. Mid afternoon I found Sally hard at work mixing his own cement, carrying it up to the windows, and pouring it in to the mold for the windowsills. He was laughing and smiling and so obviously wasn't feeling too sore that I had taken away his labourer to do a different job.

Making a good start on the grouting

The tiler had returned after lunch and now was in grouting mode. An unexpected surprise was to find that he had found some grout to match our tiles. He made lots of progress on this today but I forgot to go out to get  an "end of day" photograph so you'll have to wait for tomorrow to see this. It's really getting close to their finishing time.

And out here they start on the steps

This story was repeated down on the driveway where the workers had started the task of laying out for the steps at the back. There was a little more digging required and then they confirmed the height and depth we wanted on the steps and started to put the frames in place.

Some small tiling prorgess

Bekir was continuing to have a bit of a slow day as he was working on the fiddly bits around the staircase. He will now not finish this tomorrow but Wednesday, he says, but that is still really exciting and means we should be in there this weekend as planned, though he may not have finished the chimney by then so it may be too cold to sit in their too much.

Louise doesn't seem to realise she is not well

A bit later I went outside for some proper fresh air and Thelma and Louise came with me. Louise was by now bouncing around as normal and playing with her sister though we were still worried about that gaping hole in her head. She didn't seem bothered at all and found herself something to chew in the undergrowth. Thelma was having her stick thrown and Louise even chased with her a couple of times.

Starting to put frames up around the next window

Sally finished all the cement pouring in record time and headed down the corridor to work on the next things on his list; the windows there. At this rate he may even be ready to come into Room 13 earlier than we expected which could prove interesting as we will need to reorganise in here, and A would ideally not still be working. This can be started on Thursday so two more days to fill of his time; I'm sure we'll manage.

Afternoon sun on the valley

It has been very mild today and particularly this afternoon the sun came out and it was even tending towards warm. I popped out to get a picture of the late afternoon sun as it went down but preferred the view across the valley of the light warmly illuminating the slopes. What a stunning view; I just can't get bored of it.

Only needs some cement and it is done

By this time the driveway men had headed off for the day but they have left the shape of the steps all set out and only waiting for cement. They also told me that Thomas could be parked on the driveway this evening so of course I have done this. As soon as these steps are done I'll be moving Julian into that corner so he can settle there for the winter. Next year we'll have to get his water heater fixed up, and check all the other bits and pieces work right for when we want to go away in him.

Man been digging

Gyuner had done well during the afternoon and by the time he stopped working for the day he had completed nearly three holes. They are quite big and deep and the ground is quite rocky so I'm pleased with that progress. Ironically he hasn't had to use the pneumatic drill as much as I had expected as the soil there had proven far better than I thought but I'm sure it will come in useful as he keeps digging and gets closer to the building where the rocks are much closer to the surface.

So the day ended and the blog began when I got back from the men. It's like a snake swallowing its tail. Louise has wolfed her dinner down and is now fast asleep on my lap. Thelma is struggling a bit with jealousy and does keep growling at Louise which isn't ideal but has meant we've also given Thelma a lot of attention to try and reduce this. Now I'm going to publish this and get into bed as I'm shattered. Tomorrow promises to be another really busy day.