Could've been worse
Firstly...Bubba's portrait is finished.
I have spent a long time on it as I really wanted it to be a tribute to the dear old boy.
I am quite chuffed because he has had lots of compliments. I said I would use this as my Christmas card this year and that prompted a lot of requests from people to send them a card.
I also have requests to actually buy Bubba cards so that people can send them out too.
How lovely is that?
Merv has been out sweeping his grass again.
I don't know what he is sweeping off it. He has a dust pan and puts bits in his bucket.
It isn't leaves yet as they haven't fallen. They have only just started changing colour.
It could be worse though.
Up until the last couple of days the weather has been quite hot.
It has just started to cool off a bit.
At least now he is wearing a shirt. That is something of a blessing.
What else could have been worse is my wrist etc, after I slipped coming downstairs.
Fortunately, there was no break or crack and it is now just a little achy.
I did discover lots of other 'owies' the next day but nothing much worse than I have most of the time anyway.
Lastly, here is Looby Loo doing her Yoda impression.
Rather good at it she is.
Results
Lauren, dressed up for Trick or Treating 15 years ago.
I remember this so well.
Donna, Andy, his two older kids, Lauren and Andy's friend, Vince, all came to stay with us for 2 weeks at Halloween time.
We lived in the apartment then and somehow we all fitted inside. We had only one bathroom but there never seemed to be a queue.
We had a ton of laughs and got along just fine.
The kids loved going proper 'Trick or Treating' with no one putting up signs telling them to keep away or refusing to open the door.
They got way too many sweets and really enjoyed themselves.
Trick or Treat just doesn't seem to be working in the UK.
That is a shame really.
Anyway, this little angel / witch in the photo just got her GCSE results.
They were a bit delayed as the school seemed unable to figure out how to email them to us.
She passed 7 GCSEs.
She got Maths, English Lit, English Language, 2 Sciences...I think it was biology and physics, Fine Art and Design and Technology.
That should set her up well for the future. Whatever that might be.
Hard to imagine the little monster in this photo doing all that.
Where does the time go?
We are going to be putting our Halloween decorations up this weekend.
I haven't bothered for the last few years as I am usually on my broomstick, returning home around Halloween so I don't get the chance.
Lauren and Donna are going to help me.
Which is just as well as I have just popped upstairs and managed to slip coming back downstairs. I have bashed wrist and foot.
They are feeling a bit peculiar - I hope I haven't done any serious damage.
Pee, po, belly, bum, drawers.
Staying Home
Lauren having a cuddle with the infamous TommyJones.
We went to Cedarburg on Sunday.
The weather has been glorious, cooler but sunny and dry. So, we thought we would take Donna and Lauren to see an olde worlde American town.
Well that was the plan.
Then we found out it was Cedarburg's Fall Festival the same weekend.
No worries, that would be even better, pumpkins, Halloween etc....brilliant.
Which it was, mostly.
We hadn't been to a fall festival in Cedarburg for years. When we went before, it was about a dozen or so stalls set out in the main street and was fab.
We couldn't believe it when we got there this time. The place was packed with stalls, hundreds of them, and even more packed with people.
We had to pay $5 to park.
So, although it was lovely walking along the main street, looking at lovely (expensive) things to buy, it did mean that you couldn't see any of the houses and the charm of the place.
We made it to the winery, in an old mill, which is alongside a creek and had a look around there too.
This is usually a leisurely outing but this day it was really too crowded to enjoy totally.
We were told that there would be an amusing race on the creek with people using pumpkins as boats.
Apparently, this causes much hilarity, but we knew we would not be able to get near enough to see it. The crowds of people were too great.
Donna would like to go back on a regular weekend so she can see the place properly. So would I.
Usually, at this time of year, I would have just arrived in England.
Had I been going this year, I probably would have got there yesterday and been totally jet lagged today......and for the next few days.
I didn't go this year because it would be difficult with Donna and Lauren staying here at the moment.
Also, funds determined that it wasn't the best of times either.
It does seem a little odd though.
I shall miss catching up with family and friends. I shall miss my walks to Asda and my bus rides to Ashford town.
I shall miss my train rides to Folkestone and Canterbury. It is so easy to get around over there compared to here.
Well, mostly. Donna used to work nights and be asleep during the day so unless people were prepared to come and see me or pick me up or meet me in town, I wasn't able to see everyone.
Many did though and I am eternally grateful for that.
I met up with Paul and Cathy in Ashford town one day and had such a shock when Bernie just happened to pass by and then joined us for coffee.
It was lovely catching up with him after such a long time.
I shall miss staying with my friend in Hythe and the little jaunts we go on.
I met up with my father in law and his husband in Canterbury one day for lunch last time. It poured with rain all day but it didn't matter.
It was dry on the train home...:)
Little outings please me so much. A trip to Dobbies or Bybrook Barn with old colleagues are real favourites of mine.
So, to anyone who might have come to see me or met me somewhere had I been over this year....thank you.
I hope to see you next year. I rather fancy a trip to Teapot Island.
I won't be able to buy my British Christmas supplies either, well that's pants.
Dodgy legs
Here is Lily relaxing.
She is rather good at it. I wished she had relaxed more when we went to see the new vet on Friday.
We had warned them about the way she 'splodes' in the vet's office, but I don't think they fully appreciated the sheer spectacle.
We were ushered in quickly and a very young, vet came in to see our Lily.
He explained that he would examine her first then take a look at the leg she has been limping on.
I, fearing the worst, immediately hid behind Philip.
She wasn't too bad through the first exam, just a mere growl every now and then, but when he started messing with her dodgy leg the growls grew in volume, turned into a snarl......before.......subsiding.
Phew.
We did explain that she is walking better now than she was.
The nice new vet prescribed painkillers and went on to say that it could be a pulled ligament, a cyst or cancer. Apparently, he'd had a cat who started with a limp which turned out to be cancer and it didn't last long after that. He might need to keep her in, sedate her and do x rays.
We didn't need to hear that.
He did say we could wait a week and she how she does instead. We chose this option.
He wants us to phone him this week to let him know how she is doing.
When we got a very grumpy Lily home, I immediately researched the stuff he had given us for her.
As it is called Buprenorphine I was a bit cautious.
It surely has morphine in it.
What I found wasn't good. This stuff is extremely powerful and is usually only given to animals that have just had surgery.
The side effects were awful.
So, after speaking with a vet tech on my cat ladies facebook page, we have decided that no way are we giving Lily this stuff.
Her gammy leg is much less gammy than it was.
I shall make an appointment to see Dr. Thomas when he returns and let him know what happened.
For one thing I know Dr. Thomas would never have told us the cancer horror story unless he had diagnosed that was what was happening.
Fingers crossed for Lily but she is doing better every day.
TommyJones is pretty expert at the relaxing lark too.
The weather cooled down rather a lot at the weekend. Autumn was definitely in the air.
I love it.
It inspired me to buy some more Halloween stuff to put up. I will have helpers this year for decorating the house.
It has since warmed up again but not into the 90s any more.
Lauren has got most of her Hobbit costume for the school play. She has been rehearsing some sort of stage fight too.
I am looking forward to seeing this. It is years since I have watched a school play.
Phew...
TommyJones and Elsie.
She doesn't like him. You can see by her face she doesn't like him.
He, on the other hand, is totally oblivious.
Tootsie likes him.
She smooshes him when she gets the opportunity........he is oblivious to that too.
We love our TommyJones.
He, like Tootsie, enjoys his grub.
Actually, he enjoys anyone's grub. He particularly like sandwich meat and the occasional blob of butter.
He wouldn't mind giving that sweetcorn a 'coat of looking at' too.
It continues very hot here.
Tomorrow is set to be in the 90s again but maybe cooling off a bit after that.
Thank goodness for good air conditioning, although it is funny how we love it but our visitors are taking a while to get used to it.
Lauren complains that it is 'freezing' when she gets out of the shower.
Once Autumn gets going we shall be able to turn it off and have the windows open.
I love that time of year.
The shops are filling up with Halloween decorations and huge bags of candy.
I am happy that I shall have helpers this year to dish it out although I have a feeling Lauren may be going out 'Trick or Treating' herself.
I shall also have help putting up our Halloween decorations. I haven't put them up for the last couple of years as I usually only get back from England a day or two before Halloween and it isn't worth it.
Lily seems to have a bad leg. She has been a little odd lately. She drapes her left back leg out of her bed and we thought it was amusing.
Today she has started limping on it so we feel bad now. Lauren and I tried to take a look at it but she was far from impressed with that. I do hope she improves over the weekend as the thought of taking Lily to the vet again is a nightmare, particularly as she wouldn't even let me look at it.
Poor Dr Thomas.
I have been feeling poorly the last couple of days.
I think it is just the start of a cold. I hope it doesn't stay long. The last one I had seemed to go on forever.
Welcome to The Shire
Ok this isn't The Shire.....
it is Bristol Renaissance Faire.
We went on Sunday as it was a cooler day and it gets bloody hot over there.
It was bigger and better than ever.
All the usual nonsense was taking place.
This is Queen Elizabeth I 's parade.
We then watched the jousting.
This was our knight.
Sir Maximilian.
Very dashing isn't he? He is something of a baddie. I have received a request that next year we sit at the end where we get the young, good looking knight who likes to flirt with the ladies.
I can't think why?
It was all very exciting and our bloke lost.
Maybe we will support the young, good looking one next time.
Lauren had a blast.
She always wanted to be in Slytherin.
She has a part in the play. As you may remember she auditioned for the part of the elf.
I thought she would make a wonderful elf but apparently she isn't tall enough.
She was not disappointed though.
She came home thrilled to bits because she got the part of the hobbit.
I am so pleased for her.
This really is about The Shire.
I don't know how she is going to cope with big, hairy feet though.
