My little girl cat broke her hip several weeks back (don't know how... vet said you have to see them do it to know HOW they did it) and she had a operation nine days ago to cut out the necrotic bit of hip joint which couldn't be fixed. She looks like Frankenstein's Cat, with a three inch long curving wound and ten big stitches. She's limping as they had to cut through a bit of muscle to get to the offending bone, but the vet says the muscle will heal in a few weeks and the limp will improve. She's happier, though. I found her on top of my 2 metre tall bookcase on Monday, sleeping peacefully. She'd jumped up from a little filing cabinet next to it. It's her favourite place in the house, as high as she can get. She hasn't been able to get up there since she broke her hip. When I reached up and patted her, she opened her big blue eyes and I could see the happiness and contentment in them. She was feeling much more her old self.
We have friends flying in from the UK next week and have had to rearrange the spare room somewhat. We have a sofa bed in the living room for overnighters, and a single bed in the spare room which my stepdaughter used when she lived with us. Our friends are staying for a fortnight, so the sofa bed was not an option. We considered buying a new cheap sofa and moving the sofa bed upstairs, but as I pointed out my mother has a sofa bed she doesn't use, and we really, between both houses, don't need yet another sofa. So we swapped the single bed for the sofa bed. I put up some filmy curtains. The whole tenor of the room has changed now. It's my husband's office and with the sofa looks much more businesslike than with a single bed.
T'other half has applied for a job, too. He's been a freelance specialist journalist for 20+ years and has reached the pinnacle of where he can go in the industry in which he specialises. He's a bit tired of doing the same old, same old. And the pay isn't great; we've been a bit starved for cash over the last six months. He's found a government job that pays a bomb, and went for the interview earlier this week. The interview panel seemed impressed with him, thankfully. He'd seen an interview coach (someone I know) and we'd done a couple of mock interviews to get him thinking about responses to standard questions. I really hope he gets this job. We need the money and he needs the intellectual challenge.
The weather here has been revolting. The wettest February in years and when it wasn't raining the humidity was indescribable. I haven't been cycling for almost 3 weeks now. We've taken the dog for early morning walks though; it was a tossup whether to cycle or walk, but she needs the exercise as much as we do, and she loves going with us and chasing a ball in the park on the way.
The local art show is coming up, and they have a new category this year, a 9"x5" challenge. Your painting has to be 9x5 either portrait or landscape, any subject. I haven't submitted anything the last couple of years, but will work on some 9x5 ideas this weekend. It's supposed to be raining and cool but at the moment the temperature is soaring like a lark and so is the humidity. I work mainly in pastels, although I do pen and ink stuff as well. I'm thinking quirky landscapes for the 9x5s.
So that's been my life the last couple of weeks. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!
My life has taken a turn for the extra-chaotic during the past couple of weeks as well. My job is partly political, so some of the things you are describing sound familiar. Next week I fly to Brussels and London, consecutively, from Vienna, then back to Vienna. By then I hope to recover from my pneumonia, which, in turn was a complication of my cracked ribs... boy, I feel like your frankenstein cat! (poor cat)
ReplyDeleteLandscape sounds good for the 9x5 challenge, though I would probably do a "reclining nude".
Pneumonia as well... you poor duck! Hope you can shake it off in good time. It's very debilitating and can take months to recover from. My fingers are crossed for you.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of all kinds of odd stuff for the 9x5 - including taking the mickey a bit and drawing something that looks deliberately cut off by the size restrictions :-). I'm sure I won't be the only one to do that though.