Arry’s been in the wars again and back at the vets. I’m pretty sure the bald patches that suddenly appeared on his rump and chest were down to a mosquito attack rather than an allergy flare-up so the world’s most expensive rescue dog is now on a course of tablets and twice-weekly washes with a very pricey shampoo. Despite the difficulties in keeping him still for 5 minutes whilst the soap does its thing, his poor skin is starting to recover and grow hair once more. I have no idea why the pests single him out from the other woofers, perhaps there’s more of him to go around.
On the subject of miniscule annoyances, you will be pleased to hear that not only is my courgette-chomped finger back to normal again but so is the pool. Well, the algae’s pretty much disappeared anyway – what with my daily chemical tests and measures and constant cleaning but it seems there maybe another little problem. The bloody thing is losing water, only a few millimetres a day but it doesn’t half play havoc with the quarterly H20 bill. Initially we put it down to evaporation or a possible crack in the automatic fill up doodad pipe but I’m beginning to think there may be a hole in the patches I put over last year’s leak. There isn’t much I can do about it at the moment however as I’m the only one here aside from Mumo and I can’t see her diving to the depths to repair the liner – she doesn’t like swimming. I’ll have to wait for Simon to return as he’s got all the scuba equipment and anyway, I did it last time which should tell you something.
Whilst I’ve been searching for life’s little solutions, Denis has been hard at work getting everyone’s gardens sorted before he takes a break next week so I’ve been looking after ours by my lonesome. To be honest, there isn’t a lot to do this time of year apart from the occasional battle with the hosepipe before morning coffee (we are advised to only water the plants between 8 pm and 8 am because of the heat) and checking on our potager harvest so I’ve spent most of my spare time catching up with my ‘to-do’ list – i.e. all the things I’ve been putting off or procrastinating about. Alice, Sherman and Yogi Bear are now feeling the breeze through their newly clipped or stripped bodies and the ‘dog wash’ washing machine is now fixed – it doesn’t take a genius to know what caused the blockage. And the littlest room in the apartment, the loo, has a new paint job although that was mostly the work of Saint Nick my great friend and all round handyman.
After such a busy week scratching my head looking for solutions and trying to stop Arry from doing the same, a catch-up with friends was the panacea to my problems. If Friday evening was spent pondering life’s great mysteries over pizza with my neighbours down the road, Saba and Roy plus Denis’ best friend who I fondly call Denis Deux because well, he shares the same name and my man is number one, then last night was all about burgers and blues. A meal down at the American Diner with various members of Denis’ family was followed by a quick drive over the other side of the road to Abraham’s place to listen to another ami make magical music with his harmonica into the wee hours.
Speaking of friends and family, I am now permitted to let the proverbial cat out of the bag and say congratulations to my sister-in-law Fran and her new husband Steve. I have to admit my sister from another mister did tell me of their plans several months ago but I promised to keep the secret until the deed was done last Friday. I only wish you two hadn’t rushed into it so quickly, I mean you’ve only been living together for 36 years…
““In the cookies of life, friends are the chocolate chips.” (Unknown)
Widow plus woofs 