Stoves, spiders and skinny dogs

Mumo’s back, the word-burning stove is in, I bought two very dilapidated chairs, Arry’s been at the vet again and I stayed out too late last night so I’m struggling to keep my eyes open- that’s the past week in a nutshell. Oh and it’s still hot.

The lack of sleep is not entirely my fault and not because I was partying into the wee hours. One of Denis’ brothers lost his battle with cancer yesterday morning, it was unexpected as he had been ‘dying’ for months but the news still hits hard. What with sorting out all the funeral arrangements (funerals here are done within a matter of days) and fielding phone calls from relatives, D wanted a break so decided chez Abraham was the place to have it. One might think it is a little odd to go out for dinner and drinks at such a sombre time but being amongst friends was what he needed and got. Putting the world to rights and planning a Halloween night whilst discussing the finer elements of pasta making was the perfect distraction for a few hours at least. The funeral is on Wednesday and apparently I am accompanying him – I couldn’t really say no although I have no idea what sort of a service it will be or whether I’m supposed to wear a hat. Mumo says that if it’s in a Catholic church, I’ve got to wear one.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I am now the proud owner of a couple of chairs. Well, I hope to be proud one day but right now it’s more a case of ‘oh Sophi, what on earth have you taken on”. I have managed to strip most of the ancient and rather stinky fabric off the smaller one but have had to put it to one side until Denis can come and remove the spider that has been residing in its depths. Those of you who have read my blogs over the years will know that I have a healthy fear of araignées for good reason. They bite. On the plus side, I ordered a nifty little tool for pulling out all the metal buttons on the larger chaise so I can have loads of fun popping off several hundred of them. And I know where to aim them.

I have to say that the main house’s living room does look cosy with the new installation. The funnel tubey thing going to the roof will also heat my spare room as that was the only way up so to speak. For the moment, the stove is merely a decorative ornament as the sun is still burning what little vegetation is left. I almost cried when Denis discovered that our gorgeous Reine Claude fruit tree had died and there’s no hope of making Grenadine this Christmas as all the grenades have shrivelled up and dropped off their perch. And as much as I love the bloody pool, I’m sick of cleaning all algae off its bottom. The nights are drawing in though, to the point where I have had to move my daily lengths forward half an hour so that I’m not swimming in shadows. Still, being able to run as the sun rises and breaststroke as it starts to go down makes one feel quite spoilt.

Speaking of running, one of our erstwhile team members is worrying me a little too much. I took him off to the vet on Thursday to have his usual ear check-up and a visit to the weighing machine as he’s been looking a bit on the skinny side. Skinnier than normal as he has always had a slight ‘Wily Coyote’ look about him. A jump on the scales showed he’s lost 3 kilos which is somewhat unnerving especially as all his blood results and worm tests came back normal. At times like this, I miss my late great friend Keith Butt – he’d only have to look at an animal and know what was wrong. The thing is Arry is mostly his usual high-octane self although he is sleeping a lot but remember it’s 30plus degrees outside and all the woofers are flat out on my tiled floor. For now I just have to feed him more and as the newly interned vet told me, reduce his exercise – the latter making the nurse giggle at such a ridiculous suggestion. Anyone who knows my crazy German Shepherd will know he’s just like his Mum and can’t keep still. I wonder if he’s scared of spiders though…

“Spiders are always big in the Autumn, they’ve had all summer to grow” (Alice Roberts)