Beet Goes On…

We know this because like CJ and myself… George is a klutz.

Yesterday he got caught between the front door and the screen door, and his tail got caught in one of them.

As soon as we heard his screech I got the door back open and he took off. In the time it took us to follow him he was playing again. But five minutes later when Criss picked him up it was clear that his tail had been at least partially severed a couple of centimetres from its tip. There wasn’t much blood, but you could tell by the way it was, well, hanging there.

So off we went to the vets where they found that the severed tip was only hanging on by a few threads of nerve and blood vessels, and not repairable, so they finished the job.

George didn’t even flinch when they finished what the door had started, but he didn’t like it much when they applied the skin glue to his tail to try to close the wound and he liked it even less when the vet injected him with a long lasting anti-biotic.

He was so indignant over the needle in fact, that he complained loudly and swatted at the vet.

She laughed at him so he swatted her again. lol

Mr George in Boots is okay, you’d never know anything was wrong in fact, but he will need to have another operation in a few months to fix his tail properly – unless they surgically amputate another couple of cm’s he won’t have a skin flap to cover the tip leaving bone exposed. But at this stage, they want to wait until he’s grown more to do it so they don’t have to take as much of his tail to fix it. Apparently the thicker his tail grows the less they’ll need to take off. AND if we leave it until we have him desexed in three or four months time then it can all be done during the one operation saving us a shitload of money in surgery fees!

So yeah. He’s a klutz.

Definitely belongs with us. lol

Following the impromptu departure of the eldest teen from the house a week before xmess (anxiety thing – long story, but she was moving out this month anyhow), the middle teen decided that she needed a replacement family member.

Initially she was making plans to acquire a baby goat for herself.

Yes, you read that right.

A baby goat.

We said no. :\

Then a couple of days ago we were heading out to run errands and CJ starts rabbiting on about how we needed a new kitten after the disappearance last year of our black cat Coal.

And we would name it George.

And it would be a boy.

And he would be ginger.

And he would play with the norti puppies and like chasing bubbles and be the best kitten ever.

And we walked into the vet’s to get flea treatments for the dogs and there was George.

Just waiting to be adopted.

We couldn’t say no.

And George is a boy, and he is ginger and white, and he likes chasing the pups and bubbles and my cranky old cat Sox, sleeps so deeply that he keeps falling off the lounge, climbs everything and everyone, has mad ninja vanishing skills, and is apparently the best kitten ever. Except for when he wants to play at 2am while CJ is trying to sleep so starts loudly meowing at her for attention.

He’s gorgeous. And much less work than a teen

Welcome to the family George!

We have been attempting to train our norti puppies. We’ve been doing all the recommended stuff about giving them new experiences and socialising them with different people, places and dogs so that they don’t get terribly over excited when they do encounter those things but we want them to obey some commands too.  Just basic stuff, you know, like sitting, dropping and jumping.

It’s not the easiest proposition trying to train two dogs at the same time with three kids all competing to gain the dog’s attention and be the ones giving the commands, however it is progressing. Slowly. But still progressing. And all progress is good right?

The norti puppies are starting to get the idea. When you bring out the treats they go a bit nuts at first, but once they  remember that doing their ‘tricks’ guarantees one they are pretty quick off the mark. Lucy is great at sitting and dropping, but reluctant to jump ‘up’. Lily is great with the sitting and jumping up, but shyte at dropping. We think she’ll be great at begging though (natural inclination lol) and CJ has been getting Lucy to crawl along on her belly (which is so funny to watch!) and we think we might have a shot at teaching her to roll too.

Of course they are also getting the idea that all you need to do to get a treat is plant your arse and look cute… It’s the kids who are having a problem with understanding the concept of waiting to give the treat until the action is a definite response to the command or to not give treats every time the action is done.

I must admit that I’m really glad we got the second puppy. She tires Lucy out, provides her with smothering loving companionship when we can’t be home and is going to be a great little guard dog… even if they are terribly norti together.

Now if we could just get them to not hide or eat the eggs they collect and perhaps deposit them neatly in a basket near the back door that would be some trick, but I’ll settle for sitting and behaving nicely around company, and for being able to trust them in leash free areas when we go to the park.

came when I looked out my back door this morning to see what my dogs were barking at only to discover an tiny, orange shirted, pre-schooler running around the yard trying desperately to catch either a chooken or a puppy to tie up with his dressing gown belt to take it for a walk.

When no head appeared over the fence looking for him I hustled him out the front door (after catching and let him pat various animals) and back to his own home next door where his mother was trying not to have a panic attack. When we knocked on the door she had noticed her son was missing and had the phone in her hand trying to decide who to ring for help first.

Once she recovered, she told me that her son is a Houdini of the backyard and has managed to scale the fence and go walkabout a few times. His dad yelling at him to get off the fence seems much more reasonable now – it wasn’t that they didn’t want their kids talking to ours, it was so the young Houdini didn’t get ideas! At least next time they’ll have another place to know to look I guess.

Miniature chooken thieves, polite streakers… we’ve got it all baby! lol

We’ve been doing a lot of walking since the move. Walking to and from the local store, the bus stops, and attempting to tire our the norti puppies. We pass a lot of other walkers, and we also see them constantly through our front windows because there are a LOT of walkers here. People walking dogs, people with groceries, people getting on and off buses, determined exercisers with their walking shoes and handweights, runners, bicycle riders too. Walkers and people using footpaths all over the place.

It’s a great way to get to know the neighbourhood. Most people are friendly enough and will nod or say hello as you or they pass. Some stop and have a quick chat over the dogs. Walking has helped us scope out the local bus stops and get a feel for our neighbourhood. We even found a street around the corner with PSLS’s name that we now call ‘Dad’s street’ lol

The kids were walking the norti puppies the other day and decided to explore ‘Dad’s street’ on their way home. It was all good, they knew where they were, they were feeling quite comfortable and thought they knew what to expect.

What they weren’t expecting was a streaker, dressed in only a shirt, firmly holding his family jewels to come running around the corner past them. The fella slowed down to apologise and explain that he ‘had to do it’ because he’d lost a bet. Poor CJ said she was standing there trying not to look at him and telling him to just not worry about it and keep going.

She was absolutely mortified explaining all this when they got home! lol

She has also decreed that ‘Dad’s street’ is now a no go area! lmao

I might have to go for a walk on my own next time we can hear someone having a party in the area…

Aside from the car blowing up there have been many other challenges the past few weeks.

Like the washing machine decided that it didn’t like being moved and blew up too.

We somehow keep managing to leave the iron and the electric frying pan in the old house.

Tyres on trailers have gone flat after being loaded.

Dogs have escaped from yards, cats from houses and the guinea pig from it’s makeshift home.

Crows have stolen eggs and put the hens off laying.

Buses have been missed as we sorted out the timetables.

Then one of the teens blew up.

People have not showed up to do things that were organised or pick up items, carpet cleaning people have been snarky at us after they asked to be paid by online bank transfer because they didn’t understand that it wasn’t instant, garbage tips have closed early, people haven’t shown up to look at items they were meant to be buying so money hasn’t come in that should have and the cost of hiring a car to get too and fro to finish up cleaning out the old house has put us under a lot of extra financial pressure.

And we’ve had an extra teen this week – a German exchange student who has made friends with Lou – to add to the chaos and mayhem.

But we’ve learnt a lot too.

Like, you can buy alcohol at 16 in Germany; there are three different buses that stop close to our house that will get us to the main street, local library, two different shopping plazas, TAFE, the hospital or over to Albury; bus fares are only a dollar for children and concession holders and are valid to take you anywhere on as many buses as you need for two hours;  it costs $10 to get a taxi home with the groceries from the rank; you can borrow up to 50 items (books, magazines, dvd’s, talking books, children’s books) on one library card; there is an after hours doctors clinic for emergencies up at Lavington; Savlon cream works just as well on cats as on people (don’t ask); washing by hand is a bitch; there are miles and miles of walking and bike tracks all over Albury and Wodonga that are well worth exploring; bread is really damn easy to make without a breadmaker and frankly the end result is a more usable size loaf; we don’t seem to be able to pick up a standard digital tv signal so have had to rig up a system through one of our pc’s to watch telly; the XPT is a great way to travel when it runs on time; and our puppy dogs are absolute mischief to leave on their own…

After one day without us in the house while hubs was at work last week, we came home to find teddy bears stolen from every bedroom in the house scattered throughout the hallway, living room and everyone else’s bedrooms, socks littering the hallway, pieces of soggy tissue in the hall, various shoes and socks in the living room, one dinosaur missing all of the stuffing from his neck and two legs,  screws from TJ’s trundle bed scattered from one end of the hallway to the other, and pieces of al foil in the living room and hallway.

After an hour of the absence of people the other day while we foraged for food, I came home to find the pom pom from a beanie shredded in one doorway, pens chewed up in the living room, teddy bears and other stuffed toys once again stolen and stashed in the wrong rooms, the biscuit box chewed to bits and crumbs on the lounge, an empty tin in my bedroom as well as the dressing gowns and towels dragged from the end of my bed to the floor, and the dog leads in the hallway.

I cannot begin to express how much I am looking forward to the landlord fixing the fence so we can secure our yard and put the norti puppies outside where they belong! Meantime they are being walked a couple of times a day to try to burn off some energy.

Walking the dogs on my own a few days ago was an experience. Lucy(far) is eager to explore so pulls on her lead the whole way. Lilly also pulls on her lead – but with her mouth, playing tug-o-war the entire way. So I’m walking along with one arm yanked forward and another being tugged to my side and trying not to notice the people laughing at me as they drive past lol

But it’s all good.

We might be occasionally frustrated, and overtired from travelling or dealing with new situations, but the house will gradually be unpacked, the old house will be finished with cleaning next week, the bills will eventually get paid, we’ll eventually get a new car and a HD telly, we’ll eventually get the dogs back outside, the challenges will pass and the mischief will cease.  We are happy. Happy with the house, happy with PSLS’s work,  happy with the things we are finding here, happy with the move… and in the end, that’s all that matters.

Well, not really – they just don’t like going outside yet.

They love the house. They love that there are lots of windows for them to sit and sun themselves in. They love that our bedroom is right out of the way of all foot traffic and the most peaceful room in the house.

Not liking outside doesn’t stop them wanting to be outside but despite their determination to escape to the great outdoors… when we actually took the kitty cats outside (yes on leashes) they were not at all impressed. The new sights, sounds and smells made for very nervous puddy tats who tried to bolt for the back door at any sound.

Socks (my baby)

(Coal the demon spawn rabbit hunter – PSLS’s baby)

The look on Sock’s face here just says it all really!

Sweet talking her back out from behind the shrubs.

Ah well, they’ll settle in soon. I think the biggest adjustment will be getting Coal inside for the cat curfew every night by 7pm. I’m sure they’ll both have their confidence back up in another few days though and we’ll be able to let them explore without putting them on leads.

who stole my children’s white duck and caramel chook yesterday morning…

You suck!

I mean really, really suck.

If you were that desperate for a feed then go to the Salvo’s. Don’t steal a child’s pet.

If you were that bored that you thought it would be funny, surely there are better ways to amuse yourself like looking for your brain, or some common sense rather steal someone’s animals from their yard.

Didn’t yo mama ever teach you it was wrong to steal?

Asshat.

I hope you are proud of yourself causing grief to kids with your thoughtlessness.

Give ‘em hell Bubbles! Ravish their dogs, make a mess of their yard, and crap in their shoes!

that ‘Bubbles’ is a boy.

Why?

Well I’m glad you asked.

Firstly because he’s just plain strange…

(forgive the poor video quality – they were taken using my mobile)

Secondly because he attempts to dominate everything in the yard – duck, chooken, dog, cat – makes no difference.

(this was taken AFTER he spent a good five minutes chasing Lucy all over the yard)

And we think he may have attempted to ravish the dog…

You be the judge!

Playing with our flock

Enjoying the ducks enjoying their new garden bath tub

Checking on what remains of our poor vegie garden. Most stuff bolted straight to seed with the extreme heat early in the growing season so we aren’t left with much

- a handful of spuds

Giant zucchini!!

A success! Our first ever capsicums

Rambling rockmelon plants starting to flower

Liking the results of my monotype printmaking experiments for uni

TJ said to me “That looks really good Mum. It’s like it looks like a tree and you can see the patterns in the bark and stuff”. Exactly what I was aiming for mate!