Tuesday Came and Went

I’m trying to think what I did today; I’ve been busy all day but don’t feel I’ve achieved much.

The sky was a bit overcast this morning but I decided to risk putting the clothes I’d washed yesterday on the line. A good move, as the forecast rain hasn’t materialised. I also got another couple of loads washed and dried today too.

I then did a bit more on the kitchen. Last night/this morning I put the remaining doors on and eventually sorted out the misaligning false drawers, finishing at about 1 am. No wonder I didn’t want to get up today.

This morning’s task was to fix the worktop to the single unit by the cooker (not in this picture) and then try and decide what was going into each cupboard. Not too difficult but I still have problems when it comes to making decisions so I started off with the single unit. It was then that I noticed I’d put one of the cross pieces to support the worktop in the wrong way round. The nice wood coloured finishing strip was behind and the rough chipboard finish to the front. The draw front and the worktop would cover most of it but I knew it had to be changed so I found my hammer and the trusty piece of scrap wood I’d used to put the unit together and proceeded to wallop the unit apart. Gulp. Thankfully it came apart without any damage, the offending piece rotated and it’s all back together and ready for tiling.

In between time I had also been to the vet to get some more anti parasite stuff for the alpacas. I’d spent some time on Excel working out the dosages I need to give them and realised I only had half quantities. Everything is off label for alpacas and the dosages are usually greater than for horses or cows and is dependant on body weight. The vet didn’t have the strength I wanted so I’ve also had to make allowances for that. Once calculated I then did an Internet search and found someone else’s stated amounts and found to my relief they tallied with the result I got.

Since tomorrow will be dosing day, after I’d fed and cleaned out the alpacas I then set about re-arranging the hurdles to create the capture pen for tomorrow. I lure them in with their granules and close the gate behind them. The treatment tomorrow is oral not an injection which they had the last time (I wimped out) and is supposed to give a change of medication to increase the spectrum of parasites treated. Those few lines cover nearly an hour’s work.

The chickens have had their visits, they get 4-5 per day not counting just going up to watch them; one to let them out, one to feed them and pick up any eggs, one to pick up eggs laid later in the day, one or two to see if they’ve gone to bed and to lock them in for the night.

The dried washing has been folded and brought in and a bit more plaster has gone into a major hole in the wall behind where the sink has been fitted. Working late last night I spotted a fleeting shadow and was just in time to watch a mouse dive down the back of the sink and into the wall where the old pipe work has been cut away leaving the gaping hole. Just another thing to add to the unending to do list.

The major occurrence today though concerns Mr Tibbs. He turned up again today and was very vocal as his food dish was empty. No problem, I quickly got him some more and he ate. I then found out he has diarrhoea, no I’m not going into details. He’s not feverish or showing any other symptoms other than being rather thin. I do wonder what he’s been eating over the times he’s not here. He’s also come back with lots of cuts and scars round his neck and shoulders and on one cheek. The cheek could be rat inflicted but I’m wondering if the neck and shoulder wounds are from being attacked by a dog. The scars certainly weren’t there a week ago when I wormed and flea treated him. The diarrhoea could have been triggered by the treatment as well.

Whatever the cause, he’s been by my side the whole day, curling up on the cat mat in the kitchen while I worked there and sitting out in the sun while I dealt with the alpacas. He even followed Cid and me when I took a stroll round the chicken paddock – the chickens hadn’t gone to bed so I had to go out again later.

I sat down to write this and realised he wasn’t in the kitchen; this is where I found him

And at one point Cid settled on the opposite corner and wasn’t hissing at him as he usually does.

Now can anyone tell me why cats are so perverse that after 4 months of trying to persuade him to be an indoor cat he finally moves in when he has diarrhoea?