Tuesday 24 February 2009

Catching up

A rather wobbly picture of Lucy in happier times . . .


I have had a worrying two weeks with Lucy, who was my mum's little cat. Her mother hit her in the eye, claws well out, and we have been backwards and forwards to the vet, but sadly it resulted in Lucy having to have the eye removed yesterday. She is tucked up in my eldest daughter's wardrobe (which has no door and was the warmest place to be in the middle of the night). I shall spend some time with her this morning, so she can have her buster collar off and eat and drink freely. I didn't sleep well last night because I knew she wasn't even going to try and eat or drink with that collar on and I had to trickle some water into her mouth with a syringe. Poor little girl, she didn't deserve this.

To take my mind off worrying, I have been working hard in the new soft fruit and vegetable plot in the paddock. It gets the sun all day long, and I did have a salad area there about 15 years ago. The side I'm putting the soft fruit in has a lot of tree roots, which make digging difficult, and I had to clear brambles from along the fence line, so have to mattock the roots out as I go, and remove all the tangles of grass roots . . . It is doing my waistline the world of good though!

So far I have planted half a dozen redcurrant bushes and ditto blackcurrants (the latter grown by me from cuttings last year) and I got 10 summer raspberries in yesterday, and also Fall Gold, a yellow autumn raspberry. I have more blackcurrants, raspberries, tayberries and blueberries to put in, and a couple of rhubarb crowns too.

Area cleared and planted up with red and black-currants. Established bushes on right.

The "path" across the middle which we will cover with chippings. Fruit trees either side. Bonfire far left and trash pile, to be cut up for burning, beside it.

We have bought some cheap fruit trees from Lidl and planted them beside the path - 3 Doyenne de Comice pears, two Victoria plums and a Cox's Orange Pippin apple tree. We probably won't reap the benefits with the planned downsize (now postponed for a year to let the market settle), but hopefully it will paint the "Good Life" picture for prospective buyers. Should we not sell next year, then we will enjoy the fruits of our labours . . .

Close up of new currant bushes.

I started off several lots of tomato seedlings yesterday - Brandywine, Sub Arctic (in case we have another cold wet summer), and Pomodoro (an outdoor type too). I also have Tigerella lurking in the long grass somewhere in my basket of seeds so I will look those out today. I have them under glass and in a flip-top plastic tray that held Iced Donuts (nothing gets wasted in this house!) on a warm windowsill.

I took myself off for a brisk walk up the hill yesterday afternoon, to take my mind off worrying about Lucy. It's a walk I do so often that I thought I would leave the camera behind. I should have known better - the first Primroses were out (their perfume is so delicate) and the sky was amazing. It looked like a water colour painting, with layers of grey from slate grey to lilac, palest as it sunk behind the horizon, all the colours bleeding into one another.



I just wish I could shed the worry over Lucy. I'm in my third week of it now and it drags me down. I only started worrying like this when I hit 50 - the Menopause has a lot to answer for . . .

12 comments:

A Bite of Country Cupcakes said...

Oh golly I am a worrier now!
The berries and plans for the garden sound great!
How just simple is the pleasures of home grown!

Goosey said...

Poor little Lucy, I really hope she turns the corner soon and starts to get better. The signs of spring are all around us now and maybe this will make her feel better too. Take care love Goosey x

Greentwinsmummy said...

Poor little kitty :o( she will mend up & cope admirably with one eye I promise,try not to worry too much sweetpea,hard I know x x
I saw some primroses along the lane yesterday morning when out running,theres been one out in our tiny lane here but these yesterday were the first I saw in the other lane lol!
Such bright little things they are.

Great pics of the new plot! that wil be doing you so much good :O) I ache like a blighter this morning but in a nice way lol!
GTM x x x

Anonymous said...

Poor Lucy :( I hope she recovers from the operation as quickly as possible.

Sandy~Folkwood said...

Poor little Lucy, and big hugs winging their way to you from down under Jennie. Just not fair that the worries hit at a time when you've enough on your plate. Lovely to see that Spring is in the air though.
Sandyxxx

Maggie Christie said...

Poor Lucy. I hope she's better soon.

Lovely to see the fruit garden taking shape. All that promise of lovely juicy berries.

Arlene G said...

Sorry about Lucy, Jennie...hope you see clearer skies soon.

Morning's Minion said...

Menopause seems to drag on forever--not fair!
I raised the fall cropping raspberries in our New England garden--they were always the best, having the benefit of cooler weather and more moisture. I would endure any amount of aching if I had some receptive ground for gardening!
Re Lucy: I've had to be careful in the past with syringing water into an ailing cat--was warned they could aspirate it. A spoonful of canned evaporated milk or of the meat paste in little jars for babies is tempting to most kitties. When any of mine are ill I hover--holding them and telling them how much I love them comforts me to a degree and I hope encourages the cat in question.

thelma said...

I'm sure Lucy will learn to cope, its sad it had to happen though. I should'nt worry too much animals are great survivors..XX

Val said...

When our grey cat had to have her eye removed she took a little while to recover but then she had a new lease of life and lived to be a Grand old age (and was a very happy cat)
If you are squeamish avoid the part at the vets when they remove the packing it tends to go on forever (Methods may have changed by now?) but it did the job and the cat didn't care about being one eyed.

Bovey Belle said...

Thank you ALL so much for your comments and good wishes. We've just had to come back from the vet's with her again as her breathing sounded a little crackly (she was under the anaethstetic quite a while yesterday. She's had 3 more jabs, but one was morphine based so she is pain free at the moment.

Will try her with baby food, meat paste and evaporated milk and see if I can tempt her. Thanks Sharon.

I may make up the bed in there tonight so I can check on her more easily (and she will be happy to share the bed).

Anonymous said...

Bovey, I love your honest posting, and your garden reclamation - I can TASTE those fruits.

I don't think it is the menopause (now years behind me); some of us are carers and worriers, and sensitive to fragile things; which isn't to say that others are not, the balance shifts. Just look at those primroses and all that they have to say; delicate, but they renew year after year.