Barmy Blue's Bland Blog

So, for the past 2-3 days Yuki's been limping when she goes out. The first night it happened mum brought her straight back and got me to check for anything amiss. Nothing I could see. She went back out but wasn't happy about it.

Yesterday when I took her out she didn't want to go. When she did she was limping, even though she hadn't during the day. I wondered if the pavement was too rough on her paws but because we have carpet inside it's softer so she doesn't limp indoors I only took her for a short walk and she didn't pee so I let her go in the garden. We bather her paws in salt water last night. They were very rough.

Today I decided to dig up some old socks for her. They're very cute on her. Only trouble was she kept pulling them off. Mum had this odd idea of trying to knit some socks from cut up tights. We had a go at it, her trying to knit, me trying to crochet. I gave up.

Mum went out to get some Vaseline to moisturise Yui's paws. While she did that I had the idea of using one of the strips of tights we'd cut up to make doggy suspenders. I figured the material is super stretch and soft so shouldn't cut into her back. My only worry is that she'll try to chew it. I sewed it into the socks and made a cute pair of sock mittens.

On my night walk tonight she was a bit better so we had a slightly longer walk than yesterday.

When we got back we put the Vaseline on her front paws (I let her sniff it, hoping the smell would deter her from licking it. It had the opposite effect, she tried to eat it so I had to keep her more firmly pinned down than I planned). Then we put the sock mittens on to stop her licking. She's had them on a few hours now and seems okay with them. I'm so pleased.

We checked her for cracked paws but couldn't find any. They just seem awfully dry. We've been stalling rushing her to the vet because it's not like she's doing it all the time and he'll do what he always does in case he misses something which is prescribe her a week's course of antibiotics. Also he can be a bit grumpy, though he does really care about the animals and we don't want to waste his time if we can treat her at home. We'll see how she goes.

In other news.

Mum had a few weeks intense work with a neighbour doing filing and such for her. It was nice to have some of the old routine again but mum missed a lot of her regular tv which she was a little peeved about.

I cashed my birthday and Christmas cheques, made a mistake with the form, I think, thought they went in but didn't and had this confirmed when my bank statement arrived, consulted the bank about it and in about an hour they were found (apparently they'd been kept in "the safe" and were fine) and we cashed within an hour. The other day the bank called me to conduct a survey on the customer service I received at that time. I gave them a good review.

I've been working on making a crochet plastic bag from old plastic bags. It's a strain on my hand but it's been fun.

I've been watching Yakitate!! Japan, Marimite, and Shugo Chara! They've been on my to watch list for a while.
I've also been reading Ai Ore!, one of the books mum got me for my birthday, the other was The Betrayal Knows My Name, I read that one a while ago now.

Also there'd a leaking pipe on my part of the roof. The pigeons have been driving me crazy scrabbling about on the roof. I've now discovered that it's them perching on the pipe to drink. It's quite cute but I worry they'll damage the pipe with all their moving around.

We had a squirrel on the roof a week or so ago. It was making a very loud gnawing sound. We put out some nuts to appease it. I've named it Ratatoskr. I think it's pretty cool. We got it some more nuts; monkey nuts, walnuts and some pumpkin seeds for a change. We haven't had squirrels around for a while. Our old ones were called Secret and Precious. I assume they're dead now. Shame. Secret was a very clever guy and Precious was very cute. I'm hoping Ratatoskr will be fun too.

Anything else? I learned how to make an origami flapping crane. I'm quite pleased with that, I could only do the basic crane before.

I made my first children's birthday cards for Chi and Usa, aged 3 and 2. I've been collecting stickers to do children's cards for about 3 years now so it was fun to finally use them.

Seen some pretty bright stars recently and I'm anxiously awaiting the time when the moon is visible from my window again.

I think that's about it.

So. Bluebiird out.

Just took the booties off for the night walk and the paws are much softer. She went out without a fuss too. I'm very pleased.