Day 52 - Furry Mama - Cats - Vets - Hmmmmmm!

Furry Mama made a really big mistake when she was given Hinge and Bracket as her Wedding Present from Calum five-and-a-half years ago. They were rescue kittens. Probably about twelve or so weeks old at the time. Terrified of the world. Her intention was to take them out and about in their cat basket so that they got used to it and the car. She didn't do it. Big mistake. BIG.

The only time that they have ever been in their basket is to be driven home and to go to the vets. Result. Cat basket equals pure terror. Today they needed to go for their annual jabs. Well actually, they didn't. It could have waited a couple of weeks. But today Baggy had two text messages from the vet reminding her that their jabs were due. She's so stressed at the moment that she knows that if she doesn't do stuff almost immediately, she totally forgets to do (whatever) it (is). She blames Hormonal Hannah for this. Truth is though that Hinge is SO fat, that Baggy can barely lift the two of them in their basket, even with a fully functioning arm. Plus she can't drive. So as Calum was home, today seemed like a good day to take them. Clever Bird made a last minute appointment for one hours time from the phone call.

Clever Bird asked Calum to go and retrieve the cat basket from the shed. He still had his boots on after walking Minty Mutt. Baggy had already discarded hers. (The Domestic Goddess gets hoity-toity if people tread mud around the house, but Calum hasn't quite got this memo yet). As he was heading out of the kitchen door, Clever Bird yelled, "Whatever you do don't let the cats out or we'll be stuffed!" Now Furry Mama is pretty sure that Bracket kat speaks English. Both cats were upstairs at the time. As she uttered these immortal words, Bracket shot downstairs and charged between Baggy's legs. Shot across the kitchen. Got to the back door, just as Calum opened it. His boot did not prevent her from shooting out of the house! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

The next thirty minutes was spent with Calum and Furry Mama alternately trying to persuade Bracket to come back in. But she knew something was amiss. Every time Clever Bird thought she was on her way in, she shot off. Furry Mama decided to phone the vets and cancel the appointment. Calum told her to give it one last try. She walked all the way up the garden calling her. No good. Give up. She walked back to the house, to see Bracket walking back out of the kitchen via the open door. Hmmmm! Bracket let Furry Mama pick her up. Oh the guilt!!!!! Back door shut. Cat basket hidden. Calum scooped Bracket up and got her in the basket. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. At the top of her voice. Great. Warn Hinge why don't you? Calum managed to collect Hinge from upstairs. Next trick. Get Hinge in the basket while stopping Bracket from getting out. Failed. Hinge put one paw in each corner. Then escaped. Shot upstairs. Fortunately, she stopped half way up rather than hiding under a bed. Furry Mama managed to pick her up. But all her front claws were firmly attached to the stair carpet. Baggy finally detached her. Hurt her arm in the process.

 

Calum sat the basket on its end. Dropped Hinge in. On top of poor Bracket. Needs must! Even Calum could barely lift it! Hinge is not small. She takes after her Furry Mama and Dad. Big boned.

 

 

The meowing all the way to the vets was heart breaking. But once Calum could actually now persuade them to get out of the basket, they just freeze. Bless them. No clawing. No spitting. Nothing. They become perfect patients because they are so scared. Jabs given. Lecture received. AGAIN! Because they are both over weight. Bracket (the skinny one) is 7/9. Hinge is 9/9. Oh dear. Various toys bought by Furry Mama on the way home. Plus they are both now on the Slimming World diet for cats! Well at least Baggy has burnt off a few extra calories from all the drama.......

 

 

Day 51 - Baggy and the gang are out of sorts.

Truth be told, it's all got a bit much for Baggy and the gang today. 2015 could have gone rather better than it did. Clever Bird knows that everything is catching up with Baggy and she's feeling exhausted. It has not been an easy day and Hormonal Hannah has gone in to overdrive. It would be less hard if Calum wasn't away in his lorry. Baggy got used to having him around over Christmas. He did offer to come home today, but after all the time he's had to take off work to look after her, it seemed very unreasonable of Baggy to ask! So she told him she was "fine". She's not. She only had about five hours sleep last night. She's exhausted. Her arm is seriously painful. Yet at the same time it has no sensation in parts of it where the surgery was. How is that even possible? Her little finger is really swollen and won't bend properly. But the biggest issues are emotional ones. Sometimes in life it all gets too much. Today is one of those days.

Baggy is not liking being on her own at all. She spends most of the time on her own normally. Calum is away all week in his lorry. Baggy is by herself. But usually Grotty Groom is at the yard for at least four or five hours of the day. So not only does she spend time with her horses, she also gets to see friends at the yard. She can have a human conversation. Not so at the moment. Baggy cannot drive, because her arm isn't strong enough. So she is stuck at home.  She's spent a large part of the day talking to Calum and her sister, Debby, on the phone, but she's still on her own. Baggy got rather used to being with Debby and her niece Abigail, when she was being looked after in Kent. Now she feels the loneliness more. Baggy no longer enjoys her solitude!!!! There she has said it. The anti-social bird is missing company.

So much so in fact that she has possibly just upset the neighbours by getting Furry Mama to have a long, very loud conversation with Minty Mutt. Usually the conversation is one way. Lots of Baggy wittering. No response from the mutt. Every now and again he finds his voice. Today he did. It's a high pitched "woof" in response to every word that Furry Mama utters. As she needed conversation today she encouraged him. It was loud and raucous. It went on for a long time. He started doing play bows and it all got a bit over excited. Baggy's arm got knocked, so Furry Mama stopped. But it cheered the gang up.

Now, rightly or wrongly. Almost certainly wrongly, she's on the wine. Usually Baggy tries not to drink on her own. Actually, she wasn't drinking at all, as it's too fattening on her Slimming World path. But today she needed a glass or three of wine..........

  

Day 50 - Wow, where does time go?

Creative Clara seems to have been typing all day. She's only just finished her third part of her series for www.channillo.com - "The everyday stories of Baggy Body and her gang". She's gone back to the beginning as it were, when Lawrence was first discovered, so Clever Bird's brain is currently marginally frazzled. Not helped by the fact that she had a bright idea that she could type it in "Word" first then just upload it on to the site. No. For reasons that are too boring to explain she cannot do that at the moment, so she's had to type it twice. Yay. It's done. But then she remembered that she had let you bloggees down, so here we are.

Calum has been back at work for two days now, so Christmas seems an age ago. But Furry Mama is still determined to keep Minty Mutt's inner puppy woofing. As it is such a beautiful sunny day, she decided to take him on the same walk that we did yesterday, but add a bit. She noticed three other footpaths yesterday. It seemed like a plan to explore. "Don't forget the stile though" said Calum, when Baggy told him of Furry Mama's intentions. "No, that's fine. This new route misses it" said Clever Bird. Oh no it doesn't. The extra three paths are just past the stile!

 

There are two things to say about this (apart from the fact that Clever Bird is an idiot). Firstly the stile is half the height that Creative Clara described it as yesterday. It's probably a foot high. Secondly, the platform on top of it is much wider than she described. Probably about four inches wide. So today Minty Mutt was determined to prove to his Furry Mama that he really is a puppy. He gave it rather a long look. Considered his options. Hesitated.

 

 

 

"Go for it, Minty Mutt, you can do it!" encouraged Furry Mama. Bless him. He went for it. It wasn't elegant and it wasn't pretty, but the old lad got over it without Baggy hurting her arm having to lift him over.

 

 

 

By now Minty Mutt was on a mission. When we arrived at the extra three footpaths a little while later, Furry Mama chose the one that headed straight on towards the village Church. Amazingly though, Mint was trotting along so quickly that we were back home again in around the same forty-five minutes as the shorter route yesterday. Clever Bird reckons we'll have to try the other two paths and see where they go next. Baggy is very lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world........

 



 

 

 



 

 

  

Day 49 - How many mince pies can one Baggy eat?

The house is looking lovely and tidy again thanks to The Goddess. She's definitely making up for the absence of Grotty Groom. Freda Fretter does prefer to be in a nice environment and she's determined to keep The Goddess on plan this time. It burns off quite a few calories while Grotty is off duty too. Just as well really because Baggy is still working her way through the mince pies, Christmas cake and biccies that are hanging about. Freda is slightly worried that Baggy's arm is still a bit swollen.  Clever Bird couldn't work out why it still won't go straight, but looking in the mirror, it is still about a centimetre more swollen than the other one. So presumably that's why. Baggy can use it a lot more now, but it is odd. If she touches the elbow area it's numb and yet put any pressure on it by leaning on it for instance and it hurts like heck. So clearly it's got quite a way to go before it's healed.

Baggy did manage to drive on Christmas Day, but she had Calum with her to help with any difficult steering issues. But Grotty was determined to see her Boys, so she was prepared to make the effort. But quiet Christmas Day country roads are one thing. Busy town roads and car parks are an entirely different issue. Clever Bird is well aware that Baggy is not ready for that yet. She's not even ready for straight roads unless Calum is with her, so she's stuck in the village. But that's a good thing for Minty Mutt and the house. By the time that Calum gets home from work on Thursday, the house and the dog will both be sparkly...........

Day 49 - Furry Mama and The Domestic Goddess are taking advantage of Baggy.

Considering that Baggy has only been up for a couple of hours the gang are doing well! Clever Bird has realised that Calum was correct the other day when he said that Minty Mutt had benefited from being at Baggy's sister Debby's for nearly two weeks. A change does seem to be as good as a rest, as they say. Minty and Baggy got fitter and fitter while down in Kent and Furry Mama has kept it up since we've been back. So, this morning, in the spirit of "variety is the spice of life", Furry Mama took Mint on another long walk. One we've only done once before and it took well over an hour. Today, the two "puppies" did it in forty-five minutes, in spite of the fact that part of it is "wetlands" and Baggy was sinking about six inches in it. Minty was sinking even further. To get to the "wetlands" we had to climb over a weird stile. It's basically a plank of wood that's about two feet high. Easy for Baggy to step over. Not so easy for Minty Mutt. He immediately tried to jump it. Massive front paws on top. But it's only about an inch wide, so he couldn't get his back end up on top to enable him to jump off the other side. The second time he tried, Furry Mama grabbed him under his bottom and hoiked him over. Of course Clever Bird completely forgot about Baggy's bad arm, but actually considering that Minty Mutt weighs seven stone, she didn't hurt it too badly at all.

Actually, Minty Mutt might not weigh seven stone any longer. Debby suggested that Furry Mama reduced his food back a little. So now he's on a little less food and far fewer treats. As a result, he now has a waist again. He's a massive boy though so he probably still weighs almost seven stone. Seven stone that was once again covered in mud when we got back. Furry Mama washed him off. Dried him off. And gave him a groom before she brought him in. He still managed to drip muddy water everywhere through the house though, so no, Clever Bird, Furry Mama's drying skills weren't good enough.

Since then The Goddess has rustled up lunch. Creative Clara has written this. The Goddess has sorted a load of washing and is about to tackle yesterday's dried mud which is all over the rugs. It's all go. The real test will be later though, when Baggy attempts to brush out her dreadlocks...........

Day 48 - Christmas is almost over.

Sorry that the Gang has been a little absent over the Christmas holidays. It's been a lovely few days, so Baggy's been kept rather busy by everyone and not found much time for Creative Clara to blog. Today for instance Baggy and Calum went over for lunch with some lovely friends of ours. It's now 8.15pm and Clara has only just got to the laptop. The lunch lasted all the way in to the evening. The conversation went from political, to philosophical, to spiritual and whipped back and forth in between to our various horses. The time flew. Had Furry Mama not been fretting about Minty Mutt, we would probably still be there. But Mint needed a leg stretch and the chance to do his ablutions.

So when we got home at about 7.00pm, Furry Mama stuck Grotty's mucking out boots on and one of Calum's hi-viz coats over her little going-out dress, and she and Calum took Mint for a walk in the dark. We didn't go far but Mint was on a sniffing mission and kept trotting off. Because he's so huge, even with his flashing red light on, on his collar, if he faced away from us we couldn't see him at all in the dark. He had a lovely time. Because Baggy was wearing her nice dress, she didn't dry Minty off before letting him back in the house. Big mistake. The Domestic Goddess is not amused. How can one dog get so filthy during a short walk?  He managed to drip wet mud all the way across the first rug, then lay down on the second rug and totally soaked it (in mud). Well The Goddess will be busy tomorrow when Calum goes back to work. At least it might stop Hormonal Hannah from getting in too much of a state, when she gets up and Calum isn't here. The house will feel very empty......

Day 47 - Baggy's overdone it.

Boxing Day. A day for walking off the Christmas Day excesses. So Furry Mama persuaded Calum to come out with her and Minty Mutt. Unlike the miserable weather of yesterday, today in sunny Suffolk is very mild. Calum is apparently a fine-weather walker, because today he found his inner puppy and when Furry Mama would have turned to head for home, Calum headed us on another footpath. It was a gorgeous walk through the woods in our village. But it was very muddy. Baggy's stomach began to feel the effort required to prevent her from slipping. About half-way round, Baggy realised that perhaps Furry Mama was being a tad optimistic about how far she could walk. Pretty irrelevant realisation though, as Clever Bird pointed out, she still had to get back home. So Baggy sought out a large wood pile and had a sit down for a while.

As far as her Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst surgery is concerned Baggy should really be pretty much "back to normal" by now, according to the booklet from the hospital. Albeit the Surgeons told Grotty Groom that she shouldn't be doing the horses for three months. So that's a little contradictory. But Clever Bird thinks too that Baggy's arm surgery has caused her other recovery to be a little delayed. The good news though is that she really does feel pretty good. Even Baggy's arm is almost back to its correct size. The swelling and bruising has virtually gone. So by the time Baggy had had a cup of tea, a cheese straw, a couple of sausage rolls, a few pigs in blankets and a turkey and cranberry sandwich she felt as good as new. Mind you, yes we're agreed Freda Fretter, that's not much of a plan for burning off the extra calories. Ah well, it's still Christmas after all........

Day 46 - It's Christmas....................

Christmas Day 2015. Wow! Clever Bird cannot quite believe it. Baggy is very grateful to be fit, well, alive and very much on the home-stretch of her road to recovery. It could have been so much worse. For many people it is. The gang send love, hugs and positive vibes to everyone that needs them at this special time of year. They are all feeling positive for 2016 and hope that you all have a great year too.

Grotty Groom got to see her horses today, so her Christmas wish was granted. Baggy hopes that yours is too.............

Day 45 - A very Happy Christmas bloggees, from Baggy and her Gang.

Baggy, her gang, furries and husband would just like to wish all you bloggees Season's Greetings. We hope you have a pleasant few days, whatever you are doing. We are having a quiet couple of days on our own, at home. Although if you could see the amount of sausage rolls and "pigs in blankets" that Calum has now made, you would think that we had a dozen people staying. Mind you, as Clever Bird has already realised, Calum is probably right, Baggy's already eaten ten sausage rolls and eight pigs.  She's already stopped drinking the lethal mulled wine and swapped to white wine though, or as Freda Fretter pointed out, "Things could get messy". She's a bit of a light-weight our Baggy.

But it is Christmas and rightly or wrongly we British do tend to rather over eat at this time of year. Baggy's being particularly greedy having been on a sensible eating plan for so many months. (Well okay, not for the last few weeks, maybe. No need to rub it in). But she'll get herself back on track after Christmas. Have a lovely one.............

Day 45 - Number One Furry is Home for Christmas.

Baggy was woken up by the phone at 11.00am. Ooops! It was Baggy's husband saying that he'd be home shortly. Baggy leapt (as best she could with a still sore stomach and very painful arm) out of bed. Chivvied Furry Mama up to feed the four-legged furries. Dived into the shower (too quickly - slipped and banged her arm. Stupid.). Was just getting dried when Minty Mutt started whining and whimpering and scratching the front door. Ah well, no pretending to her husband that Baggy had been up for hours then, eh Clever Bird?

Calum was greeted by two naked people: Baggy and Minty Mutt. It probably made his Christmas Eve. Hinge and Bracket did their usual panic when someone other than Furry Mama (even their Dad) arrives at the door, and shot upstairs. They then slunk back down again, all embarrassed, when they realised it was their Dad. So he was greeted by two more naked people. Family complete, Baggy realised that Calum had brought her beautiful roses and even more food for Christmas. Bearing in mind that it will be just Baggy and the furries for Christmas, we'll probably still be eating "Christmas" food in February!

Furry Mama persuaded a rather reluctant Calum (who had been up since 4.30am) to come out with her and Minty Mutt. Just as it started to absolutely pour down. The wind was again blowing a gale. But today it was icy. But Minty's inner puppy needs to be retained, so needs must. Half way round Calum had found his inner "old man" and Baggy had slipped and found her inner "Lawrence ghost". So Minty Mutt trotted along while Baggy and Calum hobbled along. The sun came out and the wind dropped just as we all got home, dripping wet and in Minty's case, covered in mud. "Well that's my Christmas walk done then", said Calum. Hmmmmm!

Time to start making sausage rolls and "pigs in blankets". It's a Christmas tradition. A Calum Christmas tradition you understand, not a Goddess one. The Domestic Goddess will just look on with admiration and try to stop Baggy from scoffing the lot before they're even cool. And so Christmas begins.............

Day 44 - Carrying on.

Furry Mama decided that Minty Mutt should go out again before it got dark as he was so keen this morning. She put his collar on, opened the back door. Nothing. Gentle nudge up the bottom. Nothing. "Guess you don't want to go out again then?". Big furry eyebrows raised. Clearly not! "Chewie?". "Thought you'd never ask Mum", says Minty as he trots over to his bed and lies down. Fair enough really. Clever Bird realised that he's not getting his usual chewies as Baggy isn't leaving the house at the moment. She can't. Still can't drive. Mind you there's one bonus to not going out. A credit card statement with zero spend on it this month. Little things.

The Domestic Goddess is wearing herself out though. At this rate her other name of "Not" might need to be replaced with "Okay". She's been around more in the last five days than in the previous five months. Baggy is very pleased with her efforts. At least for once the sitting room looks almost like a proper, normal sitting room. Ish. Okay maybe not, but it is clean and tidy. It's definitely a bit of a Christmas miracle.

Despite all this activity, Baggy's arm is doing okay. Freda Fretter has stopped Baggy from taking any painkillers for the last three days (she thinks she's been on them too long), but she's okay. The arm is a lot less swollen. It now feels stingy and sore rather than burny, so Clever Bird is hopeful that it's properly on the mend now. It has after all been three weeks since the operation, so it ought not to be quite so painful. At least Baggy will be able to cut her own Christmas dinner up rather than having it cut up for her like a baby. Little things. The Gang cannot believe that it's Christmas Eve tomorrow.......

Day 44 - Creative Clara has expanded her horizons!

Baggy overslept yet again. This is getting silly now. Even the cats are resigned to just sleeping with Furry Mama until Baggy stirs. But at least she slept well. Five whole hours without getting up. Unheard of. Only one hot flush all night from Hormonal Hannah and that was when Bracket kat decided to get in bed with Furry Mama and managed to stick one of her claws in Baggy's nipple. Yes. Quite! Baggy has to have a cup of tea to start the day. No coffee for her. She's English after all. But last night the kettle gave up the ghost. Over used from too much tea-making. So The Domestic Goddess is having to boil water in a little pan on the cooker. But this is The Goddess we're talking about. Last night she put the pan on to boil. Totally forgot about it. Well over an hour later Baggy wandered through the kitchen so that Furry Mama could let Minty Mutt in from the garden. No water left in the pan. Miraculously, there was still a pan! Clever Bird can only presume there must be a safety device on the halogen hob, because thankfully it had switched off. Phew! Hopeless Goddess. This morning Clever Bird would not let her walk away from the pan. The Goddess is blaming Hormonal Hannah for the near disaster. She has a point. Since Baggy's hysterectomy her memory makes a goldfish's look positively long term.

Tea (safely) made, Creative Clara was excited to have a look at her new venture; a series on www.channillo.com. She put up the first of her "Journal" posts yesterday and wanted to see whether it was on the site. It was. She was very excited. Until she realised that the "book cover" that she had spent about two hours trying to create yesterday, was mucking up the whole site! Nooooooo. Sooooooo embarrassing. She knew it wasn't great. She'd e-mailed the company for help. But she did think it was the correct size. It was sooooooo big, that it was bouncing other author's covers off the page. Fortunately, the "help" team had suggested a solution, using very "simple to use" software. Really, not so simple for Clever Bird, but two hours later Creative Clara had something vaguely resembling a correctly sized cover.

 

Admittedly there's room for improvement, but it's a start. No hiding behind a pseudonym or an anonymous photo. Nope. Baggy Body is out there for all to see. Wise? Who knows? But just typing that has caused Hormonal Hannah to give Clara a hot flush. So bloggees if you want to read even more about Baggy's Gang, we would be delighted to see you at Channillo.

 

Cover sorted, Baggy rustled Furry Mama up to take Minty Mutt out. He seriously is on a mission these days. Baggy was virtually trotting to keep up with him. It's doing Baggy as much good as Minty to walk more. Baggy's stomach is definitely getting stronger. As is her arm. This morning she actually managed to put a pony tail in. Yay! It's been left in for the last three days because Clever Bird knew that Baggy couldn't lift her arm high enough to do it, but this morning Baggy looked as though she'd been dragged through a holly bush sideways! There was an aerial of mad white hair shooting up from her head like some demented sea anemone, so it had to be sorted. It was. Little things.

 

As Baggy and Clara were both on a roll, Christmas present wrapping was also tackled. Successfully. Now Baggy just needs to track down The Goddess to clean up the very large mud paw prints that Creative Minty Mutt has decorated the kitchen floor with............

Day 43 - The gang is struggling to get going today.

Baggy slept in very late again. Creative Clara wanted to get going on her blog, so she did. Baggy still wasn't up and dressed. Minty Mutt was sulking. He'd got used to being taken out for a walk by Baggy's sister Debby, at 7.30am every day. He was clearly not amused that Furry Mama didn't even appear until 11.00am and then let Creative Clara distract her. He didn't even get up off his little hippy mats to give Furry Mama her usual morning cuddle. The sulk worked. Despite the gales blowing outside, Furry Mama got showered and dressed ready to take the boy out. The good news is that Baggy's arm must be getting better! It still hurts like heck. It's still swollen. But Baggy managed to put deodorant on her left armpit without swearing. Then she managed to do her bra up at the back, rather than spinning it around from the front. Little things. So the least she could do was to let Furry Mama take Minty out.

Minty obviously thought that Grotty Groom was back in action. He's used to waiting at home in the mornings when Grotty goes off to do the horses. He always goes and lies on his bed and waits for his treats before Grotty sets off. He did that this morning. Still in a sulk. The sulk soon ended when he realised that Furry Mama had picked his collar up. Suddenly he's scoffing his breakfast that he'd previously ignored. Jumping up and down on the spot. Howling like a banshee. Inner puppy revived once more. It's difficult for Baggy at the moment when seven-stone of German Shepherd bounces on to her, too many bits of Baggy hurt. So as Furry Mama hadn't even got her boots on, she shooed the barking, spinning, whining, over-excited, nearly nine year old "puppy" out of the front door, while she got ready. The barking got louder. Oh, well done Clever Bird. Shut the dog out with the Postman (who's absolutely terrified of him) why don't you? Well done. Well done indeed. "Sorry".

Minty Mutt on lead with Baggy using her left hand to hold it, Furry Mama set off. The winds were gale force. Baggy was dreaming of her sofa. Freda Fretter was worrying about branches falling on Baggy and Mint. Mint was just happy sniffing and towing Baggy along. Furry Mama decided to take Minty for a decent walk to the local "dormouse sanctuary", a large pretty, fenced off area full of (completely invisible) dormice. We found a lost tennis ball. Minty chased it once, then carried it for the next half-a-mile. Once we reached the stream just back outside the sanctuary, he leapt into the muddiest part of it. Freda thought he was going to get stuck and was just wondering how Baggy was going to get in to get him out, when he moved. He dropped his ball. He lay down in the stream. Then he realised his ball had floated away. He scrabbled up the slippery, pure mud bank, toddled along beside the stream and leant down to get the ball. Not quite brave enough to go in properly. He managed to grab it. Just. Then somehow, he backed back up the steep muddy bank. Furry Mama suddenly remembered to get Baggy to breathe, before Freda fainted. Okay. Carry on the walk.

We followed a track up beside the sanctuary, with Mint sniffing and licking and trotting, yes trotting along. He wanted to re-enter the sanctuary through a different gate. Okay. Sniff. Lick. Sniff. Sniff. Scamper, scamper, run, nose to the ground. Ball completely forgotten and left behind after a lick. Then off he scampered. Furry Mama was impressed. Clever Bird watched him shoot left and right, nose to the ground. "Ah, Minty what are you following, a deer track, a fox track?" Baggy suddenly saw a couple up ahead with a spaniel. "Oh s**t!". "Mint here". "Really, you must be kidding Mum. There's a friend to be made." Mint shot off (well as quickly as an old German Shepherd can shoot) to the couple and the dog. Totally ignoring Furry Mama. "Sorry. He is very friendly. I can't run at the moment. Mint leave it!! Now!!". "No chance Mum. Have you smelt her?". "Urrm, is your dog in season?", "Yes. We just realised". "Well, I doubt he knows what to do but Mint is entire!". Man grabs Mint's collar. Good plan. Baggy finally gets to them. "So sorry." Furry Mama skulks off. "Seriously Minty that was naughty", "Well what did you think I was tracking Mum?". Oh yes. Well done again Clever Bird! It's a fenced off sanctuary so that foxes, deer, badgers, rabbits etc can't get in. Stupid woman. Well no harm done fortunately. And breathe.

By the time Furry Mama had waited long enough for Mint to calm down, Baggy's heart to stop boom, boomedy, boomedy, booming and the spaniel to be out of sight, if not out of smell, the wind had whipped up even more. Unfortunately in some ways, the spaniel had taken a different route, so now Furry Mama had to get Baggy to drag Mint, rather than her being dragged. At least the strong wind was behind them, blowing them along............

Day 43 - Baggy's body clock seems to have turned upside down.

Despite Creative Clara's best intentions last night, Baggy did not wrap one Christmas present! It is not beginning to look a bit like Christmas at all. Well not in Baggy's house anyway. Not one bauble is up. Not one bit of tinsel is glittering. Not one fairy is out and about. The only sign of Christmas is a couple of presents on the dresser and a few of Minty Mutt's toys from previous Christmases. This might have to be rectified now that The Domestic Goddess has made the house look quite pleasant for once. It's Christmas in three days time. It just doesn't feel like it. Clever Bird realises that this is partly because of the weather, which is more like a slightly dodgy spring than winter. But it's more about the previous few months of stress and surgery meaning that it feels as though Baggy's "lost" a few months somewhere. Clever Bird thinks that it should be September. Nothing's been quite right since then. The gang have been a bit without purpose.

Even Baggy's sleep patterns have got a tad muddled. Grotty Groom normally has Baggy so worn out that she's lucky if she hasn't gone to bed by 9.00pm. Now, partly because silly Hormonal Hannah and Freda Fretter are more worried at night than during the day (particularly last night, which was Baggy's first night totally on her own since her Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst surgery seven weeks ago), she's going to bed after midnight. Trouble is she then doesn't wake up until 11.00am. Yes, okay bloggees, you are quite right she wasn't totally on her own. It's impossible to be alone with furries, that's one of the joys of them. Furry Mama had Bracket kat on her bed all night and Hinge cat on her bed from 8.00am when she'd decided it was time she was cuddled and fed. Pity she launched onto the bed and landed on Baggy's arm wound. Ah well, Furry Mama loves them. Minty Mutt stayed downstairs on his new little hippy rugs snoring his head off, so you're right Baggy was not alone. Freda Fretter is not sure how this would have helped had Baggy got in any trouble, but still.

Creative Clara did have a good excuse for a late night last night though. She suddenly noticed that she had a personal message on her Twitter account, asking if she would consider writing a series for an American website. Her blog must have caught the owner's eye. Clara was very excited. Hormonal Hannah on the other hand went into a mini panic meltdown. Surely Clara's not good enough to warrant anyone paying to read her ramblings about Baggy's life. Surely not. Even if it isn't actually a lot of money. No she can't be good enough. Oooooooo, but it would be lovely if she was. And if she got a following. And if it earned her a bit of money. Maybe even enough for Grotty to buy the Boys some treats. Or, or, or, or. "Shut up Hannah, you are seriously knocking the gang's confidence". Clever Bird knows that not only can Clara do it (she already is with this blog), but she is going to do it. Exciting!

Her confidence about making this decision was added to this morning, when she noticed that yet another "country" has been added to Baggy Body's blog's "viewers". Welcome Malaysia.........

Day 42 - Little mats are moving in Baggy's house.

Supper had. Washing up done. Mystery solved. Clever bird could not work out a) why there are meeces in different places around the sitting room every time she looks and b) why the little mats keep ending up rumpled up no matter how many times The Goddess straightens them out. Straighten mat. Leave room to make a cup of tea. Return. Mat rumpled. Straighten mat. Leave room to feed the dog. Mat rumpled. Straighten mat. Leave room to go to the loo. Mat rumpled. Then Furry Mama saw why. Straighten mat. Equals cue Bracket kat to grab a meece and charge flat out at a mat. As the mat skids across the floor and rumples, Bracket throws herself on her back and attacks the meece with her back legs. Then immediately gets bored and wanders off, having abandoned the meece. Baggy straightens the mat and leaves the room. Bracket grabs a different meece and repeats her performance.

Now Furry Mama needs to encourage the Hinge cat to play the same game. She might actually burn off a couple of calories in the process. She needs to, Bless her. It's helping Baggy to burn a few too. The Goddess's new found pride in her house means that she has to straighten every mat, every time it's rumpled. Bearing in mind that there are now eighteen of them. Time to stop getting distracted and start pressie wrapping Baggy.........

Day 42 - The Domestic Goddess has made a really big appearance!

Baggy is struggling with this whole concept of resting. Clever Bird is finally beginning to realise just how active Baggy actually is normally. So not doing a lot, is very hard and very boring. Okay Baggy no longer has paid employment, but she still works pretty hard. Grotty Groom and Furry Mama take up most of her time usually. She is a very lucky Baggy Body, to be able to say that, and she's very appreciative of how hard Calum works to enable her to do it. But the fact is it's hard physical work and now she's not doing it, it's quite difficult. It's particularly hard today, because Baggy is home alone. Calum is away at work properly and won't be home until Christmas Eve. So a small Christmas miracle has occurred! Not only has The Domestic Goddess been sighted, she's been working her little socks off ever since Furry Mama got back from walking the Minty Mutt.

She's re-vacuumed the house. It might only have been done two days ago, but Minty is rather large and extremely furry. So is Calum for that matter. Re-dusted the house. Washed the kitchen floors. Put her new little rugs down (Creative Clara is loving the mad effect of them).

 

 

Hinge and Bracket seem to rather like them too. Everywhere Baggy goes there are meeces! But The Goddess has been on a roll. Vacuuming around the meeces. Vacuuming around the dog. Not so much vacuuming around the cats, as they vanish as soon as the vacuum appears. She even vacuumed the dog himself at one point; figured she might as well get some fur out of him. Yes Baggy's house is a little nuts (well seriously, what did you expect?) but at least, thanks to The Goddess's efforts, it's beginning to look (almost) clean and tidy!

 

 

Well, perhaps tidy is an exaggeration. And yes, clean is probably not quite accurate either. But you should have seen it three days ago! Baggy just wants Calum to come home to a cosy house for Christmas, rather than the mess he usually has to put up with.  And the advantage of Baggy being stuck at home is that The Goddess can't escape far!

 

 

Mind you Baggy wasn't sure about The Goddess's lunch choices. Clever Bird realises that it's practically Christmas, but Baggy is supposed to be following Slimming World rules. Not sure that two giant pork and cranberry sausage rolls and crisps, washed down with cups of tea, is necessarily the way to go. So when she followed it up with two mince pies, lathered in brandy butter and washed down with more tea, The Goddess had to leap into action to burn off a calorie or two.

 

 

But she's quite pleased with the slightly nutty results (no comments please). Now The Goddess is going to make up for lunch, by making a dressed crab and prawn salad for supper (with more tea) to give Creative Clara the energy to wrap up Calum's Christmas presents. One-handed wrapping, that's going to be entertaining.............





 



 

Day 42 - Baggy is really home alone this time!

Baggy slept pretty well and for a very long time last night. Calum didn't! He left for work at 4.45am because he couldn't sleep. He woke Baggy up again at 11.00am when he called her!!!!!! Just as well, or Clever Bird reckons she'd probably still be in bed at 1.00pm. Mind you part of that was Hormonal Hannah getting in a bit of a panic that Baggy really is going to be properly home alone today. Calum may not be back tonight and unlike when at Debby's house (where Debby left everything for breakfast and lunch already prepared), today The Domestic Goddess is going to have to be tracked down to make it for Baggy. The good news is that she should be fine! For the first time, The Goddess actually managed to use her right arm well enough to cut bread for toast this morning, so she's definitely getting some strength back in it, although the grip is pretty weak. It still hurts like heck and is very swollen, but yesterday she took no painkillers and she's hoping not to today either. Clever Bird thinks that being on Ibuprofen and Paracetomol for over six weeks so far is probably enough. But we'll see how it goes.

If it wasn't for her arm though, the truth is that Baggy would probably be dragging Grotty Groom back to work. Hormonal Hannah and Freda Fretter are putting so much guilt on Baggy's shoulders still, for being such a drain on poor Calum and our bank account, (and for the last two weeks, her sister), that chances are Grotty would now be back at work. Baggy's stomach feels almost back to normal after her Lawrence-the-durmoid-cyst surgery and hysterectomy. Clearly it isn't. It takes a minimum of six weeks for damaged muscle to heal and it's just under seven weeks since the surgery. Baggy's stomach is still rather swollen and there is still a very weird dent in the middle of the wound. But most of the time it doesn't really hurt. (Yet it's another six weeks before Grotty is allowed back on duty). Every now and again Baggy is reminded why, when she gets the very sharp pain that Lawrence used to cause, which is odd. But when she does realise that she's not anywhere near back to normal, is when she forgets herself. Yesterday for instance, she tried to lift heavy grocery shopping bags out of the back of her car. As she could only do this left-handed, this required her to engage her stomach muscles. Ouch! They wouldn't! So there is no way in a million years that Grotty Groom could resume her duties (even were she allowed to at this stage; which she's not) without causing her insides a serious amount of harm. So "thank you" Baggy's very painful, weak arm, for stopping Hannah and Freda from making Baggy make a really stupid error of judgement and sending Grotty back to work. But now, do her a favour and stop making her feel so guilty and worried about it!

Once eventually out of bed, Baggy was very tempted to stick her onesie on and hibernate. It's a grey, windy day and it seemed a good plan. But Furry Mama insisted that Baggy get dressed and take Minty Mutt out so that he maintains his inner puppy. She was glad she'd agreed to the moment we got outside. Minty Mutt started to jump up and down in a very bouncy play-bow, to get Furry Mama in the mood. It was really very cute. So Furry Mama took Minty Mutt on a walk that normally takes Baggy and Mint well over an hour. Both Baggy and Mint are feeling so much better that it took us only forty-five minutes. Now Minty is guarding Baggy and Baggy is chain-drinking tea, before she rustles The Goddess up to do a bit of tidying and make some lunch........

Day 41 - Grotty Groom is back in town.

The Domestic Goddess did make Baggy overdo it yesterday. But at least she slept like a little log. It was almost 11.00am before she emerged from under her duvet and Hinge and Bracket. But Baggy had made a deal with Grotty Groom yesterday that she'd take her to see Wesley and Joey as she hasn't seen them for three weeks. It's such a ridiculously mild day again, that we were pretty sure the Boys would be out in their paddocks. But we still decided to go over early, so that Furry Mama could take Minty Mutt for a long walk around the fields.

The walk to the Boys' paddocks is a very long one and the first hundred yards or so of it is a complete quagmire after the recent rain. So on previous visits Baggy's stomach muscles have not been up to the walk. But today, after all the "training", walking Minty Mutt with Debby and Pickle in Kent, Baggy was able to do the walk without a problem. It was so lovely for Grotty to see the Boys. But Baggy was a little nervous. Probably wise, with half-a-tonne of over sensitive, sharp horse, loose in a very large paddock. Wesley is always a little put out when he hasn't seen Grotty for a couple of days, let alone three weeks, so Baggy was wary. She didn't want her arm to be knocked. Wesley was, "Oooooooooooooo, Mummy. There you are. Where have you been?", "Oh! Why are you nervous? What's wrong? Should I be scared too? Eeeeeeek!"

 

Once Grotty was in the paddock with him, he forgave her and started to hesitantly follow her around. Then he realised that she had an apple. "Awwwww, Mum. I knew it was okay. Thank you." Grotty patted her very muddy, number one son. "What else have you got Mum?" Urmmmm! "Be gentle Wessles", "Oh. What's the matter now?", "Nothing, just don't knock my arm", "I thought it smelt funny. Okay I'll be gentle. Where are the treats?". Grotty produced the Polo mints. "See, I knew you had some treats".

 

 

 

"Now come on Mum. I haven't seen you for three weeks, there must be more treats in that pocket". "Yes, Wesley, there are. Just be gentle". Wessles glued himself to Grotty and followed Baggy wherever they went. Oh boy has she missed that horse. Bless him. He's clearly enjoying his holiday and because the weather is so mild, the grass is still growing (in December, mad), and he has tons of the stuff. He's going to be a right handful to get back on to in a few weeks time! Butter wouldn't melt. (Not that Clever Bird has a clue where that expression comes from).

 

 

 

Grotty gave Joey a few Polos too, then Calum and Furry Mama took Minty Mutt for a very long walk around the paddocks. Both horses followed us and then had a bit of a hooley when they realised that we were heading away from them.

 

This was followed by a small food shop - that turned into a very large food shop. We also went to the shop next door and bought another eight of the ridiculously cheap little mats, to cover the rest of our Tudor-brick floor. We headed home. Pizza consumed, Baggy now just wants to collapse in a large heap. Arm hurts. Head hurts. Stomach wound is uncomfortable. But apparently we've agreed to go for early Christmas drinks next door.........

 



 

 

Day 40 - Baggy's on a mission!

Sorry bloggees, Baggy has kept Furry Mama and The Domestic Goddess way too busy today. This is the first moment all day that Baggy has sat down and it's 7.30pm here in little Suffolk, England. Baggy was exhausted after yesterday's hospital visit, so had an early night last night, but then still didn't wake up until 10.00am. Clearly she needed to sleep.  Baggy was able to have her first shower without a plastic bag over her arm wound, so that was lovely. Clever Bird decided to use a finger nail to scrape some of the sticky glue off her arm. It was only as she was doing it that it occurred to her that it felt rather hard to be sticky stuff. It was the wound! She stopped. At least she stopped before she made it bleed. Oh dear.

Once up, Furry Mama insisted that Baggy take Minty Mutt out for a walk, whilst Calum went off shopping for Christmas. It's only just occurred to Calum and Clever Bird that Christmas day is in less than a week. Funnily enough, it's not been at the forefront of our minds. So when Cal went off, Furry Mama took Minty out for a long walk. It was long too, we were out for an hour-and-a-half. It's so crazy mild though, it doesn't feel like winter at all. It certainly doesn't feel like Christmas.

 

We walked past so many spring bulbs that are already an inch out of the ground. The catkins are already out. But most sad of all, every single one of the hibernating Admiral butterflies in Baggy's house has woken up and left, thinking that it's spring. Clearly they won't make it. So when we got back, after Minty Mutt had been given a bit of a shower in the garden (can't think why),

 

 

Freda Fretter took one look at the state of the kitchen that Mint had dripped through and decided to track down The Domestic Goddess. After nearly two weeks of staying in her sister's immaculate house, Hormonal Hannah just couldn't cope with the mess of Baggy's house. Debby's house looks like something featured in Homes and Gardens. There's not (usually) a thing out of place, or a bit of dirt anywhere. Two weeks of Baggy and Minty living there changed all that of course, apparently she finished cleaning at 8.30pm last night! Baggy's house on the other hand looks like something out of Horse and Hound. Not a house you understand. No. A stable or a kennel. In fact Grotty Groom keeps her horses stables way cleaner than Baggy's house. Well this morning, after our walk, Hormonal Hannah couldn't bear it for another second. She decided that The Goddess would have to be rounded up on pain of death. But first Baggy needed some lunch.

 

Just as she'd finished lunch and found a duster, Minty went into full guard dog mode. This was the last straw for Hormonal Hannah. "Shut up". Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof. "There's no one there". Baggy jumped about a foot in the air when the front door opened. "Oh". Calum was back already. Ah well. The Goddess had a duster and was ready for action. We agreed that this year we wouldn't put our Christmas decorations up. This is normally a two hour job for Creative Clara and in our very tiny house, just causes even more clutter and less room to move. It also makes it even more impossible to clean. So we agreed we wouldn't bother and that instead The Goddess would try to reclaim the sitting room from the detritus!

 

Although Baggy says so herself, The Goddess was impressive! Baggy was told yesterday by the Nurse that she should try to use her arm as much as possible (without hurting it). Baggy managed the first bit of that statement. It's taken all day, but our tiny sitting room is once again almost fit for visitors. Almost, but not quite. There is always tomorrow. Mid-cleaning frenzy, we went out to a find some rugs to cover the rest of our Tudor-brick floor. (Furry mama needs to stop Minty Mutt from lying on it, or his elbows are going to get infected). We bought twelve little rugs for the princely sum of £24! Very happy. Now all the floor is covered. So, as I say the gang have been on a mission! So once again bloggees, apologies! But the good news is that Baggy is feeling great and is hoping to take Grotty Groom to see the Boys tomorrow..........

 



Day 39 - Back at Ipswich hospital for more proddling!

Baggy slept fairly badly last night after a really good start. Furry Mama had Bracket kat snuggled up in bed with her, purring for the first half an hour, then they both must have fallen asleep. But when Hormonal Hannah woke Baggy up at 3.00am, Freda Fretter got involved in the debate about whether Baggy's arm was doing okay or not. She only seemed to be asleep for another few minutes and the alarm went off. Clever Bird made Calum get them to Ipswich hospital an hour early once again. Time for the ubiquitous Ipswich hospital cappuccino and croissant (Baggy's downfall). But actually, Clever Bird may have been right about the whole, "needing extra calories to heal Baggy's body" thing, because when Freda Fretter made Baggy step hesitantly onto the scales this morning, not only had she not put any weight on, she appeared to actually have lost a pound or two! Frankly this was a surprise. Now don't get me wrong, Baggy has been being fed beautifully healthily with nourishing home-cooked meals by her sister. However! These have been washed down by copious amounts of wine. Followed up with granola cookies and chocolate. Intermingled with meals out (Baggy's still dreaming of the Heavenly Lamb Passanda). Lots of cappuccinos and the odd (very large) bit of home-made lemon cake and Victoria sponge. So truthfully, Freda did prepare Baggy for the scales to say that she had put at least four or five pounds on. But no! So she enjoyed her croissant. But Creative Clara once again digresses, sorry.

So, back to the hospital. Cappuccino and croissant polished off, Baggy went and registered herself at the Orthopaedic Hand Therapy Clinic, still half an hour early for her 9.30am appointment. At exactly 9.25am a little message flashed up saying that Baggy's Consultant's Clinic was running thirty minutes late. Breathe Freda Fretter. Cue hot flush Hormonal Hannah. Yack nervously to Calum Clever bird. At 10.30am Hannah was just starting to go into internal meltdown, when she heard a little voice calling Baggy. Once Clever Bird had tracked down where the voice was coming from, she saw a very stressed Nurse, apologising for the long delay. No worries, Freda's in now. Breathe.

The Nurse explained there'd been a crisis. Clever bird said, "Not to worry, it really wasn't her fault. Grotty Groom had been that "crisis" on more than one occasion, so totally understood". The Nurse was appreciative that we weren't getting angry with her, as so many people did who'd waited a lot shorter time. What is the world coming to? Sad. The Nurse took Baggy's dressing off. Ouch. "It looks very swollen, does it hurt?". Proddle. Ouch. Prod. Ouch. Proddle. Flipping OUCH! "Yes. A lot". "Well it doesn't appear to be infected, although there's a lot of heat coming out of it". "That's good, (Freda Fretter) was worried". "No, it's healing well. Can you bend your arm?". "A bit." Actually, Baggy discovered that it was much easier to bend without the dressing on. The dressing that had so much blood set hard in it, that it was solid. The dressing that was therefore pressing hard on Baggy's wound. The Nurse decided to put a bandage "tube" over the wound to try and reduce the swelling a little. While she was off finding one big enough to go over the swelling, Clever Bird decided to check the wound out. She thought it looked a little weird, but not too bad. Then Calum explained that she was looking at the line of sticky-stuff, not the wound. Oh. She couldn't contort her neck enough to see the wound, so he took a picture. Sorry if you're squeamish. Creative Clara did say. But it sort of looks okay. The Consultant did an accurate job of following his own drawing! Scar with purple highlights. Pretty. Although Clever Bird is not entirely sure why there's a squiggly bit at the top of the wound. Baggy probably twitched in her sleep. Baggy has to wear the tube for a week and get on with stuff, but if the swelling doesn't start to sort itself out, she might need to get referred for physiotherapy. Clever Bird reckons it will be fine.

 



Quick food shop for the next two days, on the way home. Mainly healthy stuff. Calum attempted to put it away, (bearing in mind that you can't swing a gerbil in our house) there's no room for it. Then Furry Mama and Calum took Minty Mutt out for his first walk of the day. He still has his inner puppy on show, even without Pickle dog to encourage him, so we've just taken him for a second walk in the dark. Calum and Furry Mama were hi-vized to within an inch of their lives. Minty Mutt had his flashing light on his collar,so we could see where he was. All is well with the gang and the furries. Baggy is home.........
     

Day 39 - Home again.

We finally got home at 9.30pm last night although Calum got down to Kent by 5.30pm. There was a one-and-half hour queue in to the Dartford Tunnel, so instead of bothering to set off and sit in it, Debby cooked Baggy and Calum a last meal before we set off. By the time we did leave at 8pm, the queue had gone. Yay. Although Baggy, particularly Furry Mama, wanted to get home, when it came to it, Hormonal Hannah was blubbing her eyes out. She really wanted to stay. It has been lovely for Baggy to spend so much time with her sister and niece, something that she hasn't done since the last time that Debby took on nursing duties, when Grotty Groom got Baggy hurt in a very bad riding accident eight years ago. Pickle dog clearly didn't want Baggy to leave either (although she didn't seem too bothered about her cousin Minty Mutt). All in all it was a bit emotional. Baggy will be forever grateful that she has such a caring sister.

But when we did get home, Minty Mutt jumped out of the car wagging his (not so) little tail off and both he and Furry Mama were greeted by Hinge and Bracket with constant purring and head-butts. As the Domestic Goddess dared to say as she stepped through the front door, "Our house might be a right mess! But it's our mess". After the beautiful cleanliness and spaciousness of Debby's house, it did come as a bit of a shock to step in (and over stuff) to our tiny cluttered sitting room, but there is nothing like the "comfort" of your own home - no matter how uncomfortable it is!

Minty Mutt was rewarded with one of his absolute favourite chewies (a starfish), which he hadn't had in two weeks. He was delighted. Hinge and Bracket were constantly vying to sit on Furry Mama's lap, but as they're both rather large, they had to take it in turns, so the "loser" sat next to her on the sofa. Within minutes Minty Mutt's snoring was competing with the girls purring. Happy furries. Very happy Baggy........

Day 38 - Trundling along.

Baggy loves the little village tea room/gift shop. Cute. Nice toastie. Lovely cake. We did panic a little when we got there because the closed sign was up, but fortunately, because Debby and Baggy had been looking forward to it all week, they were just opening. We attempted to then walk off about a quarter of the calories (from one of the two cappuccinos) by taking the dogs for a walk round the village. Although Baggy very much wants to go home, she wants to stay in Kent too. She'll miss yacking to her sister and niece. She'll miss the Pickle dog. She'll certainly miss the lovely village and walks, of which there seems to be an almost unlimited choice. But she's very excited to get back to her cats and her own little (and that is the operative word) house.

Calum has just called to say that he's on his way. Bless him he's been driving since 5am. It'll take him a couple of hours to get here, then of course Baggy can't drive, so he's got to drive us back. But we can't leave it until the morning as Baggy's appointment is too early to risk it. Plus of course we'd have a big hairy German Shepherd in tow. But it will be fairly late before we get home, so Freda Fretter is praying that we don't hit all the rush hour and Christmas shopping traffic on the M25. Baggy's already falling asleep because it's getting dark.......

Day 38 - Baggy is packed.

Okay night's sleep for Baggy, but she's woken up with a very very painful arm again. Freda Fretter is even more keen to see the Ipswich hospital team tomorrow to make sure it's okay. Clever Bird is sure it will be, it was after all only two weeks ago that the operation was done. How on earth Baggy is going to get up at stupid o'clock to get there though is an entirely different conversation.

Baggy has managed one-and-a-half arm packing this morning. Well most of it anyway. She just needs to check pretty much every room in the house for her things that have mysteriously spread themselves. And Minty Mutt's things, that have also spread themselves, but without the mystery; Pickle dog thinks that Mint's toys are fair game and should be pinched and relocated at every available opportunity. She's very good at it too. Furry Mama has explained to Mint that we are going home today. He doesn't seem convinced. He'll miss his walks with Debby and Pickle dog though. Furry Mama is going to have to be brave when we get back and persuade Baggy to take him out at least twice a day, as he's now used to it again.

Baggy and Debby are off for lunch at the little village tearoom today, which is open three days a week and this is one of them. Apparently the cake is amazing. Hmmm. Baggy is probably going to get a nasty shock when she gets on the scales when she gets home. Very little exercise and not following her eating plan is not going to have panned out well, but it might have to wait until after Christmas now before she gets back on track.

It sounds as though Calum will be here to take us home at around 6pm. As he's been working since 5am this morning, he suggested getting a Chinese takeaway on the way home, that should still be warm when we get back. Even more calories! Ah well, Clever Bird still thinks the body needs food to heal, so just enjoy it Freda Fretter..........

Day 37 - Baggy's Last Night in Kent.

After twelve days in Kent with her sister and niece, Baggy is going home tomorrow. She is very, very grateful to her lovely sister for looking after her so well. Especially today's extra special job of washing Baggy's hair. It could have ended very badly! But it didn't and Baggy is very grateful.

 

In fact she's been so well looked after, that Clever Bird is now thinking that she can look after herself. Yeah right! She got stuck in the bath this morning! She can't put her hair in a ponytail. She can't cut up her own food. She can't even pick Minty Mutt's poo up. But she is really looking forward to being back in her own (scruffy, mucky, over full, can't move in it without bashing into something) home. With her cats. With her husband. With her own stuff. With the "charge" of the remote control. With her friends close by. With the chance to see her horses. Yep, Baggy is looking forward to going home and Furry Mama is happy to be letting Minty Mutt know that he does still live in Suffolk (Clever Bird is pretty sure that he thinks he's moved home again), he's going to be beside himself when he sees his sisters. The Hinge cat will hurl herself at him. Bracket Kat will hurl herself at Furry Mama. Minty Mutt will hurl himself at Calum, so will Baggy..........

Day 37 - Baggy got stuck in the bath - almost called the fire brigade.

Two hours. Two whole hours! Thirty minutes of attempting to brush out the first stages of dreadlocks. Totally impossible left-handed only. Clever Bird tried. And failed. Debby did it with Baggy's hair hanging over the end of the sofa. It was pretty painful. Baggy's whole body seems to be extra sensitive at the moment. It felt as though someone was bashing Baggy's scalp with a fork. But stage one was complete.

Stage two. Stick Baggy's right arm in a recycling-refuse bag, knot it at the top to keep Baggy's arm dry. Stick Baggy in the bath. Not the one she's been using, but Deb's en-suite, where the shower isn't a limp dribble. This one is narrow at one end and round and wide at the other end where the shower-head is. Sitting at the wide end however would have had Baggy's bad arm trapped by the tiled wall. So Baggy sat at the narrow end, with her plastic-bagged arm resting on a rolled up towel on the side of the bath. Over an hour later Baggy's hair was washed within an inch of its life and had had a special nourishing "mask" put on it. Spoilt hair. It's lucky if it sees a conditioner usually.

Stage three. Get the hair vaguely dried. So, get out of the bath. Hmmmm! The strategy is to shuffle round sideways and get Baggy on to her knees, so that she can push herself up with her left arm. Again hmmmmmm! Baggy's large derrière was pretty much the width of the narrow end of the bath. Shuffling round was not an option. Trying to shuffle to the wide end was also not an option. Between Baggy's seriously weakened stomach muscles and having to try to do it right-handed she couldn't move more than a few inches down the bath.  Deb put a towel in the wide bit which gave Baggy just enough stability to shuffle forward, but she still couldn't get out. She was well and truly stuck. Freda Fretter had visions of calling the fire brigade to hoist Baggy out. She couldn't work out whether to laugh or cry. Firemen with ropes versus Baggy's hairy legs - it wouldn't have ended well. This panic was enough motivation for Baggy (with Debby holding her under her left (hairy) armpit) to find the strength to get out of the bath!

Another thirty minutes and once dried off and dressed, Baggy felt like a new person. Expensive shampoos are definitely the way forward. Special stuff for grey hair will be ordered once Creative Clara stops blogging. Only another year or two to grow the rest of the colour out. Maybe a bit of a haircut in January when Baggy can drive again. It will have been a year since the last cut. The photo above was from four months ago, so it's even longer now. Freda Fretter just has to stop her hairdresser form cutting four inches off again! Baggy's determined to be a grey Baggy..........

Day 37 - It might be too much today!

Baggy slept well again, her arm is now sore but not agony. Freda Fretter is looking forward to going to Ipswich hospital on Friday; she really needs to be told by an expert that it's looking good and healing well, so that she can stop worrying that it isn't. Hormonal Hannah has eaten Baggy's memory, but Clever Bird is still pretty sure that this arm is much worse than the left one was last year. She still can't straighten it or close the fingers on her right hand. Maybe this is perfectly normal, but she's sure that last year this wasn't the case. Only two more days until we find out.

In the meantime, Baggy is on her own again this morning. Debby has gone to look after her horse. Abby and her boyfriend have gone out shopping. Minty Mutt is in full guard mode looking after Furry Mama, Bless him. Creative Clara is typing this still in her jim jams, because when Debby gets back she is going above and beyond her call of duty. She is going to wash Baggy's hair!

 

 

You have to understand that this is major! Baggy has a lot of hair. It is very curly. It hasn't been washed since before her cubital tunnel surgery because she's not allowed to get her wound wet. It hasn't been brushed since then either. The operation was thirteen days ago. It's always a palaver washing it. It takes Baggy about twenty minutes just to brush it through before it's washed. She cannot do that either at the moment. With Hormonal Hannah giving poor Baggy hot flushes left right and centre, her hair is one stage off turning into dreadlocks! Not sure who's looking forward to this less, Baggy or Debby. Let's hope it's not the last straw for sisterly relations. It could be too much.........

Day 36 - Still hanging on in there.

Baggy did have to take some painkillers in the end, but her arm, although burning, is considerably better today. Clever Bird may have taken a few weeks to get the message, but she is now making Baggy rest. Because she is also now finally sleeping fairly well, she is definitely feeling a little better. Baggy's focus has been so concentrated on her arm for the last twelve days that she has pretty much forgotten about her Lawrence surgery. But Clever Bird realised this morning while trying to get out of the bath, that her stomach is much stronger too. She can now pull herself up using her stomach muscles, so they must be healing pretty well. Only a few more weeks and she can start Baggy dancing (a.k.a. Tribal dancing) again. Watch out world! Well fortunately no one apart from her Instructor and the rest of the class have to suffer her "moves", so you can rest easy world.

 

 

Furry Mama once again did the village circuit walk this afternoon and for the first time her stomach wasn't hurting as she went up the hills. Clever Bird is well aware that Baggy is not permitted to do any strenuous exercise yet. It's still only just under six weeks since the hysterectomy. She isn't allowed to do Tribal dance for another two weeks, but if it wasn't for her arm, she thinks she'd be feeling normal by now. Of course that's nonsense, as she knows from her walks, so her arm restricting her is a good thing. Grotty Groom would probably be tempted to get back on the Boy Wessles otherwise and she's not allowed to do that for another six weeks at least.

Baggy is just very happy that she is finally feeling as though she might be on the mend..........