A warning

My poor darling Milo is at the vet tonight.

The worst thing is that I think it may have been my fault. I know in hindsight I could have prevented what happened to him and I am feeling incredibly guilty.

I had taken him for a walk then put some washing on before going to the shops for some groceries. I was gone probably an hour maximum.
When I got home I noticed Milo near the gate and from what I could see he looked a bit funny through the slats with his tongue hanging right out and just looking odd. Usually he would bark at me telling me that I should have taken him with me, how dare I walk somewhere without him!

I put the groceries away and went out to see him, when I opened the back door there was a bit of a mess strewn around, globs of saliva, half digested dog biscuit and other mess on his bed and the ground. I called him and he didn't come so I headed for the gate and when he saw me he came towards me in an ambling gait, head hung low, ears at half mast. I knew something was wrong with him but I couldn't figure it out.
I went in the house and called D. He suggested that it may be a tick but I thought that his reactions were too soon and severe to be a tick. I said I'd watch him for a bit and then call the vet. I went back out and decided to call the vet immediately as he was so obviously not right. While on the phone describing his symptoms searching for a reason, thinking it may have been the dog biscuit but how could a dog biscuit poison Milo, the vet saying it sounded like a tick, I then spied the blue pellets hidden in the grass strewn out of a torn to shreds box of snail bait.

My heart sank and I began to freak. Hadn't I had seen him looking at the very box in the laundry earlier with my telling him not to touch as it would make him very sick, duh. Why didn't I move it. I should've. Now here he was incredibly ill with saliva hanging in ribbons from his mouth looking like he had eaten a dozen snails and slugs, tongue hanging out in a laboured pant with shaking limbs, wanting desperately to go inside the house, not wanting to drink any water, retching and losing control. Completely bewildered.
The vet was telling me that they were currently in surgery and they weren't able to come and pick him up, I asked if there was anything I could do in the interim, she asked if there was anyone I could ask to help. I didn't have a car. D was at work too busy to be concerned that his dog was close to dying. Thank heavens I was home and thank God my elderly neighbours were too.
As soon as I told them what was going on they lept into action and brought their car around not caring about any mess Milo might make. I'd grabbed a blanket to put down in the back and we took him to the vet. They had to redirect us to another clinic in another suburb as he was too sick to wait until the surgery was finished. So we turned around and headed for the other clinic. At least a ten minute drive away and we hit every single red light on the way. I couldn't believe it. They had to stretcher him out of the car, like a whale or dolphin, they administered something to make him vomit and gave him a douche(?). Then they sedated him for the night.
Hopefully he will be ok.

So here's to working night shift and being home in the day for my beloved pets. Please don't chastise me for leaving a box of snail bait lying around in the laundry I have done that repetitively already. It had been in that spot for a year. Now I truly know better. Ironic too is the part of the box that was missing was the part that contained the warning that although the pellets contained a pet deterrent they should be kept away from pets. Why he tore that particular bit is beyond me.
Returning home I set about cleaning up the blanket and bed and picking up those tiny wee blue pellets. What a task getting them out of the grass. I'm glad I still had my head about me as I gave up using my hands and grabbed the vaccuum cleaner. A much more precise way to get rid of them from the grass and cracks in the ground.

Stay tuned,

change of tack?

Well I've just been inspired yet again to do something diffent.

As far as studying something next year I just found a course that would probably be better for me. Well the fine arts degree is still so exciting to consider but I think realistically I might be better off doing a graphic design course. I found a good one in Sydney where I can do it either part time over a year or full time over three months. The decision to make is which time period and whether to keep my job, if I can...

Ok so this is really more like me, dilemma dilemma.

I'd definitely love to do the fine arts and major in photography but that would take four years. I could do the graphic design course over a year and still keep my night job, I think, if I can get someone to cover me for four hours on two nights. I would be qualified and marketable and back to earning good money in the very near future. I could also probably manage to conceive next year and not have it interfere too much with my immediate plans. If I could manage to complete the graphic design course and then have a baby I could freelance and still earn my keep. I could even possibly do that while working with hubby which he wants me to do very soon.

The only minus is the course is $11k but money I think well spent in the long term.

Am I procrastinating or making my life more difficult or being pragmatic?

Chicks on Father's day

Here are some of the photos I took of the family of wading type birds on Father's Day last Sunday. We were at Bobbin Head in the Ku-ring-gai National Park. I'll see if I can find out what type of wader they are...













This is the Mummy who is on the chicks protecting them and keeping them warm. If you look closely you can see one of the chicks legs in front of her foot















Here you can see there are three chicks with the mum and they are in various stages of standing, mum had just left them to help defend them with the dad.













We were so surprised at what they looked like as chicks, little balls of fuzz on stilts!









Here are both mum and dad defending their brood with some very loud squaking. Can you spot the hidden one?




















Look how long their legs are!

RIP Croc Hunter

Not sure if you are aware at all that the all Australian Steve Irwin aka "The Croc Hunter" was tragically killed a couple of days ago. Australia is still reeling.

Here is the link from the SMH here in Australia. Quite a bizarre event by all accounts and all I can say is that he is lucky to go in such a way, not being weird or anything but wouldn't you rather go in a way that was quick whilst doing what you love best. Unfortunately I don't think anyone will be capable of filling his larger than life blundy's* and I can't think of all the amazing documentaries we are now missing out on. Of course my heart goes out to his family and the wee ones, thankfully they are lucky that there is so much documented footage of him doing what he loves.

On a bit more of an amusing angle, I heard of a faux pas someone emailed to everyone on their list while commenting on how much this news had affected them, they wrote "RIP Croc Hunter" but missed out the all important r in croc. I hope in writing this no one takes offence in my making light of a tragic situation.

Unrelated...

Hopefully I'll have time to post a couple of pics tomorrow, am rather busy this week organising an afternoon tea for the ladies whom I have worked with over the past few years, they are great friends still even though they have moved on to broader horizons. Of course I am planning a buffet for 50 when in reality there will only be four of us. Several items will be struck off the list as the countdown ensues but this is normal for me. Always with such grand expectations.

Till then,


* Blundstone's / boots

Happy Father's Day!!

This one goes out to all you dad's out there, young and old, tentative and experienced

Thank You! For being the rock and pillar in our world.

Love as always

Ok so I didn't make it

25 minutes too late. Never mind.

I got the idea from Subversive Stitching, if you haven't checked them out go now. I did the symbols one for my brother for his birthday, I think he'll appreciate it.

The birds and motifs came from a library book that I found which had basic b&w patterns from early 19th/20th century pieces. I found the animals amusing and thought the addition of the question marks kind of summed up the phrase. There are several parts that are inaccurate and really says that I should have planned it a bit better but working on a time constraint I had to cut corners and make it work as I went. The border is very last minute and the spacing of the whole thing needs a bit more consideration. I made up the flowers and the leaves on the left of the border. I also improvised some of the birds to make them a bit different from one another. But on the whole I am relatively happy with the result. I know dad will appreciate it, thank heavens for fathers.

Better skedadle

3 for August?

Hope I made it...sometimes being a poster in Oz has its benefits.

Here is the completed, I think, cross-stitch for my dad for father's day. Unfortunately he will be getting it late as he is in NZ and I'm in Oz and I haven't posted it and father's day is on Sunday...I don't think I have ever sent a gift on time, one day though, I'm sure I will get it right.














Please disregard the fact that it looks out of shape, it is a bit since it came straight off the hoop and I don't have an iron at work. I think it's completed but I am a bit undecided on the top border, it seems a bit far away so I may just add another row of stitches beneath it. let me know if you see this today or it will be too late tomorrow.

Shall be on my best blogging behaviour for September, I have pics to show off and other things in the works.