News Archives: August 2005

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Thanks

We've had quite a few nice comments about Cary, via text, e-mail and blogs. They help. Thanks.

Life is slowly getting back to normal. For instance, I today got annoyed with Tesco. Why does buying cottage cheese, mushrooms, and courgettes involve visiting three different shops? And why does Tesco now refuse to sell proper cottage cheese instead of the allegedly healthy living version that contains less fat, no taste, no texture, but enough salt to cause heart attacks just by looking at it?

Posted by graham @ 03:59 pm

Monday, August 22, 2005

Remembrance

This is how I'll remember Cary. On Saturday I was talking to the neighbours over the fence. They'd seen two foxes in their garden earlier that morning, chasing Cary. He'd very wisely gone to them for protection - I'd let the cats out, made tea, and gone back to bed. The girls next door seemed very pleased he was so trusting of them.

Hearing us talking, and possibly his name, Cary decided he was upset at not being the centre of attention. Since we were in different gardens, he climbed on top of the fence, walking along, demanding fusses, and rubbing noses with me eskimo-style. Cute, endearing, and affectionate.

Posted by graham @ 07:04 pm

Cary Cat (1995-2005)

Our little cat, Cary, died today.

As I said in the last post, Cary suddenly developed thrombosis. By this morning clots had formed in his lungs, making it difficult for him to breathe. The vet tried a more extreme treatment, using drugs to dissolve the clots, but that didn't work either. By lunch time he was on oxygen to breathe, and in great pain and distress despite the morphine. He wasn't likely to survive the day. So we decided it was kinder to put him to sleep. He died with Claire and I holding and stroking him, and his last moments seemed peaceful.

I've had Cary since he was six and a half weeks old. He was a few weeks past his tenth birthday. I suspect most people never realised what an affectionate cat he was - he didn't like strangers or crowds. Claire and I, and especially Cisco, miss him enormously.

Posted by graham @ 06:13 pm

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Last night, Claire and I returned from a fine night in Edinburgh to find Cary limping and distressed. When we finally got him inside, he had no feeling in his rear leg, very little strength, and was tender around the joints. This morning we took him to the vet. Turns out he has thrombosis - a clot in the main artery into the leg. He's staying at the vet's at the moment, so he can be kept on morphine and a fluid drip. The hope is that raising his blood pressure will help clear the clot. Latest news is that there is now a weak pulse in the leg, and some return of warmth to the paw.

It'll be at least Tuesday before we know whether he'll recover. He's a tough little cat, and he might still have a life or two left. But please be prepared for us to be a bit quiet over the next few days.

Posted by graham @ 08:14 pm

Friday, August 19, 2005

Live Journal Game

This game doing the rounds on live journal produced a few interesting questions. Mainly only amusing for those who know most of the people involved, but Claire insisted I post it. Boring questions deleted.

2.~What would you do if you had never met vykromod? Have to think of someone else as the man with far too many names.
4.~Would or did deathlyphil and chimpy_chompy go out? If they did, they could probably make a fortune on the gay porn circuit.
6.~If edinlondon died tomorrow, what is one thing that you would need him/her to know? Dude! Watch out for that bus!
10.~Would edinlondon and silverhippo make a lovely couple? No! NONONONO! No.
11.~What do you think of when you see chimpy_chompy? That if he and I ever dated we could probably make a fortune on the gay porn circuit.
16.~What would you do if lilpipkinbunny just professed their undying love for you? Hide from Steve.
17.~What language does deathlyphil speak? Deathphillish
20.~Would yodathedark and lilpipkinbunny make a good couple? She'd eat him alive.
26.~Would you ever date j_illing? Only if I want to make a fortune on the gay porn circuit.
34.~Does j_illing like intemporaliter? Everyone likes intemporaliter
37.~Is silverhippo the sexiest person alive? Yes! YESYESYESYESYES! Yes.

Posted by graham @ 08:17 pm

Monday, August 8, 2005

Let's see if I get this posted before Claire for once...

Another fun, but very busy weekend, with three parties. Friday was our fifth wedding anniversary, for which we had a buffet party. Around two dozen friends and family helped us celebrate, plus four children who bullied Duncan into building a bonfire. He needed a lot of convincing... Highlight of the food was Chris's chocolate and butter icing cake, which was pretty much perfect. One highlight of the party was, for me, being able to celebrate with people who would have been at the wedding, except we hadn't met them yet, so didn't know how fine they are. Seeing old friends was up there too, though...

Thursday was my father's birthday, but he delayed the celebration until the more civilised Saturday. This clashed with Lee's party, so we made a brave attempt to do both. After cleaning up some of the party mess, buying Dad's present, and lunching on leftover food and the remains of Chris's cake, we headed for Toy R Us (where else do you buy 21st birthday presents?) and Ikea (to replace the futon that finally died at the party). Ikea is an instantly irritating store, especially when they try to charge 70p to pay by credit card. (Their claim that this is due to the vast fees that Visa and Mastercard charge is, frankly, bollocks - everyone else seems to feel that credit card is the cheapest way to take payment...) Paid by other means, then stuggled to get the metal sofa frame into the car. No, you can't take the trolley to the car. No, you can't take the car to the trolley. Lumps of concrete keep those at least three metres apart. After that, out on to the motorway to join a traffic jam. They'd closed all but one lane of the M8.

Still we arrived at my parents' in time for dinner. Gave Dad his presents, ate chinese, and chatted. We had some Carlsberg left over from our party which we were taking to Lee's, but apparently my sister loves it, so gave it to her instead. There were far too many prawn crackers, so we took a packet of those instead, to go with the cakes we'd already packed. Lee's party was long conversations with many friends, and therefore good fun. He seemed to appreciate his presents, and when we left was plotting how to test the water-pistol's claimed range of 20 feet.

Sunday was quieter, if only because we were exhausted. We did wander out to Palacerigg, which apparently was having some sort of gala day. This meant there were a few extra bits for small children to play on, a dodgy burger van, and someone playing obnoxious, loud music. Where did this idea that pop songs are improved by the addition of crap drum machines come from? Not long after we arrived the music shut off, for which I was very grateful. Otherwise, Palacerigg was enjoyable. In the zoo bit, the pine marten and ferret were both running around, and most of the owls were visible. The pigs, donkey, and cattle were, as usual, being friendly to anyone they thought might feed them. We then explored the less commonly used paths, finding a route through heather moorland and some small woods. Many insects, small birds, and intriguing sounds in the undergrowth. Returned home, ate pizza (left over from our party) and collapsed in front of the telly.

Posted by graham @ 06:38 pm

Tuesday, August 2, 2005

More Anniversary, Parental Visits

The big news (at least for me!) is that my niece and nephew will be at the party on Friday. Hopefully that'll stop the slightly strange comments I've had from a couple of people that they would come, but weren't sure they could find a babysitter. Even more odd are the comments that some people can't come because a friend is up from England for the weekend - which might make sense if he wasn't someone I knew pretty well, and who has been to my house before... I'm not sure why people aren't believing "everyone welcome" but we do mean it!

The news about my sister's kids came during a visit last night to my parents, who will also be at the party. Since they're just back from America the conversation was mainly about where they'd been, what they'd eaten, how lost they got. No photos yet - they're still using film, and it is apparently becoming quite difficult to get film processed. No more envelopes falling out of the Guardian every third day. Seems we're heading for a time where a scratched CD or hard disk crash wipes out all record of a holiday or wedding.

Posted by graham @ 07:33 am

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