Blue sky birch

A perfect late winter's day. I missed the early morning frost because our computer man came to check everything was running smoothly, but I was out of the house as soon as he'd finished, for a quiet walk round Swaddywell Pit. The water levels were noticeably lower than on my last visit, which meant I was able to walk right round the site without getting wet feet.

Most of the afternoon was spent at the vets. Daisy, one of our elderly cats (nearly 18) has been having trouble with her teeth, and we felt that we needed to get her checked up before we go away later in the spring. The vet confirmed that she needed a couple of extractions and a scale and polish on the remaining teeth, but was a bit worried that she might not be strong enough to cope with the anaesthetic as she's lost some weight and seemed to be a bit dehydrated, both potential signs of kidney disease. 

So they ran some blood tests, checked her thyroid function and took her blood pressure. The good news was that her blood results showed that her liver, kidneys and thyroid are in excellent condition, but her blood pressure is high, so she's been prescribed some tablets to reduce it (much the same as Pete's ones). We'll be back to the vet again in 7-10 days to see whether it's more normal, and if it's okay we can book her in for the operation, giving plenty of time for her to heal before we leave.