Frosty

This has been a difficult few days.

I have had a minor illness - a painful muscular problem in my back and right shoulder - really only a glitch, but it did keep me off work on Friday, and consequently I've been swallowing handfuls of drugs which have made me quite woozy. However, my poor dog Tallulah has been seriously injured and is now at the Royal Veterinary College where she's awaiting an MRI and probable spinal surgery. She ran after a fox in the rain on Thursday evening. A couple of minutes later she was howling....

I've always felt rather ambivalent about intensive and very expensive medical procedures for animals because I was brought up to respect animals but also to always remember that "they're only animals." Now my own dog (a street-dog found wandering in Canterbury 8 years ago brought to our surgery by the police as a homeless stray) is about to undergo procedures which only a few years ago I would have considered to be ridiculously expensive and beyond the pale... But she has been a loyal and devoted friend to me who I have loved, cared for and admired; I feel I owe her . I do hope it all goes well.

This picture was taken on our roof this morning. I have a few others to back-blip, but now I'm off to bed, with another handful of analgesics and anti-inflammatories.

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