Sunday...

There are definite signs of spring all around and I am itching to get out in the garden and give it a good tidy particularly as we have visitors arriving on the island on Friday and we want them to see the place at its best but today we were having lunch down with Mum and Dad because Mum was going to the ballet this evening - normally we go down in the evening which leaves me the best part of the day to get on with some chores and we were going even earlier so that I could go and visit Sonia in hospital - I am pleased to report that she looked so much better than I had expected and am also pleased that her brother and sister had got over here safely and were at her bedside when I arrived.

Sonia seemed so pleased to see me but I did not want to monopolise her time with her family being there having flown over from England.  I agreed to go back and see her on Tuesday and bring her something to nice to eat because having looked at the food the hospital brought I wouldn't even feed that to my cats!!!  If you didn't know Sonia then you would think she was speaking quite normally and she appears to be untouched mentally and says she has intermittent feeling in her left hand and left foot which is good news.

No idea how long she will be in but we will all rally round her now and afterwards to make sure she is ok - what a shit thing to have happened - she only arrived her on January 17th and she is still waiting for her furniture to be released from the docks.  The phone call from Andrea really shocked me but it is a testament to Sonia that in her short time she has made some really good friends and so despite not having any family nearby she does have a network of people who will be there to support her and see her through this awful situation.  Apparently the stroke was brought on by exceptionally high blood pressure and it would appear that Sonia had recently stopped taking her medication so she has been lectured about her health and has taken on board what she has been told.

At Mum's it was lovely and warm in the sunroom.  I have been feeling like I have the beginnings of a cold - I had a funny throat last night and a tickly cough that kept me awake - I think it may be something to do with the dust in the atmosphere or hay fever as things are beginning to come into flower.  Fred is in heaven reclining on the bed that John made him.  He is looking really well and has almost got rid of his lopsided appearance.  He doesn't bolt for the door although he would probably still go for a wander outside if the opportunity arose.  He just craves affection and lots of it and food, lots of it!!!

Dad has had an issue with the android TV box or more specifically with the network extender - we never really found out what was wrong but we got it all back working eventually and set it up so that there was something for Dad to watch when Mum was out later.

Back home we found all the cats in enjoying the warmth of the conservatory.  Minnie Mou had been prevented from going into our bedroom so she had adopted the role of the Princess and the Pea as she was perched on the raised bed and snuggled down onto the heated blanket.  I say heated but not that you plug it in rather that it has an insert which absorbs and reflects back her body heat.  It will soon be far too warm for this and it will get a wash and be put away but at the moment the evenings are still very chilly and particularly so in the conservatory.

I leave today's post with a picture of Mr Boo - he is none the worse for his recent scuffle with a.n.other cat and that might even have been Charlie when he is in full on play mode.  We discovered the remains of a claw still stuck into his front leg which was obviously causing him discomfort and managed to remove it and he is now back to normal.

I have said it before but Mr Boo is a 'flopper' in that he just gets up on your lap and flops down in such a way that he is likely to fall off - he likes to sleep on his back with his head pointing down and then slowly slips further and further towards the floor at which point he makes a funny noise like he is covering up a trump - or maybe he is covering up a trump - and then stands up and shakes himself down and looks at you as if to say 'that didn't happen and if you said it did I will deny it'

Another eventful week comes to a close with another eventful week stretching ahead of us.