Now Dear Reader you’ll be wondering what on earth I’m on about – well, you may be aware that for some this is part of the wedding vow. Let me explain, should I be considering the DB and I renewing our wedding vows ( which I’m not – we’ve kept the vows we made twenty years ago, they’ll do for another twenty) but if I was considering it I would have to change the wording.!
The vow referred to in the title of this blog would be altered to read “ all I have I share with you – that is other than any nasty virus you happen to contract!!” Yes Dear Reader, the DB picked up a nasty respiratory virus two weeks ago and was very poorly … in fact we tested out the use of our renewed EHIC card when we visited the emergency doctor on account of his illness. Treatment proved a success I’m pleased to say – however, it didn’t stop yours truly going down with the same virus a week ago 🙈🙈🙈🙈 . I’m pleased to report that we are both now on the mend – even so would have preferred he’d kept it to himself !!!
Last week I was devastated to discover that I would be classed as vintage …….vintage, yes me, and I’ve still not got my bus pass….Why do you think that, I hear you question? Well because I saw an advert on our local Face Book page for these…
I mean these were the standard telephones when I was growing up …
I even remember this style telephone – so what does that make me ? An antique ? I think this téléphone was answered with “ Woburn Sands 3229” but then we progressed to “583229” with the “modern ok vintage “ phone! So I did some investigating and to be an antique you have to be at least 100 years old ( phew, not me then) but to be vintage you must be no less than 20 years and no more than 100 years ….so I am fairly and squarely vintage then ! Still not got the bus pass though so there is some compensation……for the next two months , at least!!!
This afternoon I’m off to the vet with Millie – she’s fine, just due her monthly injection. The vets surgery here is different to the UK ….they are equally lovely but I have walked in when major surgery on a cat, visible from the waiting room, is taking place in the consulting room which has no door. Between the consulting room and the waiting room is reception, with people paying for treatments on their way out amid poorly animals either side. One wouldn’t think that such a trip could be traumatic but past experiences both here and in the UK have proved so to be!
Take last October for example . Millie had a wart on her eye which was scratching her cornea … the vet suggested removing it ( the wart not her eye..) and she was booked in….I took her in the morning , surgery went according to plan and I was given an appointment to pick her up in the evening . All good so far ….then I arrive in the waiting room and sit to wait and this is when the trauma begins….
A mother and two small but school aged children entered with a basket covered in a towel….a rabbit apparently ..dead …Mum clearly wanted the receptionist to take said rabbit and then let vet explain to the little girls that he ( or she, I wasn’t privy to that detail) had died. The receptionist duly took the cage and Mum and daughters sat down behind me, Mum taking the opportunity to prepare them for the consultation. They we’re duly called through and just when I was digesting their impending heart ache a man ( Mr Davis as it happened) rushed in with something small wrapped in a towel and placed on the reception desk, which the receptionist quickly grabbed and disappeared. She reappeared not five minutes later to announce the vet was administering oxygen and would he( Mr Davis) like a drink ? ( He may not, but at this rate I may well need one!!)
Mum and girls then reappeared , all three heartbroken, though Mum holding it together… the bill is paid and then they leave without their beloved pet. By this time surgery has filled with people who’ve finished work ….no sign of Mr Davis’ bundle … then “ Millie’s Mum please” Phew off I go …all has gone well but I am warned that eyelids have an excellent blood supply so there may be a bit of leakage but not to worry – they wanted to see her again in three days time ! The nurse is dispatched to retrieve my precious pet ….”oh, do you want a collar” …. “Yes please- I don’t want a blood bath with her scratching her eye..” and with that we’re out of the door….to the car collar in place.
Now Millie is not a fan of the car at the best of times but hey we’ve got the steps for her to climb into the boot , However I’m on my own and it’s raining ….so I have an unwilling dog in a “ lamp shade” in one hand and the foldable steps in the other that for some reason refused to unfold. Somehow I set them up and got the unwilling dog up them into the boot only to realise I was looking at a scene one would expect to find after a murder. There was blood everywhere….the collar ( or lampshade ) was dripping, Millie’s face was red and her eyelid was steadily pumping out more and more blood . There was only one thing for it ….I had to return inside and add to the trauma of the evening surgery. I opened the door and just stood looking at the receptionist without going in…blood everywhere. Needless to say, they got me inside, Millie was whisked away to be attended to and I was sat down. However all ended well and we finally got home a little ,if not significantly, traumatised!
So it was again …another traumatic experience but this time in Spain…when I took Millie for her Rabies vaccination . We walked into the waiting room and who should be there but another Golden Retriever. Now I’ve always found there is a camaraderie between us Golden Retriever parents .. but this “Dad” was very tight lipped . I asked his dog’s age …14 – he was a lovely dog and you could see him watching the receptionist , a rustle of paper …ha, food potential. Millie was panting so I got out her water and gave her some …..” would your dog like some I ask” ( all in Spanish of course) “ no” came the reply. So we sat ….and then a terrible thought crossed my mind ….suddenly replaced when a woman entered with a large “ Labrador” type dog who was clearly very very ill.Before I had time to register any more, the old Golden Retriever is called through, and I was left with this extremely sick dog and owner ( grandma it turned out to be) …and Millie of course! The young owner turned up and this dog lay on her with a look of complete despair in her eyes…Time went on , and I was sure this dog was going to die in front of me ….I realised the Golden Retriever was a long time in consultation- if I’d been able to change Millie’s vaccination date I would have and we would have left ……and then to my horror but not surprise, the Golden Retrievers “Dad” appeared with the lead and collar and I knew what I’d been dreading all along.
I’m then called in ….Mrs Blubbering wreck in the corner …..vaccination administered and off we go…..needless to say I felt completely wrecked and traumatised by all this . So when I went the next time I spoke to the receptionist about it . I’m pleased to report the Labrador type dog had improved though was still on medication. As for the Go,den Retriever- 14 is a very good age – he had started to have fits though and apparently had had a really bad fit which made the owners mind up to have him put to sleep rather than go on suffering……that made things easier for me because I knew he’d been truly loved 💙
Apologies I gave no mascara warning – just as well I’m not wearing any as I’m writing this 😢😢…..
So perhaps you now understand why I feel some trepidation about visiting the vet this afternoon!!! Millie however takes it all in her stride!!!
Until next time …hasta luego Dear Reader !
Camino Romero 