Ah, our Scotland time is over.
Really haven't got more pictures to load, as Adam's the photographer but does alot of post-work on them (so we won't see them until we're home). We've just spent a last afternoon out about Glasgow for a bit of a walk. Visited the eclectic Kelvingrove Museum, a gallery of a little bit of everything - natural history, ancient history, art from the last couple of centuries and currently a specialty exhibit of Harry Benson photography. A beautiful walk along the Kelvin River, Amanda's usual route to work, took us back to the apartment to line the bags up by the door and wait for our cab.
We're off to Heathrow tonight, where we're spending one night at a Travelodge, followed by 3 days and-a-bit in London, then off to Cambridge and St. Ives to see Patrice.
Tah!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Scots Blog
It is 11:30 pm Thursday in Glasgow, and the last of twilight is just fading. Beautiful here. So far North that daylight begins before 4 and ends after 11. Which is great for summer travel. It is very lush here, a temperate rainforest green everywhere. Our hosts tell us this is brief. The climate here suits me, at least so far. It rains daily, however, the remedy for that situation seems to be a) wait 10 minutes and/or b) get over the next hill. Rapidly moving microclimates are the rule, and the temperatures are running between 10 and 20 degrees, in other words, perfect for me.
Saturday and Sunday were spent getting acquainted with our West End neighbourhood, relaxing with our generous and welcoming hosts, and doing a small amount of shopping, browsing, and snacking. The major sight to see of our first weekend was the Botanic Gardens and greenhouses, including the impressive Kibble Palace.
On Monday we grabbed a train to Edinburgh, less than an hour ride, and were deposited at Waverley station in a gully between the Old Town and the New Town. Most of the day was spent in the Old Town on the Royal Mile, perusing cobbles, closes, cathedrals, and castles which are heaped layer upon layer on the old volcano core which peaks as the foundation of Edinburgh Castle. The Castle was expensive but astounding, a hilltop fortess that is at once museums, operating military barracks, medieval theme park, and an archaeology dig. I did in fact see the Honours of Scotland, the Crown Jewels of Scottish Royalty, and the fabled Stone of Destiny. We had high tea at the Queen Anne Cafe. Other Edinburgh highlights were the High Kirk Cathedral of St. Giles, the Scottish Parliament house, tagging on to the end of a tour that pointed us to the school which was the inspiration for Hogwarts, and the amazing crisscrossing of paths and closes in the old City.
My feet were killing me on Tuesday, the weather wasn't great, so we took the day to explore more of Glasgow, going "into the City" which is what most of us would call "Downtown" in a big city. Much more walking, rain, and a few quick stops at the Glagow Museum of Modern art and Merchant Square, and late afternoon saw us heading for the impressive St. Mungo's Cathedral, the Museum of Religious Life, and the Glagow Necropolis, a stark and beautiful planned Victorian Cemetery that overlooks much of the city from a great hill. 50,000 people are buried there, some 3500 with monuments and mausoleums, often ornate, and the rest in communal graves, unmarked, but reported to be meticulously recorded in the Mitchell library.
On Wednesday we rented a car, and our first road trip was west where we hopped a ferry to the Isle of Arran, known as "Scotland in Miniature" as it is bisected by the highland-lowland line, as is the whole country, and includes examples of most of the climate and terrain found on the mainland. Again stark, lush, and beautiful all at once, a highlight was tromping through fields of sheep to the Machrie Moore, a site of several neolithic stone circles, some of the monuments still standing.
Thursday was another day spent on the roads. Adam is driving and quickly got the hang of everything being on the wrong side, except for continuing to try to find the stick shift on the driver's door at times. We meandered, with several stops for the sleepy driver, to the village of Oban at the western seaside. Oban was nice, but very typically touristy, as it is the jump point for ferries to Islay, Mull, and the Inner Hebrides. Time and preparation unfortunately did not permit us a trip over, though I have decided Mull should be a destination in the future. The meander home included some foiled attempts to get to another castle, this one a lighting-blasted ruin apparently still privately owned. The ferry that used to visit is cancelled, and the road in is marked private and we weren't bold enough to tromp on in. We did find, on the way home on the far side of Loch Awe that another pasture had a hop-over built on the fence, so we got as close as we could ( a few hundred feet across the far side of the loch) braving another boggy sheep field. Adam should have photos up when we're back.
We've decided to extend the car rental another day, and go through Stirling (more castles!) and up to the more central-eastern Highlands to cover some slightly different terrain. I'd love to get as far as Loch Ness but it doesn't seem likely.
Off to snooze now, as we'll be up early.
Saturday and Sunday were spent getting acquainted with our West End neighbourhood, relaxing with our generous and welcoming hosts, and doing a small amount of shopping, browsing, and snacking. The major sight to see of our first weekend was the Botanic Gardens and greenhouses, including the impressive Kibble Palace.
On Monday we grabbed a train to Edinburgh, less than an hour ride, and were deposited at Waverley station in a gully between the Old Town and the New Town. Most of the day was spent in the Old Town on the Royal Mile, perusing cobbles, closes, cathedrals, and castles which are heaped layer upon layer on the old volcano core which peaks as the foundation of Edinburgh Castle. The Castle was expensive but astounding, a hilltop fortess that is at once museums, operating military barracks, medieval theme park, and an archaeology dig. I did in fact see the Honours of Scotland, the Crown Jewels of Scottish Royalty, and the fabled Stone of Destiny. We had high tea at the Queen Anne Cafe. Other Edinburgh highlights were the High Kirk Cathedral of St. Giles, the Scottish Parliament house, tagging on to the end of a tour that pointed us to the school which was the inspiration for Hogwarts, and the amazing crisscrossing of paths and closes in the old City.
My feet were killing me on Tuesday, the weather wasn't great, so we took the day to explore more of Glasgow, going "into the City" which is what most of us would call "Downtown" in a big city. Much more walking, rain, and a few quick stops at the Glagow Museum of Modern art and Merchant Square, and late afternoon saw us heading for the impressive St. Mungo's Cathedral, the Museum of Religious Life, and the Glagow Necropolis, a stark and beautiful planned Victorian Cemetery that overlooks much of the city from a great hill. 50,000 people are buried there, some 3500 with monuments and mausoleums, often ornate, and the rest in communal graves, unmarked, but reported to be meticulously recorded in the Mitchell library.
On Wednesday we rented a car, and our first road trip was west where we hopped a ferry to the Isle of Arran, known as "Scotland in Miniature" as it is bisected by the highland-lowland line, as is the whole country, and includes examples of most of the climate and terrain found on the mainland. Again stark, lush, and beautiful all at once, a highlight was tromping through fields of sheep to the Machrie Moore, a site of several neolithic stone circles, some of the monuments still standing.
Thursday was another day spent on the roads. Adam is driving and quickly got the hang of everything being on the wrong side, except for continuing to try to find the stick shift on the driver's door at times. We meandered, with several stops for the sleepy driver, to the village of Oban at the western seaside. Oban was nice, but very typically touristy, as it is the jump point for ferries to Islay, Mull, and the Inner Hebrides. Time and preparation unfortunately did not permit us a trip over, though I have decided Mull should be a destination in the future. The meander home included some foiled attempts to get to another castle, this one a lighting-blasted ruin apparently still privately owned. The ferry that used to visit is cancelled, and the road in is marked private and we weren't bold enough to tromp on in. We did find, on the way home on the far side of Loch Awe that another pasture had a hop-over built on the fence, so we got as close as we could ( a few hundred feet across the far side of the loch) braving another boggy sheep field. Adam should have photos up when we're back.
We've decided to extend the car rental another day, and go through Stirling (more castles!) and up to the more central-eastern Highlands to cover some slightly different terrain. I'd love to get as far as Loch Ness but it doesn't seem likely.
Off to snooze now, as we'll be up early.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
They tell me it looks worse before it gets better....
Poor Blue cat is, as expected, still hospitalized and not at all her usual self.
The vet and techs assure me that her current state is no surprise, and the beginning of recovery. She's dopey, groggy, out-of-sorts, and messy. She started feeding with a protein gel yesterday and is getting small feedings every two hours. She's gucky and matted, because she's got enough oomph in her to fuss and hence knock syringes around and get food on her - but not to groom it off. Yesterday she was limp, pliable.. had a little purr for me but was just a lump otherwise. Today, she was a bit more alert, still purred, but was not at all wanting to be handled - if I tried to pick her up, she pushed away and then sat in her litterbox. So I coaxed her out onto one of several quilts and cushions I brought in from home, and just talked to her there. I'm not entirely sure she knows who is there, but she seems to know someone nice is talking to her. There's a weak bit of headbutting and purrs interspersed with a recognizable "Blue frowney face" she makes when grumpy.
She's on lots of meds, and a bout of encephalopathy is resolving. Apparently trying to re-start the liver working results in all kinds of chemistry going off, so she's medicated to prevent bad consequences from that, but the chemistry still affects her brain, sort of like a dementia but one that reverses (I'm told. hope hope hope).
I feel terrible at the idea of leaving her, but I'll be in so much trouble, and so disappointed, too, if I cancelled the Scotland/England trip. And practically - there's nothing I could do anyway, and she's getting better care at the vet than she would if she were at home and we were out at work all day, anyway. Still, it seems a little mean to leave her there without her family visiting for so long.
Here's hoping she'll be giving them all a hard time before too long, and we'll have a fattened-up Blue ready to come home with us when we get back. We'll have one more visit tomorrow before the airporter, then we're off.
The vet and techs assure me that her current state is no surprise, and the beginning of recovery. She's dopey, groggy, out-of-sorts, and messy. She started feeding with a protein gel yesterday and is getting small feedings every two hours. She's gucky and matted, because she's got enough oomph in her to fuss and hence knock syringes around and get food on her - but not to groom it off. Yesterday she was limp, pliable.. had a little purr for me but was just a lump otherwise. Today, she was a bit more alert, still purred, but was not at all wanting to be handled - if I tried to pick her up, she pushed away and then sat in her litterbox. So I coaxed her out onto one of several quilts and cushions I brought in from home, and just talked to her there. I'm not entirely sure she knows who is there, but she seems to know someone nice is talking to her. There's a weak bit of headbutting and purrs interspersed with a recognizable "Blue frowney face" she makes when grumpy.
She's on lots of meds, and a bout of encephalopathy is resolving. Apparently trying to re-start the liver working results in all kinds of chemistry going off, so she's medicated to prevent bad consequences from that, but the chemistry still affects her brain, sort of like a dementia but one that reverses (I'm told. hope hope hope).
I feel terrible at the idea of leaving her, but I'll be in so much trouble, and so disappointed, too, if I cancelled the Scotland/England trip. And practically - there's nothing I could do anyway, and she's getting better care at the vet than she would if she were at home and we were out at work all day, anyway. Still, it seems a little mean to leave her there without her family visiting for so long.
Here's hoping she'll be giving them all a hard time before too long, and we'll have a fattened-up Blue ready to come home with us when we get back. We'll have one more visit tomorrow before the airporter, then we're off.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Blue News Update
Minor surgery to install an esophageal feeding tube went OK, and Blue is up and about though dopey.
Here's hoping. Vet says no visiting hours today as Blue's upset and groggy and she's afraid I'd be distressed over it.
Here's hoping. Vet says no visiting hours today as Blue's upset and groggy and she's afraid I'd be distressed over it.
Blue News, not great, not too bad (yet...)
We have some tests back and are waiting for some, but the diagnosis seems to be hepatic lipidosis/fatty liver disease. A condition that can be fatal (always, if not treated) but has a good prognosis if caught. It occurs often secondary to something, as it is the result of a cat not eating and losing weight rapidly. The "something" it is secondary to can be bad, but can also be stress, social problems - or grief.
Dr. Bonnie is thinking that, without really "looking depressed", Blue is probably missing Maui and is off her food because of it. She quickly felt sick from that - and hence didn't want to eat. It's a quick downward spiral for a cat, cats being evolved to eat constant, small, high-protein meals all day.
The good news (I'm clinging to this, at this point) is that it is treatable, with the not entirely pleasant but relatively routine treatment of a feeding tube. Unfortunately this means Blue is in vet care for a while - we're going away for two weeks on Friday, and she won't be recovered enough to go home before then, so she's just staying.
At least I won't have to worry the whole time we're gone if she's curled up and died while hiding from the catsitters or anything.
Dr. Bonnie is thinking that, without really "looking depressed", Blue is probably missing Maui and is off her food because of it. She quickly felt sick from that - and hence didn't want to eat. It's a quick downward spiral for a cat, cats being evolved to eat constant, small, high-protein meals all day.
The good news (I'm clinging to this, at this point) is that it is treatable, with the not entirely pleasant but relatively routine treatment of a feeding tube. Unfortunately this means Blue is in vet care for a while - we're going away for two weeks on Friday, and she won't be recovered enough to go home before then, so she's just staying.
At least I won't have to worry the whole time we're gone if she's curled up and died while hiding from the catsitters or anything.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sick of the sick kitties!!!
Wow, I should be looking forward to vacation starting Friday, but I am sad and drained.
Blue is now in Dr. Bonnie's care, as of this morning. She's getting IV fluids, bloodwork, and an ultrasound as soon as it can be arrange. She started moping late last week, and we were watching her and wondering if she'd finally caught on that Maui wasn't coming home. Maui had been gone before, for days at a time, and she never acted like she was missing him but she was always all over him when he came back. So maybe she was getting depressed.
However, Saturday she was lethargic, not eating, looking ragged. By Sunday she was just sitting in one spot, moaning at us a bit, and again, wouldn't eat. Adam tempted her to take a few licks of wet food in the morning. Then she refused everything, and vomited up something nasty hours later (brown-green sludge. Ew). It was apparent her weight had dropped fast.
So off we went to Dr. Bonnie, with me having horrible visions of Maui having died of some poison or contagion that Blue now had. Bonnie was quick to debunk that (as she thought it, too), having got Maui's pathology reports back. It was the cancer that got him, it has spread to the bile ducts and through the intestine, so that's why he had pancreatitis, which is why he went downhill so quickly. Not that it cheered me up alot, but it was better than, say, finding out we were in the middle of a tainted food scare that affected all of them.
So Blue is getting looked at. She'll also be boarding with Dr. Bonnie while we're away, which is an immense relief, as she hides from the catsitters and they'd never know if she was well or not.
I'm tired of this, though. I just want well kitties for a while.
Blue is now in Dr. Bonnie's care, as of this morning. She's getting IV fluids, bloodwork, and an ultrasound as soon as it can be arrange. She started moping late last week, and we were watching her and wondering if she'd finally caught on that Maui wasn't coming home. Maui had been gone before, for days at a time, and she never acted like she was missing him but she was always all over him when he came back. So maybe she was getting depressed.
However, Saturday she was lethargic, not eating, looking ragged. By Sunday she was just sitting in one spot, moaning at us a bit, and again, wouldn't eat. Adam tempted her to take a few licks of wet food in the morning. Then she refused everything, and vomited up something nasty hours later (brown-green sludge. Ew). It was apparent her weight had dropped fast.
So off we went to Dr. Bonnie, with me having horrible visions of Maui having died of some poison or contagion that Blue now had. Bonnie was quick to debunk that (as she thought it, too), having got Maui's pathology reports back. It was the cancer that got him, it has spread to the bile ducts and through the intestine, so that's why he had pancreatitis, which is why he went downhill so quickly. Not that it cheered me up alot, but it was better than, say, finding out we were in the middle of a tainted food scare that affected all of them.
So Blue is getting looked at. She'll also be boarding with Dr. Bonnie while we're away, which is an immense relief, as she hides from the catsitters and they'd never know if she was well or not.
I'm tired of this, though. I just want well kitties for a while.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Better Days
A couple of the more recent favourite shots of the Him-cat.
He did seem to like posing for cameras.
And I have no idea what he thought he was doing here, but this is what happened when the "bird" toy got "caught".
Bye-bye, you little space cadet. I'm sorry. We tried so hard.
He did seem to like posing for cameras.
And I have no idea what he thought he was doing here, but this is what happened when the "bird" toy got "caught".
Bye-bye, you little space cadet. I'm sorry. We tried so hard.
Saying Goodbye, Again.
Well, I'm now down to a "normal" number of pets, which for some reason most of society thinks is two.
Maui made it through a complicated surgery, which involved some kind of bile duct repair, only to crash in recovery and not make it back. Dr. Bonnie was incredibly gentle and I guess quite upset herself, she was with him the whole time. He had severe pancreatitis, we don't yet know why. She said the pancreas was black and green and full of bile, and his liver was in trouble, but it seemed to be something fixable. Three hours of surgery later and it looked OK. But the poor tyke had just had enough, he didn't have the strength to come back out of it.
Blue seems to know I'm upset, I don't know if she knows Maui is gone yet. Sprout is her usual oblivious self.
I now have more urns than I have cats. Still haven't figured out a good idea about what to do with them.
Maui made it through a complicated surgery, which involved some kind of bile duct repair, only to crash in recovery and not make it back. Dr. Bonnie was incredibly gentle and I guess quite upset herself, she was with him the whole time. He had severe pancreatitis, we don't yet know why. She said the pancreas was black and green and full of bile, and his liver was in trouble, but it seemed to be something fixable. Three hours of surgery later and it looked OK. But the poor tyke had just had enough, he didn't have the strength to come back out of it.
Blue seems to know I'm upset, I don't know if she knows Maui is gone yet. Sprout is her usual oblivious self.
I now have more urns than I have cats. Still haven't figured out a good idea about what to do with them.
Waiting Game....
Maui's having surgery at 2. We were down to "he'll die soon, or we open him up to see if it's fixable". He's been at the vet since yesterday morning again, on IV because he can't eat or drink. Dr. Bonnie left a message at 12:45 that the surgeon would be in at 2, did I want to go ahead.
It's risky and might not help, but I can't really say no, as it seems he's close to the end without it.
This is the worst part of caring for little lives like his.
It's risky and might not help, but I can't really say no, as it seems he's close to the end without it.
This is the worst part of caring for little lives like his.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Biked and Hiked and Still Rolling
Well, despite the cold, damp morning, the Bike and Hike went well overall for the hospital. Without even all the final on-site and last minute donations, the event was able to announce that Cardiac Care in Waterloo Region was $225000 better funded than it had been before Sunday. So, thank you, everyone who donated whatever amount you could. There are so many worthy causes out there, I appreciate the support for this one.
Without slowing down, I and my crazy colleagues launched off the Bike and Hike and into Commuter Challenge, so I'm leaving the four-wheeler alone this week - hopefully for the full week. We'll see if weather and the need for vet appointments continue to cooperate. I'm not sure I'd like to try to bike to our adjacent city, even as close as it is, with an upset, sick cat tied to the bike. There are, alas, a few good reasons for the car.
I'm off to try to figure out what's wrong with my bathtub (It's a whirlpool, but not whirling lately) or at least clean it then try to steam away the bad case of biker butt I have going on right now.
Without slowing down, I and my crazy colleagues launched off the Bike and Hike and into Commuter Challenge, so I'm leaving the four-wheeler alone this week - hopefully for the full week. We'll see if weather and the need for vet appointments continue to cooperate. I'm not sure I'd like to try to bike to our adjacent city, even as close as it is, with an upset, sick cat tied to the bike. There are, alas, a few good reasons for the car.
I'm off to try to figure out what's wrong with my bathtub (It's a whirlpool, but not whirling lately) or at least clean it then try to steam away the bad case of biker butt I have going on right now.
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