Fred Gives a Scare

Fred is sick and when a member of my family is sick, I feel sick as well. I watch him incessantly hoping to see behavior that gives me hope. When Ethel got sick, I went through horrid heartache and she had (very expensive) surgery. Plus, her initial recovery period was brutally hard to witness.

Poor Freddy started howling and puking at five am. I was short with Sheba who wants all  the attention all  the time and poor Ethel just got ignored as I shadowed my beloved monster Bengal. At six I found him in a favourite place and he seemed calmer, purring at the sound of my voice. 

I’ checked on him every five minutes after rising in alarm to the sound of him being sick; I’m a doting parent. By six-thirty I felt confident all would be okay; the howling had stopped and he was resting comfortably. 

The downside of adoration.

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Thursday was wonderful; it was truly a Spring-like day. The sun was wonderfully warm on my skin. I spent all morning working in the yard whilst Her Highness investigated the neighbourhood—always coming home when I called her. 

The yard is huge and I hadn’t raked since mid-Summer. I burned seven wheelbarrows full of tree detritus and dumped three more of dense Fir needles into the forest.  

My backyard is in stunning shape now! Mr. Tidy-Queen is hugely satisfied! And I’m half way through stacking the bucked wood; it’s very hard work. And when Darrell brings me the slitter, I’ll have more work to do on the big rounds, turning into quarter-rounds.

It’s incredibly satisfying to leave my cabin and step onto a deck void of forest pieces and, from there, onto a courtyard that’s ready for Spring planting. 

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Every morning, and often during the day, I light incense because I love my nose. I have acute smell and I like to feed that source of joy. This morning, I’m dog-walking with Judith because of my nose.

I’ve often remarked on the glorious smell of the forest since the snow melted. It’s as though the snow trapped the scent and a dense amount is now escaping the forest floor. I smell a wonderful sweet earthy fragrance. For me, it’s the smell of Spring, and Judith wants very badly to smell it so I’m her truffle dog for the morning today.

When we come home, I’ll get back to work on the yard. 

It’s going to be a decent day today, but it’s not dawned as inspirationally as yesterday. There’s a lot of cloud this morning and it’s cool; still, I’ve to finish stacking the bucked wood and that’ll finish all the tidying up I plan to do.

Next I attack the vegetable garden. First I’ll align and level the raised bed containers. Then I’ll line them with plastic and they’ll be ready for filling. I’m inspired and it’s highly motivating.