Tuesday, March 27, 2007

A bit of this and a bit of that

Quieter day today...thank goodness. Took the dog for a looooong walk this morning, on-leash I might add, before heading to the vet. He has about 6 or 7 cuts all over him, and he keeps scratching the one on his nose making it positively gory, plus he was due for his flea dope update. They have this system here where you put a liquid on their back in three places, and they are covered for a month for fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. The mosquitoes here are a problem because they can carry a disease that leads to gradual and fairly irreversible debilitation in dogs. No impact on humans. I am learning this in Catalan, so my understanding is of course limited. Chuck doesn't have this, but they take anti-mosquito measures seriously here.

The cuts are all superficial, no problem, we have been lent one of those silly dog head cones, that I am not using yet, and I have to apply the flea goo. Oh. Ah well. He is also getting some rice to eat as the stress has, shall we say, adversely effected his bowel. Had to hose the sucker off when we got home. He was pretty indignant, and as soon as I let him go, he went and tortured one of my socks, and then stole my shoe. Who could blame him.

Enough of the dog. Must be boring some of you to pieces. If you look at the sidebar with blogs I like, you will find Esben in India. He has a series of portraits on his site right now that are spectacular. May be worth a visit.

There was a little yellow breasted finch type bird sitting up on the television antenna on the roof singing his little heart out while I was hanging out the laundry. Wonder what it was. Gotta getta bird book too! There are a lot of birds here in the winter, many of them come down from Northern Europe and spend the winter, some continue on into Africa of course, but many remain here. When we first came in September we were alarmed by how few birds there were, but there are more now, which is lovely.

The eldest is putting on a play in religion..the story of St Jordi, the patron Saint of Catalonia. He may be more familiar to some of you as St. George, of the dragon slaying fame. The eldest is on the side of the dragon and is periodically indignant about the entire thing. Needless to say she wasn't given the part of the narrator. Indeed she has no lines at all, what a surprise. Easter is upon us, so this aspect of the kid's Catholic education is ramping up a bit. The younger one came home with a picture she had coloured at school of the last supper. Judas is labelled clearly with a bag with his name on it, and is seated only half on the bench like he is poised to run. Mysteriously one of the disciples on Jesus' left appears to be sleeping. He, although it looks like a she, has his head on the table and a peaceful contented look on his face. Jesus is resting his hand on his back. It is a
mite mysterious. The kids have all of next week off, and Monday of the week after as well, the man has to work for the first few days next week, and then is done till the following Tuesday. I also have all of next week off and Monday as well. Lovely, but it will impact on our cash flow. We may go to Tarragona, or Girona for a day trip, we'll have to see.

6 comments:

Beth said...

Did your daughter draw that picture of the Last Supper or just colour it in? What a strange set-up.
Might be rough on the cash flow but having a break next week sounds great for you - day trips, sleep-ins, family time...

oreneta said...

Beth: Just coloured it in...hence my confusion. I am looking forward to a trip. Tarragona has masses of Roman ruins, some quite intact, so it should be interesting and educational. We'll have to start off by reading Asterix and Obelix! Hee hee

Unknown said...

Are you a birder? My father-in-law is an amateur birder -- not a total hobbyist, but he still goes out and cranes his neck for hours on end to witness some odd-looking bird.

I don't do that.

oreneta said...

DD: Am I a birder...no. I don't go out to try and find birds, but when I see a new one, I like to figure out what it is, and mark it down. Find out a little about it. There are some places in the world that are unbelievably rich in birdlife...like inland Florida. You would be surprised by the number of different birds there are in your area if you look, and write a little note in the margin of the bird book. It's kinda neat.

Angel said...

I love hearing about Chuck. He's a major part of your family now!

I don't care where you go, just take me with you....please.

oreneta said...

Beth: You can always come with me girl....anytime.