Dog and cat days

The fur-kids should be flying out from South Africa today, to do their last month in quarantine in Sydney. We have missed them terribly (to the point where I hate seeing the pictures because it hurts.) I can't explain to them what we've done. To them Finnegan's Wake must have seemed like dog and cat heaven. I still worry about whether we've done the right thing for them. They were all 'awkward' to re-home -- whether quarantine before coming back has been kinder, I don't know. Well I do know for Roly.

He's a one-man Old English Sheepdog. I just hope the old boy is OKay (the kennels say so)They say dogs resemble their owners and vice versa, and he's hairy, dumb and very loyal. He was actually born onto my lap, and I can't wait to let him sit on it again (yes he has grown a little, but not in his mind)

Puggles (the golden boy at the top is happy-go-lucky) but his sister Wednesday is a problem-child.



And our cats I worry most about. They're all rescues and let's be frank were a little screwball to start. But we decided on this ruinously expensive excercise(and thank you again to all of those who helped with the SAVE THE DRAGONS project - which raised 2/5 of this.) because we thought it was what we would have wanted them to do for us. And we love them very much. I just hope they come through Okay.

Our animals

We have just received these pictures of our pets in their kennels sent by Mark at Paws-Resort! It is so great to see them happy and smiling (Panting?)

dogs and cats and quarantine

I've been very reluctant to post about our dogs and cats despite the fact that they're our stay-at-home stand-in kids providing much of the amusement of country life, to say nothing of affection (and mud. And shed fur) Moving them is difficult and very expensive because of the quarantine issue. They're not easy to re-home being country animals used to having 3-4 acres of garden, and of course humans on tap 24/7. I've always got at least one with me... but the costs are extortionate, and authors are classic starving artists :-(. It was tearing me apart. But we just couldn't do it. (there is a breakdown of the costs on Save The Dragons in the FAQ). Anyway thanks to Walt and Francis we managed to make some kind of plan - to sell one of my books on the net to try and bridge PART the gap. (it's a huge gap) and thus http://www.savethedragons.nu/ was born. And of of course more ulcer-material because there is nothing like hope to make you afraid. I love them - especially my big Old English Sheepdog, very much (actually, all of them. But he was born on my lap). Anyway - we're about 3/4 of the way there - enough to trust that we'll scrape in the rest, somehow. It's making us a lot poorer (lets' put it this way, we could fly our family over and back 5 times for the cost of moving them) But has meant leaving everything very late and worrying a lot. It's going to be hard sending them into quarantine and you can't explain. Sad too, as Buttons (my 18 year old somewhat senile maltese) can't go. She's been on death's door, but not in distress for some time. Last night however she was struggling to breathe. It has always been our decision that if she was in distress, we'd call time. I think it is very close now. Legsie (my son's cat) will stay with his friends with whom he will spend holidays, so another farewell. Still, they give us their loyalty and love: what would we be worth is we did not try to do as much?

Rhubarb

It's a Rhubarb-and-custard sort of day. By this I mean chilly with occassional flurries of rain. Good for having to do some work indoors, good for the digging fence-pole hole sort of work or splitting firewood. It's not actually a greeny-grey-with hints of red, slightly glutinous bitter-sweet day with strings attached... I think I'd better put this metaphor down, before it infects the entire flock, and definately before I get to the custard.

I grow way more rhubarb than we can use. Actually, like most of my ilk - I think crofters is probably more accurate than farmers - quantities are almost never right. We're either in glut or shortage, which makes having others of similar bent (so long as they don't do the same things) as friends really valuable. Because quantity may go out of kilter, but the quality is inevitably something special. (cough. Sometimes 'special' can mean 'really vile'. But never ordinary supermarket) Things are also exceptionally seasonal -- which makes them very precious. Right now the young grape leaves are soft and tender. I blanche them and use them to make parcels of cheese, a sliver of home-made panchetta and sundried tomatoes (re-hydrate the tomato a bit first) which I pin with a toothpick and then nuke briefly. It's kind of stealth vegetables that even my kids' do-not-bring those-dangerous-vitamin-green-things-near-me friends eat cheerfully after that first wary-face-pulling tiny taste. My boys of course eat any vegetable cheerfully anyway. And anything else. We're very lucky that way. This is just sort of a rambly post, because that's the way I feel right now. I looked a t a seed catagloue for Aus... very exciting. Varieties I've never seen, veg I've only seen on TV... Except half of it can't go to Tas, for quarantine reasons. I haven't found a Tas online seed catalouge yet.
And now I think I will go and pick some Rhubarb and cook it, instead of merely making 'rhubarb, rhubarb' noises on the blog.