Committed Travellers

Blue ate foam and other rubbish yesterday evening which he gagged up. For the first time he did not want to eat real food at all for dinner I syringed water into his mouth and put him to bed. Naturally his empty tummy woke him before 5am! I tiptoed around the kitchen making myself a cup of tea and breakfast for Blue and Tilly so that Anita could keep sleeping. I tried to get him back in his crate but he was ready to play so I took them down to my study.  Our local farmers' markets opened today after a period of shut down. Anita brought home fruit buns which she toasted for our breakfast. I spent time on some annoying problems. After washing the Jeep yesterday the windows are covered in spots that I can't remove with any form of window cleaner. These are probably due to minerals in the water and like glass shower screens the windows seem to have become permanently stained. I tried a few different cleaners then gave up and drove to the service station to refuel and buy two larg

We left the little ones at home when we went out for breakfast with some friends. Our booking was for one hour at 8am and we had to vacate the table by 9am. Our favourite breakfast venue is Hot Shott and it had undergone a renovation and doubled in size just before the virus sent us into lockdown. While it was weird sitting at a table for six with only 4 other seated customers, it was easy to talk as there was hardly any background noise. A constant parade of dogs and puppies passed the cafe as it seems everyone who could adopted a new pet for lockdown. A couple of our friends came back to our place to visit with Blue and Tilly. I then headed to Coles to do the grocery shopping. Blue suckles my finger so I decided to try him on a baby's dummy and he took to it immediately. I gave Blue a bit more of a trim getting him used to the clippers, then washed the Jeep before going to visit a friend to see how big her 5 month old Bengal kitten has grown since I first saw her. She is qui

I took Blue on his first trip to Bunnings. It was early so not crowded. The staff were very attentive because I had Blue with me. I bought the rivets I needed and finished installing the acrylic sheeting on the security door.  While I was finishing this job we had a surprise visit from a couple of friends who came to meet Blue. They took this lovely photo of him sitting in the pot. The next job I finished was storing things in the gatehouse so that I will be able to start some projects in the garage that need lots of room. I have a small bathroom cabinet that came from the Federation house I renovated in Annandale. I think it is cedar so decided to strip off the green paint. This will be a drawn out project because I can only put stripper on one side at a time. It might be a challenge to get the green tinge out of the wood grain. I'm no gardener but I decided to move plants from pots into the ground, spread mulch and cover the drain with river stones. This co

We left our little critters alone at home while we had breakfast at Budds Beach on the other side of the Nerang River. Bumbles is one of our favourite little cafes and it has the benefit of being just across the road from the river. We ordered take away and were lucky to find an empty table so could enjoy our breakfast with the view on a very quiet day with no wind. No dogs are allowed in the riverside park, but they can be walked along the footpath so next time we will bring Blue.  Back at home I cut to size the acrylic sheet for the outside of our new security door. The inside sheet is to stop the cat from scratching at the flyscreen to get out, and the outside sheet is to stop the dog from scratching to get back in. I need to make another trip to Bunnings for rivets as the frame of the security door is tubular steel and I could not manage to screw in the stainless screws. I have various rivets but of course not enough of the appropriate size. I tried to post using a new

Anita and I walked to the shops leaving Blue in a crate. He was whimpering a bit when we left so I put Tilly in the carry case next to him. She could always get out but when we came home both were asleep in their respective beds. They like to be close even if not in the same crate.  I fitted a sheet of clear acrylic to the inside of our new security door to prevent Tilly from scratching her way to freedom. Out the back I finished cleaning the brick fence where tree debris had built up under the damaged acrylic pool fence extender. I used a scrubbing brush and sugar soap to clean the fence. My patch on the damaged sheet seems to be holding. I cut the smashed section to a triangle shape, then used a scrap piece of acrylic to cut a slightly smaller triangle to fill the gap with silicon sealer. The first photo is interesting because the naked eye cannot see much through the acrylic sheet, but in the photo the foliage behind the sheet can be clearly seen. I doubt anyone will ever notice t

Our new security door was installed this morning and it looks good. I now have other jobs such as getting extra keys cut and putting plastic sheeting at the bottom of the door on both sides so the puppy and kitten can't scratch through the flyscreen. I didn't get pet mesh or steel mesh as it cuts out more light than ordinary flyscreen.  I took Blue for a couple of "walks" but we didn't get far. He is spooked by noises so at one stage was running home. He rubbed his tummy on grass and ended up covered in small burrs that took ages to remove. My friend gave me a set of tiny clippers used for trimming the face of horses, and they were very effective removing fur from Blue's feet while he was sleeping. It was puppy training night at the vet surgery. There were only two other women and their puppies, and the trainer Ashley. There was an unusually large Cavoodle - 6kgs at 13 weeks, and a Moodle - a Maltese crossed with a Toy Poodle, smaller than Blue but ver

It was a lovely sunny day when I took Blue for a walk. We only managed to walk two houses from home when he had a meeting with a 5 month old French bulldog. The pups kept tangling their leads as I got to know the other one's parents who own a house in our street but don't live there. They plan to knock it down and build a new home so they will be living closer to The Southport School. Others joined our chat so they got to meet more of their prospective neighbours. Blue walks surprisingly well on his lead and harness but I will change to just a collar when I can be sure he won't slip out of it. We had been invited to lunch at our friends' horse farm so Blue had his first meeting with horses and he coped very well. He is very adaptable and went to sleep in his small crate, only whimpering when he needed to get out. We could walk around the farm and he just followed us without a lead playing in the grass. Lunch was lovely as was the company. Poor Tilly misses us all when

I didn't put Blue to bed until midnight last night and he slept in past 7.30 this morning. As it was so cold we let Tilly stay with us and she behaved like a little angel. I was worried she would wake us up or wake up Blue, but she snuggled in with me and didn't disturb anyone. Initially I found her on top of Blue's crate having made a bed out of my coat, but she soon decided the other bed was a better option. Today was the end of the two week quarantine period for Blue after his last Parvo vaccination so he could leave our garden and walk where other dogs have walked. He had a sniff around the lawn out front and we took him to pet shops where he greeted every other dog in the stores. I have been "walking" him on his harness and lead around the garden, and he walked quite well this morning. If he stopped too often we just picked him up for a while. After that outing he slept most of the day, often joined by Tilly. We went back to Surfers Paradise to spen

I bought a new set of clippers to groom Blue's long puppy fur. The electric clippers I had for removing Coco's fur when he developed hot spots are too heavy and too large for a small puppy. He doesn't mind the sound or the vibration but wasn't keen on having his fur removed. Fortunately I picked a time when he was very tired and sat him on my lap and brushed his fur till he fell asleep, then I gave him his first haircut. Anita is not impressed but the aim was to get some of the fur off and get him used to being clipped.  We met up with four friends for breakfast at a local cafe, a regular get together we have all missed during the strict lockdown. The rules allow people to sit in the cafe for an hour if they are having a meal, and 20 minutes if just having coffee. We had taken Blue with us and left him in his crate in the Jeep while we were in the cafe as it was so cool today. He was happy to receive multiple cuddles before everyone left. I installed the last win

I went for a short walk this morning to stretch out my back. The early morning sky demonstrates the change in weather we have experienced today. We only recently changed into long pants after living in shorts and Tshirts for months, and suddenly I had to change over to the winter doonas.  I spent a couple of hours doing banking and booking further Aussie Road Crew tours, on the assumption the borders will be open by the time they are due to start. Then I went to Spotlight to order replacement brackets for the one I broke replacing a blind when cleaning flyscreens. The crowds in that store have decreased from the height of isolation when it was one of the go-to places to buy materials to keep people occupied.  Tilly and Blue seem to have got the message they have to play less aggressively so spent a lot of time together today. She has this favourite mouse toy and teased him with it all day. She growls at him if he comes too close when she has it. None of their other dozens of toy

Blue and Tilly were very happy to have visitors this afternoon. Anita and I were also delighted to have other human company. Blue gets excited when visitors arrive but quickly succumbed to a cuddle and Tilly obligingly kept Olga's lap warm. Fortunately it was bath day for Blue. My gatehouse windows are waterproof as I tested them with a jet of water. I cut the final window down to size but it was too rainy to be climbing ladders to install it today. While I was working in the garage Blue and Tilly kept me company. I have restricted their wild running and wrestling because it gets him so excited that he behaves like an over excited two year old child who has consumed too much ice cream and red lemonade. If they are playing quietly and gently I leave them alone, but as soon as one of them squeaks I separate them. At this age they both have very sharp teeth and forget themselves when they get excited. Blue is enrolled in puppy school starting next week. The first g

It was "specials" day at Coles so I headed out early as Twinings tea bags were half price. I bought four boxes so saved $22 and we won't have to buy any for a while. It was cloudy and threatening rain so I retreated to my sewing room and decided none of the moth eaten jumpers I brought back from my father's house were worth saving. The yarn is acrylic so there is no point rescuing this. I also modified some dog leads by adding wider handles to narrow leads light enough for our Toy Poodle. I find skinny handles harder to manage. This cat collar is simply double sided velcro which can be extended as Tilly grows. The rain held off so I had no excuse not to install two of the three windows for the gatehouse. I put silicone sealer on the wall but managed to smudge it so had to clean it up with turps. Some touch up painting will also be required when all three windows are finished. I removed the broken acrylic sheet from the pool fence to clean off trapped leaves and o

We took Blue for a drive with us on the trip to the vet for Tilly's vaccination. One person was allowed inside to have a face to face meeting with the vet, Peter. He thought she was a delightful kitten and went up in my estimation as he remember our other Burmese cats by name. Blue behaved himself in the car and did not squawk the whole time. I had to visit Bunnings for a few bits and pieces and left Anita having a Netflix binge on the Crown. I also retrieved a piece of scrap acrylic from the plastic company to see how much light will pass through the black panels. This led to me painting the timber supports the same colour as the wall so they  "disappear" behind the dark sheeting. I installed this same sheeting on top of the existing walls near our pool to increase the height to meet new regulations. I also have it at the bottom of gates and a section of fence. This was originally to deter other cats from simply walking into our garden. Anita reheated pizza from the