Stewy, Lily and Dylan

After a few days of being laid low with a very heavy cold (believe it or not, the first one I’ve had in over eight years) and not having been out properly since I did a 9-mile walk last Saturday (don’t ask!) I thought I’d inject a bit of the ‘Awww’ factor into the blog and introduce Stewy, Lily and Dylan.

Stewy and Lily belong to one of the design engineers at work; they are Bengals and from the same litter, although Lily is bigger than Stewy and looks older. While Stewy is very affectionate and likes cuddles and a fuss Lily is very shy and will hide away from people she doesn’t really know. Last October I looked after them in their own home for two weeks while their owner was away and for the first five days I didn’t see Lily at all; I’d just got to the point of thinking that somehow she must have escaped when I finally found her in the wardrobe behind all the clothes. I looked after them again just recently, for three weeks this time, and again Lily was always hiding in the wardrobe – that’s where she was when I took the photo, and she doesn’t look best pleased at having the camera pointed at her.

Stuey

Lily

Dylan is a Seal Point Birman and belongs to the boss at work who I clean the house for. He seems to spend most of his time lazing on one of the beds, though he can be very playful when he wants to be and sometimes on the days when I’m cleaning we play a game of ‘chase’ up the stairs. He’s mainly very quiet but when the mood takes him he’ll wander round after me while I’m working and constantly squawk at me, though a quick cuddle is usually enough to keep him happy. He looks decidedly grumpy on the photo though – I think he’s another one who doesn’t like the camera.

Dylan

Today I got a text from Dylan’s owner saying he’s going away tomorrow for a week and asking me if I could look after Dylan for him – no problem there as it’s only a couple of minutes up the road from me. I’m already, as from today, looking after a friend’s dog while she’s visiting her mother in London but another furry creature to care for is neither here nor there – I’d look after a whole zoo if I ever got the chance!

Dog walking should incur danger money

A few days a go, before I went to work in the morning, I was walking Maisie, the dog I’m currently looking after. She’s a lovely dog and an easy one to deal with, but she has a habit of wandering about from side to side when she’s on the lead. This particular morning, for no reason at all, she just stopped dead in front of me and I fell right over her, sprawling full length on the rough tarmac pavement. Thank goodness it was only 7am and there was no-one around to see what an idiot I’d just made of myself!

It was only when I got back to the house that I realised what a mess I was in. I’d banged my left knee which was beginning to swell and feel very sore, and scraped the skin off the palms of both hands, and though my left hand wasn’t too bad the large patch of skin on my right palm had been peeled off as if someone had used a tin opener on it, and I was bleeding like a stuck pig. Unable to find anything in the way of a first aid kit I pressed some tissue against it and managed to drive to work where I raided the first aid box there for an elastoplast and a thin latex glove to protect it while I worked. The elastoplast didn’t last long though, the constant movement of my hand ensured that it soon came off, but with the bleeding stopped I decided to leave the wound open – as long as I didn’t get any chemicals in it it would be okay, and having my hands frequently in water would make sure it stayed clean.

It was later that evening that the bang on my knee took effect. While I’d been working and walking about I’d been okay but after an hour or so sitting in front of the pc my knee seized up and I could hardly walk. Thank goodness for the local Asda, open 24/7 and with a pharmacy where I managed to get a support bandage which ensured that my knee didn’t seize up again overnight.

I wore the bandage for three days before the swelling went down and the soreness had almost disappeared; the hand is taking longer to heal but it’s getting there slowly, though I have to remember not to grip anything too tightly yet as it still hurts. And I now walk Maisie on an extending lead – if she stops dead in front of me again at any time at least she won’t be close enough for me to fall over her!

Maisie