The Gold Plated Cat

Gary is ginger - sort of gold - which makes sense given how much he's about to cost me.

In fairness, so far he's been a cheap ride. He was gifted to us by neighbours heading OS, he's happy to eat Aldi cat food and aside from immunisations and a bit of arthritis, his medical expenses have been minimal; until now.

He was looking very ordinary after the recent heatwave. In truth, over the last few months, he's been eating like a horse but getting skinnier and skinnier. 

Geoff: Do you think the cat has cancer?

Me: Maybe. But he seems happy enough. 

His lack of health on the weekend could not be ignored. I wasn't even convinced he'd see Monday.

Anyway, I did take him to the vet who ran through the options - including euthanising him. But if it was just a thyroid problem, that could be fixed and apparently we'd get a few more years out of him. To determine that he needed to be admitted and popped on a drip and have blood and urine samples taken. How much, I asked. I'd already decided if it was hundreds, I'd say yes but if it was more, goodbye Gary. Naturally it was something like $965. Damn it!! 

The vet added if he needed to stay longer, it's $3-400 a day. $3-400??!! The most expensive hotel I can find on LastMinute.com is only $338 a night - and that's at the fancy-pants casino - not in a very small cage at the suburban vet next to a big dog.

Sass and I visited him this morning and he has perked up considerably. She was so relieved. Here they are.

The vet rang before with news. I can't even decide if it's good or bad. I'm torn. It is his thyroid and possibly a little something else - but treatable with a tablet or two a day. Great, I said, should we pick him up? Of course it's not that simple. They need to keep him in for a few days and monitor him while they get the right level of medication - at $3-400 a day!!!! And if he has to take a tablet every day, we'll have to take him to South Australia with us - an 8 hour drive. 

Yep - the joy of Christmas.

Neat and tidy.

After two years in planning and Elle's 16th birthday party, the shed was demolished and construction of the new shed began. That was four months ago and it's still not close to being finished.

When I say 'shed', it's a sizable project with a new garage downstairs and a loft-style space with bathroom upstairs. But it'll always be known as the shed.

I can get a bit antsy when things are in disarray but they've reached monumental proportions.

Not only is the backyard a construction site, the garden has been razed to a dust bowl (or a mud bowl depending on the weather), the deck has the clothes line precariously strapped to it and the lawn mower and other essentials are stored under plastic at the back door. It's worse than camping.

What was the backyard....

Not thinking Christmas lunch will be on the deck this year!

Inside, things aren't much better. The TV, hi-fi and speakers all need attention. I'd like to get NetFlix and ditch Foxtel but the TV is only working through Foxtel. The man has finally been and we're waiting for a new amplifier, so in the meantime, everything's been left pulled out from the wall so wires can be accessed and I can grow increasingly agro.

Some parts of the house are in serious need of attention - the floors need sanding, the kitchen has seen better days and the bathroom is dire. I've had the plans drawn up so the plan is to finish the shed and then keep going to renovate the house. If I have the will.

It's all so bad that on the weekend, I decided to attend to one of the few parts of the house I could bring order to - the front garden. I chopped, I weeded, I raked and mowed - and was rewarded with a very tidy, manicured and satisfying finish. At least something was under control!

In the middle of the mowing I was interrupted by Geoff and Elle - complaining, yet again -  that the wifi was on the blink. I called Telstra who could, incredibly, diagnose moisture on the connecting wires from the call centre (amazing!). The technician rocked up today to confirm they need to run a new wire from the street to the house, which requires them digging up the front lawn!

Aagggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!