There are 3,742 reasons why I never had children…
I got me a couple of dogs instead, but after the last couple of days, I’m almost thinking children might have been a better option. And why am I saying this ? That’s a question only Mia can really answer, but as she is a dog, I’ll have to answer for her…just before I strangle her. !!
Let me take you back to Saturday afternoon…
Ivan delivered bags of cement here for the start of the work on my balconies. The driest and safest place to store them seemed to be the garage, and so they were all stacked in there.
I was busy doing things around the place and suddenly realised that I wasn’t hearing a lot from the dogs. They usually hang around me quite a bit, so their absence is always noticeable. I went searching and was greeted at the garage door by a very large, very ‘grey’ dog with a great big stupid cement filled grin.!!
Bloody Hell !! Mia had been playing in amongst the cement bags…half of them were torn open and she had clearly been having a wonderful time. Gina’s innate sense of Catholic/Jewish guilt had stopped her from participating…she was sitting in the back corner of the garage looking very uncomfortable indeed. She certainly knew that what was going on wasn’t going to please me.
Actually, my first reaction was to laugh because Mia really did look funny…completely grey and as happy as a sandman. But then I looked at the reality of it and quickly figured that ingesting cement probably wasn’t going to do her much good. I dragged her around to the hose and did my best to flush out her mouth and get the lumps of cement off her gums and teeth. She’s a very good dog…I had my hand right in her mouth and she never once resisted me or growled or made any attempt to bite.. She’s a very big , strong dog and I’ve no doubt if she wanted to, she could take my hand off at the wrist, but she was a very good girl.
Anyway, I watched her for the next few hours and noted that she was having difficulty eating, not a problem my girls ever have, and I knew there was something amiss. I just had to get to the vet and find out what damage had been done to her.
So, first thing yesterday morning I filled my car with dogs. Yes, I know there’s only two of them, but that constitutes a car full of dogs for me. And off we went to town. Mia was still very quiet and I was feeling a lot of concern about what might be the outcome of her crazy day in the garage.
The good news is that she’s fine, but she had done damage. Apparently cement ‘burns’ and she’d burnt all the delicate tissue in her mouth, her tongue and her gums. They looked worse than they were, and it’s amazing what an injection of anti-inflammatories and antibiotics will do. She back to her old form today….big, boisterous and full of joy and mischief AND she got stuck into her breakfast this morning like an animal who had never been fed.
It was a big day at the vets for both of them..they both had their ‘we don’t want any babies just yet’ injections and Gina had a pedicure, well, she had her nails clipped, and I got to give my first injections. Rather than cart the dogs into Yambol everytime they require rabies shots, or ‘no babies’ shots or whatever, I can just buy the drugs and do them myself. Maria taught me how to do them and I was so nervous about it. I was sticking needles into my girls and I felt this enormous sense of responsibility…crazy really.
We managed to get them both on the scales…Mia came in at 53 Ks and Gina a mere 35Ks…
And the best part of it all…I walked out of there yesterday with two mostly healthy dogs that had had injections and pedicures and care, a handful of pills and potions for Mia’s mouth, the next lot of worming tablets for them plus 15 Ks of biscuits for 89 lev…They’re happy and I’m certainly happy.
Here’s a little Bulgarian lesson for you: The English word ‘happy’ is the Bulgarian word for ‘bite’…so never say to a Bulgaria that your dogs are happy, because they will back away very quickly indeed 🙂
Today, my house is echoing with the sounds of scaffolding going up around the building. There’s downpipes to be put on the house and I’m getting another wall rendered. There’s various Bulgarian rough wandering around on my numerous balconies repairing and strengthening them and making them look nice and one day, in the fullness of time, I’ll get a decent fence so the dogs can roam a little more around the yard. I did ask Ivan if the fence could be done first-ish, but that seems to have fallen on deaf ears. The rest of the work is pretty important anyway, so I’m just thankful that there’s something happening.
Hi Sue
Glad to hear you have made it home OK and have recovered from the grip and the cleaning frenzy. I’ve been reading your posts and you sound, in spite of everything, so happy. I’m really pleased things have turned out so well for you although we miss you here. I’m still enjoying my time off, have been spending heaps of time playing with the webiste but am thrilled with what I’ve achieved so far, gradually building up traffic numbers. Love your stork shots by the way!! Just returned from a week up in the Pilbara with Nugget, pity you missed it, it is absolutly spectacular. Cheers from OZ Karen
Karen, lovely to hear from you. Still recovering from the damned ‘grip’ and the cleaning frenzy will go on for some time yet…I’ve only really done one floor. Got another 2 to go. I’m missing you guys as well, but this is where my heart is…and one should always follow their heart 🙂