On my return from London, literally as I walked into the house, my mobile rang, and it was a tearful Louise, at the vets with Henry, telling me that the vet had advised that it looked like time to let him go. I had the thankless task of telling the girls and bundling them into the car so that we could go and say goodbye at the vets. From that point on, tears have been an almost constant from someone in our house until, well, about now. Saying that last goodbye and going through what needed to be done to send him to sleep was something Louise and I will both never forget and hopefully never have to repeat. The girls were obviously in absolute bits!!
Fourteen years is a long time, as we got Henry when Rebecca was just a few weeks old. Having two children under eighteen months old was obviously not stressful enough for us, and we added in a hyper active puppy for good measure. From that day on he has been one of the family. He has of course driven us mad at times, from eating numerous dummies, which involved me chasing him around the house with one in his mouth, to the fun of reading the foam letters in his poop, after he had pinched them from the bathroom and added them to his diet.
As the years went on, he developed a penchant for going for a wander, and when an open door presented the opportunity he would go for a walk all by himself. The most legendary of which saw him make it the two miles down the road to my Mum and Dad’s house, crossing several major roads, and managing to find their house and sit at the back door waiting to be let in!
He was clingy, whiny, and in later years snotty, but the sudden loss of him hit everyone like a hammer on Wednesday night, and every time we look around expecting him to be there it hurts a little more. The first time we came home and didn’t have him at the door wagging his tail was another punch in the guts, and the tears came again.
He has been a terrific dog with the girls, growing up together, never once showing any sort of anger or aggression to either of the girls despite some rough treatment in their very early years. He has also welcomed and tolerated a procession of other animals into our house over the years, from other dogs, a plethora of cats, a rabbit and the odd guinea pig. He had a wonderful nature.
It is impossible to capture in a brief post here the impact he had on our family, and the hole he has left behind so I’m really not going to try. The stark realisation that he won’t be around again is a tough one, and it is sinking in very slowly. Apologies for the very dry, straight forward and brief entry this week, but it is the very least the little bugger deserved to have a one of these to himself.
Henry, my mate, thank you for all the years you were with us, all the laughs and joy you provided, and the loyalty and unconditional love you gave us. Wherever you are now, you are hopefully at rest and pain-free. You will never be forgotten.
Henry in the cold stuffCome to Daddy!Say CheeseHandsome HenrySnoring againBeing spoiltPosing for the camera
And so the eagle has flown the nest, and our contribution to the cordial relations between England and the Father Land come to an end.
Kathl, it has to be said, was a delight, and her ten days with us flew by. This was mainly as school had them out on activities almost all the time, and so we actually saw very little of her. It was a nice change to have a teenager in the house who could manage a smile and a hearty good morning. I’m not too hopeful that this is going to rub off on Emily any time soon.
We escaped the rest of the week without further sleep overage, and with the nicer weather, Rebecca and Kathl spent most evenings at the local park with various other friends of both nationalities. I think some of the local boys had ideas of improving Anglo-Germanic relations somehow, but Kathl was having none of it. On Thursday evening a few of them went out for a traditional English meal as a goodbye. Yes, the local curry house was the scene of this truly English celebration.
Smiling, and this was pre breakfast!!
So the week drew to an end with me taking Friday off to do the farewell honours, and most of the early morning was spent in the giving of presents to Kathl and some to take home to her family, and then weighing her enormous suitcase to make sure it made it in below 20kg. There were ounces to spare.
I dropped her off at school, and left both nationalities to say their goodbyes. So then I had most of Friday to do with what I wished. However, amidst housework, and the inevitable intrusion of work emails, I didn’t get to do a lot of nothing.
Typical of another quiet Williams week, Dad was back in hospital on Wednesday, but this time it was planned. He was to have something drained (details omitted for those having eaten recently), and all was well. He felt much better for it, and I visited him on Friday evening, glad to see him much more like his old self, with some decent colour and in jovial mood.
He was allowed to go home early on Saturday, and knowing my Dad, if he thought for one second that my Mum would let him, he’d have been planning a round of golf on Sunday!!
In other health matters, earlier in the week, our seemingly Benjamin Button style cocker spaniel, Henry, had a turn for the worse health wise, and we took him for the millionth time to the vets. The usual dispensation of steroids and a bill saw him improve rapidly, but at 14, we are, and to be honest have been for some time, bracing ourselves for the inevitable.
However, by weekend he had perked up no end, and on Saturday I took him on a lengthy walk, of about four miles. How did I know it was four miles? Well, by the wonders of my phone with an i, I have an app for that. It is a good one which shows my route, tells me how far I walked and how many calories burnt. Yes, as I have said repeatedly, I am indeed that sad.
Anywho, despite seeming to enjoy the walk at the time, in hindsight, one of that length and pace may well be beyond him now. He was knackered, and also seemed to be suffering a few aches and pains all evening, and indeed most of the bloody night too, as he whimpered and wandered around keeping us awake. He has slept most of Sunday too…well, that’s alright for him!! You can see that he was a little sleepy afterwards!
ZZZzzzzzz
Saturday morning started with a lovely little battle and shouting match, with me “encouraging” Emily to get her arse out of bed to do some revising. How cruel of me to insist she joins the world of the living at the ungodly hour of eleven o’clock. I have to admit that I raised my voice ever so slightly, and then together we constructed her revision timetable for the Easter holidays. She was delighted.
I for one will be delighted when these bloody exams are done, as I am sick to death of going to war with her over her revision. She’s done a fair bit this weekend I have to be honest, but finding that balance between letting her make her own mistakes, and putting a rocket up her arse every few minutes is one I am struggling to find.
On the positive side I only have four days left at work until a welcome break. I finish on Thursday until the 3rd of May. I cock my hat to the Royal couple for the additional holiday, but saying that I’m no doubt paying for a vol au vent or two so it is fully deserved. I will not be glued to the TV watching the event to be honest, I have lots of grass growing in the back garden that demands my attention more. It is a close call as to what would make my blood boil most, having to sit through this nonsense or watch Britain’s Got Talent. It returned on Saturday and it never fails to make me angry. Apologies for those bearing the brunt of that via Twitter at the time!
Another uneventful week comes to a close, with a new one around the corner, which of course means a Monday. What joy.
This isn’t helped in any way by our house going up for sale, so as well as having to prepare for the important stuff, such as our trip, but I’m also having to cosmetically enhance the house to fool some idiot into thinking we’ve done loads of work on it rather than hand over all our renovation budget to the board of Disney.
A house has gone on the market down the road which Louise tells me we like and, therefore we are to see if we can off load our current one to secure it.
As you might expect last week at work did not fly by, but somehow the weekend arrived, with a slight sense of foreboding as I had an inkling of the amount of stuff we had to get done.
The weekend started with the revelation that the cheap as chips suitcase we’ve been using for a decade will not survive another trip. Really, is nothing built to last these days?? Indignant at having to spend money after only ten short years of dragging our current case across the Atlantic, the first task of the weekend was to secure new luggage. We also had a very brief discussion about buying a new rucksack. Louise pointed out one that would be suitable, and I reacted like she had suggested I lopped off my left arm. Ryan is getting on and he needs some work but if that were the criteria for being replaced I would have been gone long ago.
A case of bad taste?
We left the girls at home getting ready to go out with their friends, (which worryingly takes forever these days…there will be trouble on holiday if I am denied early startiness) and Louise and I scoured at least two shops to find something suitable. There wasn’t a great deal of choice if I’m honest, but the main criteria being, it is cheap, and it is well proportioned (hey, that sounds like me), we soon settled on the flowery affair you can see in the picture.
Size wise it fits the bill as either of the girls could get in it, which in hindsight could have saved me the cost of one flight!!
For the second time in recent history I then ventured to the Trafford Centre on a Saturday, as Louise “had no clothes at all” for the holiday. I needed a couple of things too, and as I needed Louise along to let me know if I liked stuff, it was two birds with one stone.
About to be blown off....
As we got in the car to leave I spotted something on the roof the likes of which I have never seen before in this country. As the photo shows, it is half dung beetle, half fly, and after snapping a quick photo I was glad to get into the car, floor the accelerator and see it be blown off in my rearview mirror, and that isn’t something you see every day, unless you go looking for it on the internet.
First things first, we had lunch. Then we started the tour of every women’s clothing shop in there. The day was full of ups and downs, with lows as “nothing looks right”, and then moments of elation as a triumphant Louise emerges from a changing room, garments aloft, wielding here switch card like a samurai sword.
I got some new trainers. The whiteness of these new trainers you cannot begin to perceive. They come with several sets of dark glasses to be handed out to passers-by. They announce the fact that I have just purchased them like the brightest beacon on the darkest night. Did I mention that they are white?
I also got some brown sandals. Now, as I told the girls this on our return home, their faces reflected the horror that phrase could mean. However, trust me they look very suave and sophisticated. I like them because Louise said so, and she also said they are good as they hide most of my horrid feet from view.
Our return from shopping saw me go to the gym and the supermarket as is becoming my Saturday routine, and Louise, not yet fed up with retail establishments ventured out again to the Middlebrook retail park, next to the Reebok stadium, even though a match was in full flow. She has no fear, having braved the Trafford Centre, she now struck out solo to face the traffic chaos that is the end of a match at the Reebok.
She returned with that holiday essential, a new phone! Yes, that’s right, with mere hours to go until departure, she felt the need to replace our perfectly good phone. I didn’t really pursue that for personal safety reasons, and she did seem to have bought enough clothes for the entire Magic Kingdom crowd, so I’m guessing she’s sorted now.
Bum Steer
Now, a word of warning. If you, like us, enjoy settling down as a family to watch a film, then don’t whatever you do, do so with one called “I Love You Phillip Morris”.
We are big Jim Carrey fans, so we were looking forward to watching this one, and the 15 certificate told us it was fairly sure to be OK for the girls, with perhaps a little swearing, which is nothing they won’t have heard anytime that I’m doing DIY.
I won’t go into details here, but the “bottom” line is that the girls quickly made their excuses and averted their eyes in a few “love scenes” as I quickly scrabbled around trying to find the fast forward button.
Don’t get me wrong, the film is very good, just not a family one!
Then, the day of rest dawned. Louise had been up for a while, making lists! I knew immediately I was in trouble. So today I have –
Hung a picture (minimum swearing)
Mowed the lawn
Cleaned the kitchen
Dropped the girls off somewhere
Popped in to see my Mum
Resealed the bath
Hung a mirror (maximum swearing)
Made tea (putting that pizza in the oven was a tough one).
Louise was last seen in our bedroom somewhere under a pile of clothes. I think I got the better deal to be honest. Rebecca has just done the “try on” of stuff in her drawers and selected the garments that will make the Atlantic crossing, and Emily is now upstairs doing the same. I suspect they will both return with more than they left with!
So we move into the last few days, and for once I am having to work right up until the day we go, as having just started at the new place, I have very few holidays to take. So Louise is off Wednesday and Thursday to get stuff ready, and I shall appear on Thursday evening just in time to sit on the case, zip it up, and then unzip it again on Friday morning to force all the last-minute hair apparatus in. I suppose I could leave my GHDs behind??
Emily’s idea of getting ready for holiday is to try on three T-shirts and then ask which take away we are having on Thursday evening. For the record she wants a curry.
As I type I can hear a conversation upstairs centring around knickers, and thankfully the verdict is she has enough. This is good news as this morning Louise took Henry to the vets. The amount of money exchanged there was on a par with the holiday budget, so if we haven’t got something now we’re doing without. Henry is fine by the way, apart from an infected ear, and issues around his anal glands.
Apparently, after a quick root around up there, and the appearance of some cottage cheese like substance from his glands, Louise almost lost her breakfast, and don’t forget Louise has worked in Operating theatres, and sees old lady boobs all day every day.
He seems much happier in himself now, and when Louise came home and described the procedures done by the vet, I sort of understood the amount of cash charged.
Anyway, he’s ready for his holidays in Yorkshire now, but the instructions for the giving of medication is longer than this here post, so the best of luck to Steve and Di, his carers whilst we are pet free.
So come on Friday, hurry yourself along. I only hope the trip is a magical one, and gives a good return for the sheer amount of hours that have gone into it’s making. For the record here are some of the milestones I am looking forward to –
The airport
Arriving at the villa
The first “big shop” at the supermarket (cake, beer, crisps with perhaps some fruit)
The walk up Main Street on our first morning
Food, all of it.
Hard Rock Hotel
Harry Potter stuff
Daytona
The Beach Club
and I even don’t really mind turning forty!
I will say goodbye for now, as I doubt I will blog whilst overseas. I may manage the odd tweet/facebook as the girls will have their laptops with them, and I shall see you all back here in early September for more tales of household chores, shopping and my dog’s backside. How could you resist?
Mkingdon's Blog 