Good morning! It’s nice to see you. I hope you had a great week.
This time I grabbed the teapot and the mugs. Ha!
Settle in. Let’s catch up.
Lolo
Over the last couple months, our old cat Lorraine has had a couple of behaviour issues creep up. She’s always been a bit of a food thief, but these days, if you’re doing absolutely anything in the kitchen, she lies in wait for a moment you aren’t looking to steal any protein from your plate.
She’s also become a connoisseur of what I’ll call “found water”. If there is free-standing water in any vessel, she wants to drink it. Guard your cups.
We’ve noted these are problems we should do something about, but our motivation to act didn’t fully solidify until our friend Josie was here Monday and watched Lolo drink water from the slowly running faucet like there was no tomorrow.
“Have you considered this cat is diabetic?”
I was on the phone with the vet the next day to make an appointment. They would have let us in that same day, except it turns out Lolo is on their special list of cats who needs to be sedated before she enters the clinic. The last time we’d been there, Lolo gave the vet a little swat, which I apologized for a million times. I was also silently glad she left her switchblade at home.
The next day, I brought a very sleepy Lolo into the clinic. The vet was very nice and took a shining to our little baddie. After a bit of blood work and some x-rays (just to really give the bank account a good jolt), we discovered her blood sugar levels were at just under 25.
Normal is 8. We have a diabetic kitty.
They gave me a lesson in monitoring her blood sugar and how to give her injections of insulin. I was a little intimidated at first, but honestly, Lolo doesn’t seem to mind the shots at all. She is such an enigma. I’ve had her swat at me just for daring to walk past her, and now she’s quietly purring as I stick an actual needle into her flesh multiple times a day.
Ice
I was listening to the Tigers beat the Cardinals on the radio as I cleaned out the shed on Friday. It was the Tigers’ home opening game in Detroit, and the announcer was describing what a beautiful day it was for it. 70 degrees at first pitch.
(That’s 21 for those of you who don’t speak Fahrenheit.)
It certainly was not 70 degrees in Charlottetown. Nor have we come anywhere close.
I was renewing my license the other day at Access PEI, when the clerk asked how I was enjoying the weather. Outside, a messy mix of snow and ice was coming down and would continue to come down for hours. By the next morning, every surface in town would be covered in a layer of ice.
I gave a long, audible sigh in response.
We agreed, winter on PEI this year had actually been pretty nice. It snowed early and stayed cold. We avoided months of rain and ice, alternating with mega storms. It was just a regular old winter.
But we also agreed we were done now. Spring please.
Make Stuff Monday
Make Stuff Monday was a smashing success. We had a nice little gathering of friends spend a few hours with us, eating curry and homemade bread and settling in for some creative time.
I worked on a pair of socks I’m knitting for Erin. Earlier in the day, I’d had a little accident as I turned the first heel. Monday evening, I ripped it all out and began that section again, and I was quite satisfied with the results. I don’t think I’ve knit a pair of socks in a decade, so the old fingers had to remember how to get that heel to turn.
It was also just lovely to have people in the house for the lowest-pressure hang out ever. Sharing a meal and working on whatever was just a great excuse to get together.
Dunnock Bay
Over in Dunnock Bay, I’m continuing to concentrate on the little nothing moments in our days, rather than some grander narrative arc.
Hari, who we met a while ago as Lani’s husband, is staying up a little late to finish his book.
I hope you’re enjoying stories from my little fictional town. I sure do appreciate all the likes and shares you’ve been giving it. Every little bit helps new readers find it.
I much prefer writing this weekly serial and sharing it with you to quietly writing a book on my own. Yes, there’s always the lovely time when that long-term project enters the world, but having these stories roll out every week has been really fun. I’ve had so many nice chats with people who have shared they love waking up Sunday morning to spend a bit of time in Dunnock Bay.
I’m nearing the 100-page mark in the document where I write these stories. If I was writing a book, I think I’d be pretty chuffed with a 100 pages of decent progress in a little more than 3 months. At this rate, I could publish an anthology before the end of the year, and it would be a fairy decent sized book.
Thanks for hanging out with me again this morning.
If you enjoy my writing, either here or in Dunnock Bay, there are a couple ways you can support me. You can always like and share my posts when they come out. This helps out more than you know and brings new readers to my little town.
If you have the means, you can always upgrade your subscription to Dunnock Bay to paid. Or if that isn’t your thing, I have a Buy Me a Coffee page where you can support with any amount that works for you as a one-time thingy.
I hope you have a great week.