May11
This week I’ve been able to spend 3 days at Novy Mlyn. It’s been absolutely great to be there. The countryside is really green now, and the blossom is out on the apple trees in the orchard by the house.
Wet weather over the weekend meant that the water barrel was filled so I was able to put in a day of cleaning – such marvellous things as scrubbing some of the downstairs doors so that we can repaint them – but truly marvellous after having such little available water previously. It feels great! We can’t do any of the big tasks (such as clearing the barns) until we hear about the mortgage, however we’ve decided to concentrate our efforts on improving what we can – so repairing the paintwork where it’s scruffy & tidying up the garden. I’ve spent two working days this week on the main gate, which was looking sorry for itself, and is now looking purple. Not sure which M prefers. The colour was achieved by mixing red and blue – as purple does not seem to be in vogue at present. My question today is, who left us in charge?
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May10
It has been an eventful week. We’ve been preparing for our move from Birmingham to Novy Mlyn. Melia died on Tuesday. The vets at Bristol University Feline Centre say that her kidney function collapsed after she was given the Iodine injection. At the moment she is still segregated – in a freezer – as she remains radioactive. It seems a rather undignified end. I’m obviously sad, but it feels awful that I haven’t actually seen her for quite some time. We tried our hardest to make sure that she got the medication she needed to test for kidney function after the thyroid condition was treated but her thyroid levels were never low enough when she was tested at the vets. The vets at the university said that we could deal with any kidney problems if they arose. I had no idea that it could happen so quickly and fatally.
When I was back in the UK she seemed somewhat lethargic while I was there. Now I think it was because she was experiencing kidney problems as her thyroid levels fell. Anyway, this is my last picture of her:
May1
We have decided to move here whole heartedly – ie give up our room in the rented house in Birmingham. We were lucky to find an English man, John Davey, who is working in London in May, and driving back to the vicinity of Tábor with an empty van at the beginning of June. So, we’ve arranged to borrow the van to pick up our furniture etc. from Birmingham. So, back to brum at the end of the month for a heavy few days packing up & cleaning the house.
I was nervous about making the decision because it seems like a big deal. And moving Melia over here is pretty committing. At the moment she is at the feline centre at Bristol University. She is having treatment for a thyroid condition which involves a radioactive injection. I hope that she stops being radioactive in time for us to travel across Europe with her. As it is, I’m glad she’ll be with us, and with the invention of the pet passport, if we need to, we can always head back to the UK. Read the rest of this entry »
