Category: project colin

SuperHound

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Some fun at the Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concert last night, where Mango Groove were playing. Sadly(?), I was too busy picnicking and enjoying the music to take photos or video, but suffice to say, they were very good.

And today has been another busy one, taking Dad around the peninsula, then back to the first piano lesson of the year: school starts again soon.

We’ve got another few days of doing tourist stuff, so please accept a QP taken of the beagle in our 24 hours in Agulhas.

With the breeze coming straight off the sea, ear flappery was rife, and I was able to get this pic of Colin enjoying the view out towards Uruguay.

Once my Photoshop skills are properly honed, I might add a cape so that she can look like a true superhero.

I might not.

Unexplored

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Bit knackered today. Late night – my own fault: I foolishly got involved with a documentary about trains – which was made even later by the beagle inexplicably going Walkabout when she popped out for her evening ablutions.

In fact, I’ve been doing some rudimentary calculations, and this spot slightly left of centre:

Which looks like this:

…seems likely to be the only place on the planet that she didn’t explore before finally coming inside last night.

I’m not quite sure what happened. Our garden really isn’t that big, and both the gates were firmly closed and locked (this is South Africa, after all). Maybe we have some Star Trek-esque teleportation thing behind the bushes at the back. Clearly everything needed snorfing.

All I know is that someone else can be responsible for managing the evening beagle process tonight.

A long weekend away

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The beaglesitter is booked.
We’re taking a longish, leisurely drive north and east (well, we couldn’t exactly go south and west, now could we?) and spending a few days inland.

There will be internet there, apparently, but if you know me, then you’ll know that I’m all about certainty, and so 6000 miles… is covered for the weekend with pre-written posts. You might not even notice: after all, you haven’t spotted that this one was written on Tuesday, have you?

Or have you?

The weather might or might not play ball, but when it rains in Cape Town at this time of year, there’s always a good chance of some snow where we’re headed, so some precipitation certainly won’t be the end of the world.

And it’s not like we’re going to be able to feel anything anyway…

“Feels like -4o“

That’s going to bring back some childhood memories. But probably only for me.

Because of Cape Town’s geography, it is rare to see anything too deep into single figures, even in the middle of winter. In fact, the lowest ever recorded temperature here was only 3.1o in August 2022.

So 1o is going to be pretty… mmm… “different”.

I might pack another pair of socks.

All good

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15 days post-op for Colin the Beagle, and it’s good news. The stitches are out, and while there’s still a bit of healing to do, the vet is amazed by her progress. She’s putting weight on the bad leg, the good – ok, “better” – leg seems to be holding up well, and the biggest issue is now over-confidence and trying to do too much too soon.

She’s also lost a couple of kilos and looks sleek and mean, and the stitches coming out this morning meant that she could have a bath as well, which is something we’ve all been looking forward to.

Incredibly, with just two weeks gone, it’s like we’ve got our old beagle back already.

Thus, we’re off to Agulhas for a couple of days to celebrate, and walk – gently – around the village.
Check the ‘Gram and on here for updates.

Have a great weekend!

Beagle update

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Many of you have asked for a beagle update and I feel somewhat duty bound to supply one. As her mobility improves, and her dressings come off, we’re having to employ the “cone of shame” more and more.

Not actual footage

She’s not impressed. Generally, she has that kind of look that says “When I am Queen, you will be first against the wall”, and generally, it’s aimed at me.

But aside for the misery of the cone, things are going well. She’s definitely moving around a lot more, but we still have to be careful that she doesn’t take off after a cat or a hadeda in the back garden.

Most of the time though, this is her: dozing and recuperating, mostly spaced out on her various painkillers. But she’s putting pressure on her bionic leg and she’s more concerned about the cone than her repaired knee.

Which I guess is good.

It’s another week and a bit before the stitches come out and she can lose the comedy headgear. Building her strength after that will be tough. Building her trust in us again might be even harder.