Wednesday 5th July
if you happen to see me around don’t mention the words Marguerite or ’candy crush’ because although I love the first to bits, she is the naughty girl who introduced me to the second one…… and its driving me maaaaaaaaaaaaad. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about….don’t ask. OK, do ask cos I’m going to tell you anyway. Its a game which you can play on your Iphone, computer etc which involves blowing up sweeties to climb a ladder of levels. At the moment, I am stuck on level thirty something…. and they go on up into the hundreds..maybe even thousands and millions…and I cant stop!! Arrrrggggghhhhh.
Had to trim Haribo’s beard and moustache yesterday because he was covered from snout to neck in sticky buds, which wouldn’t pull out without the scissors. The poor little chap lost the end of a couple of whiskers at the same time. This morning he was back in the long grass and is covered all over again. Pyrenean sheepdogs are supposed to be ’rustic’ and self grooming – but there is always an exception to every rule and we have him!
Anyway, poor Olivier woke up with a tick on his tummy a couple of weeks ago, tweezered it out alive and kicking, did a bit of the obligatory ’yeuch’ing and prompty forgot about it. Last week he woke up in the night with a fever, sick, weak and disorientated, only to have it confirmed in the ’urgences’ of the Céret clinique that he has Lymes Disease!
This delightful little bacterial infection is spread to humans by infected ticks via bites which often go unnoticed, allowing the tick to feed for several days before dropping off. The longer the tick is in place, the higher the risk of it passing on the infection. The first symptom to look out for is a round pink rash that develops around the area of the bite, three to 30 days after the bite. Flu-like symptoms follow, and if left untreated, other symptoms may develop months or even years later.
A strong course of antibiotics for up to a month seems to be the treatment, but he is not reacting well, and whilst they may be mopping up the Lyme’s disease, they are leaving him feeling nauseous with a dicky tummy. Le pauvre! That will teach him to sleep with a dog!
Photos to follow though I must admit that not only has the purchase of my new, posh, all-singing all-dancing camera with zoom and professional looking case not turned me into an even slightly better photographer, but also, because it is so big, i cant be bothered to drag it around with me much of the time. It wont fit on my bike, in my bag…Bring back the old pocket size point and shoot I say!
