Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

Back To Reality

by admin - 15:38 on 17 May 2014

We should have known that the gods would demand payment. I had a great week away in Menorca which Matchgirl enjoyed possibly more than I did by luxuriating in eight hours' sleep every night, uninterrupted by snoring, in a bed shared only with cats.

But today, Matchgirl found herself back at Dr Death's where an appetiteless Willow was to be examined and X-rayed after Dr Vet felt what might be a lump in her stomach. Matchgirl's tried not to look on the black side although 'tumour' was the first thing that sprang to the hypochondriac's mind.

After a couple of anxious hours the surgical team phoned to say they'd found nothing except some slight inflammation – if there'd been a blockage it had passed naturally. The patient will be kept in overnight, just in case, then returned home where she'll have to endure the cone of shame and being hissed at by Maia, who's never happy with post-vet smells. There's always something with cats.

I suffered some back-to-reality of my own when I took Son of Seat out for his first post-holiday drive and after one minute was assailed by warning lights and beeps. Examination revealed that the coolant tank was empty. The cause is yet to be determined.

Real life had begun twenty-four hours earlier when the group (less Ken, who was staying on a little longer) left the S'Algar Hotel. Mahon Airport isn't a bad place to while away an hour, being clean, quiet and not unduly busy. There was even some unexpected comedy to be found in the automated English-language announcements that sounded like they were made by Kenneth Williams.

However, airports pall after a while, especially following a flight to Gatwick during which little Freddie and little JoJo were bouncing around and ignoring their ineffectual mother, then there was two hours to wait until the easyJet bag-drop accepted luggage for the flight to Inverness which took off late and at very short notice two hours after that.

The good news was that Matchgirl appeared pleased to see me when I walked into Inverness Airport around twelve hours after I'd left the hotel. The Pride, when I got back to The Rural Retreat, couldn't have cared less. The equally good news was that despite a week of wine and gluttony my weight hadn't changed. Matchgirl tried not to look jealous.

Above are some of my favourite of the week's snaps; below is a slideshow of forty carefully chosen pictures. Enjoy.

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