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17 May 2008

Exciting Announcement!!

Hold on to your hats, this is huge!... I'm going to write another episode of Willover's Travels in the next few days! Woohoo!!! (it's lucky that we're in the age of technology, all those exclamation marks would have wreaked havoc on the ribbon!!!).

Yeah, I know, it's not really that a big, in fact I only wrote this post to force me to actually write it. In the meantime, here's a couple of music clips.

This first one is a piano duet by Dr. John and Jools Holland...

Now this one is pretty rare, it's a Perth band called the Valentines (too bad it's not in colour because their outfits were bright pink!). It's rare because the guy sing backup vocals is Bob Scott, the original AC/DC frontman...

And finally, this is more of a musician's band, and yep, that's Bon Scott again (this was just before AC/DC kicked off)...

16 May 2008

Weird...

I found this on the Young Writer's blog, apparently it was written by an unknown author in the 19th century, thought why you'd want to do it I have no idea! But it's sort of interesting, in a weird way.

Winnie and Walter

“Warm weather, Walter! Welcome warm weather! We were wishing winter would wane, weren’t we?”

“We were well wearied with waiting,” whispered Waiter wearily. Wan, white, woe-begone was Walter; wayward, wilful, worn with weakness, wasted, waxing weaker whenever winter’s wild, withering winds were wailing. Wholly without waywardness was Winifred, Walter’s wise, womanly watcher, who, with winsome, wooing way, was well-beloved.

“We won’t wait, Walter; while weather’s warm we’ll wander where woodlands wave, won’t we?” Walter’s wanton wretchedness wholly waned.

“Why, Winnie, we’ll walk where we went when we were with Willie; we’ll weave wildflower wreaths, watch woodmen working; woodlice, worms wriggling; windmills whirling; watermills wheeling; we will win wild whortleberries, witness wheat winnowed.”

Wisbeach woods were wild with wildflowers; warm, westerly winds whispered where willows were waving; wood-pigeons, wrens, woodpeckers were warbling wild woodnotes. Where Wisbeach water-mill’s waters, which were wholly waveless, widened, were waterlilies, waxen white. Winifred wove wreaths with woodbine, whitehorn, wallflowers; whilst Walter whittled wooden wedges with willow wands.

Wholly without warning, wild wet winds woke within Wisbeach woods, whistling where Winifred wandered with Walter; weeping willows were wailing weirdly; waging war with wind-tossed waters. Winifred’s wary watchfulness waked.

“Walter, we won’t wait.”

“Which way, Winnie?” Winifred wavered.

“Why, where were we wandering? Wisbeach woods widen whichever way we walk. Where’s Wisbeach white wicket, where’s Winston’s water-mill?”

WistfuIly, Walter witnessed Winifred’s wonder. “Winnie, Winnie, we were wrong, wholly wrong; wandering within wild ways. Wayfaring weather-beaten waifs, well-nigh worn-out.”

Winifred waited where, within wattled woodwork walls, waggons, wheelbarrows, wains were waiting, weighty with withered wood. Walter, warmly wrapped with Winifred’s well-worn wadded waterproof, was wailing woefully, wholly wearied. Winnie, who, worn with watching, well-nigh weeping, was wistfully, wakefully waiting Willie’s well-known whistle, wholly wished Walter’s well-being warranted.

With well-timed wisdom, Walter was wound with wide, worsted wrappers, which wonderfully well withstood winter’s withering, whistling winds. Wholly without warm wrappers was Winifred, who, with womanly wisdom, was watching Walter’s welfare, warding Walter’s weakness.

“When will Willie wend where we wait?” wearily wondered Walter.

“Whist, Walter,” whispered Winnie, “who was whooping?”

“Whereabouts?”

Welcome whistling was waking Wisbeach woods when winter’s windy warfare waxed weaker.

“Winnie! Walter!” Winifred’s wakefulness was well-grounded. “We’re well, Willie; we’re where Winston’s waggons wait.” Without waiting, Willie was within Winston’s woodwork walls. “Welcome, welcome, Willie.” Winnie was weeping with weariness with watching Walter, weak with wayfaring.

“Why Winnie! Wise, watchful, warm-hearted Winnie,” Willie whispered wheedlingly. “We won’t weep; Walter’s well. What were Walter without Winnie?”

Wholly wonderful was Winifred’s well-timed womanly wisdom, which well warranted weakly Walter’s welfare. Whenever wandering within Wisbeach woods with Winnie, Walter would whisper, “What were Walter without Winnie? Wise, watchful, warm-hearted Winnie!”

[WT - weirdly wonderful wording what?]

15 May 2008

No truer words have been spoken...

Far

12 May 2008

Thanks

Belle_swell_011
Belle would just like to thank all of you for your kind words and encouragement over the past month, it has really meant a lot to her. Ok we all know that's total bullshit, she's a fucking dog! The only thing she cares about is food and water, and the occasional chin scratch, but your thoughts have mean a lot to me.

If you look closely at the photo you'll notice that the right hand side of her face is swollen, that's an injury that happened before the accident that I haven't even told you about (something bit her), nor did I tell you about the eye that got all full of puss for about three weeks before that (it's fine now). Yep she's a real medical encyclopedia!

But here's why I keep her...
Belle_marmite_004

She just makes me laugh! That was when I gave her some vegemite.

Oh, and by the way, despite popular belief (Equoni and others) I do read and appreciate every comment, but lately I just haven't been responding to them regularly like I used to.

11 May 2008

To all you muthas.

0383 Having neither children nor living parents, both Mother's Day and Father's Day are pretty much non events in the Willowtree household(s). However, that's not to say that I don't wish all you muthas out there a Happy Mother's Day. Enjoy it girls, you've earned it.

Now, onto other news...the obligatory Belle update.

When I worked in IT, our mantra when it came to Analysis, Design and Implementation was "It's all about managing expectations", and this was without a doubt the most important aspect of the project.

What has any of this got to do with Belle? Good questions, and I'm glad you asked... Despite some early success with getting her leg to flex just a little, it plateaued out fairly early on in the piece, which was somewhat of a disappointment to me, as I was expecting to have her leg fully functional by the time I had to take her back to the surgeon. I was also expecting the vet to be disappointed in the progress to date.

Imagine my surprise when he was unexpectedly pleased with the results. While my expectations were that I'd have her leg working by now, his expectations were that the leg would be completely rigid by now and therefore no more than a useless appendage. So I left the doggie hospital with a much lighter heart than I did two weeks ago.

08 May 2008

Swampy's Baby Shower for Karmyn.

Baby_on_board_car_window_sign I guess it's just as well that I'm confident about my sexuality, otherwise I'd be too phobic to go to a baby shower. But then even, if it did bother me, I'd still go becasue Karmyn is one of my oldest blog buddies, in fact she'd probably be my oldest buddy if it weren't for Swampy, Holtie and Pamela, (Karmyn's mom and my adoptive big sister), *all of whom are as old as the pyramids!

So anyway, Swampy (as only Swampy could) has offered to host a Baby Shower for Karmyn, which I think is pretty darned nice of her given that she's been laid up lately with a bad back and some splinters in her butt, both caused by excessive broomstick travel.

Seeing as it's a Baby Shower, which from what I can make out are sorta like Buck's nights, only without the ball and chain, or strippers, I have made my contribution a bit like a game with clever (well at least I thought so), tricky links, which will probably bore the shit out of you.

I know I'm a couple of days early (actually only one day for me, you know, international dateline and all), but I won't be able to post tomorrow (my 9th) because I have to take Belle back to Tamworth for a checkup (and you thought you finally had a Belle-free post didn't you?).

So to get my linkfest rolling, just click on my gifts.
Happy_bugs_collection

* Updated...does that make it any clearer Swampy?

06 May 2008

So, where are we now?

Dogconversation_3 While I don't want to be totally one dimensional by only writing about Belle, I do appreciate that there are those among you who would like to know what the present situation is. So for those who are interested, here's a more detailed update.

A couple of weeks ago I began to be concerned that she wasn't putting any weight on her broken leg. Granted it was still fairly soon after the operation and the two major incisions had not yet healed, but I couldn't help but think that something was wrong. I brought this up with my local vet each time I took Belle in for an anti arthritis shots, but I obviously wasn't firm enough in voicing my concern, as the vet offered no advice other than it must still be sore. Finally after bringing it up on three separate occasions, she suggested that I take her back to the vet who did the operation (70 miles away). So I made an appointment to see him in four days time.

Before he examined her, he got me do walk her around on a lead so that he could see what the deal was, and immediately said that it may already be a lost cause, and that he had told me that I needed to do regular physio therapy on her. WTF was he talking about?! Yes he did say that I needed to bend her leg every day, but he didn't say that if I didn't do it, she could develop a Volkmann contraction which would ultimately render her leg useless. I had tried to do it a couple of times, but every time I did, the staples would pop open, plus I was scared that I would damage the repair job at the knee (I had visions of re-breaking the leg by pushing too hard), additionally, she was in obvious distress whenever I tried, so I just left her alone.

Apparently these contractions can happen in a couple of days on young dogs (something else I found out later), so it's critical to make sure the joint can bend. Although in truth, I don't believe I ever felt the knee bend, as for the first week the leg was in a bandage, and the second week the incisions were still bleeding so I couldn't really do much. By the time the wounds had sealed, the quadricep had already lost all elasticity. If you aren't familiar with any of this, it's becasue the scar tissue overwhelms the muscle tissue. And if you haven't caught on yet, this condition is a result of the operation - not the accident!

If the leg never regains any function, then the recommended course of action is amputation, which is why I said last week that she may lose her leg, it has nothing to do with an infection. So there you have it, the reason I was so bummed last week. However over the past week and a half I've read all the literature, spoken to several vets (as well as MDW who is an OT) and am now convinced that this happened through no fault of mine, and while that doesn't make the situation any better, it does alleviate the sense of guilt I was feeling.

So, where are we now? After a week and a half of physio sessions five times a day, and crating her for the periods in between, I've managed to get about 15 - 20 degrees range of motion in her knee, which isn't much but it's better than nothing, and I have managed to prevent the leg from seizing up completely. She does occasionally put some weight on it, but not enough for me to think it's the beginning of the healing process, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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