rough landing

As previously mentioned, we haven't had the easiest transition back to Cape Town. Our lovely little home was sealed up for nearly a month during the cold, wet Cape Town winter leading to a bit of a mold infestation. Grim. It was nothing that some strong armed cleaning and a trip to the laundromat with nearly the entirety of Brendan's wardrobe couldn't sort out. But the cherry on top of this unpleasant sundae was when Parker fell from a third story window (we surmise he got spooked by a bird because it is better than the alternative of him jumping) into a palm tree and then to the ground. And the little devil did this ten minutes before I was due to pick him up and bring him back to first floor home. What a stinker.

These are the palm thorns that were removed from his abdomen. The large one amazingly did not pierce any vital organs. The vet assured me that this will be one of those freak stories they tell other people about. Parker is famous. He also had some scratches and has a piece of a palm thorn in one of his paws that will actually do more damage if it is removed so he gets to keep that little trophy.

There is no scale here, but trust me this is one seriously big, tough-guy scar. No one is going to mess with this house cat. There are two more layers of stitches below this, as the thorn penetrated all skin and muscle layers.

He is going to have to ditch the cone, however, to keep his macho image. And also grow the fur back in his bald spot or else work on his comb-over. Overall his recovery has been steady. We had a scare the other evening after a day of total lethargy followed by a hunger strike (even for tuna, which is unheard of), but our wonderful friend Dave the vet made a house call and assured us that while he may have an infection we shouldn't start eulogizing just yet. I'm not sure if it was the fear of his guts being turned into violin strings or what, but he made a total recovery overnight and will get his stitches removed on Friday. He might have lost one of his nine lives (eight of them is probably more like it), but he shows no signs of stopping.

happy days

Four years ago today I went on a date with a really handsome guy I met on the first night of tango class. It was an icy sub-zero day in New Haven. We had Thai food. Later that evening we drank rooibos tea and I was introduced to Johnny Clegg. We saw each other the next day, and the next day, and the day after that. It was bliss then and it still is.


Our days of late have been very full and happy in other ways too. We've spent a few glorious days on the beach, my new favorite of which is Llandudno though we've spent a fair bit of time in Fish Hoek too.


We went for a sunset walk along Hout Bay beach, watching the mountain change colors and the clouds roll in.


Afterward we had a drink at a bar on the beach and watched the full moon rise. Our chairs were in the sand and we could kick our feet up and relax.


There has been loads of family time as well. We've had more time with this little cutie and his brother. I have a great video of James and Brendan that I will figure out how to post and get up here soon.



There was a gathering of all the M-B sibs, their partners, and their kiddies (I'm glad Ant & Kate have two so I could have someone to hold!).


And now we have B's cousin Kate and her husband James here. On Sunday we packed a picnic and parked off at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens for one of their summer concerts.



Sadly the Nepal training has been a bit back-burnered because of my broken toe. I think it is nearly better enough to start hiking and we will hopefully recommence soon. In the mean time, Brendan has been harassing me (I think he would say he is strongly encouraging me) to do wall squats to increase leg strength. I decided that I would do them when Parker did.


While his form leaves something to be desired, I guess this means I need to start doing wall squats. Dang.

domestic danger

Sometimes staying at home can be dangerous. Like the other morning. I was minding my own business, putting away dishes, being all nice and domestic when

GASP

our cutting board became unsteady in the drying rack and

BAM

it fell on my toe and smashed the end of it to smithereens.

These pics are from about a week post-injury because, to be perfectly honest, the dang toe just looked too gruesome up to this point. I'll be hop-a-long Maughan-Brown for the next several weeks. My wonderful brother-in-law Andreas (a doctor) has said it will be about a month until I can comfortably put weight on my left foot, and two months until I am fully recovered. Considering it is only ten weeks until we leave for Nepal this is bad news. I think Brendan is keen to make me eat dinner while doing wall squats to keep my thighs strong. I think I'm keen to have him piggy-back me along the Annapurna Circuit instead. Either way, the Nepal trip just got a little more memorable.