Well, I might as well start with the bad news and get it over with. It started last night, really. I was already in my cabin when I realized hat Touri wasn’t there with the rest of the dogs, so I went back to the house to see where he was. He was standing in the doorway of my office, looking somewhat ill at ease as I called him over and over, only to realize that he couldn’t climb off to ground level. So, I thought, no biggie and picked him up, only to quickly put him down again when he started to cry pitifully.
Once up at my cabin I gave him a doggie painkiller, some kibble and hoped he’d be better come morning.
It seemed to be the case, for when I got up this morning, he walked down with the rest of the dogs (albeit slower and with a limp) and just sat nearby while I did laundry and went through the morning rituals.
Again, he was slow in coming but when I headed up to tenant’s place to say good morning and discussed the day’s plans with grandpa. The moment we came out of the building I saw that something was wrong. Touri was lying on the concrete in front of the main gate, and appeared to be writhing.
I went over and picked him up, already recognizing the signs when I saw his pale gums and he was staring vaguely into the distance. He was hardly responsive and since the car was gone, I had no choice but to wait for transportation to the vet. (Always on a Sunday. The bad stuff always happens then *sigh*.)
It was an hour, and through that hour Touri went from heavy breathing and limpness to get up, relocating to a different spot on the bed and then breathing heavy again. By the time the car was back and I carried him up to it, he was still breathing, but also limp in my arms. Big brother got behind the wheel and I called the vet as we started on our way.
He began to spasm a bit the moment we hit the village, turned his head towards me with a deep sigh and then sagged away with more spasms the moment we stopped in front of the pet hospital and waited for the vet the arrive.
She checked him, and at hearing his heart beat a few more times, offered to give him a final injection, but by the time she had it ready he had stopped and was nothing more than an empty shell.
It sucks! Yeah, I know, surprise, surprise. But sometimes you just have to say it and get it out.
The remainder of the day has been a little surreal for me. Like being in a dream but being unable to get out of it, or something. Heck, today I hardly did anything at all, except for a trip into the yard for an aborted session of gardening. I really didn’t feel like it.
Instead I took a nap in the afternoon, dabbled some at repairing an arm chair, and did some paper edits…luckily there are always edits to be done.
There are good memories of Touri after all. Back in early two thousand (for the life of me I can’t remember) I remember coming into the patio when mom and big brother came back from some errand in town. Big brother was standing at the top of the stairs, and when he turned he was holding this tiny bundle of fur under his left arm, peering around him in my general direction. A black 7 week old Cocker Spaniel puppy.
“Gawd. Another one? Who’s this one for?” I remember asking mom, who was standing behind them with a smile on her face. “For you.”
Though incredibly cute, Cockers have never been my favorite breed, and I shook my head saying “No way. Seriously. For whom is he?”
He was mine, of course, and he soon became a steady addition of my personal pack that was still rapidly growing at that time.
On the overall Touri was a grumpy old man from the day he came into my life. He was never overly affectionate, just there and a constant in my life until today. Though distant, I felt a close connection to him throughout the years. He had a couple of close calls, what with Trin Trin the Monster Boxer taking a dislike to him a few years back. There were two incidents where she almost choked him to death, but other than that he has led a healthy life, and never needed to visit the vet except for when his ability to procreate was nipped in the butt, so to speak. Hah.
Here are a couple of pics of the beauty. I wish I had a more recent one, but these will have to do.
This was Touri as a puppy just eight weeks old in 2002/2003 I think. He'd just taken a dip in the pool.
This was Touri in 2009, he loved sitting on stairs.
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But anyway, that was today’s disaster, let’s just travel back in time a little and focus on yesterday, which was a pretty darn good day, no matter what today turned out to be.
First of all there was laundry of course. Death and taxes, remember?
Since tenant joined Sally, mom and the sibs at the market, I didn’t need to visit her yesterday morning, except to wave her off and wish her a great day. Considering it was cloudy, I just hoped that she wouldn’t be cold, but considering it was a moist warm day, I shouldn’t have worried at all.
The majority of the day was spent in the yard where grandpa turned earth (still the expert there) while Dani and I planted 24 tomatoes, thirty or so peppers and a few zucchinis. We made a few terraces in the southern corner of the yard, seeing as it is so perfect for peppers and the like. Seriously, it is looking mighty fine, and just as soon as they start growing I’m going to take a proper picture of it all.
There was reed to cut, and then tomato braces to be made from the stems, because this year we’re going to see if we can lead them all up and prevent diseases from getting the overhand. We also made some fences of the reed, because we do need to protect it all against the pesky dogs that refuse to stay out of the veggie yard.
Dax can’t reach his ear, so I’m laving it uncovered and it is doing well enough. The only thing I now do with it, is cleaning it every day.
Knight II left his tail alone for 50 hours or so, and then removed his bandage twice in 16, so I don’t know if I should be upset with him, or proud. Whatever the case, I’ll just have to redo it, because it still hasn’t closed properly, darn it.
Well, that is it. I’ve got more edits to do. With a little luck we’ll be sending the query letter out before the end of the month.
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