Weekend Visitors

One of the features of living in a tourist area is the number of visitors dropping by for the weekend.  I am actually growing most proficient in making traditional “Devon Cream Teas”, and have even mastered the art of making “Devon Splits”, the sweet yeasty bread rolls preferred by purists to the more prosaic scone.  We downsized quite dramatically in our move,  and it soon became obvious we’d struggle to accommodate visitors in any sort of comfort.

With this in mind we have just finished the erection of a large home studio/guest annex built over the original flat roofed garage across the courtyard from the main cottage.  We have tried to be as eco conscious as possible, using English grown timber, hemp and fleece insulation and even the Western Red Cedar claddng was grown in Devonshire.  (Less red – more blonde –  than the North American grown product, but our builder said just as good.  And a lot cheaper as it didn’t have to be sailed across the Atlantic!) At the moment it’s a shell, needing decoration, carpeting, electricity connecting & lights etc wired in.  We will need to wait before we can afford to fit out the shower room, but Rowan’s amputation means that I asked the builder to plan for the biggest walk in shower enclosure we can buy as there is no way I can now lift him into the bathtub in the family bathroom and the ensuite shower off my bedroom’s just too small.

My son Josh and his wife Amy came down from London to stay this weekend … I suspect as much for Josh to see Rowan as anything else.  As ever, Ro was overjoyed to see his boy, and immediately transformed into the whirling dervish dog of old, leaping and turning circles in joy, with his tail lashing eveyone in reach across their thighs!  The light is back in Rowan’s eyes now, he grins at us with delight … and cruises the dinnner table seeking out smuggled titbits.  I roasted two shoulder joints of lamb, marinaded in garlic, black olives and rosemary, with red wine and olive oil.  Ro got a lot more than his fair share of the fatty off cuts from the meat when it was carved.

Josh commented that when in his company you concentrate on Rowan’s face and the lack of a foreleg doesn’t really register until he suddenly needs to perform some manouvere … but he’s walking is growing more graceful and fluid day by day.   He does tire, and whereas we used to be able to walk them the 2 mile circuit of the hamlet, following the lanes between the field boundaries, Ro can now only just about manage to get up to the top of the village and back.  I have been told that walking up gentle slopes is good exercise for strengthening his shoulder muscles.

Still to hear from the vets about follow on treatments.

I was distressed that an aquaintance wrote to point out that the congenital nature of this condition implies it might be present in another leg, and asked have I thought what I would do then?  And what treatment we could give?  She went on to say, “Sorry to bring this up, but I wanted to make sure you have thought about it.”

When, of course, in fact I have thought of very little else .. I am painfully aware that anything that affects any of his remaining three legs would be the end for Rowan … whether that be a bad break, OS or a reoccurence of this condition.   But I did learn, a long time ago, to seperate out the locii of concern and control.  I can try and control Rowan’s environment so that he doesn’t injure himself, and if he did hurt himself on my watch I would feel guilt and blame.  But if fate deals him a bad hand, and he does contract OS or if this defect is present elsewhere, there is nothing I can do, so there is absolutely no point in worrying myself sick about it.  But I am irritated by her tone and the supposition that I’m too dim for that particular penny to have dropped.

Anyway, the weather forecasts say this freakishly hot weather is due to end this week, with more typical autumnal skies to come.  Yesterday was the hottest October day on record.  The autumn colours should be interesting this year.

Thanks for listening

Polly, Rowan and Willow XXXXX