I was woken up in the early hours of this morning with a violent thunderstorm going on....Betty hates them so I knew she'd be anxious. Husband said he'd been awake for ages (doubtful!) and had been listening out for her and said he'd not heard her at all so she was fine - huh, I knew she wouldn't be. I got up to go to the loo and could hear her as soon as I opened the bedroom door....she was standing on the bottom step (we have a stairgate so she can't come upstairs during the night), whining, panting and licking her lips, so clearly not fine at all. I went down and stayed with her....I don't make a fuss of her, as I don't want to give her the impression that there IS something to get worried about, I just sit quietly reading on the sofa and encourage her to come and sit beside me. It took her ages to settle down though - once the thunder and lightning stopped, there was a strong wind hurling hailstones at the windows, which freaked Betty out a bit as well. She did eventually lie down beside me and go to sleep.
I've got a lot going on at the moment, some admin stuff which is going to take me a week or two to sort out and is very complicated, consequently it's quite stressful (so I could have done with a decent night's sleep). I've told husband he'll have to help me out by doing a bit more around the house this week and next, as I won't have time to do everything, so he's in charge of dinners for the next few days. It won't be too taxing for him, as there are several meals I'd precooked and frozen, so he's only got to take one out and add some veggies to it. Or he can do basic things like cooking some chicken pieces with veg and rice.
I'm going to have a treat next week too, as a bit of light relief whilst all the stressful stuff is going on. Since having the arthritis and bursitis in my hips, which in turn causes permanent back pain and stiffness, I'm finding it increasingly difficult and painful to bend over and cut my toenails. There's a chiropodist in the village (I had no idea, but happened to see her advertising on the local FB page the other day), she offers free consultations, so I went to see her this morning. Well, she's lovely and very professional, taking my medical history and list of medications and explaining everything. She does a treatment consisting of toenail cutting, treating any minor foot problems such as corns or athletes foot or ingrowing toenails (I have a small corn), and giving a foot massage with nice smelling creams, £30 all in. Bargain I think, to have a pamper treatment for an hour or so, I've booked in for next Monday. She recommends every 8-10 weeks, which will be fine.
When I've got time at the weekend I want to do some more batch cooking for the freezer....a sausage pasta bake (planning on making probably 4 double portions) and a couple of fish pies. I also have half a large pack of puff pastry in the freezer, will use that to make some potato, cheese & onion pasties.
Mixture of sunshine/blue sky and showers/thick grey cloud today, and it's cold. I know it's only January and Spring is still a few weeks off, but it does feel like a long winter.
Poor Betty! But you do exactly the right thing by just keeping her company and not making a fuss. We had the winds, rain and hail but no thunderstorm, but I’m a bit further down from you. Enjoy your chiropody treatment, you’ll find the massage really relaxing :)
ReplyDeleteI always feel winter hits us hardest in Feb/March time, so I am not planning any outside things to do for a while.
ReplyDeleteOh poor little Betty. It's horrible when they get stressed out isn't it?
ReplyDeleteCrikey....I would just scream if anyone touched my feet. Thankfully I only have to have them checked out once a year at the doctors surgery and the nurse knows I hate it so she's really quick. For anyone who does like it though I expect it will be very relaxing.
Hugs-x-
I think January/ February are the worst months. Just when you feel you've had enough of winter - BAM! The chiropody treatment sounds relaxing. You'll be walking on air. Poor Betty. It's a shame animals can't understand that the storm is outside and can't hurt them. xx
ReplyDeletePoor Betty. It must be terrifying when you don't know what's going on or why, and things suddenly become noisy and unpredictable. I'm glad you were able to be with her.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the chiropodist!
xx
It’s always a real treat to get a pedicure. I’m afraid my feet get neglected all winter and I always feel I should tidy them up before I go for a treatment so out comes the pumice stone and foot cream. Trouble is, as you say, the older we get the more inflexible and I have to huff and puff a bit to reach down there.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried a Thunder jacket for Betty?
ReplyDeleteOur Jack Russell Rosy was terrified of thunder and lightening and the regular shoots that happen here so we got her one and it really worked a treat. So much so that she would go and sit by the cupboard where it was kept when she needed it. We nicknamed it her 'Cosy Rosy' and she knew it's name.