Up The Farway Tree

It's been much more of the same in the life of Jac - taking Seb to the park, going to the shops(!), cooking, baking and playing in the greenhouse (or tending the plants as its more commonly known). There seems to be a developing theme...

We are trying out some new walks with Seb - we wouldn't want him to get bored now would we?! There was a nice route by the river which we tried last weekend, although Seb did give us a fright when he jumped up onto the stone bridge wall so he could peer down at the water. We had to grab him back down before he fell over. He has done stupidly similar things in the past, like the time he climbed out of mums living room window onto the narrow ledge, which is about 8 ft from the ground. Silly dog, clearly has no fear of heights.

Walk by the river

The other embarrassing thing he has been doing lately is staring at people when we are out walking. The worst of it being that he tends to stare even more intently if he thinks they are walking funny (very non PC), are dressed in an unusual manner or for other reasons known only to himself. Just last week we passed a woman reverse parking her car and Seb stopped to stare. I don't know if he thought he knew the woman or if he was interested in how well she could park, but either way he would not move on. He just stood and stared. I tried to drag him on, and although eventually he started walking forwards he continued to look back over his shoulder as he moved. Finally the woman finished parking and got out her car - at which point Seb lost all interest and trotted on. Not before the woman shouted over to me "Oh my goodness, that is one nosey dog you've got!!" I was mortified, but could do nothing but agree with her.

I also went shopping to get shoes for my new wedding outfit. I have promised Andrew that I am now finished shopping (for this week at least). Here are my shoes - they were calling my name...


Baking wise I am experimenting beyond the comfort zone, and attempted macaroon bars at the weekend. Not that these are hard to make, but oh, they are so messy! The whole kitchen was covered in icing sugar, it looked like a winter snow scene. Seb was covered, although he didn't seem to mind. As usual, I wasn't wearing an apron so I was covered. Every visible surface was covered.. Then I ran out of icing sugar (since most of it was everywhere other than the mixing bowl) so poor Andrew had to go to Tesco at 9pm to get me more. Clearly the creative process could not wait until morning. I think mum will agree when I say it did taste very much like the real thing though...shame i won't be making it again in a hurry ;-) I think I might just go back to the flapjacks.

Healthwise, everything is ok. I feel like I have been more tired and struggling a little when walking Seb, however it could just be me reading into things too much because I am aware the next bronchoscopy is looming and I am being a little paranoid about the results. The other annoying thing is my peg tube, which instead of healing over nicely is actually beginning to leak even more (as well as continuing to whistle at inopportune moments). It's driving me nuts! I'm hoping to catch up with my CF team soon so that I can discuss it with them...along with my bloated stomach, which is also getting on my nerves. I used to have lots of GI problems related to my CF when I was young, but not really that much in recent years. Or maybe it just didn't seem as bad because my lungs were so poor! Either way, I need to have a chat with them once I am back from Newcastle. Other area I'm keeping an eye on is the blood sugars which have become a bit erratic again. I have started getting hypos (low blood sugars) and the more worrying thing is that I don't appear to have any warning signs until they are very low. Due to this I cut back the insulin, but in response I am now getting high readings again. I can't win! I had some blood taken yesterday which checks the average sugar reading over a 3 month period so I will be interested to get the results of that - I suspect it might not be too bad though as I have been trying really hard to keep them in check. Otherwise everything else is good - eating well, still gaining weight (hopefully some of it muscle!) and although a little tired I am still taking Seb out twice a day and generally keeping myself as active as possible. I am determined to make the most of every day!

I will leave you with some photos of Seb and his new toy "Chris-moose". I think it's love.

Look what I've got!

Look what I can do!

You want me to get any closer to the camera?!