Poor Jessie

So Jessie had a little accident and managed to tear the outside of her entire claw off exposing the quick below with all the nerve endings in it.

We took her to the vet as she would not even walk on that foot so we knew it was not good.  It turns out that it was better that she tore the whole thing off as if only part had been torn off they would have had to put her under anesthetic to remove the rest of it.

It is all bandaged up and will stay that way for a few days and she also had to take pain killers and antibiotics.  The vet did send us home with a cone for here to wear to stop her trying to chew the bandage off but we took it off as she was not worried about the bandage at all.

It will take up to 2 months for the claw to grow back and for this week at least we need to keep her calm and quite with restricted movement (haha the vet must be joking right, she is a kelpie) but so far so good.

We will take the bandage off in a few days and hopefully not get nipped in the process.  Only then will we know if she if comfortable enough to go walking, there might just be lots of swimming in the meantime.

Eight Weeks Into My Motherhood Journey

It has now been just over 8 weeks since Kingsley arrived in our lives and while the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy dragged these past weeks have flown by.  There has been a lot going on though not just with adapting to motherhood and parenting but as we are living out of  suitcases with family we are adjusting to that new dynamic and there is a lot going on in relation to our move to New Zealand including trying to see everyone before we move.

Mum, Hubby, Kingsley and I (Jessie in the background)

Hubby's parents, his brother, my sister in law and their son and Hubby and I

Midway through packing by the movers

Here are a few of the things I have ticked off the list in the last few weeks.

Had my mum here from New Zealand for the first week after Kingsley was born
Supervised the international movers packing all of our belongings
Cleaned and moved out of our rental
Relocated to live with family out of suitcases
I had to get Kingsley a passport, do you know how hard it is to get a passport style photo of a 3 week old baby (looking straight at the camera, head straight, awake not crying or frowning) it took 12 shots before we got one that was usable.
Hubby and I both had to renew our passports
Kingsley had to be added to our flight
Travel insurance purchased (couldn't do it till he was born)
Advertised my car for sale
Ordered new bank and credit cards to extend their expiry dates (it costs a bit to have them sent overseas)
Kingsley's 6 week vaccinations and my check up
Accommodation booked for my brothers wedding in February
Organising Jessie's vet checks before she moves with us
Planning for Christmas
Sending Christmas cards
Trying to see everyone before we leave
Meeting with a couple of ladies from work who also have babies in an impromptu mothers group. Because we are leaving I have not joined one of my own (I need every minute with existing friends)
Getting Kingsley's hearing check done (all good)
Working on our new house build

I also took the little guy on his first road trip from Brisbane up to Tin Can Bay ( 2.5 hrs north) and then to Maaroom (a further 45 mins north of Tin Can Bay),  We had 4 nights away and thankfully I was staying with good friends so I was not under too much self imposed pressure to keep him quiet and not disturb the rest of the house.

Kingsley with good friends of ours who we used to live near when we had our farm 

This is Kingsley's surrogate Nanna (my best friend who passed away's Mum)

Love this photo

With Kingsleys surrogate Nanna  and Grandad (my best friend who passed away's Mum and Dad and Max the dog)

Kingsley and his cousin in matching outfits (not arranged)

Kingsley and Grandma (Hubby's mum)

Kingsley's cousin reading him a story

It has been a busy few weeks during which time we have relocated all our remaining belongings 3 times (from our rental to Hubbys parents then to Hubby's brothers house, then back to his parents. Next move will be to New Zealand on Jan 12, the count down is on.

Liz's Magical Herbal Salve

As I posted the other day our dog Jessie managed to hurt herself recently when we visited our friends Liz and Pete.

As luck would have it a little while back Liz gave me some of her herbal salve to try and after checking all the ingredients were safe to use on dogs even if they licked it I decided to apply it to Jessies skin tear.

This was less than 2 weeks ago and the hole was about the size of a 10 cent piece and right through all the layers of the skin.

This is today.

As you can see it is completely healed over with just a tiny little scab bust mostly new skin.  To be honest I thought it would take a lot longer to heal to this point and you can tell that not much time has passed based on the lack of hair growth.

You can buy Liz's Salve here at her Etsy shop.  Just to be open and honest, yes we are friends, no I didn't pay for my pot of salve, no I am not getting paid to endorse her products (but I am happy to as I have tried the lip balm and a soap that she made a while back and they were great) and finally Liz does not know I am posting this (till now) and has not seen the attached photo either.

So a big thanks to Liz for gifting me this salve.

A Wonderful Long Weekend

We just had a wonderful long weekend where we not only got to catch up with friend and do stuff at home but we also found time to relax, perfect long weekend combo.

We had lunch with friends out where we used to live and then spent a day and a half with other friends Liz and Pete at their farm and checking out the renovations at their second property.  They are doing an amazing job and are making good progress. Unfortunately Jessie managed to catch her shoulder on a barbed wire fence (well we think that is what happened).   She never let on she had hurt herself and it wasn't until Saturday night when we saw her licking her shoulder we noticed the cut. 

It is not the first time she has had a run in with barbed wire but this time it does not even seem to be sore.  She is a bit of a sook and normally crinkles her nose and shows her teeth if you get close to a sore spot but this time she let me clip all the hair away without blinking an eye.  The main reason I clipped the hair back is to stop it poking into the wound and irritating it (which stops her licking so much) and so I could have a good look and wash it out with saline solution.

So that it can heal we are trying to stop her from licking it too much.  We could have gone to the vets and gotten a cone today but a rolled up towel and a nappy safety pin do exactly the same job and she is not bothered at all.

I also cooked up a big batch of Chilli Beef and some Biscotti.  Most of the Chilli Beef went in the freezer as I am trying to make sure we have a good stockpile of precooked meals for when the baby arrives.

There was also some time for books and cuddles in bed.  Yes she is a very spoilt little dog.

How did you spend your long weekend?

The Garden Of Shame

Since we put our house on the market the veggie gardens have become very neglected and they are full of weeds.  I had hoped that the house would have sold quicker and so I really didn't do any planting and since we thought were not going to be here to harvest spring and summer crops I got quite demotivated and just ignored them.

It is so weedy that the parsley is lost in there and there is even a lettuce off to the left.  Can you spot it?  It is like a game of Where's Wally?

There is actually an Eggplant in there flowering so we will probably get some more fruit before we move

But due to all the work I have put in in the past and my method of letting things go to seed the garden is still producing for us.

There are plenty of herbs, silverbeet and kale.  There are self seeded lettuces popping up everywhere, the cherry tomatoes grow everywhere like weeds and there is plenty of bananas and citrus.  

Self seeded lettuce popping up everywhere

Just today I also found some spring onions I planted a while back hidden among the weeds.

Hello Spring Onions

The garden bed that is producing well and mostly free of weeds

Last weekend I planted some potatoes, some in the ground and some in pots.  The ones in the ground might come to something (some are already shooting) before we move and I will be taking the pots with us when we move.

This week I also picked the first asparagus spear and look forward to all the ones to come.

And as always my number 1 helper is always on hand (usually with a stick for me to throw) to help out in the garden.  She does not dig anywhere and never has but if I am in the garden digging she then likes to have a little dig in the soft dirt.  Unfortunately sometimes this is after I have put the seedling in.... 

How is your garden looking?
Do you have any bits that make you feel embarrassed?

A Weekend Of Joy And Sorrow

Over the weekend Hubby's brother, his wife and their 18 month old son came and stayed.  It was lovely to spend time with them and our nephew loved all the animals.
He is just learning to talk and while he can say dog he mostly calls dogs Ba.  So all weekend he was pointing at Jessie and saying Ba Ba and while he is very interested in her and spent all weekend following her and wanting to throw things for her, he is still a bit scared and if she gets to boisterous he likes to be picked up.

Throwing the ball for Jessie

Where's Auntie Fee?

Hanging out with Uncle Randall

Then late Sunday we had this guy and his partner come for a visit.  They are very tame and if I had to guess  i'd say they get fed by different people around our area.

I gave them some chicken food and they pick through for all the sunflower seeds and leave the rest which I scoop back up and give to the chickens.  It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful they are.

But we do wish they would leave our banana alone.

But sadly this weekend we also lost Hubby's aunt unexpectedly.  She had been unwell for the past 6 weeks with a terrible flu and just could not get better.  She was rushed to hospital over the weekend and passed away at age 71, so very very young.  It made us even more grateful for the time spent with family over the weekend.

Have you spent quality time with your family recently?  When you do remember how special it is and make the most of it.

I Can Peel My Own Bananas

Some things in life just make you smile.  I should have filmed this but had already started taking photos by the time I thought of it.

Things That Make Me Smile

Over the last week all of my hippeastrums beside the driveway have burst into flower.  The whole patch was planted from bulbs that Hubby picked up from a job where they were being thrown out. Their loss our gain.
Although they only flower once a year they make me smile and add a burst of colour to the drive way.

They even make Jessie smile.  And looking at her made me smile.

Until she got distracted by something much more interesting.

This weekend is the classic car show I am the event director for and things are all on track.  We are praying for fine weather and a good turn out and i will share some photos next week.

What are you doing this weekend?