Saturday, December 18, 2021

Swollen Sunrise


We had this nice sunrise a couple of mornings ago. Yes! Sun! For a brief moment and only on the horizon, but still, it counts. (Otherwise the heavenly orbs have mostly been hidden by clouds lately.)

Finally, FINALLY, Dave and I are on break. I have no plans for the next few days but to sit around and read. I feel as wrung-out as a wet washcloth. I do have some holiday goals, though -- a heavy-duty cleaning of the bathroom and, if I get really ambitious, possibly repainting.

I also thought I might clear some more dead stuff from the garden, but Dave is arguing that we should leave it to decay and restore the soil (and protect the critters and roots in the ground from freezes). I'm cool with that, so I guess that's the plan. We'll deal with it all in the spring.

We were supposed to go last night to a choral concert in a church with some of Dave's co-workers, but with Covid numbers ramping up they decided not to go and we followed suit. Dave called and surrendered our tickets in case others were trying to get in, but I don't know what the demand is like at the moment. We have another Christmas concert next week at Royal Albert Hall; fortunately there we'll be in a box seat, with some space around us, so hopefully that will go forward as planned.


We've been having some mysterious trouble with Olga in the last few days. Can you see how the left side of her snout (in the photo) is slightly swollen? It's barely noticeable but it's definitely out of balance. I looked at her teeth and gums and couldn't see anything unusual, and she doesn't seem to be in any pain and is eating normally -- even chewy treats! But in an abundance of caution I took her to the vet last night. (THAT turned out to be an odyssey, because our usual vet, around the corner from our flat, had no available appointments until next week -- so I had to walk Olga over to the Hampstead branch of their office, and as Olga is a leisurely walker these days it took 45 minutes to get there.)

The vet said he couldn't see anything unusual either, so his theory is that it's just temporary and we should go back if it isn't gone by the middle of next week. The waiting game!

I had some interesting comment spam this morning -- it's not just Ratana anymore. Now it's someone posting LOOOOOOONG messages wanting to sell antiquated sleeping pills like Nembutal. (Isn't that what Marilyn Monroe overdosed on?) Anyway, in deleting them, I discovered a handful of comments from real commenters tucked into my Blogger spam folder, going back several months. I never check that spam folder, but I guess I should! Sorry if I ignored your comments until now!

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

You were up early, at the crack of dawn. Ah, London, sunrise, 8.00am.

A wise decision to not attend the concert. Even though in a box, I am not sure I would go to Albert Hall either.

Strange about Olga. Fingers crossed.

I too had the same spam comments today, about four. One on an older post, so I didn't approve. One went to the spam folder but two got through.

Moving with Mitchell said...

That sunrise is stunning. Glad you got a glimpse of the sun. It’s kind of like being north of the Arctic Circle, isn’t it? I hope all is well with Olga. Even THAT close-up is adorable. Enjoy the start of your break.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Ahhhhhhh! There is no better way to celebrate Christmastime than by giving your bathroom some heavy duty cleaning. And what's this about a spam folder in Blogger? I never knew about that.

crafty cat corner said...

Funnily enough I looked that weed this morning and said to Tom that I would leave them as protection for the insects. Love the sunrise pic, its a winner. Hope Olga's nose returns to normal, maybe she got stung by a lazy bee.
Briony
x

Sharon said...

My dad's dog (many years ago) had one whole side of his face swollen once and I went with my dad to the vet to have it checked. It turned out to be a bite, probably from a spider. They gave him a shot of benadryl and it cleared up in a day or two. Dad's dog wasn't in any pain either, he just looked funny.
How lovely to be free for 3 weeks! That will be so nice.
They are sounding the COVID alarm again here too. Hospitals are at capacity and medical staff are exhausted. It's a recipe for disaster.

Pixie said...

When you're done your bathroom, perhaps you could pop over and give my house a good go. I have painting to do as well, or you could just hang out with Jack:)

Enjoy your time off.

Tasker Dunham said...

Well, you learn something every day. I didn't know I had a blog spam folder until I read this. It took me a while to find it and I was surprised to find a comment there - just one from 3 days ago.

Bob said...

Hope you have a nice holiday and get to see some more su.
Hope Olga is fine.
Hope Ratana and friends scatter away/

Wilma said...

Too bad about the canceled outing, but a small sacrifice to avoid covid. In a series of small sacrifices that gets to be pretty wearying. Oh well. Hope Olga's face has regained its beautiful contours!

Ms. Moon said...

Yes. Sharon may be right- Olga may have been bitten by something. Bless her sweet face.
The sun is out here today- first time in a week, I think. It's been so gloomy. I was thinking I might order some Nembutal before I deleted those spam comments. You never know...
Enjoy your time off. Do a little relaxing before you go crazy with house work.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I agree with the other commenters that Olga may have been bitten by something. Hopefully that little swelling will be gone soon.
Enjoy all of your wonderful three weeks off from work. I hope all the morning sunrises will be as lovely as this one.

Ellen D. said...

"Cleaning the bathrooms" does not sound like the wild fun I imagined you and Dave having during your 3 week break! You will have to do better than that to fill your exciting posts for us! :)

Mary said...

Hope Olga is better soon.

Totally get the deep cleaning and painting of the bathroom as a vacation task. When one is working, it is those kinds of things overwhelm one--even if you could get them done over a weekend, it is much better to know you have a long period of time to finish the job (and if you don't, oh well:) ). Enjoy your time off no matter what.

Debby said...

That is very curious about Olga. I can't remember...is she on any regular medication? I found out a medicine allergy by waking up one morning with a swollen lip. Strange thing? This OTC was not something new.

This covid stuff makes me want to stay home too...although thoroughly cleaning the bathroom is not my go-to plan.

I'm considering returning to comment approval.

I start back on my 10 hour days next week, so Merry Christmas to you and Dave, if I don't happen by this way again.

The Bug said...

Gorgeous sunrise! I think I technically get up early enough to see it, but because we're down in a hollow it's not really visible. I guess I could walk up the hill, but that's not going to happen :)

I plan to clean the bathrooms today, but it will just be my normal surface cleaning. I do look at things I COULD do, but I never do them.

Sharon said...

Me again. I just saw your comment on my site today about that beautiful fountain. We have indeed talked about it before. In fact, searching for info on that fountain is (if I remember correctly) how I found your site all those years ago. You told me a year or two ago that it had moved. The next time I visit London, I want to find it again. To think that the only reason I found it in the first place is because I wandered around while I waited for my friends to get their morning coffee at a nearby Starbucks.

Michael said...

I hope you have a wonderful holiday. I am sorry to hear about Olga. I hope it is nothing. My last day in school was yesterday and the kids were nuts. I had to take the first two periods off as I had to go into the dentist as I broke a piece of a filling, so I had a bit of a break from the craziness even though I had to do to the dentist.

Kelly said...

Our dogs often get bites or stings that cause mild (and sometimes major!) swelling. The vet always instructs us to give them Benadryl. If you have that over there, it's one 25mg capsule for each 25 pounds of body weight. We have one girl who takes two of them twice a day for severe allergies most of the year. It's safe long-term. Hope it clears up soon, whatever caused it!

e said...

Poor Olga! I hope it isn't serious...

Allison said...

I am still being stalked by the dreaded Ratana. Every single one has been marked as spam in the comments thingy. Why doesn't Blogger embargo these comments? Have a great three weeks off, when we were working we had the week between Christmas and New Years off and it always involved painting something.

Margaret said...

Happy Vacation!!

Angelicastar said...

Hi Steve, Dave and Olga. Just wondering if the vet charged you a fee just for telling you she will be okay. I hope not. He could have given her benadryl that wouldn't hurt her no matter what. My fur baby Babs had to make 2 doctor visits last month because she was so sick she had stopped eating and had fever temp of 103. I had to force feed her because she wouldn't eat on her own but I couldn't let my baby die. The vet gave her antibiotic shots, pills, and some type of liquid for dehydration. She would have made her 3rd trip but she started eating on her own and playing around. I knew then she was okay. Queen was seen on the second visit because she sometimes lose her hair in spots. It is some type of allergy. But no matter what, I make sure they are okay because if not the vet will see us again coming for help. (lol) It was costly but I have one credit card that I use for their care only. If it's not too expensive I will pay cash. Those visits cost me approximately $270 but it was worth it seeing my babies being playful again.

Mage said...

Just Ratana here, and lots of posts from her. I didn't know blogspot had a spam folder. I'll go check it out. Could it be her eye?

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Hi Steve, that Ratana annoyance has left those generic comments and annoying links on several of my blog posts as well. I continually mark them as spam and then delete them. But it seems the spam designation does nothing. Many fellow bloggers have the same complaint and whenever I see one of these comments, I advise the blogger to delete ASAP. Enjoy your holiday time off.

Catalyst said...

Ratana, Ratana, go eat your Banana! I've put comment moderation on my blog in an effort to weed out his disgusting messages. Olga looks normal to me. Of course, I'm a cat worshipper. So it goes.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, sunrise comes pretty late at this time of year!

Steve Reed said...

I do feel a bit sun-deprived at this time of year. I always forget how dark it's going to be.

Steve Reed said...

Yes! If you go to your dashboard and click "comments" at the left side, and then change the drop-down above the comment list to "spam," you'll see all your spam comments. If you're like me you'll be amazed at how many there are.

Steve Reed said...

It does make sense to leave them, I suppose. Certainly the decomposition is good for the soil!

Steve Reed said...

Olga's nose seems to have gone down. It was never very swollen and yesterday I was even wondering if I'd made the whole thing up. But the vet saw it, and you saw the picture, right? I'm not crazy.

Steve Reed said...

I'm not sure the painting is going to happen. That's probably over-ambition on my part!

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, I don't know what's happening with non-spam comments in the spam folder. Another annoying Blogger quirk!

Steve Reed said...

No such luck! She was back today!

Steve Reed said...

It DOES get wearying. Don't we all just want things back to normal? And yet the universe keeps confounding our expectations.

Steve Reed said...

I was so surprised to see that brand name. It's like being asked to order castor oil or paregoric or laudanum.

Steve Reed said...

It seems like it's pretty much gone now, thank goodness. We'll probably never know what was going on!

Steve Reed said...

I know! And yet with all this Covid nonsense it's hard to get out and have any fun!

Steve Reed said...

Thanks! I'm not sure the painting will happen but the cleaning DEFINITELY will!

Steve Reed said...

She's not on medication at the moment. I hate to approve comments; I think I'll just keep deleting them. It's a pain but it's manageable. I don't know why Blogger can't flag the account and prevent the spam, but I suppose if they did Ratana would just come back under another identity.

Steve Reed said...

We're already ON a hill, so we have an advantage in that regard!

Steve Reed said...

Oh, right! I remember that now! I'd forgotten that it moved, though I do remember construction in that area. I haven't been down there in ages. Some research may be required!

Steve Reed said...

I'd take the dentist over two periods of screaming kids any day!

Steve Reed said...

It's just a weird time for Olga to be stung. I don't think there's a single bug out there. It's too cold!

Steve Reed said...

The vet didn't seem worried, and it seems like it's gotten better.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, I don't understand that either -- seems like Blogger could tell Ratana is spam and block the account.

Steve Reed said...

Thank you!

Steve Reed said...

Yes, we did get charged, but I don't mind that. We took the vet's time and that's fair. It wasn't an expensive visit (for a change!). You're right -- we have to keep our "kids" healthy!

Steve Reed said...

Oh, maybe. I didn't think of that. Maybe she got poked in the eye or something? But the eye itself seems fine.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, I don't bother marking comments as spam; I don't think that does anything. I just delete them.

Steve Reed said...

It's a very minor swelling, and in fact today it seems gone, fortunately.

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Yorkshire Pudding said...

Thanks so much for explaining Steve. I had only accumulated fourteen spam messages but two of them were not spam.

Edna B said...

I hope that it's nothing serious on Olga's nose. She's so beautiful. I hope the new spam commenter doesn't find me. (hahaha) You have a super day, hugs, Edna B.