Should have been titled "Today" ...

but thanks to crappy internet that wasn't possible, so we will have to settle with calling this post "Yesterday".

It was a rather amusing day and started off fairly well. I went to work with nothing untoward happening. Bear was no madder or crazier than usual. I managed to get some stuff done at work that was half decent, finally, thank heavens, now I just bet they won't like it ...

Anyway, got home, all well and good. Apart from the fact that Bear was lying peacefully on the front step as if it was impossible for him to climb through the lounge windows and ravage the house. His one error - evidence! One of my poor shoes was lying in front of him whilst he looked up at me with innocent brown eyes, all excited to see me. Well, he got a smack with said shoe and sulked for the rest of the afternoon.

I had to take Lillith to the vet, so off I trotted with a small yowling cat in her basket, all the way to town. My time at the vet was rather informative. Lillith requires daily sunblocking as she is so white - great stuff, have to go buy SPF50 for my cat ... we also discussed Bear's problem of being so horny it must be driving him totally insane, and the benefits of having his balls chopped off. It seems like a great plan, however, we also worked out that testosterone helps develop muscle structure and all that bollocks, so we are going to try and hang on until he is a year or so old and fully grown before removing these rather offending items that make my life difficult ...

The most amusing part of all of this though is that my delicate, white-furred, blue-eyed kitten named Lillith, whom EVERYONE that looked said was female (shows how much you lot know) is actually a BOY!! So after a mild disagreement I decided to believe the vet as he clearly has more expertise in that area than I do, however it gave him a good laugh. Now, we have to think of a new name for this terror as well - so far the vet suggested Goliath, which I quite like as hopefully he'll grow to be big and strong but that is rather doubtful, and then Banzai, Kovu, or Nuka from the Lion King, so decisions decisions.

Well, so off we went home, Lillith / Goliath etc with a newly acquired pair of balls. I am becoming severely outnumbered in this house, 4 males to 2 females - no wonder Nala was so pissed at the latest addition, now I don't blame her in the slightest!

Anyway, so on getting home with my cat in tow who insisted on riding out of his cage, Bear came to greet us with all the enthusiasm in the world, finally over his sulk that had lasted from 1pm to what was now 4:25pm. Poor bugger, I had another appointment and had to drop them and run off again, only getting home after 5. Pio of course neglected to tell me that he was already in town when I left and so had to sit on the back lawn waiting as well!

So we progressed with dinner and choosing names for Goliath etc, which we still have not decided on, and made chicken in soy on jasime rice which sounds rather exotic but I think it was rather gross. I was kind enough to put rice, gravy, and all the chicken skin aside for Bear, and even gave it to him in one of our white bowls that Christine bought us - don't tell her ...

Bear has a thing, and this does not come from spoiling at all. He will only eat what is either fed to him on one of our plates or off one of our plates when it is done in full sight of him so that he cannot be conned into eating dog food. I tried to con him last night, he wouldn't accept it. However, when I scraped my leftovers on top of his bowl or chicken and rice, he ate it all, neatly leaving the "dog food". Little shit.

Anyway, so Pio was finishing up some work, and I attempted to brush Bear. This dog has an incredibly woolly bum. The rest of him is normal Husky fur, however his bum has an extra layer of down that is just incredibly thick and constantly itchy. Brushing him is always a war, where he chews me, runs around, and practically has to be held down whilst I attack him to try and get some of this down out. I made the mistake of leaving the brush lying within his reach the one day and so he attempted to destroy it, so every time I use it I get splinters as well from a mutilated handle. War over, once he had bitten me, fallen on top of my hand, got a smack for his trouble, and eaten some of his own fur as if he hates to part with it, we decided to take him for a walk.

So in the car and off we go .. yet now there are other dogs on the beach. A pleasant couple with three practically puppies, a Pit Bull, Staffie cross Jack Russell and another Jack Russell. Pio made the fatal mistake of allowing Bear to pull him along, and so the dog went wild and bowled all three pups off their feet. It took quite some time to calm him down and get him away from them. On we continued, me eventually taking Bear as Pio had not a lot of control over him and was being pulled down the beach like a steam train.

We let him off eventually, when the other dogs were out of sight, however he spotted the tiniest little dog (like Dee's whatever that rat is) and attempted to take it on. Well 5 minutes later we were in total hysterics, as this tiny dog no bigger than Bear's head, chased him all over the beach, up and down, biting him and yapping at his heels. Finally, Bear had met his match in something one tenth of his size. We finally rescued him after having a good laugh, and then he was in a total sulk with us. We got as far as the car, and in a strop, he decided that he had had enough, and bottled back down the beach. This is the first time that he has done this, and I am sure that it was because he was in a total sulk over us leaving him to be abused by a teeny-tiny mutt.

Off I want to fetch him, and he got put back on his lead and made to walk next to me back to the car. Well it took him some time to get over that latest offense! He lay in front of the door at home in yet another major sulk, and after giving him time to cool off I had to make amends ...

Honestly ... with these moods and temper tantrums, who needs kids????

The Last Week

Has been a bit hectic and I am totally exhausted. I think that if these bloody animals would actually let me sleep I would probably KO for a week and nothing would wake me!

Pio has been away on training since last Sunday in Johannesburg to my intense irritation as it means that I have to stay here alone, in this great big house with no protection - no, Bear is not a watch dog AT ALL and would probably lick them to death before protecting me - so I have had very little sleep through nerves even though Joani came to stay with me. On top of that the animals seem to be taking perverse pleasure in waking me up constantly throughout the night, and so sleep has been minimal and I am now ready to kill them with great delight or simply remove them to the SPCA for a few days so I can get some sleep.

It also seems that throughout the course of the night one of them has stolen my silver bracelet and no doubt eaten it - this could only be Bear, who in the last week has been in a particularly evil mood even though has has been out every night apart from one for walks, has destroyed my silk bed cushions, shoes, and heaven only knows what else that I haven't actually found yet.

Yesterday he was alone all day because of the wedding, and my trainers took a beating there even though he was locked inside he must have climbed into the house through the window to destroy something of mine out of spite. Yes, they should be in the cupboard, but I had literally 5 minutes to change and make up yesterday before doing the wedding.

So last night between the animals I got no sleep and am now so tired I could just fall over, but have to go and clean up after the wedding yesterday and make sure everything gets back to the right place etc etc. I will explain the wedding and post photos later if I have the energy, but have a ton of stuff to do today and mostly just want to sleep ...

Here's hoping that it goes well and that I get a break and have a restful day after I get all the work done ...

Out of the Mouths of Babes ...

I love Ethan and Aaron to bits and pieces and miss them dearly. My Mom kindly sends me the funny things that they say, as I have very intention of keeping them all and one day, when they turn 21, to embarrass the hell out of them! If you don't know the story, they are currently living with my Mother, their Grandmother.

Here are a few prize sayings I have collected so far:

Hope said to Aaron, aged 4, "I love you."
Aaron, "You don’t deserve me!"
Hope, "Who!!"
Aaron, "You."

Aaron, learning a new song at school, adapted it: "Old king kong was a merry old hole…"

Aaron again, after my Mom had told him to watch where he pees as she is tired of sitting in it, said: "Well it’s a toilet not a seat."

Ethan, aged 7, after my Mom had taken them shopping in England, said that he thought the shop really was not big enough and as it was too busy will shop online in the future.

The last time that Hope was visiting, Ethan ran and jumped into her arms- when my Mom went to walk past them, he grabbed her and said, "Give your daughter a hug!"

When Ethan laughs he has the biggest mouth. The other night my Dad asked why he has such a big mouth- he said, "I don't know, probably cos I talk so much!"

Apparently Aaron regularly asks Seth, his Father, "Why does your Mother cook this food?" speaking of my Mother. Whether he means this good or bad I have no idea at all ...

Ethan said, "Do you love noodles?" 

Aaron, "Yes." 

Ethan, "So you gonna marry some noodles?" 

Aaron, "Yes." 

Ethan, "So you gonna have some baby noodles..."

From my Mom: "Spoke to Ethan’s teacher today- she said he almost had her in tears! She had a pounding headache, so she asked them all to be quiet. Ethan quietly got up, went to the sink and got her a drink of water, put it down next to her, patted her and said ‘Drink this. I think you might be dehydrated!’She said it was so sweet, she was trying to hold back tears whilst thanking him."

Ethan came back the other day from spending the weekend with his Father, and said, "Daddy says I should stay there and give you a break."
Mom, "Well its probably cos I’m old."
Ethan, ‘Well you’re very good with kids!’’

Life With a Bear

So many funny things have happened lately that I just know I am going to forget them, although trying to get them all written down is not always easy, never have the time blah blah blah. This particular piece came about after Bear and I ran into each other full tilt and I think that we both have landed up rather sore ... 

Bear has this endearing if not destructive habit - caused by me I admit - where when he gets excited and boisterous I chase him around the house. Now our house you can run in a full circle through the kitchen, dining room and lounge, so it really gets him going. He also has this thing where he jumps like a Springbok when he gets all excited, and so we scream around the house, him skittering around on the tiles and knocking things over, and I have to make sure my shoes are off, and then we go mad. And, whenever he gets to a specific spot, he jump - always in the same spot!

So a minute ago, there he was, ready to run around like a lunatic, so I obliged - I think lunacy quite becomes me! Anyway, so at the last moment he obviously decided to turn around and came charging back at me, which I didn't see as I was around the corner charging at him. We met in the kitchen doorway and collided rather heavily - and both practically landed on our butts. My leg and knee somehow collided with his head - it can only be, what else would be that hard?? - and I dropped to the floor, as did he, with what must have been a headache. 

Well we recovered, but I imagine that I will definitely have a blue knee tomorrow morning!

Bear is a monster, we all know that, but one that we love and adore. He chews my shoes, eats my underwear, chases the cats, chases me, bites me and Pio to pieces, humps every other male dog in sight (I'm not sure if he can tell the difference between male and female, I do hope so in fact) humps anyone's available leg, chews his bones on our bed and couches, recently stole a bottle of champagne meant for Vanessa's wedding and ate all the labels off, stole a chocolate from them as well come to think of it, runs away from us when we go walking, loves everyone instead of being a guard do, and jumps on anyone that walks in the door with such exuberant enthusiasm that they normally land up lying on the floor - particularly if they are male as he is at the right age to smack them in the balls. He slobbers all over the car and jumps around in it like a lunatic scratching the leather bits on the interior as well as me with his rather sharp claws. Thank heavens he seems to have grown out of insisting on sitting on my lap whenever I drive anywhere. He wakes me up at night and has me chasing him around the house.

The list could no doubt go on, but then everyone would think he is a bad dog ...

Which he isn't. He is loving and affectionate and happy, and the only one in the house that has any control over him is an 8 week old kitten aptly named Lillith (Supernatural) who spits and slaps until he is under control again! There is nothing better than coming home to an over-joyed Husky that wants nothing more than to hug and kiss you because you were away for anything from 5 minutes to 5 hours.

Really, what more could you want then Life with a Bear?

Moving Again ... sigh

OK, so Bear is now 10 weeks old, absolutely huge, and just as full of tricks as he was at 4 weeks, then 6 weeks, and so on ... just larger and able to bite much harder and jump higher and run faster ... Although, on the up side, I have managed to teach him to sit before he eats, shake a paw, jump up, lie down and roll over - which he learned pretty damn fast. It diesn't even take him a day to learn something, he seems to know within minutes what you want him to - from there it is just a matter of if he feels like doing it and how big the rewards are!

So quite a bit has happened lately. Most importantly, we have to move from our beautiful big house by the sea and no doubt get a house like everyone else ... boring! I apologise for being a snob but we really like our house and we really don't want to move! The people that own the house are moving back to Swakop from Windhoek and so we are officially homeless as of the 1st December. Of all the times, this is what annoys us. It is never easy to find houses to rent in Swakop, much less in December, as the entire country converges on Swakopmund for their summer holidays.

I have been to every agent in town, and we looked at 2 houses out of 15 agents. One was at the golf course out of town and tiny, with no garden for the animals either, the other was a 3-storey in Long Beach and nowhere near as impressive as we had hoped to make us move all that way out of town. From there I found another one through Patricia that we went to look at, and yes it is ok, but nothing great, very boring, very old-fashioned and closed-in, when I am now so used to this house with its big open spaces and wide windows.

We are waiting on one more house to look at, and am praying that the agents will come back to us today. I have been to see them twice and phoned and emailed so apparently we are on the top of the list, but who knows, we can only wait and see. The problem with this last house, is that it is unfurnished, which means we have to start buying our own furniture, and due to us paying off our debt and the recent Doctors bills that we have had, this might be a little difficult, so expect to see an empty house ...

Otherwise, I really am not sure where we are going to go or what to do. I have started packing - glorious job - but that should soon be done as we don't have a lot of things really. Enough to have to pack more than our clothes lol but not enough sadly to need a truck!

Marley and Me

Was really a great book and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I even blogged about it, but I have to say, I really think that I may have more trouble on my hands John Grogan had with Marley. Snort at me all you like ...

Last week Monday Bear had his first set of shots, at 6 weeks and one day old. Not only did he get dewormed, but I also had to explain to the vet that his penis didn't look quite right - it seems that was the start of it all. So yes, he has an infection down there and had to endure the embarressment of being held down and having a load of antibiotics injected right up it!! I have never heard of a puppy having an infection down there; how on earth it happens I do not know.

So on a daily basis he lies on my feet and chews everything in sight - this is really quite cute. He removes my slippers from my feet and drags them off to his bed to chew in peace. If I refuse to allow him to chew my slippers he will then try his hardest to chew my feet to pieces for as long as I can stand his needle-sharp teeth to pierce my skin.

If that doesn't work, he will chew whatever trousers I am wearing, and walking becomes a problem when you have a Husky hanging off your leg and are at risk of ripping through your clothing. He also miscalculates from time to time and smacks into the back of my leg, forcing a little "whumph" out of him. He sits down, shakes his head, and goes right back at it. The reason why I am not disciplining him for chewing my legs as I am walking is that I am hoping that ignoring it and having him run into my legs will eventually stop him - guess what? It's not working. He does it twenty times a day.

He destroyed my lettuce bed, he steals laundry and drags it around the house (slightly embaressing when you have guests and he strolls out with my knickers in his jaws, ever so proud), he chews the furniture and me, my shoes, the cushions and whatever else he can get his teeth into even though he has numerous toys and bones lying everywhere. He chases the cats everytime they move, and won't let you clean as it is just WAY too much fun to chase the mop or broom (which he has destroyed as well btw).

We took him to dog-training (agility) the Saturday after his shots, just to find out where we could go for puppy-training, only to have Bear try and hump every other dogs leg that he could reach! He had absolutely no manners at all, and clearly didn't mind if they were male or female either.

Even at one day short of 7 weeks, the "dog whisperer" of this training session advised us that he was going to be problematic to say the least ...

I don't want to grow up and have kids ...

Said my four year old nephew, Aaron, whilst actually throwing a tantrum about it, bless his little heart. This came via the IM chat service that my Mother and I use to communicate, and had me laughing my head off. I have to admit, I agree with him fully! I am just not allowed to throw a tantrum about it ....

And honestly, going along the kids line - Bear is frigging hard work. What the hell am I going to do with kids?? I can't exactly lock them in the garage and leave them there whilst I go out and do everything that I have to do, or chuck them in the back of the car and leave them to hang their tongue out the window.

Bear is high maintenance, and it seems that in his little Husky world, I am not the Alpha as I had planned to be. Pio has taken that role. Man am I pissed! How did this happen? He chews me to death, I look like I am self-harming because my hands are covered in little bleeding scratches from his amazingly sharp teeth. I swear one of these nights I am going to lose a mouthfull of hair to him and have to walk around with a bald patch, the size depending on how much he could fit into his mouth without me noticing, before bailing full speed in the opposite direction with it all in his mouth. I am also going to lose a large number of clothes and shoes as he takes great delight in trying to rip them apart, and in a few weeks time, he is going to have the jaws to do it!

Last night, after Pio and Gustav kept me up until gone 3am the previous morning - this resulting in a migraine - and then I had to go to work, got home early as I decided to finish there permanently, and then got stuck into cleaning the house. I didn't sleep at all, and so last night I bombed out not long after 9pm. I slept dead, so heaven only knows how Bear abused me during the night as I think you could have dropped a nuke next to me and I wouldn't have known it. I haven't looked in the mirror yet so am not sure if I am missing an ear or am covered in teeth marks, but will find out soon enough. 

I woke up just before 7am, only for him to twig that I was awake, and instantly begin chewing me, whilst Nala gazed at me soulfully from beneath the chair, too scared to come out, and Zazu began killing the furniture. They know that this always wakes me and then results in them getting fed - the ultimate aim of the game for them. Whilst I lay there wanting desperately to go back to sleep, trying to hide from Bear's razor teeth, thinking that I needed to take him out for a pee ...

He jumped off the bed, emptied his bladder on the tiles that I spent almost the entire day yesterday scrubbing by hand, walked through it, and jumped back into bed with me leaving little pee pawprints across my clean sheets ... Typical, and so served me right for not jumping up and taking him outside.He must have held it all night bless him - it was the hugest pee you have ever seen out of something so small - I think his bladder had taken over his stomach as I really don't understand where all that liquid came from.

Well, that did the trick, I was up and feeding them all of 1 minute later, and taking them all outside with a cup of coffee to play in the garden.

OK, so Bear was officially easier to train than a child. As long as we stick to routine, he does his number two's outside on the grass, and is so good about it whenever we go out there he at least tries to do one even if he doesn't need to. And a lot quicker - three days of routine and he was fine, no more messing inside until yesterday, when he went twice on the floor. Why??? He was being so good! So, with that in mind, now that I am home again, it doesn't seem as if pee-training will take long either.

So yes, officially easier than a child, but hard enough to make me 100% positive that I do not want a child for a very, very long time yet. I mean seriously, one night of fun, 9 months of being fat, and eighteen years of hell before you can get rid of them temporarily, and hope that they don't continue to sponge off you and make your life difficult for the rest of your life ... oh yeah, that sounds like so much fun, I want to get started right now ... Ha bloody ha!

Give me animals any day of the week.

Bear

On Monday the 7th September, we got to collect our 4-week-old Husky pup. Yes, we know he was too young to be separated from his mother, but she had stopped feeding them and they were on solids.

The first night home, we got a blanket for him and put it down in the kitchen while we were making dinner, and he climbed right on and went to sleep. That blanket is now his bed and he knows it - apart from sleeping on the bed in the TV room little monster!

So because I am working at the moment, he stays in the garage during the day with a hot water bottle, water and food and plenty of toys - not that he chews them, he waits til I get home and chews me! I come home at lunch to let him out and feed him, and get greeted by him howling his tiny little head off in excitement, at lunch and again in the afternoons when I get home. Thursday was the first day he didn't chunk the house down and just greeted me with little barks of excitement. It seems he is already getting used to his days in the garage.

I hate locking him in, he is tiny and he must get very lonely, but he seems to be coping quite well and doesn't seem to be nervous or have developed any insecurities from being left alone for so long - YET. However, I will be finishing work at the end of this week so he will no longer be alone - only 5 days to go!!

We sleep downstairs with him every night, or Pio stays downstairs with him and I sleep upstairs with the cats as they have serious issues with him still. It gets a little better every day - I think they are still suffering from the effects of Clara taking a piece out of them and are very nervous, but every day they come a little closer and every day they realise he isn't chasing them.

Last night was so cute - we took Bear out quite late as he had an upset tummy and we wanted him to go outside and not inside, and we sat in the front garden with all three of them. I sprayed catnip all over the cats favorite log, and that did it for Nala - considering she refuses to go near him or even go downstairs mostly when he is around - she lay on her log and they even touched noses. After the effects of the catnip wore off she was back to her moody little self, but it was a start.

Zazu on the other hand seemed to think Bear is to be played with and spent a long while hiding and running from him, so they chased each other around whilst never actually coming into contact, but Zazu seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. I tried again this morning, but Bear seems to like his home comforts and wasn't even outside for 5 minutes before running back inside.

So I cuddled up to my cats all night whilst Bear chewed Pio's hair and kept him awake all night ... LOL. It seems though that Bear is already pushing his little Alpha boundaries - he is extremely vicious towards me (a result of teasing him whilst playing and winding him up) and he already seems to think that is the norm - a bad habit learnt in 5 minutes will take a month to break it seems ...

He knows where his bed is and if he is tired and my feet aren't available to lie on then he will run off to his bed in the garage and plonk himself down and go to sleep quite peacefully, so one good lesson learned. He also seems more attached to me - I assume because I am home more often and I feed him - and if I am around then he is with me permanently and would rather lie on the cold floor at my feet than get into bed with Pio :-)

We got the details of a dog trainer as well, so once he has had his shots and is able to go out in public then he will be going for training and we will find out just how bright he is! Let's hope that we aren't disappointed.

Procrastination

I have decided that I am really procrastinating at the moment. Nothing in life has really changed since the 21st June when I last posted ... Even though I keep telling myself to post something EVERY day, even if it is two lines, post it. Start writing a column, study, do something interesting ... but here I sit still procrastinating ...

I may have a job as well, not that I am meant to work as I don't have a visa yet, but hey. As usual it has come along at the completely incorrect time as I found a Husky pup that I want to get, and as far as I am concerned, I cannot get a puppy and leave it at home all day. The job is at Riaan's offices, so just like all the other jobs I am sure will pay rubbish and won't make a massive difference to my life, but I can't really complain.

So my Husky puppy, if I don't get a job then I can get him, but if I do have to take this waste-of-time job, then I will not be able to get him. Everywhere on the internet it says do not leave Husky's alone, they will destroy the house. They like company and they have to be busy and require training from the word go. Otherwise they will be totally uncontrollable and I really do not want that to happen, so I guess we will just have to wait and see.

If we get him, we have decided that his name will be Bear :-) Just really like that name, or Shanook, but more likely Bear for some random reason. I like it.

Other than that, nothing interesting going on. Am sick of the Gustav v Janine story, they must all piss off. Soritha moves today so after two weeks of helping her pack, she is finally off today. So I am home alone again for a time and intend to be creative during my time off as I will surely soon be working!

Nala and Zazu are still as mad as always and causing trouble and eating me out of house and home. Nothing changes there either!

Right, had best go and do something and be creative and enjoy my last time off ...

Why ...

Am I up and have been since like half past six ...

It is Sunday morning! Very early on a Sunday morning! I think there is something wrong in my brain as first thing in the morning as I get up so early I have about two hours of energy and get loads done, and then shortly after lose all enthusiasm and energy, and spend the rest of the day wanting to go back to sleep. I will then pass out at any time from 7 or 8 onwards if I am in the front of the TV, so try avoid that lol. I think there is something wrong with me. No one should be this tired permanently or sleep as much!

As usual, Swakop being what it is, it is overcast, cloudy, and slightly chilly although thankfully not foggy. Being a Sunday morning it is still quiet in and around, as it seems I am the only idiot that is up at this time. Even the sea is calm.

Christine was meant to be off the lodge yesterday, but thanks to her awesome courage and guts, dragged the entire village and the Women's Rights people to the Governor's office and demanded help - he then arranged an emergency meeting with the Chief on Friday and according to both he and the Land Board she was not to leave the lodge. So Joe moved in on Saturday, and she stayed. We did find out yesterday though that the Governor didn't make it to the Chief, so will hopefully be there on Monday to resolve this. Monday was the meeting where Joe and Christine should have resolved their issue of compensation, but as Joe wants the place for free he has no intention of paying anything for it.

Anyway, the joys of that place. It will be sad if it is lost though. Other than that, I will get another application for a visa this week if I can get the paperwork together - what a drama, am so sick of it. Not worth the issues I swear.