During this period we had a week's holiday in mid Devon staying at Bow, near Crediton. The weather was forecast to be Wet, wet, wet, but in actuality it wasn't too bad at all. There were 2 days when Mum & Dad left us in the caravan because they knew we don't like the rain but on one of these they came home and said they could have taken us after all! We had a couple of days exploring Crediton and found some new places including the church and the park (Oh! and Wetherspoons, of course!!!). We went in the pet shop and the lady owner brought down her 7 week old Blue & Gold Macaw that she is hand rearing. It was a lovely bird and nice to see what Phoebe and Charlie should look like if they were fully feathered! WE had a couple of trips to Exeter; one to Okehampton (although we didn't make it to the railway this time as Dad had his foot in a strange Vacuum "boot" and really couldn't walk far!) and we also went a bit further afield to Tavistock and Plymouth. We love Plymouth although this time we went there to collect a new cage for Charlie only to find it was totally useless! It didn't have a door catch and didn't even have a top - it was "an open cage" the seller told us! Anyway Dad declined. That was all well and good but he had already sold Charlie's old cage! Quick panic plus a mobile on-line visit to Scarletts and a few frantic phone calls to Scarletts and, once again, Scarletts came up trumps! Charlie now has a new very large cage but with a lower top so he can be taught more easily that "Up" means UP and NOT to run away out of reach on the top of a very high cage! As Dad said, he only used the top half of the cage anyway so a lower one just lowers him in the room which helps his behaviour and learning. While staying at Bow on one of our favourite CLs, we found the whole CL was full of regulars. Dave and Phyll (owners) organised a Jubilee Party on the Monday (that was by far and away the best day weather-wise and we had NO rain). Everyone did some food; Dave organised a long line of tressle tables with decorative Jubilee themed table cloths and all the food and drink was brought out. There was too much really and everyone took back what they had made that was left over. WE provided the salad and Mum got several comments about her nice presentation but we were all eating copious amounts of salad for days to come (it was nice though!). The afternoon was a HUGE success and Sydney and I went along too and had "nibbles" all afternoon! WE didn't share any of the Pimms though, nor the wine, nor the Beer - we thought that was a bit off really! Everyone else was enjoying the drinks and we had to make do with water :-( . (Do you like the fact that I've learnt how to put "Smileys" in, now?). Dad said it was for our own good and I guess we believed him really though didn't want him to know that, hehehe!!!
Just before we went, Dad was diagnosed with Charcot Joint in his foot again. He was told he needed it in Plaster but, as they needed to take the cast off after a week and we were away, they fitted him with a strange (and huge!) Vacuum Boot which has a bean bag full of polystyrene beads, inside a padded cover. The idea is that this is all fitted around Dad's foot and lower leg (below the knee) and he walks on it to make it comfortable. Then the air is sucked out of the Bean Bag so the beans stay firm and shaped exactly to his foot. Then the boot is strapped up and Velco'd pretty tightly so his foot stays as still and as firm as possible. This was fine and worked quite well but when we returned he saw another Doctor who said he could choose a plaster cast or the boot. Dad chose the Boot as he could take it off at night and to shower. This was OK but he has to stay off his foot as much as possible. This means that the roles have been reversed and now Mum has to push Dad around in a wheelchair (Dad had to do it with Mum last Christmas and January!). Mum is getting pretty good with the wheelchair - better than Stacey at least! Dad is likely to have to keep this throughout the Summer so Mum and Adam have a lot of pushing to do! Me & Sydney went to Lacock the other day to make sure we weren't spooked by the wheelchair as we are going on Summer Holiday with them but we were fine with it. Occassionally, when Mum hit a kerb, we flapped, but that was all. The only downside is, dad doesn't take his shooting stick because he doesn't need it; now Sydney and me poop off the shooting stick so without it we don't know when to poop. I guess we have all got some learning to do over the summer!
Family-wise during this period, Adam has got a permanent job teaching French & German to secondary pupils up to age 16 at Castle Cary School so Well Done Adam; and Stacey has passed her exams so is now a fully qualified Veterinary Nurse. Well done Stacey and you do look smart in your new "trained" dark green uniform!
The extension we were going to have built at the front has been shelved because our neighbour complained and we don't want to fall out with him as he is very tolerant of Billie and Dollys' noise. Instead we are just having the Chimney Breast taken out of the lounge to give a little more room. Charlie was going to live in the extension to the lounge in the winter but Dad says he will have to stay in the conservatory now. We'll just have to watch the temperature and adjust the heating as necessary. Well, that's about it really. I'll try and update before we go away for the summer holidays. This year Adam is coming for weeks 1, 3 and 4 and Stacey is coming for week 2. Wekks 5 &6 Mum and Dad are away on their own (apart from Me and Syd, of course!). Weeks 1 & 2 are in Devon; 3 & 4 in Cornwall and 5 & 6 back in Devon. What's more, Mum has some towing to do because Dad can't drive with his "boot" on. Dad says, Mum did really well for the Jubilee week; even coping with the very narrow bridge near Tiverton! Bye for now - keep smiling (despite all this rain! Just remember in the bible it rained for 40 days and they called it a disaster. In Britain we call it Summer!!!).