poofer feesh and bad fishy men.

Pleese get youR reeding  glasses out!The typis is stil being lazy  so i mus type this importen story myelsf. 

Sum fishy man has been bad again. BAD! he caiught a poofer feesh and threw it riTE   into the middel of the park on the grass wheRe anyone.   could step on it or eat it. the Typis says the fishyman hoo did it mus haf been dropped on his hed when he was a baby   becaus surely no one coud be so stoopid all by himslef .

Cushion took a pikture of the poofer feesh befor he threw it away. look how big it was! 

my friend Paddy would haf been really crook if he'd eaten it,   lucky there weren;t any kiddies aroun too.

And thaty's not all! we herd that/  sum brave hUMan went to ask a fishy man if he cood  pleese trow his old bait and  hooks and lines  in the bins and not in the park because they were making us dogs sick   and guess wat happened? she got aboosed! and had to call the police! it is ahporling appoling shamefool  wat is happening in our littel  neighburhood these days,

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What is a puffer fish? >>> CLICK HERE.

Excerpt:
"Almost all pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin, a substance that makes them foul tasting and often lethal to fish. To humans, tetrodotoxin is deadly, up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide. There is enough toxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote."

Want to know what happens when a dog eats a puffer fish? >>> CLICK HERE.

Update.

Georgia got home about an hour and a half ago. She spent the afternoon at the vet's, sleeping off the anaesthesia. 

The x-ray showed only 1 hook. It was thankfully small.

The hook was stuck in the lining of her oesophagus, apparently quite close to her heart. If it had ruptured the oesophagus, or been a bigger hook, this story would have a different ending. The hook might have snagged her heart. Air bubbles could have formed in her chest cavity. Scar tissue would also have made it hard for her to ever eat normally again, and she would have had to be on a soft or liquid diet, antibiotics and cortisone for life. 

As it is, Dr C tried several times to remove the hook but was unable to. He was about to refer her to a specialist when Dr J asked to give it a go and managed to remove it successfully. We're so grateful to have good vets.

The endoscopic equipment they used to remove the hook.

At the moment, we can't stop talking about how irresponsible the people are, who fish in our neighbourhood. Many come from other suburbs. Yes Rose, they leave bunches of hooks, snarled lines, and tasty dried bait behind on the ground. These aren't random things they forgot or lost. They just can't be bothered. What Cushion pulled out of Georgia's mouth was a section of line with hooks tied every 15cm or so apart. A line for catching bait, he says.

A local man named Steve actually goes around collecting all this rubbish. He says he hasn't had to buy any fishing hooks in a while. That's how many he finds. Cushion was helping him this morning when Georgia snarfled hers. 

"I'm okay guys, really. Thank you for asking after me." 

What would have happened if our wonderful vets hadn't been able to remove the hook? 
Georgia would have had to undergo open chest surgery, a complicated procedure, we're told, requiring a specialist. It would have cost 7 to 9 thousand dollars. Yup. Today's procedure set us back a mere 1,123 dollars. Are we all counting ourselves lucky yet? 

I think missy is going to be doing leash walks for a while.

"I don't suppose this is a good time to ask for another slice of  bread with rhubarb jam?"

A not so small stone, Tuesday 8th January.

I woke up early to give the garden a good soaking. We're expecting a 43degree day. The cicadas were already screeching. The water from the hose hit the big leaves with a loud indescribable sound. It hit small feathery leaves with a whisper, filtering by them to soak into the ground. It gurgled as it filled the water pot with its 30 dollar moss-covered terracotta turtle in the centre. Best buy ever. Then Georgia came home from her walk.

She'd swallowed some hooks at Ballast Point park. She looked normal. Larry's mum, who was at the park, told Cushion to stuff her with white bread. Larry had swallowed a hook before. As I watered the plants, I watched Cushion feed her. He'd bought a big loaf. She swallowed each slice of the white Homebrand bread without blinking or pause. More than half the loaf was gone before he stopped, wondering if that was enough. We went into the kitchen. Cushion called Dr Dog. I called Tara and Sammy's mum. Sammy had swallowed a hook before too. She said it was best to get an x-ray done. Sammy had ended up having surgery. I offered Georgia another slice of bread. She took it with a lot less gusto. How about a lick of peanut butter on it, girl? Yum. Another 3 slices went down her throat. A bit of raspberry rhubarb jam now? She finished the rest of the loaf, crust, ends and all. She looked a bit sick, as you might expect. Dr Dog said, "Bring her in for an x-ray." And that's where she is now, as I type this. On her way to Dr Dog. Cushion has taken her. 



To find out more about Small Stones and the 30 day mindful writing challenge, CLICK HERE. 





Correction, Wednesday 9th.

I received an email from Larry's mum last night but wasn't able to post it here because our internet connection was down. It wasn't Larry who'd swallowed the hook, it was a previous dog she'd had named Rufus. My apologies! I'm pretty sure this misinformation was Cushion's fault.

Anyway, since I changed the comments setting to registered users only, a few of our friends haven't been able to post their messages directly. So here is her email:

Do hope Georgia is ok. Was alarmed to read about the whole loaf of bread! It was our old dog, Rufus, who swallowed, and passed, the fish hook, not Larry. We were in the country and the vet I called recommended grass and white bread. Rufus was smaller than Larry, but the hook came out all wrapped up in grass and didn't bother him much. We were lucky. Larry's fish hook was stuck on the inside of his mouth and I was able to get it out. Damn fishermen!

Thinking of you,
Paula and Larry xx

Thank you Laura Paula! ;)

That's life.

It's very hot today, expected to top 40 out west, and predicted to stay much the same over the weekend. I was sweating by 8, but strangely, it no longer feels quite as bad now at 2.

The heat must be making the pigeons cranky. The 1 flying decided to pick a fight with 1 of the ones on the wire.

A couple of others will not see summer.

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The red algae bloom which closed beaches including Bondi, earlier in the week, seems to have dissipated. 

This pic from the Herald Sun link above.

In the day, the bloom looked like a scene from a horror movie.

This and more scary pics HERE.

At night, it was beautiful.

This pic by: Davide Gaglio, www.photonature.it

CLICK HERE if you want to see a video of this blue light show.

Let's hope the bloom stays away from our beaches this weekend because when temperatures soar, that's where a lot of Sydneysiders end up.

This pic from HERE.

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"I know how to keep cool when it gets hot."

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 "This is not it!" 

"THIS IS NOT IT!"

"Seriously guys. Wouldn't a frozen bone have been simpler and just as effective?"

Sum*Mer is  here!

Cushion's good explanation.

So I got lost on Saturday while out walking in Callan Park with My Cushion. 

When we got back, he couldn't wait to tell The Typist blame me for what happened.

"It was near the community garden. She ran ahead down the slope and went out of sight. I thought if I kept walking, I'd catch up with her. When I got there, she was gone."

"I called but she must have panicked and run off to look for me. I walked around for at least 10 minutes screaming for her. Then I found her with Margaret and Angie! They saw her running around, called her and luckily, she went to them." 


"I did not lose you, Georgia! You went off to look for food, you naughty greedy girl!"

"Well, that's a good story, Cushion. But just to set the record straight, here's what really happened."

*

"You abandoned me!"

"That's right. You didn't watch out for me like you're supposed to!"

"I was scared! Do you want me to end up at the pound again?"

 "Just admit it!" 

"You were slack and it was YOUR fault I got lost!" 

"Okay. That's all I have to say."

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"You guys believe ME, right?"




Thank goodness for tags, microchips and friends. 

Anyone want to come over for tea?

Although the weatherman said it was going to rain all week, it's looking beautiful outside. 

I thought I would go for a walk and take some pictures of sunshine and green for my poor friends in the cold dark corners of the world, battered by storms, early snow, blackouts and election blues.

So here we go, out the front door. Take a deep breath!

The Chinese star jasmine by our front steps is still going strong. Next to the port wine magnolia, its heady  burst of vanilla lemon is my favourite scent of Spring.

The bauhinia at the corner is already going to seed.

Can someone tell me why my bouganvillea doesn't look like this?

[Hint. Maybe because it's dead?]

Out by the church on Darling Street is my favourite Spring flowering tree, the jacaranda. 

Leaves are already starting to sprout.

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No walk to Darling Street would be complete without a visit to a cake shop. This one has all my current favourites. Lemon mascarpone muffins. Glazed orange poppyseed cake. Fat carrot cake with thick mascarpone icing. Flourless dark chocolate cake. Simple treats, not like the fussy stuff that comes out of Zumbo these days. Baked at the back of the shop, sometimes cracked, burnt at the edges and imperfectly shaped. Just the way I like them.

See the loaf on the lower left hand corner, next to the glazed orange poppyseed slice? It's an apple plum bread and it just came out of the oven. Heavy, moist and almost too hot to handle.

I had to get a slice of course.

Did I say, a slice?

It looked so lonely in that box, I decided to get the whole loaf. 

Yeah, that's right. Wrap it up, Jo.

It should go very well with what's sitting in the bathtub, ripening away.

The Australian Kensington Pride or Bowen mango. 1 a day for as long as the season lasts. 

Have I mentioned I put on weight every Spring? 

I think I might need to go to exercise class now. Tchau! X