The Gallery: Family

So this weeks' theme for The Gallery is 'family' and again I found it to be a difficult one.  'My family' meant something very different to me a couple of years ago, before E came along.  Family was always the obvious culprits; brothers, sister, parents, as well as my closest friends and Frans.  After Frans and I got married, 'family' included The Danes but things have changed now.  When someone asks me about my family, more often than not they're asking about Frans and Elizabeth.  It's kind of weird to think that I have my own family now, with different priorities.  Don't get me wrong, my siblings and parents will always be my family and I know that some of my friends will always be my family too but everythign's changing.

My very first thought when I read the theme for this week's Gallery was my Nan.  Without me realising it, she was a huge part of my life and I wanted to share a photo of her, to tell you all why she was so amazing and why 'family' reminds me of her.  But then I think about my own little family, one that is soon to expand and I can't help but smile.  They are the world to me, they're my Family, and I treasure all the memories I have of them and look forward to the ones we're yet to make.

Frans and Elizabeth - I love you.

My First Knitted Animal

When I was pregnant with Elizabeth, I tried (unsuccessfully) several times to knit something. I gave up shortly before she was born, fed up of not being able to make a little hat for my unborn child.  Then last year, shortly before we moved whilst we were away in Cornwall, I took a renewed interest in knitting.  Whilst in a petrol station, browsing the magazines, I saw a knitting magazine and decided that the holiday was a good chance to start knitting again.

Then, with the move and everything that surrounds it, the knitting I started whilst on holiday got set aside and forgotten about.  After moving and sorting through all the many boxes, I came across the knitting needles and sewing kit that used to belong to my Nan and so I decided that I would start knitting again and see if I got anywhere.

Well, as you can imagine, things were pretty hectic for a while after we moved and it was only earlier this year, after we found out that we were expecting our second child, that I started knitting again.  I went back to that same magazine I bought in Cornwall and found a cute little two-legged elephant to knit.  I decided that 6 months was enough time to knit something for the new baby so I dug out some wool and set to work.

There were a few new techniques that I learnt as I went along and even had to ask for help from Gill (Tim's sister and a knitting genius) at one point but I got there! I finished my little elephant and although it's not perfect, it's made by me :-)

That Dog of Ours

It would seem that Frankie is allergic to something in our home.  I know that it's something specific to here because whilst he was at Stokenchurch Dog Rescue (SDR), he was absolutely fine.  The scratching and biting started almost as soon as we'd got him home.  At first we thought it was an anxiety thing which is a perfectly normal reaction to the situation he suddenly found himself in.  Although he seemed to settle in here quickly, it's only now, 2 months later, that he is truly at ease.

So after consulting with SDR a few days after Frankie arrived, we decided it was best to take Frankie to the vet and have him checked over.  The scratching wasn't too bad but he had caught a mild infection where he'd broken the skin, causing him to keep scratching.  A course of antibiotics and steroids was prescribed which caused all scratching and biting to cease, almost immediately.  However, as we were nearing the end of the course, about a week later, the scratching and biting started again.  Another trip to the vet meant Frankie was to have another longer course of steroids.
This time, we were really hopeful.  Frankie was becoming much more comfortable at home and the steroids seemed to have done the job.  We finished the course with no scratching and biting and it looked like Frankie was in the clear.  As well as the steroids, Frankie was also put on Piriton, which is an antihistamine.  This is designed for people that suffer with hayfever and other allergies, to keep the symptoms at bay.  For the time being, he's on these permanently.

Unfortunately, a few days after the second lot of steroids was finished, Frankie started scratching and biting again.  We gave it a few days to see what would happen but it just got worse.  We took him back to the vet but due to needing a vaccination for kennel cough, Frankie couldn't have more steroids.  This turned out to be a good thing as the vet had to think about what she could give Frankie to help that didn't involve shoving drugs down his throat - something which I'm not keen on anyway.  She gave us some spray to put on once a day for a week, on all the areas that he was biting and scratching as well as some medicated shampoo to use twice a week.  I can tell you know that washing a dog whilst pregnant and trying to control an inquisitive toddler at the same time is no mean feat!
We stopped using the spray after a week and whilst it didn't stop Frankie scratching, it did seem to stop him biting himself and the sores that had developed were either healing or healed.  A few days later and Frankie was missing a lot of fur due to the intense scratching and biting he's been doing since we stopped using the spray.  Other than the steroids, the spray has been the most successful treatment so far.

Things continued to get worse so back we went to the vet again, this time for them to take a sample of skin to see if there were any tiny mites causing his irritations.  None were found but apparantly some are hard to find so more treatments were prescribed, including one for a certain type of mite.  We were told to use the spray again for one week as well as a couple of other bits.

That was almost two weeks ago and after a few days, Frankie was much better.  His skin was much less red and sore, his scratching was greatly reduced and his mood had lifted.  He was getting back to normal.  However, it does seem that it's the spray that is having all this positive effect as he had the last spray on Saturday and he's now back to scratching lots and I'm finding much more fur on the floor again.  We'll see how he's doing next week after spending 5 days at the kennels whilst we're away but it looks like another trip to the vet is in order.  Poor Frankie!

The Gallery: Picture Postcard

Ah yes, I'm doing another Gallery post!  These are one of the things I've missed about blogging.  Every week I read the theme for The Gallery and kick myself for having fallen out of the habit of blogging.  Now that I'm making a concerted effort to blog regularly again, I feel I can participate in week 100 of The Gallery.

So enough babble.  The theme for the 100th week is Picture Postcard.  The idea is to share a photo which you feel could pass as a postcard or greetings card.  Sounds easy, right?  Think again!  There are lots of photos that spring to mind that I would happily send to family and friends, maybe to say Merry Christmas or Thank You but they're quite personal images and wouldn't really work in any other situation.  In fact, the husband and I did indeed send out a personal Christmas card when we first started dating way back in 2005 (though I think it was only signed from him...) but we had fun designing it together none the less.  Here's a little peek:

The husband took this photo on a trip to Greenland long before we met each other.

But that's not my entry for The Gallery, not least because I didn't take the photo.  My entry is below but I want to explain my choice first.  I realised whilst looking through some of my recent photos that everything I photograph is for work or of my daughter, or at least related to her somehow.  I no longer take photos for the pleasure of taking photos and there are lots of reasons for that.

However, that little shock lit a light bulb.  I need to start doing things that I enjoy again and one of those things is photography.  So last weekend we went away to Northern Ireland with some friends and I thought that would be the ideal opportunity to not only take a photo for this project but to kick-start my 'hobby'.  So in true Rachelle fashion, off we go and leave the camera behind.  The whole time we were at the Giant's Causeway, I was kicking myself!  Everywhere I looked there were great photo opportunities and I only had the pocket camera.  I did try and capture some things but it really is a poor compact.  I don't think Ansel Adams could've shot anything half decent with it.

So I started thinking again about what I can use for this blog post and I realise that the answer is obvious.  I use this:

Now it's not going to win any awards but this photo is a firm favourite of mine (and the husband's) and we even had it blown up as a 24x36 inch PhotoBlock back when we lived in the flat.  We love it and hope you do too.

Go and have a look at the other entries here, some are truly beautiful.

Oh, and sorry for the long-winded post!

One Giant Leap....

We've had a burst of developmental activity from E over the last few weeks, as well as a growth spurt.  We are still signing words and E seems to have picked up quite a few new ones recently, some of which are really useful for her to know and understand.  The best ones are 'cold' and 'hot' so when we're out, she will often sign 'cold' if she wants her gloves or a blanket.  She also signs 'hat' now when she wants that too so I always make sure I take it out with me on dog walks.  It's wonderful to be able to communicate with her!  'Hot' usually gets used for food.  She just likes to let me know that the food is still a little hot and that's why she's sitting there with her mouth open and not actually eating!  She does also sign 'hot' if she touches a hot oven door or radiator, although they tend to be warm rather than scalding.

E's speech is also coming along nicely.  With us teaching her English, Danish and sign language, it's no surprise that talking isn't as far ahead as some of her other skills, not that I'm complaining!  We've been getting 'Daddy' for a long time now - though no 'Mummy' yet' - as well as a couple of objects like 'door' and 'ball'.  There are also a lot of words sounds that are recognisable (even if only to me) but they're getting more word-like all the time.  Her favourite one is 'yogurt' and she will often chant it after dinner whilst doing her own little made up sign for it!  It's very cute, I have to say.  She also kind of says 'hot', 'doggie', 'Frankie' and lots of animal sounds. 

Ooh, the best bit of news is that we've got the beginnings of E's first Danish word!  She'll point at a flower and sign 'flower' but sound 'b' (for 'blomst').  I may be optimistic but I'm sticking with it.

Frankie

For those of you that don't know, Frankie is our dog.  We got him from Stokenchurch Dog Rescue on March 31st and he has quickly become a part of our family - for better or worse.  He is a Collie and we suspect he is crossed with another breed.  He is mainly black and tan but has patches of white on his feet and tummy.  He is roughly a year old and we decided to make his birthday the day we brought him home.


Frankie's Background

Frankie was originally a stray dog from Ireland.   Over there, if a dog isn't rehomed within 5 days, it gets put down so a lot get shipped over to England to places like Stokenchurch Dog Rescue (SDR) or the Blue Cross.  At some point last year, Frankie (formerly Frank) was rehomed with a different family.  I've heard two different stories but they both end up at the same point - Frankie being caged 24 hours a day.  Someone reported the owners to the police and so Frankie was sent back to SDR.  Whilst the police investigation was underway, Frankie had to stay up at SDR so when we looked at him, he'd been there a couple of months, if not longer.  When we went to look at dogs, it was obviously important for us that whichever dog we chose, would get on well with Elizabeth.  Her and Frankie seemed to get on well and we decided to bring him home with us. We picked him up on March 31st.


Training

Frankie really enjoys the training that we do with him and has picked up some of the commands really quickly.  We are using the clicker method and so when he's doing really well, he ends up having a lot of treats!  We're currently looking into doing some agility training with him as we think he'll really enjoy the challenge.  I've really enjoyed training Frankie and have a feeling that I'll enjoy the classes almost as much as Frankie will.


Elizabeth

Elizabeth is very excited to have Frankie around and can often be caught giving him a kiss or cuddle, or encouraging Frankie to give her a kiss back (so lots of licking of her face).  Frankie puts up with a lot from her including the affectionate 'ear pull', 'eye gouge' and 'tail yank'.  These two actually get on so well with each other that they sometimes drive me mad!  They follow each other around and Elizabeth often gets knocked over because Frankie gets so excited that he doesn't realise his bum sticks out behind him.  He'll turn around and his bum knocks Elizabeth over but usually she just gets up and gives Frankie a big hug.  If I separate them to give them each some space (and myself too!), they'll both be found by the gate, often with their hands/paws through the bars.

I have no doubt that they'll always be best buddies.


The bad side of Frankie

Frankie has one major flaw and unfortunately it's a bad one.  When we leave him alone in the house, he has a tendency to destroy things.  He doesn't do it every time and there also doesn't seem to be a pattern as to when he will wreck something.  It's usually just a cushion off the sofa - and the same one as well - which we can cope with.  He's also had a go at my handbag but I can't really blame him for that one.  I had left it on the sofa but I think E undid the zip and there was chocolate inside.  I guess it was just too tempting for Frankie!

However, I was almost in tears on Monday when I came home from visiting a friend to find a sea of destruction in the living room.

As you can (perhaps) see from the photos, Frankie didn't just wreck a cushion this time.  He had torn apart a 'thing' that had hundreds, possibly thousands, of tiny white polystyrene balls in it.  That's what looks like snow in the photos - they were a pain to clear up.  He attacked several of E's toys, destroyed a pot plant, chewed up some other bits and generally left a lot of mess for me to clear up.  I was very far from happy.  And the worst part?  He didn't even TOUCH the chew toy that I left for him!

Every time I leave the house, Frankie gets left with a Kong, a chew bone that apparently tastes like chicken, a dog toy, a rawhide chew and some biscuits or a pigs ear for him to eat.  He doesn't behave badly because he's hungry or because he needs to go up the garden.  I thought maybe he needed a longer walk in the mornings but that hasn't solved the problem either.  We're still debating the next step....


Photos

 Frankie

 

       Frankie's first grooming session                 Having an afternoon snooze           

Getting muddy out on a walk

20 week scan

We had our 20 week scan yesterday, also called the Anomoly Scan.  The basic idea is that they check the baby is developing well and that there are no obvious signs of trouble.  There are some illnesses, like Spina Bifida, that can be detected at this time.  Thankfully there was nothing sinister that showed up on our scan but our little monster was being a bit awkward and there was one test the sonographer couldn't complete so we're heading back in three weeks' time.

Considering how active the baby has been (I'm getting kicks all over the place), it was remarkably still for the scan.  We got a good image and are pleased that the baby appears to be well.