Mend

What a week. To be honest, I am glad I’m using the word mend, at the end of the week, rather than devastating. It could so easily have been the latter, but fingers crossed, touch wood and chase a rabbit around the garden in order to stroke its foot, I think we are in the safe zone of “Mend” now.

I’ll start with the lesser, and far more mundane, mend to begin. We had to change our tumble dryer this week.  We think we bought our old dryer about 20 years ago. Give or take a year. We only use the dryer as a last resort, when the outside is too damp or we’re snowed under with washing. Over recent years it has failed, but each and every time, my husband has fixed it. Often with a computer in one hand and a soldering iron in the other. He is my hero.

This week, the dryer moaned and whimpered, and puffed the merest luke warm breeze. Washing would not dry. I think it was trying to tell me something. Let me go. My husband tried to fix it, but sometimes it’s not meant to be. We had to let it go.

Now we have a new dryer, which is more energy efficient. No bells and whistles. Less to go wrong with it, that way. Easier to fix, if we need to. It dries the washing brilliantly. The company tried to sell me an extended warranty. Phoning twice. Ha! Not likely. I don’t care if it is only 75p a week. We’ll be fixing it ourselves.

Now on to the bigger mend, that googling and a soldering iron cannot fix. This one involves Blue the hound and is far worse. She was out on her morning walk on Tuesday. Something caught her attention and she ran out of sight. Not unusual. She always comes back. There are no close roads. This time there was a yowl.  Followed by nothing.

My husband couldn’t find her. He came back for me and we both searched. I cannot tell you how relieved I was when we found her.

Unfortunately, she was injured. Badly. One of her back legs was not moving and she was in pain. She couldn’t stand up. She must have tumbled down a steep slope, fallen badly and, as we found out later, damaged her spine.

I don’t know if you have ever tried to carried a 35-40kg struggling, scared hound out of the depths of a muddy wood, but your muscles ache for days afterwards. Half a mile is a very long way, then it was in the car and off to the vets.

Her recovery has been touch and go. She is starting to show signs of recovery, but it is early days. If she keeps on improving, she will probably need support and treatment for many months to come. She needs time to mend. We hope to bring her home in the next few days. Life is very quiet without her.

If you have a dog, please give it an extra special scruffles from me and if you could send positive mending vibes over to Blue that would be greatly appreciated too.

Machines are so much easier to mend.

My word of the week is mend. Bit later than usual, but I’m joining in with #wotw.

edited: Thank you for all your thoughtful and much needed comforting comments. It makes me treasure all the wonderful people I have connected to through this blog. Unfortunately, my world went pear shaped this week. Our beautiful Blue passed away. I cannot begin to tell you how heart broken we all are at the moment. I will write more soon, but I am finding it very difficult.

38 comments

  1. Oh my goodness, my heart goes out to you. Poor Blue. I hope she continues to recover, it sounds like a very nasty fall she had.

    Our tumble drier broke down last week but we found a part online and fixed it ourselves. Much more economical isn’t it?

    I hope Blue is back home with you soon xx

    1. Oh thank you, Louisa. It does mean a lot. It was a nasty fall, but at least we found her.

      We mend all our appliances. Can’t bear to throw away, if they can be repaired. There is so much info out on the internet, that we’ve always found the answer from someone who has had the same problem.

    1. I’ve been dreading the day that my husband comes rushing in to say he’s lost a dog. She is showing tiny improvements every day, so we’re hopeful.

  2. Awww sorry to read about your dog. I hope they make a good recovery and are back at your home very soon. It’s awful to see any animal injured especially one that is so close to the family. #mmbc

  3. Oh, poor Blue. I am sending every positive mending vibe that I can your way. Our old hound used to have spinal problems, though not as seriously as Blue’s injury sounds, and they are awful and so stressful. I do hope she’s hope and healing soon x Thanks for sharing with #WotW

  4. Oh gosh sorry to hear about your dog, it is horrible to see animals in distress. I hope you enjoy having your new tumble drier 🙂 X #wotw

  5. Oh no I am sending lots of love and positivity over to you all and Blue, I bet that was terrifying for you all especially poor Blue. Dogs are such a huge part of the family aren’t they? It must have been some fall!

  6. So sorry to hear about, Blue – I’m sure he is being well looked after and home with you all soon (if not already). What an sad & shock of an experience for you all, I’m sure. #WotW

  7. Oh I am catching up on your blog and oh my word, you know how much I love your beautiful dreamy dog, Blue… Sending you all our biggest love and all the sorry’s in the world.

  8. Hi Cheryl, I am so sorry, it must have been so awful for you and it was nothing you could have predicted. Not that, that will make it any easier for you. Really big hugs.

    xx

    1. Reminds me that it can all change in a split second and I need to make the most of each good moment. Thank you for your kind words.

Comments are closed.