The vet gave us very detailed instructions for looking after Henry. But he missed off the cuddles and sausages that are proving an essential part of his recuperation. He sits there looking all sad until he gets a cuddle and is gets a sausage after he has had his eye drops.
If the op had been anywhere else than his eye then Henry’s recovery would have been almost instant. But being his eyelid, we are having to be very careful about infections and also that he doesn’t pull his stitches. So he is wearing a super-big lampshade collar which means that he keeps bumping into things. We’ve cut it down a bit, and will cut it down a bit more when Henry stops trying to scratch it.
When we took Henry to the vet on Thursday, the vet thought that a stitch had come loose so he put another in. Unsurprisingly, Henry took exception to the vet coming at his eye with a needle, so the poor little chap had to be sedated again.
This weekend was the fiesta of San Juan. It started with the raising of the devil on Friday and ended at 5 this morning. We went to the first part of the devil raising, which is in the village square. The second part – which is with the singing, dancing and jumping through fires to raise the devil (at the convent) started at midnight and would go on to the not-so-early hours, so we nipped off home when they broke for their tea and we were tucked up in bed way before the devil made his appearance.
Saturday and Sunday there was a band and fairground by the large place where the sardine festival is held. This kicked off at midnight on Saturday, and we went along for a bit, but came home at about the time most people were going out! The band started with some rock songs, which seemed to throw everyone into confusion, however they soon settled down to wailing and pasa-doble-ing which they managed to keep up for several hours. I know, as it came drifting in through our new bedroom window!
You’d think that this would have quelled normal village life, however the streets were full of people (ladies) in the morning, sweeping the pavements and removing any sign of late night activities. It is quite remarkable, the fiesta spills over into the streets and one street in particular is full of people – packed full of people – drinking and eating. Yet the next morning it is swept clean and the only signs of fiesta-ing are the huge black bags that are propped up along side the street bins.
Ian is cleaning the floor in the new kitchen. This is a HUGE task, he’s been working on it for three days already. The hall will be nasty as well, but hopefully the other rooms will be relatively straightforward!