A comma butterfly showing off the trademark white comma from which he gets his name.
Today we FINALLY got the results of our dog's x rays that had been sent off to a specialist veterinary radiologist because she has been limping for three weeks and our vet thought that he could see signs of a bone tumour when he looked at the x rays.
The results were good! The radiologist could see changes in the bone structure, but they were more likely to be the result of arthritis than a tumour. It has been one of the longest, most tearful, most googling of veterinary websites eight days of my life. I think that in order not to have wasted my time completely I need to apply for Mastermind with canine osteosarcoma as my specialist subject. But really, I haven't coped particularly well with any of this, and fear for how I will deal with things when (heaven forbid) one of my parents or other (human) family members becomes ill. I need to toughen up!
Of course, the vets had to cover themselves by saying that sometimes symptoms of bone cancer can be seen before the clinical signs are visible on x ray, but that is not very likely to be the case.
So, a big drink was had at the pub to celebrate. I still can't quite believe it.
The results came through at about 7pm, and to kill some time today I went blackberry picking about four miles away along a quiet lane that has amazing blackberry bushes. I picked about five pounds. It really has been an incredible year for them.
While I was picking, and trying to listen to my audiobook ('The Last Runaway' by Tracy Chevalier - about half way through and enjoying it so much that I am already dreading it ending - 365 serves a secondary purpose as a book recommendation site for some of us) three people stopped their cars to talk to me.
The first one was a very jolly Indian man driving a parcel delivery van
"What you picking there? Raspberries?"
"No, they're blackberries, do you want to try some?"
"Oh, yes please............ They're nice."
"Here have some more"
So he took a handful and went off on his merry way leaving me with a smile on my face. Raspberries!
The second person to stop was my next door neighbour who was on his way back to work after going home for lunch. He stopped to find out if I was OK because he was worried that I might have broken down (I drive a Landrover Defender, so that is always a distinct possibility) I thanked him for stopping and explained that I was blackberrying and and the reason that at that moment my head was actually stuck in the blackberry bush was that I was taking a photograph of a tiny caterpillar on a hawthorn berry.
http://365project.org/jantan/other-stuff He left with a slightly bemused expression on his face. Must remember to take him a jar of blackberry jam as a thank you for stopping to check on me.
The third car to stop was a police car. "Oh, here we go" I thought. The road that I was picking on runs alongside the largest ammunition dump in the country so there is always a bit of a police presence around and about. I assumed that I was going to be moved on, but the policeman was simply enquiring about the ripeness of the blackberries at the moment, and giving me a bit of advice which was to wash the berries because of the car fumes that must be all over them. Now, this road isn't exactly the M6, but I thanked him in a way that implied that I would never have thought about washing the fruit had he not told me to, and now I could really see why we pay our taxes, and would continue to do so without the slightest hint of resentment or queries about where they go to.
So, the (washed) blackberries are now bagged up and ready to join all of the other fruit in the freezer that is just waiting for that elusive moment when I have time to make it into jam.
Oh yes, and where does that theory about Heinz 57 mongrel dogs being bomb-proof and never needing money spending on vets' bills come from? Last year's spleen removal cost us about £1500, and to date the limp has eaten up £600 and we still don't really know what has caused it. Bloomin' animals! It's a good job we love 'em....
I'm hoping to do some blackberrying later today. Haven't got any yet this year, and it seems such a shame.
Lovely stopping of all your neighbours & friendly policemen....that's the country for you!!
Fabulous butterfly looks part of the bushes at first glance ..a masterful camouflage job!
dogs : )
Great blackberries that you shared with the butterfly!