Instead of our usual Sunday walkies, we had a pique-nique at Laurent’s and celebrated his brand new gorgeous pool. I wasn’t sure if Laurent was an inflatable pool toy type of guy but thought that no-one is immune to the charms of Ducky the smiling inflatable duck. Watching the way Ducky floats around with that smile painted on his face, you can’t help but smile yourself. Let’s take him we thought and hope that Laurent agrees to give him a home. Of course we hadn’t inflated him until we got to the house because I learned a lesson about that years ago when I had a whole VW Bug full of inflated helium balloons that made driving particularly challenging. Besides we have a handy device for inflating things in the car that plugs into what would have been a cigarette lighter many decades before. That makes the car sound like some kind of Inspector Gadget mobile. Thankfully Ducky was a hit and I could hear lots of laughing as people were splashing about with him. A little while later while everyone was relaxing pool side, G rested his hat atop Miss Bailey’s head and I thought she looked like a dog journalist. A weary one. One who has spent the whole night on a story.
On Monday night we were settling down for sleep when all of a sudden I heard a noise that I instantly recognized as Bailey throwing up. On and on it continued despite the fact that there was nothing left in her stomach. More worryingly, she appeared to be fighting for breath. We attempted to give her something to calm her stomach because our first instinct was that this was another tummy bug. She managed to take some of the medicine but still continued to pace and that’s when I realized that she was probably coughing. The dreaded Kennel cough, but where on earth did that come from we wondered. Nothing unusual had happened during the day and to our knowledge she had not interacted with any other dogs. Sure we had been at Laurent and Trish’s the day before and she had been with her crew: Toblerone and Candy Crush, but neither of those two showed any symptoms. It was a mystery. As she paced I got my phone to take some video to show the vet. Eventually she calmed down and so did her symptoms and she finally settled down for a peaceful night’s rest. My night was not so peaceful as I often reached down to check that her heart was still beating. Yes, I am a little bit obsessed. I’ll admit to that.
By the next morning all appeared to be well. We went on a shorter walk than normal so as not to tire her out and there were a couple of points where she was “coughing” again so I realized there was something still not right. When G left and Bailey went into high alert that was when I heard the famous “honking” noise associated with Kennel cough and we knew that we would be going to the vet. The vet was able to see us later that day and I’m pleased to say that she thought it was just a mild case and prescribed antibiotics and an anti inflammatory. The medicine kicked in really quickly fortunately and so far B appears to be doing great. We’re still restricting her to shorter walks and avoiding going out during the hot times of the day because our temperatures are really heating up already.
Instead of a Sunday saunter, we had walkies on Wednesday from Tiny Town to Fontaine de Vaucluse which is thankfully still very quiet for this time of year. Of course that will change, but it was an absolute delight to almost have the place to ourselves. Dora the Explorer aka Sandra, G and I met at Chemin de la Cemitière in Tiny Town and took the trail through the forest and on down into the village. We were without the fabulous Miss Bailey because I had put her on bed rest.
Meanwhile back on the trail where we were hiking and chatting away, admiring the view that we hadn’t seen for quite a while. As we got to the village itself we noticed a new store and Sandra and I had to stop and check it out. It was indeed a new store but the owner explained that she had another one in L’Isle Sur La Sorgue which she described to us. I remembered it instantly because my mum loves to go to this place which as well as selling brocante and antiques is also a coffee shop. In the Fontaine store there were vintage items too as well as clothes, bags and jewelry. G had disappeared by this point, presumably watching the river and spotting trout while we browsed the pretty things.
With the distraction of the store over and done with we continued with our walk to check out the spring. The closer we got, the louder it sounded. The water was gushing out of the side of the rocks we noticed as we headed to the large pool which is empty in the winter and was pretty full by now. Dora bent down to check the temperature of the water as we guessed it was about the same temperature as the Sorgue which remains constant all year.
On our way back we stopped at my favorite café where we found a table right by the water’s edge. Sandra treated us to a drink and we sat and marveled at the beautiful trees providing a canopy of shade and watched the ducks floating by. That was a welcome change from packing boxes I must say. On that note, we have finally got a date for shipping our belongings to the US. Global shipping is pretty much in a state of flux so we were fortunate to have found a slot. The movers are coming to pack everything because from a customs point of view, they need to know exactly what is in the boxes, so much of my well meaning packing will probably be undone. I was talking with a good friend this week about moving when she mentioned this quote by Mark Twain that pretty much sums up how I feel about an international move “I’m glad I did it, partly because it was worth it, but mostly because I shall never have to do it again”. When I told G, he said “never say never”.
Gradually items are being checked off our list and we are making good progress. Mind you Bailey and I have not made flight arrangements yet and the planner in me finds that completely irresponsible. However, I need to get over that. At one point I thought about leaving from the UK and just doing the seven day quarantine. I looked into flying from Heathrow with British Airways and saw that they contract out pet travel and so I filled out details to get a quote. The quote that came back was incredibly high and that was bad enough but the fact that Bailey would have to travel in a wooden crate was too much. The first thought that came to mind was Madagascar when the animals were in their shipping crates. As I contemplate what lies ahead, I feel my pulse quickening and a bit of dread in my stomach and then a thought pops into my head “une chose à la fois” and already I feel calmer. Une chose à la fois – one thing at a time.
Thanks for reading!
Les Trois Musketeers
French Bruemmers 