Every day we look at the rain engorged clouds with new hope as they blow over us and appear to dump down water everywhere else except for our little farm. James has started plumbing in a system up at the pigs in readiness for having to buy in water just in case. Tonight I am going to an introductory evening for Emily's school start next year. I feel that I have heard it all but feel it is necessary to go so she doesn't suffer from suffer from second child syndrome any more than she has to.
Not much news to report up here really, except I thought I might share with you some insights that I learned whilst helping (hindering??) James to makesure manhood was never something that Fiona's new alpaca would achieve.
Things you are not meant to say when vets are operating:
1. "Why are his lips blue?" (his gums are black apparently because he has funny coloured pigmentation on his gums and I couldn't figure out whether this was a good or bad thing)
2. "He's gone" (I meant "gone away with the fairies obviously" - in hindsight I see where that one went wrong)
3. "Oh for god's sake blink" (he had some hay on his eyeball and I was trying to make him get it out - again probably should have said it in my head).
Luckily I usually faint at the sight of blood and can merely watch from a distance, offering pieces of useless and easily ignored pieces of information. Now we all know why...
I'm pretty sure that Emi completely faked her illness symptoms to get out of school and be present for Coco's ultra-sound today. She was more excited than I was (and that is really saying something) and insisted on holding Coco's paw throughout. Coco lay back legs akimbo and dozed away with her tail wagging like a model patient and James started counting. Seven definites and one maybe - I took a photo of the screen when I could actually see two of the little tadpole dogs for good measure. Emi was fairly sure that James would be able to take them out for her to have a quick cuddle and then put them back in and is still a little hazy about the whole thing. The last time she saw one of the pig placentas she exclaimed "that is disgusting I am NEVER EVER having a baby" - Felix, showing early chauvenistic tendencies answered "bad luck, you have to if you are a girl".