Knackered!

This Puppy lark is starting to wear us both out, for some reason Nala started pooing on the floor in the Dining area every night, at first we thought it was because I had upped the quantity of her food, but reversing that, made no difference, then I realised that, Nala had been trying to tell us, only she picked on the wrong person, she was trying to wake Marcela not me, and even a nuclear bomb wouldn’t wake her.

Therefore now every time I hear Nala moving in the night, I get up and give her the opportunity to go out, sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn’t. last night she first woke me (she has learned!) at 3.15am, and then every 45 minutes until I got up at 5.30am, at least there were no accidents! We keep having to remind ourselves that she is just a puppy depsite her size, and lasting the whole night, is a big ask.

Nala hasn’t been the little Angel we thought she was going to be

I could have killed her yesterday, this screening, had been providing privacy for the last two and a half years from the road…no more!

I removed the rest of the panel, and to be honest, I don’t think it will be long before the conifers have grown sufficiently to take it all down. With the trailer parked in the corner, unless people walking past stop and stare, they really can’t see anything.

For the most part, this week has been gardening, I cut the flowering hedge, and also cut the lawn

Marcela’s work Associate with the Avocado business came to spray the orchard, we don’t think it will be long before the new crop is ready for market, with the climate change, it has certainly slowed down production, Marcela will be glad to have some return.

We wanted to get the Prado serviced, as it was coming up to time, Marcela rang the Mechanic, only for his Father to answer, and say Ciero had moved to Australia, that was a bit far to travel, so we then had to look for another, and think we may have found one. Erick is Venezuelan, and so are his Assistants, they work out of a car park, where bays are turned into Workshops, to be honest, some of our best reliable Mechanics have had this set up, and as they dont have the same overheads as purpose built workshops, the bills are cheaper. The only downside, now we are back to being a one vehicle family, is that Erick doesn’t offer the collect and deliver service Ciero did, Marcela took the car, and came back on the bus, to collect it, we had to walk to the end of the lane (taxis don’t like our lane!) and wait for a Taxi, the first didn’t come, and when Marcela called him, he said he had taken a more lucrative fare, the air was blue, so we had to wait for a second one.

We had to have all the fan belts (three) changed, they were cracked and worn, along with oil and filter changes, but I ‘was’ happy with the result, until the next day, when I had to scoot down town, and received a call from Marcela to tell me there was a patch of oil on the carport floor.

I went back to Erick, who after a while discovered, that the new oil filter seal was faulty, he changed it again, topped up the oil, but wouldn’t let me take the car until he has cleaned all the oil from underneath, in all he had the car another two and a half hours.

Whilst Erick was working on the car, I walked to the Timber Yard, and ordered the wood to make two of the Adirondack chairs, which I will collect on Wednesday, I am making two to start with, to see if we like them, if we do, I will make two more. I then walked back in the other direction, to buy some cans of dog food, used to disguise the medications for Pepe and Tito. Touch wood, the car is now fine, and will do another three or four months.

On Wednesday, we took Nala to the Vets for two reasons, firstly a wash and brush up, as that’s another service they offer, she was greeted like a Celebrity, since most of the girls there now follow Nala’s Instagram page (nala_loveandlicks). Secondly, we wanted her chipped, because of the three dogs, she is the one who might run off. However chipping here is an odd experience, very few official Authorities (Police, Local Authority) have Chip Readers, so you have an extended service, a Chip is inserted, but that only works if you go abroad, where other Countries have the Reader, in which case they receive details of your Vet, who then contacts you, for Colombia, you have a collar tag with a QR Code, and once scanned gives contact details.

To be honest, if I had known before the Chip was inserted, I would have cancelled the whole deal, because having a collar tag defeats the whole idea of chipping, a QR code tag is just as likely to get pulled off the collar as a name tag. We already have collars without tags, instead they have name plates riveted to the collar with their name and phone number. Oh well, it’s another safety feature I suppose.

This time next week the Mother-in-law is off to stay with her other Daughter for a month, it will give us all a breather, I know it’s difficult, she is younger than me, I do try to show her the respect due to a Mother-in-law, by the same token, I expect her to respect that I am older, but she doesn’t, and occasionally I blow and let it be known.

On a lighter note, Nala is trying her best to make friends with Tito

Tito was sleeping peacefully in the Recliner, when a Whirling Dervish flew through the air, and landed alongside him, I’m not sure if it was the surprise, or total indifference, but for 5 minutes Tito didn’t move, then there was a low growl, at which, Nala jumped off and disappeared 😂

On that note, I will sign off!