It's Been Quite The Few Days......

Yesterday was Thanksgiving.  We have adopted this holiday because, really, what's not to love?  It is a celebration of good things, family and food.  We have a lot to be thankful for. 

The day was crisp, making sweaters necessary (yay!) and actually when we went out for a walk, the wind was biting.  We should have put a sweater on the dog too.  I haven't altered these photos.  The sky was that blue, the leaves that vibrant.  

Later my daughter made these name tags for our Thanksgiving Table.  I am a collector and hoarder of craft materials and I have had these cherry veneer leaves in a drawer for a least three years.  The designs she chose were inspired by chalkboard art on Pinterest.  They are really cute, I love how they turned out.  

If you are familiar with them, you will spot the Christmas Crackers on each plate.  I know red isn't a traditional Thanksgiving color, but it's my favorite color and so that is why our table had a red theme this year!  These particular Christmas crackers contained little wind up plastic penguins and in the box was a paper race track.   Imagine, if you will, four adults and a 16 year old, a bottle of Prosecco and the resulting completely mad penguin races on the lounge floor, overseen by a bemused greyhound!  Yes it was fun.

We always cook our turkey on our charcoal grill.  

I wasn't at my best for the big day though which took the shine off it for me.  I am fighting a cold/cough which is making me wheezy and I spent a large chunk of Wednesday night at the Emergency Animal Hospital in San Jose with one of my cats.  She had spent all day Wednesday throwing up, ending up really lethargic.  Our regular vet was understaffed and couldn't see us.  There was an x-ray needed to determine if she had eaten something she shouldn't in which case she would need surgery, thankfully she hadn't or if she had she'd thrown it up earlier.  There were fluids needed because she was badly dehydrated and shots to settle her stomach. Not to mention blood work to check her liver and kidneys.  Then we found out that the x-ray showed her lungs had signs of asthma which apparently affects 1% of all cats and just like asthma in people it can be serious if ignored.  Symptoms, triggers and treatments are all exactly the same as human asthma.  They even make a kitty version of the plastic mask thing small children use to make using an inhaler easier.  

We got home just before midnight with instructions to keep her isolated for 72hours so we could ensure she was eating, drinking and using the litter box.  

We have two cats.  They are 9years old and we've had them since they were kittens.  They hang out together and sleep together so keeping them separate has been tough.  It's been 48hours and although she is much better, she is still not 100% and I may have to take her to our vet to be checked again and then again to talk about the asthma thing.    

And no-one said anything about how much my greyhound might enjoy making blanket forts....  She carries them around the house and collects her toys up and makes forts and dens like the kids did when they were little.  If only she would tidy up after herself!