A Day at Skånes Djurpark.

A little animal therapy was on the cards for the day as we set off to Skånes Djurpark in Höör. It was just a quick train ride, then bus and we were there! Arriving right upon opening! Perfecto timing!

We paid and headed off down the steps and into the land of glorious animals! The first thing we came across was an open area where you could pet the animals.. I instantly went to go and pet one, it looked at me and stamped it's foot. I poked my tongue at it and walked away and went to go and look at the giant bunnies instead! You couldn't pet these tho, they were locked in a cage.. I suppose you could have pet one if they actually came over to the holes of the fencing.. but they didn't. This particular bunny was moving around a little until I came over, then it parked up as if to say up yours!

We moved on into a sheltered area and saw some guinea pigs and chicks [video], back outside we checked out these pretties.. the one of the left was an angry little devil! Totally wanted to peck my eyes out! 

Off we went around the uneven grounds to see some horses and ponies! This big gal was just gentle and beautiful! I even got to give her a little pat as she used the post to scratch upon!

This pony is the Hulk Hogan of ponies.. you see it.. don't you?!

In the distance we saw some goats, with one goat bellowing.. "thou shall not pass!" 

Ok, ok, the goat didn't bellow it.. I did. 

Next stop was checking out this cheeky little piggy! Before hanging out with the elusive seals! [photo] They just didn't want to come out to play, more and more people started to come and it got noisier and noisier so we moved on. I wanted to try and stay ahead of the kid crowd! lol

Next up, more horses & a few moo moos!

Walking past a pond we stumbled across my favourite! Ducks! with bubba ducks! They were so incredible cute! I really want a duck.. I need a house with some land! Pronto! If you look in the right side of the photo you can actually see the trail in the water from the little duckling that scooted off! So damn cute!

Walking along we came up upon some raccoon dogs! And OMG! they are adorable! So beautiful! Playful too! This little fella couldn't take his eyes off of me.. partly coz I was clowning around with him and partly coz he just wanted to tear me apart! How can something look so damn innocent and snuggly be so vicious! I mean look at that face! Those eyes! [photo] & another [photo]

Badger time! Feeding time with the badgers too! They got a big hunk of meat tied to a chain and hung from a tree, which caused a little fighting coz one badger was a tad greedy! They also got a mix of fruits thrown out for them to munch on.. which some did before going near the meat and the greedy guts! [photo] They are quite stinky animals.. but then most animals are, I guess. 

We watched the badgers for a while before making our way through to see the foxy, who was happily munching on something in-between looking up and checking things out. Gotta make sure nothing is gonna come and steal your food.. right?

Over to the wolverine we went where we got to watch it walk around sniffing for food before heading up to the top of the tower to struggle, munch then drop the big hunk of meat down to the ground! It was quite entertaining.

We saw part of the new enclosure for the wolves, there was a bit of a mishap with the wolves a while ago.. where they escaped and given the very sad circumstances, they had to be put down. It was a very sad affair but it was nice to see that they have started a new, more secure, stable enclosure for some new wolves. We managed to catch a glimpse of a few new wolves.  

Over to the bears! It had started to get a little warmer, still quite overcast and grey but the temp was getting humid and sticky. We watched the bears while partaking in an ice cream.. I had sprinkles. I love sprinkles. I love watching bears too.. especially playful bear cubs! and daddy bear was just trying to cool off by dipping his paws in the water. By the time we were moving on, he had moved on to dip his other paws in the water. Bears are beautiful!

We watched a lynx stalk something.. don't know what as there was a huge tree in the way! Boooo!  We consoled ourselves with the bandits! I mean raccoons! Emma made the comment that they were a little 'grabby' when she put her hand down to say hello. Much friendlier than raccoon dogs, that's for sure!

We passed by some little sleepy polar foxes, they did not stir the entire time we looked upon them.. or well one in the far back did.. he woke up, yawned, rolled over and yawned some more before going back to snoozeville. Cute all the same! Sleepy little poppits!

Ferrets! They are funny little creatures! I would love to have a couple of them but they stink... so I have been told and so I smelt as we were at their enclosure! They are curious little things.. scared too! Adorable all the same! [photo] They would run and hide, then poke their heads out before hiding again and then just repeat!

We saw some hogs & bubbas.. whom don't overly like to stay still long enough for a decent photo! I managed to catch this big one having a drink, which meant she stayed still for just long enough to not get a blurry shot! The bubba's were pretty hilarious, zipping around! Munching! We did get a couple of pats in tho, which was awesome! So damn cute! Animals really are therapeutic.

On the home stretch, we passed some magnificent birds, which we had also seen throughout the grounds, but it is really hard to get a decent shot of them with just an iPhone4 when they are so far away and small. We passed by several types of deer & a big mofo moose! Also, a bubba with mumma! [photo] they were all very sleepy, Em at least managed to get a photo when the bubba decided it wanted to practice how to semi slow sleep chew like its mumma!

On the way out we passed by a musk ox that was so noisy! He wouldn't stop with the deepest grumble of noise! It was ace! He was pretty wicked sounding and looking.. I mean look at him! (I'm assuming he was a him, I'll never actually know)

Very lastly, with a slight detour we headed in to see a few snakes [photo] & froggies [photo] & also we went back into the petting part. This time I got a much nicer reception from this beautiful little poppit! Whom, just loved to be petted! Perfect end to a perfect day!

The 2nd Week

This 2nd week of vacation has been a mixed bag of feels. Everywhere we look we see Nemo, there are so many memories around the place that just scream Nemo, which is normal.. especially considering that we have basically lived in this place with him. I don't really remember life in here before him. It wasn't even a year that we lived in this apartment before we got him. We got him when I really needed a constant in my life and Nemo was my constant. I miss him so much, more than I ever thought I would.. but I think that might be because he was ripped from me so suddenly and violently. Over a week later, I still find myself going to do the little things.. for instance, I was making pizza tonight and while chopping up the tomatoes I went to drop one down for him. Tomatoes were one of his cracks.. I would say crack but he had so many and they were mainly vegetables. He could be sleeping in the room and I would be dealing with tomatoes and he would come and expect some.. he always got.

For the first few days we spent more time away from the apartment than in it, basically just coming home to sleep. Even with the little living we did here, we were amazed at how quickly his scent left. It doesn't smell like we have a dog anymore, nor does it smell like we ever had a dog, all traces of Nemo are gone. We packed up all his stuff on Monday and that was hard, it needed to be done but it still hurt and forced a flood of the feels. A chapter has ended and I am incredibly sad that he is not there for the next chapter.

On Tuesday we left the place to go to Ven, it was a fantastic day and very much needed. There is nothing quite like biking around an island! I do love to get my bike on.. and I am getting much better at staying on it!

Wednesday was a day at home.. which was just as well really coz we got a wee visitor! I was sitting at the computer when I heard a meow, didn't think too much of it as the neighbour has a cat.. but I did think it was a little louder than expected. Then I heard it meow again and so I thought.. I would just check the balcony to be sure.. not really expecting to find anything as we were on the third floor and not really within easy jumping distance of anything. I pull up the blinds and BAM! there is this cute little kitteh staring up at me meowing! and I was all like waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! I open the balcony door and he runs inside, and once inside he realises that "hey! this ain't mah home!" We grab him, and go and knock on the neighbours door.. she was not home so we left her a note and went back inside, put some water down for him, a make-shift kitteh litter tray, some string, a box and settled in while hoping that his owner would come home soon. He loved Nemo's rolling rug and rolled around on it himself.. [video] I think Nemo would have been a little jealous of him being able to roll under the table! He was a pretty lovely kitteh, played the entire time and really wanted to be on the couch and was rather nimble at getting past me. We had to clear off all the cushions and throw a towel over it coz I was over taking him off the couch, and Emma has allergies so you know.. he couldn't have full reign of the place! Emma left to go for a walk while I stayed with the kitteh and waited. As soon as Emma left, the kitteh got comfy on the rolling rug and slept until his owner came by. I don't know what it is but Nemo was the same too.. Emma home = awake Emma out = sleep

Having him here was wonderful, really therapeutic I think.. he took my mind off of Nemo, even tho I found myself chuckling about how Nemo would have reacted to a kitteh in his home.. he didn't overly like them.. not in a chasing way.. more in the stay the fuck away from me way! I don't want to say he was scared of them but he just didn't think much of them. Lots of laughs were had with the little cutie and it was wonderful. Especially watching him play with string, or even test the water to drink! Now that shit is hilarious! Didn't make me want one of my own tho. Even now thinking about it, I am still shocked that he even made it onto our balcony! Seriously it was some kind of nimble miracle! Just so you understand a little more here is a picture of what was between us and where he came from...

He lives on the balcony with the flowers, so he has had to get over the netting.. then around the drainpipe, and land on one angled thinnish window ledge, yes with the window out a little.. onto another window ledge.. then onto our little balcony greenhouse! Now THAT is a feat! A kitteh on a mission!

We had him for about 5 hours, it was great! Very much needed, I was a little sad to see him go but happy at the same time coz it would mean that Emma wouldn't die from cat allergies! I kinda like having her around. His owner was also very amazed at what he had managed and couldn't quite believe it.. she was very grateful that we looked after him, we even gave him some tuna! He repaid us by not peeing or pooping inside and I am totally grateful for that! It was a bit of a fear of mine that he would! 

We even got a box of chocolates & a thank you card dropped in our mail slot to say thanks.. which was totally sweet! I hope next time kitteh wants to visit, he just rings the door bell.. I think it would be safer.

Thursday we headed to Helsingborg.. not for anything really, just to get out. The weather wasn't so great but a decent time was had and it was nice to be out of the place.. even if I gave myself a tummy ache!

Saturday we were looking after the boys, Affe & Arran. Emma's parentals & brother's dogs. They are bundles of energy when they are around each other and totally love to wrestle! [video] Affe likes to pull faces like this... [photo] while Arran likes to pull faces like this... [photo] & while I am showing photos of faces.. here is one of the classics of Nemo.. [photo]

It was nice to get some puppy time and they can be a little cuddly for short bursts which is needed. Cuddles help with the feels.

Sunday being baking day.. I baked this delicious rhubarb (grown on our balcony) & strawberry cake! It was pretty fantastic! [photo]

A Day in Helsingborg.

Today was a little bit of a late start, we pottered around the apartment for most of the morning before deciding to head off to Helsingborg. It was a pretty nice day, overcast but still warm and nice.. so we decided to grab an ice cream before jumping on the train! Yes, that's right! a morning ice cream! Well, we were thwarted by the fact that the ice cream wagon wasn't bloody open yet! Curse that bloody place! It has not been a great supplier of ice cream this year, but that is a whole different story! We continued on to the train station when Emma had a brilliant idea! We would try the new popcorn ice cream that has been released this year.. [photo] Sadly, it wasn't very popcorny at all and quite a waste of time and if I was watching my weight, calories! I definitely make a tastier popcorn ice cream.. one that actually tastes like popcorn. But you know, if you don't try you will never know and now we know.. to not have it again.

To get to to Helsingborg, we needed to take 2 trains and at the change-over we got stuck waiting forever! Stupid trains can never be on time! 20mins late! & coz of their new rules, you get nothing until the train is at least 30mins late these days. Totally sucks, coz now I have to actually pay for travel instead of using freecards from all the times that Emma's trains were 20mins late! I should count my blessings and be thankful that I basically haven't had to pay for train travel for the first 6 years of living in Sweden. That really says something for the public transport system, right? lol

Anyways, eventually we arrived and it was colder and umm.. raining! If you didn't notice in the photo from the link, Emma was in a singlet and we didn't have an umbrella. Typical right? Funny all the same! We started just walking about, up and down the little uneven streets, popped into a store where I discovered this..

Come on, Sweden?! I know you are all open-minded and all that but is this stuff really appropriate for in the kiddies section!

We washed off that experience by calling into the bottle-O where I picked up some local beers.. all ones I have not tried! Score!

We called into an Indian place and downed some curry and of course naan before tackling the slant and steps! I thought I had had enough of stairs on EuroTrip2011 but apparently I had not! We were headed up to check out Kärnan and check out at the view.. which was umm.. a little grey and not overly visible.. but it still made for a nice shot.. and they have some wicked rooftops!

We then partook in a monster ice cream! Yes, the second ice cream of the day! I could not resist! It was a brownie ice cream on the bottom, with chocolate syrup, a tall layer of soft-serve and then topped with sprinkles! Monster ice cream! 

The rain started coming down a little more so we headed to take cover under a tree and munch on the ice cream. I of course made a mess of myself, and got some on my shirt.. it wasn't my fault! That syrup was stringy! and the sprinkles liked to fly! We got through it, Em was kind enough to help me out some!

We decided it was time to make our way home, the weather was a misty madness so we walked down the steps, where Emma thought it was a good time to try and kill herself by nearly slipping over! I told her to be careful with my beer! We resumed the gingerly walk down the slippery steps and checked out the fountain part...

I did a large photo bombing of Emma's shot! 

You could say that was the Swish of photo bombing! Nothing but net... errr face!

Then we made our way to the trains, got on and that is when I started to feel a little ill from what I suspect was too much ice cream. Emma couldn't help but laugh and tell me off for being irritable. How could I not be? I felt like I was gonna chunder! haha I made it home, with no accidents and a few hours later I am feeling much betterer. Will I learn my lesson from this? No, I will not.

A Day on Ven.

It's been a few days since we lost our baby boy, times have been tough and being in the apartment just gives us constant reminders of how much we miss him. I haven't stepped in a puddle of water from him having a drink in what feels like forever.. and as much as it always shit me, it was the norm and now the norm is dry floors. It is wrong, I miss my boy. It was just so sudden that I am having a harder time to process it than I thought I would.. but I will get there eventually and in the meantime I just have to try and keep myself busy, which is where a trip to Ven comes in! [wiki link]

We got up nice and early and headed off with a cooler bag full of goodness. It 'only' took 2 trains, 1 bus and 1 ferry trip to get to the island and we arrived there just before lunchtime.

It was a pretty stellar day, the sun was shining bright and it was warm warm warm! First order of business once on the island was to walk up the hill to the bike place and rent a couple of bikes! We stood in the longest line ever and watched slowly as the bikes dwindled down down down.. we were hoping to a normal sized geared bike with a basket for our cooler bag.. what we got was a smaller ungeared bike with a bungee cord. I guess that will teach us for being all spontaneous like and not booking at least a few days ahead! Oh well, we got our bikes.. made some adjustments and off we rode into the sun...shine! and dirt roads!

It took Emma all of 2 minutes to perfect her stone torpedo firing as I felt a rock brush past my shin and crash loudly into my chain guard! Holy poo batcave! It was early in the ride and I was already wondering if I was going to survive!

Some points we had to actually get off the bike and walk up, I am not even sure in some sections that having an electric bike would have helped to get up! But it was all worth it for the views that you got! Example...

Actually all the views throughout the day were bloody stunning.. 

We couldn't help but smile and be happy looking out at the beauty as we were cycling by.. altho there were a few moments where I probably should have been watching the road so I could miss some rather gut wrenching bumps! Which was some seriously funny entertainment for Emma.. I can honestly say, if the shoe was on the other foot.. I would have laughed too! Oh wait.. I already was laughing!

I also couldn't quite help but think of Nemo and how much he would have loved to have been there too.. and how much he would have cried and cried to go into the water. We got to see a couple of pups go into the water as we sat and enjoyed our lunch.. homemade focaccia with a punnet of strawberries! served with a stunning view...

 

and even a little swan family! It was perfect.

We stopped by a church and graveyard...

a lighthouse...

and even a distillery...

Where we popped in to try their whisky. Emma and I raised our glasses to Nemo. Yes, that's right, folks.. even Emma had a whisky! Not a lot but she had some and she didn't hate it! The bartender was lovely and even gave Emma a couple of small squares of chocolate cake. I am not one for sweets with booze so I declined. It was a lovely little break before we headed off again..

At one point Emma was all like, "Jo look!" & so I was trying to work out what she was saying look for and looking far into the beauty! I ended up having to turn around and go back to her and this is what she was telling me to look at... [photo] All I could do was shake my head! For many reasons really!

She also tried to kill me at another point by braking VERY suddenly and I nearly rode right up her ass! All because she heard and saw a pheasant! Of course it didn't come out for a photo op, those things are totally camera shy! So if it's not bloody stone torpedoes then it is sudden braking! Hmmm, I am not convinced she wanted me to get home safely!

We made our way back to the bike place and returned the bikes, then headed to the ferry and took our place in the stand-by queue. We were in it all of 10mins before we were part of the chosen few who got to fill up the ferry! Score! We had some fanstastic entertainment on the ferry in the form of a little kid running back and forth! The entire time! It was impressive! He was a total cutie-pie!

It wasn't long before we were sitting in Starbucks in Malmö, having an ice cold frap while learning a fun-fact! We needed to cool the frak off! Then one last train ride home and we were in the comfort of our own place, checking out who had the silliest burn! I had a slight goggle face happening.. nothing like this tho! [photo] and also, my current slight goggleface has been slowly forming over the past week.. the weather has been that stunning here! Oh back to who had the silliest burn you say? Well.. that would be Emma.. she took it all the way home with the backs of her legs.. the knee-pits! and her shoulders, she did a really poor job of applying sunscreen on those.. you could actually see the patches where she got it! LOL Well done I say! Today however, it's already starting to colour nicely.. that damn beautiful Scandinavian skin!

We will go back to Ven one day, and stay over night and watch the sun setting.. we saw some lovely spots where we thought it would just look wonderful.. but then again, sunsets are pretty wonderful no matter where you are and they should always be enjoyed when given the chance. We also want to go and eat at one of the restaurants there.. some of the food sounded divine! But these things can't be done on a whim and need a little planning.. which we will surely do. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is in these parts. Some additional instagram photos from the day.. [lighthouse] [bluesky] [water tower]

Oh and today I also discovered that my scalp got burnt. I thought I was so good and not forgetting sunscreen and yet I completely bypass the fact that my head is pointing to the sun ALL day! Doh!

Sov Gott, Nemo

Our life with Nemo all started 6 years ago when we were sitting in Crete on holiday when we got an SMS from Emma's mum asking if we would like to an 8yr old English cocker spaniel. At first we were all like, ummm what?! Coz in her usual style, details weren't there. We said sure and then got the story later once Emma called when we were in the same country.

We picked Nemo up on the 31/07/2007 and here is a quote from the old blog when we got him.. "He doesn't understand me much and looks at me like I am crazy when I speak to him.. but I am sure that will pass.. well I hope it does!" This is where I tell you that he never stopped looking at me like I was crazy but he did understand me. One of this favourite things to do was look out the window, to do this he had to summon his inner kitteh.. & here are a few of the first photos of him being ours.

Another quote from the old blog is this.. "He has 'Attitude!' Yesterday morning.. he woke himself up and wouldn't stop growling.. for no good reason other than he was just grumpy.. It's like he has been mine his whole life!" A character from the start, our baby boy has been.

We have had many great times with our boy, he has been a great source of love and entertainment. From.. how he would snarl when I would kiss him.. many examples to follow.. you can see the love right? [the usual kissyface] [snarly] [no snarl? total love!] [sleeping on him] [perfect couple] [sleeping together] [best couple] [lounger!] [cone cuddles] and I told you in the previous entry that it was a common theme for Emma to be reading & Nemo on the couch.. well, here is another example of such a time.. [photo] Sometimes just a little comfort was needed in the mornings, in the form of a cuddle.. [photo] [the goobas] He never liked to be carried when we were out and about, even tho there were times when it had to happen! like this time.. [photo] He loved the snow, every walk when it was snowing, I loved how he would nip at the fresh snow for some serious munching, also in winter he was usually a shaggy mess.. like so! [photo] but, even that was really cute, I liked him shaggy or short, they both had appeal! Shaggy had a much floppier feel and was great amusement while walking.

..to how he would sleep on his back, showing all his glory! [photo]

Nemo even indulged my duck love by making his shadow turn into a duckish shape! [photo] He never really had a great relationship with Chicken.. [photo] of both the toy variety and food variety. PooStinky! He loves to park that PooStinky ass of his on remote controls! [photo] but no matter what he did, he did it with the cutest face ever! [photo] [the many faces of Nemo] There are many many photos on both mine and Emma's instagram feed, if you want to take the time to look through, on a computer if you don't have the app.

Our life has been made so much richer by having him in it, I don't think we would have opted to go on the hike at the top of Sweden, had it not been for him and us wanting to give him something wonderful before retirement. 

He hiked like a champ, we have many great memories of that time. For instance, how he and Emma nearly got swept away when Emma had to carry him over a deeper ice cold stream and the rocks and wood gave way. How he farted the stinkiest of farts in the tent! There is no escape from a stinky fart in a confined space. How he would curl up in a ball at the bottom of Emma's sleeping bag, never mine. How after an exceptionally long colder day, he was so exhausted that I actually hand fed him. I think that was an extra special moment he and I shared. How he never wanted to be still for too long, Emma and I would want to take a break and look at the lovely scenery when Nemo would be all like.. ok mums, that's enough! let's move! & cry his high pitched little cry until we gave in and did.

For anyone wanting to check out those blogs, here are the links..

The Journey Begins, Eating Reindeer, Rocky Road, Gumbies anyone?, Even better than sticks, Lumpy Mess!, A low day, A loooong day, Nibble Nibble!, 105kms down.. 4 to go!, The Journey Home.

We spoilt our little guy as much as we could, after all he was our baby. Our life revolved around him. Going out for the day always consisted on how long we could leave him for, if we could get someone to come and walk him, holidays were organised on when someone could have him or if the doggy hotel had a spot for him. Bedtime was picked coz we knew we would have to be up early for him to walk him. About this time last year, we decided to spoil him a little more and take him to Stockholm, which you can see here if you are interested. This is his post. [There's Something About Nemo] 

He really was the greatest dog I could ever have asked for, there will not be another that comes even close to him and I wouldn't have it any other way. He let me hold him when I was sad, and ignored me when I was happy, he complained when I kissed him but he always wanted them.. I know it! I am grateful I was there to hold him when he passed, as much as it hurt. I hope he took some comfort in knowing I was there until the end and that I was still his rock as he was mine. He was loved, he will be missed, there will always be a place in my heart for my first baby boy, he will never be forgotten. Emma, Nemo and I were the perfect little family.. I mean look at us.. [SpunkGlasses]

Sov gott, Nemo. 

I hope you enjoy your final resting place in the sun..

The 1st Week

It is Sunday, the end of the first week of summer vacation. It started off a little grey with the weather and we spent a few days just hanging at home with our little guy. This was a common theme, Emma reading while Nemo took his spot on the couch, whether or not Emma was in the way.. he made do.

Apparently his steps are good for resting upon!

Never-mind the fact that we would sometimes just jump over them altogether! In his head I swear he thought he was a young man.. his body sometimes would think it too. We got him the steps coz often his body realised he was an old man and didn't want to play ball. I too, have trouble with my body and somehow managed to hurt my neck and Tuesday was a very painful and stiff kind of day.. I had the robotic moves down! We headed around to the parentals to have pancakes with fresh strawberries and cream for dinner, because of my neck.. we took the bus. Worst experience ever! It was stinky and loud! So many kids making so much noise. We actually got off the bus before our actual stop coz I just couldn't take it anymore. I opted to walk home instead of having to endure another bus ride.. plus it was a good way to work off the scrummy pancakes!

One of the great things about having Emma home for holidays is that we get to have a fantastic breakfast like sketti & eggs on toast.. on a week day! At home or away, it is important to spoil yourself and we don't do a big breakfast often. After our delicious breakfast, my neck was feeling slightly better, the sun was shining and there was some stunning blue skies so we opted to head into Malmo with no real plan. However once we arrived, the weather gods mocked us. It was grey and not all that nice, so we just went and looked around the stores but it wasn't too long before it got stunningly nice.. as you can see here.. [instagram photo] We watched the little baby duckies from the bridge for a while before moving on. 

We had some falafel for a late lunch, which was delicious.. as always! It is one of our go to meals when in Malmo, I mean look how good this wrap looks? just deliciousness!

We also headed into the booze shop, where we came across some epic beer! We snapped up a couple of bottles and a couple of others.. as well as calling into the English Shop for a quick look, I was hoping for some Bundy Gingerbeer but they didn't have any, I asked if they were getting it in again and they were, after they move stores.. so that is another thing I have to remember! We picked up some Walkers pecan toffee cookies and eventually headed home to our little man.. but not before trying the new Magnum!

Which was really quite nice, however my favourite one of the 5 new ones would have to be the crème brulee. That one.. just yum! We did however get some light entertainment while standing in line waiting to buy the ice creams.. in the form of an American woman who was extremely high and wasn't quite sure what language she was trying to speak to whom. She clearly had the munchies and obviously didn't know that you didn't need to buy water in Sweden.. the water here is pure heaven.

Thursday was a day at home with Nemo, we don't like to leave him home alone 2 days in a row, it was a snuggly kind of day, the winds had picked up again so it wasn't so fun to be outside, even if it was warm and so we spent the entire day watching 'Orange is the New Black'. A whole season in one day! Great series, I want more of it like NOW!

Friday was cleaning day! That stuff doesn't get a vacation! So I spent my morning doing the usual cleaning and washing and then it went downhill and fast. One of the scariest moments of my life.

R.I.P. Nemo - 15/05/1999 - 19/07/2013

The. Saga.

Woah! It's July already! Where does the time go?!

We have not had the best of months, Nemo really hasn't had a good month. What started off as a reoccurring eye issue, turned into the biggest and most expensive drama/ load of frakin bullshit ever. It taught us one big lesson about insurance tho, when you adopt a doggy.. don't blindly take over and never check on the insurance because the insurance we had was total rubbish. Because of his age, our yearly claim amount went down to pittance. Not only do we have to pay the 'self risk' which is completely normal and I get it, but then also a further 20% of the rest of the costs. Umm, what?! Bloody stupid, so basically when a doggy really needs insurance, coz older doggies get issues more, you don't get the help you thought you would. We pay more to insure him than we do me! Luckily there is another insurance company we can go with and are going to look into putting him on that, it is more expensive than our current bullshit one that is about to expire. It will give us better coverage and that is really important considering it seems that 4 out of 5 vets we have seen over the last month have been frakin useless. Yes, that is right we have had to see 5 vets.

It started out with Nemo having a snotty nose and his eye issue, which our local vet had told us that if it flares up again we would need to take him to a specialist, so we looked around and got suggested this one that was an hours drive away.. not easy to get to but thankfully the parentals were good enough to take us there. We arrive, get told that its from an infected tooth and it will need to be extracted. We don't argue so they are a specialist and they would know best. Even tho they did not even look in his eyes or test them. We had to book him in for the operation and we did. Needless to say, teeth issues are not covered by our bullshit insurance, however once we got the bill we discover that insurance has been used and ALL of our yearly claim amount. but on what exactly? Stuff I am not convinced that they needed to do nor had a right to charge for, but I'm in a country where you just shut up and take it quietly, and then bitch about it later to people or on blogs... this is my outlet.

They charged us for a re-visit, and to have Nemo there for the entire day. They didn't even feed him afterwards and by the time we got home he was starving and crying for food. It was torture. Not to mention that they didn't even call us to tell us we could pick him up. It got to about an hour before they were closing and considering it takes us an hour to drive there, Em rung to see what was happening and they were all like, "yeah he's done, you can come and get him." WTF asses. They explained how they removed A tooth and if the problem came back then just fill the script for more antibiotics to clear it up. Which they charged us again for, which brings me to them screwing up the first script they gave us, which we had to pay for. If I could, I would go back to that place and kick every last one of them in the frakin shins. Once we got home, we quickly discovered that they had taken more than ONE tooth, but the entire top front row bar one little tooth. Ummm, excuse me.. why the frak were we not told about this?! Seriously, where are your communication skills for worried animal owners? Unbelievable. 

The only good thing that happened at that place was I got to see a beautiful bulldog. I want one. My next dog will be at least a frenchie. At least.

And sure enough, the eye issue came back and by this time we had found out that we didn't even get to see the specialist like we had asked for. I was livid. We took Nemo to the local animal hospital, as I refused to drive back to that bullshit place just to be dicked around and over-charged again. Turns out, the animal hospital was no better, we left with 5 scripts for meds for the little fella and told to come back the following week, which we did and got charged a hellish amount for. I expect to pay something for a check-up but not basically the price of a whole new visit. We also got a different vet this time.. and was told to come back at the end of the week for another check. Which.. we did and once again got charged a hellish amount for, along with another script, which we had to pay extra for again. Not to mention we got the most softest speaking, confidence lacking vet in the joint. In my opinion, if you are going to be a vet you need to be able to calm the owners and the animals. We got told then, that we would need to go and see a specialist so to call the clinic on Monday to get the referral for some specific place, which Em then asked if we could take him elsewhere and she was like no, we recommend this place. So we waited out the weekend and then Em had the joyus task of making call after call, back and forth to the different clinics, as the recommended place didn't have an eye specialist for the week, as it is vacation time. We got in with a specialist who wasn't recommended but Em had asked the confidence lacking vet on Friday if we could go to when she said no. Gah! We managed to get an appointment on the day, Em left early from work, her dad drove us. I personally think he likes going coz he gets to sit in the waiting room, chatting to all the animal owners and patting all the animals that come past, but hey, whatever floats your boat! This vet was in a stunning area, there were even picnic tables, which amused me a little and it was packed! I guess that is a good sign? It was right by a lake so Nemo cried his ass off like he was being tortured.. coz he wanted to go in the water! That's my boy! Anyways, we arrive, we wait, we go in, we get an eye specialist who is actually a specialist and who actually checks his eye properly and tells us, there is nothing to worry about, given his age and breed it is probably that he is not producing enough tears. Really?! That is it?! 4 other vets couldn't work that shit out?! Did they get their doggy doc licenses from a weet-bix box?! We head off, are told to stop all the other mass meds for Nemo and use the drops he will prescribe and then we pay. Now this is part of the kicker, it cost us less for this NEW visit with a specialist and getting a script, than it did for the re-check up without a script. The biggest kicker tho, he is the one we should have seen at the very first place we went to. A month of stress and worrying and being over-charged could have been avoided, had we just got to see him to start with, like we had originally asked for. 

I am still in a little shock that they charge you for scripts when you are there for a consult. I get being charged for them when you just call and get a new one coz you are on-going meds, like what we have to do for Nemo's oldman pills.. but charging for a script when you are already there getting things checked and re-checked.. that is just greed. Also, charging for a new one when you screwed one up is the height of greediness. I think in the future, we will just stick to going out to that last vet, it is a bit of a windy drive but I think it is well worth it to get a little service and competence.

Nemo is pretty un-fazed by it all, I even got to have a chuckle at him last night when I was giving him kisses and he hates it when I kiss him, so he did what he would usually do and show his teeth, but.. his teeth are gone! and all I could go was laugh! so now to show how tough he is, he shows me his gummy tops and single tooth sticking out! It's hilarious and adorable all in one clean swoooop! He still has his bottom teeth and big teeth, but when he moved his lip up to show that one top tooth, all you can do is chuckle! I mean look at it! [instagram photo] Gosh, he's handsome!

I am hoping July is going to be a much better month than June. It should be, we have summer vacation coming up in a couple of weeks, we don't have any plans to go away, just to bum around and relax for the most part of 4 weeks off. Em really needs it, so in a way it was really good that we got a trip in to New York and Boston in May. We both have summer cards, which means we can go anywhere in Skane (I think) for free! (or well, the cost of the cards which was less than $100 for 2 months travel!) BillyGoat and Hank are heading over, so we should get a little time with them also. Hopefully there will be some nicer more riveting blogs coming up over the summer too.  Emotionally it has been a tough year so far, which makes it hard to blog about fun stuffs. Fingers crossed, the second half of the year is much better!