Week-a-Boo *Storms and Sunny Days*

I haven't done a week-a-boo in so long! I guess weekends get so busy and the weeks are even busier that by the time I sit down to think about writing about my weekend then next has rolled along. Even though Claire from Scissors Paper Rock doesn't get to week-a-boo much these days either...I'm sure for the very same reason..you all must go and read her blog. Her writing is so beautiful and real.

This weekend started off with a bang! literally...a massive bang! We woke up to a very big and loud storm. Boom!!! The first thunder that woke me was at 7.00am and I shot straight out of bed and raced into Ruby! We are pretty lucky with all of our animals. They are storm lovers like their mummy and daddy. Our beautiful Bindi LIVES for the rain. The minute it hits shes out there chasing it and jumping at the rain drops. Shes a special kind of something ;) haha anyway this storm was Ruby's first so I was worried about her. But as I got to her cage she was sound asleep in her bed! Bless! the storm didn't even faze her! We brought all the animals inside however and had a Saturday morning storm party in the back room! 2 dogs 2 birds and a cat just chilling and hanging out while listening to the booms and the clashes. Miss Ruby was delighted with the storm. She was laughing the entire time and singing and chatting away!

 Poor Bindi! Robs mission is for 'everyone to live in harmony' 

hahah look at poor Bindis eyes! She so sad! Get this dam bird off my head hahah

While I was prepping for my tests and recovering, I did a lot of research on food and diet for eclectus parrots. I found a lot of native trees that are really good for them to nibble at and chew on! So Rob and I are going to start giving her a branch a week to play with and eat! Her first this week was a callistemon! 

She LOVED it!

After the storm had past and all the animals were back inside cages and outside, I went back to bed. Those silly tests really knocked me round and I was just so exhausted I slept the entire day! I woke up in the afternoon feeling a bit better but still a bit sore! hahah if that makes any sense??? Rob took me out to our local nursery to get me out of the house and to buy some new herbs for my new pots for the kitchen. We went with basil, chives, mint and rosemary. I think we will use these 4 in most of our cooking! We came home and potted them and I am so happy with the way they turned out! They look FABULOUS in the kitchen on the windows edge!

After potting our plants we went over to visit out next door neighbours and took Ruby with us! I love our neighbours. Beside, behind, diagonal. We are so lucky where we live and we have become very close friends with all of our neighbours. With my best friend down one end of the street and my cousin down the other I am in the most perfect position! We have created a little community and it makes me happy and feel safe. We just sat down and had a talk and a laugh. It was great to be out of bed and enjoy special peoples company.

Miss Ruby opening up a beer for daddy at our neighbours bar! CUTE! 

Sunday morning I was woken up to breakfast in bed. Rob had made me scrambled eggs using our fresh new herbs. It was deliscous and it was nice to be spoilt. Rob and I have been taking turns each Sunday morning to make breakfast for each other. It has become a little unspoken and unplanned tradition. Even though Rob is working most Sundays its our little time that we take just for us! 

This was a beautiful start to my day and as Rob went off to work I got myself up and decided to enjoy the beautiful weather instead of wasting it away in bed like I had the past couple of days. I spent the day cleaning and playing in the backyard with the animals. I do this a lot lately. It gets lonely with Rob working a lot but I am so grateful to have such beautiful animals that love me unconditionally and are so much fun. haha oh o I'm that crazy lady with all the animals. Oh well its true and I wouldn't change it for the world. Ruby went for her first surf in the pool! She also went for a dip! It was funny, she spread out her wings and just glided in the water on my hand. I didn't get her too wet as I'm not sure if the pool water would be good for her so I bathed her straight away just in case!

3.00 came and it was time to go to a special girls birthday party! My cousin (who is also one of my best friends and lives down the road) her daughter turned 5 today! I headed off for a family celebration with laughter, food and cake...there's always cake! mmmm! I had a fabulous afternoon! My family is so hilarious! there is so much laughter and joy that surrounds every get together that makes me so happy! We have fun together and that whats so important.

 Look at that sausage! Now that's a sausage!

The weekend came and went so quickly and before I knew it I was at family dinner at mum and dads house. I got these beautiful flowers from Rod and my favourite chocolate! What a beautiful sweetheart. He knew I was feeling a bit yukky after my tests so he bought me them to cheer me up! I cried! What beautiful gesture!

They fit perfectly in my new beautiful kitchen. O.k so its years old but its amazing what 4 new pots, 2 new chairs and a beautiful bunch of flowers can do!

Have a gorgeous, fun and safe week everyone!

x S.K.K x

Ruby Update

Well that last post was a bit depressing so I need something to make me smile! I think its time for an update on our gorgeous Ruby! The last time I wrote about her HERE she was only a baby. She was 43 days old and was still growing her feathers, I was hand feeding her 3 times a day and she was still in her 'brooder'.

Ruby 43 days old

Well here is she today at 5 months old!

 She has found her place in our family of animals and has stolen our hearts. She is eating successfully on her own and loves and I mean LOVES a good chat! She can already say hello and hi and she meows and laughs. and last night the most amazing thing happened. I was playing with her and went into the kitchen to get her a treat and she yelled "sarah" it was clear as day and I nearly fell over! She doesn't say anything on command yet but chats away in her own time. She is always having a good laugh! A big hearty HA HA HA - wonder where she gets that from! Here are some photos of growing up over the past couple of months. She goes everywhere with us! I love taking her on little trips. We have even been to the beach!

 

 x S.K.K x

4 days of...

I like numbers and anniversaries and countdowns and quirky dates! I remember everything from Robs and my first kiss (14th of December 2002) I love dates with all the same numbers (09.09.09) I even love when my car does 33333 km and yes I take a photo. Well today this is my ...

 very cool

...and today is the end of the '4 days of hell' and boy oh boy I didn't think this day would come!

Today I had to have a colonoscopy AND and endoscopy! Ever since my surgery 3 years ago my 'insides' haven't been the same. I have been to my doctor a few times and finally (after some abnormal bleeding) they finally referred me to a gastrologist to have some further tests and get some answers. An endoscopy is when they put a camera down into your stomach through your mouth and a colonoscopy is when they put a camera into your bowel through your...well you get the picture. You are put under for the procedure and in day surgery for a few hours.  If you have ever had these tests done before you will know that the prepping is far worse than the procedure itself. Well amen to that because the prepping was hell and I will NEVER want to do it again. Basically I had to go on a 'special diet' for 2 days then go on a 'clear fluid diet' for one day and then clear out my bowel with medication. Simple. Gross. 

So this is a diagram of the bowel and that red section...GONE! I didn't realise they took so much in my surgery! Almost 1/3 of my bowel has been taken. Crazy! No wonder everything is a lot more sensitive since my operation.

The special diet wasn't too bad. I just had to take extra care because of the above! You have to eat all refined foods. So all white bread, rice, pasta etc, so no wholemeal or seeds or beans etc. This was pretty easy as I just ate rice bubbles for breakfast and a white bun for lunch and I could have meat for dinner. I was told to avoid fruit and veg and these on a normal day would 'play around' in my stomach so my doctor said to stay clear of them. But oh my goodness I didn't realise how much I 'grazed' during the day. Holy crap was I hungry. The 'diet plan' was very vague and I wasn't sure what I could or couldn't eat in regards to 'snack food' so I didn't want to risk anything and decided to just not eat them. but i struggled. I think I ate 3 buns a day because I couldn't eat any snacks so I tried to fill up on the buns hahah gross. White bread is so yuk when you're limited to it! So I got through those first 2 days o.k then I got to the 'day before' and this is when it all went down hill. 

I had to have a 'clear fluid' diet. So basically anything you can see through. Water, diet lemonade, apple juice, jelly, and broth. Delicious! That day I ate 4 sachets of chicken broth and 2 packets of Jelly and a litre of lemonade! hahah Every time I felt hungry I shoved more in my mouth to try and make the hunger pains go away. It wouldn't have been as bad if I wasn't working. But sure enough I had to do the grocery shop...omg I would of eaten anything and everything in that shop I'm telling you now! I also had to feed the kids and they were having pies for lunch and spaghetti for dinner. Oh brother! Not cool when you are starving and a deliciously fatty meaty greasy pie is sitting right in front of you! 7.00pm HOME TIME! thank god! Although this is what I had to go home to...

Yep that's right dinner was a nice little bowl of THIRTY TWO tablets. Taking one tablet on an empty stomach is bad enough but taking 32 is just ridiculous. I had to take it with lemonade as well becasue I tried the first 2 with water and vomited both times. I guess I need the sugar, the taste, to get these babies down. The plan was to take 4 tablets every 15 minutes until 16 are taken. Then wait a couple of hours then take the rest of the 16 the same way. oh lordy lordy I don't mean to be a winger but this was HARD!!! Even the thought of it now makes me gag! Normally I would be cracking it by this stage! crying, panicking, calling my mum. But I breathed through it and just did it! Maybe I was deliriously tired and so hungry my mind thought I was eating food so it pushed me into it. What ever the reasons were...I just did it and well lets just say I spent the next 8 hours on the toilet. No sleep for this little chicken. Hey at least I got a full body cleanse! Ha take that nasty toxins!

So the next morning we traveled into the hospital and I was admitted at 6.30am - I was smart when booking my test and knew the early appointment would be the best so I didnt have to starve during the day. I was pretty calm. Wasn't nervous at all. I had a few 'what ifs' going through my mind but nothing I couldn't shake away. After all I was only going to be in there for 2 hours then I could go home and sleep and EAT. Oh man all I could think of was the sweet taste of food after it was all over! I was feeling quietly confident and proud as they wheeled me in. Look at me and my brave self. UNTIL they went to put the cannula in! Dam my veins! They couldn't find any of my veins in the 'usual' places so he turned my hand around and went for the inside of my wrist and holy dear god I flipped. I went off my nutter. Burst out in uncontrollable sobs pulling my hand away just asking for a little break before we started. The poor anesthetist! He told me we didn't have time and grabbed my hand back. The thought of a needle going into that sensitive spot just threw me straight over the edge. The lovely nurses comforted me and still bawling my eyes out they put in the needle. F*** me it hurt! omg the sting was crazy! That's all it was a dam sting...a very long sting...but I think it was breaking point. So much for me and my brave self. Oxygen went on and that is the last thing I remember...

I woke up about an hour later...crying hahah I literally woke up and was immediately crying. My arm with the dam needles were hurting so much. The nurse looked at my arm and took out my cannula straight away and gave me some ice! She said it was quite bad and "it will leave a nice little bruise".

 

 arrr yeah you think? 

So anyway that seemed like a whole big drama for nothing really. I came straight home and slept for hours. Rob and I went for sushi for dinner. mmmmm sushi....its what I craved the entire time! I have a few pains now in my lower tummy...kind of like period pain but nothing too serious. I have no sore throat from the endoscopy so I'm feeling pretty good. It is 2.00am however and I am wide awake because I have slept all day but oh well.

So that was my '4 days of hell" Quite a small procedure compared to what some people go through but in my little world it was big! I'm ready for a day of rest tomorrow and to look after my poor little wrist.

x S.K.K x