Alfie had one more appointment at the vet's in Oakgrove this morning (Thursday). We took him for a walk across Eaglestone Park earlier and went to vote in the local elections at the community centre near the shop, just opposite from Brother's Fish Bar, which we used last night as we didn't fancy cooking. Alfie doing his usual 'thing' of letting the whole neighbourhood know he's about with his excited barking and yapping as well as running ahead of us like a little hare. We thought if we took him for a walk it would mean he would have used up some energy before we took him in the car to the vet's.
We got to Pet's Practice and were seen well before the appointment time. No further treatment is necessary. The scabby mess under each of Alfie's eyes has cleared sufficiently. I have one more half tablet of antibiotics to give him with his food this evening and we have to keep cleaning the wounds. The open wounds have healed quite nicely although the skin there is still quite pink, but the vet said that the colour in probably unlikely to return. I'm certainly happy about the outcome. We just have to keep an eye on things and to not let a build up of the matter to return and keep it clean.
Chaffron Way is still inaccessible, due to continuing road works. They seem to be putting some form of traffic calming measures in, no doubt to stop people speeding. It's probably a good thing, but all this means we have to drive round via Standing Way to avoid this work rather than going more directly along Chaffron Way. We took Alfie home before we went to the Shell filling station in Grafton Street and put some air in the tyres before we drive to Oxford tomorrow for Carol's appointment at Churchill Hospital. I have my father's voice still ringing in my ears, even around 20 years after he died, regarding always doing the various checks you need to do to your car before going on any journey, such as the old, water, tyres, etc etc. A good thing to have to do, but as I say, he always said all this 'have you checked the water . . . tyres . . .oil?' . . . etc etc
We then drove over to Roosksley as Carol wanted to look in one of the stores there, Decathlon, which stocks sports clothing and equipment. She rather likes the Regatta jacket I bought the other week and would like something similar. I don't think she'd get one for the same price as I paid as it was on line. They have a good range of styles, colours and brands in Decathlon, but not the same sort of price. We then went into Halford's a few stores along as I wanted to get valve caps to put on the car tyres. One is missing and I really want to keep the tyres in good order, so caps seem a good idea to replace.
Coming out of the carpark at the retail centre at Rooksley you can only turn left instead of right and onto the grid road. To prevent this, the council has put a sort of island in the centre of the road and it's quite clear, with adequate signage, that you must turn left, go round the roundabout near B and Q and then come back towards the main road. But, no, certain people just refuse to do as they're told. So the barrier to prevent a right turn has been made even larger so in effect it would be quite impossible to get round it. Why do some people insist on disregarding such safety measures???
As we were driving out of the estate, Carol suggested we have some sort of picnic as it was really pleasantly sunny and warm. It would have been a great pity to not take advantage of it, so we drove to the shop in Two Mile Ash to buy sandwiches, crisps and drinks and then went to sit at a picnic table at Loughton Lodge. It would appear to be quite a busy dog-walking area, as we saw quite a few people doing just that.
A couple of youths turned up with a bulldog as we sat eating our picnic. Well, I say youths, but they were probably around 20. One had driven in a rather ancient V.W. They stood and admired the car, regardless of it's age. How could they manage to spend a mid-morning standing around chatting in a carpark? Didn't they have to be at work, or collage? They were something of a cliche, how you'd expect a group of youths to behave, along with the huge, fat dog they had with them. No doubt the idea of having such a dog made them look 'ard. No, on second thoughts, it really didn't. Just fat and lazy. Carol said it looked pregnant. I don't think it could move very fast, certainly not very aggressive. It had a thick metal-studded collar on, a bit like the dog in Tom and Jerry cartoons, which is always chasing around after the cat or mouse. Anyway, these youths spoke in a series of grunts and one of them when to deal with the poor dog which cowered, which made us think it was not treated well to behave in such a way.
So we finished our picnic and returned home. At least we hadn't spent the morning staring at daytime television. With the weather improving and the daylight hours longer as the days move on we can at least get out and about.
Chaffron Way is still inaccessible, due to continuing road works. They seem to be putting some form of traffic calming measures in, no doubt to stop people speeding. It's probably a good thing, but all this means we have to drive round via Standing Way to avoid this work rather than going more directly along Chaffron Way. We took Alfie home before we went to the Shell filling station in Grafton Street and put some air in the tyres before we drive to Oxford tomorrow for Carol's appointment at Churchill Hospital. I have my father's voice still ringing in my ears, even around 20 years after he died, regarding always doing the various checks you need to do to your car before going on any journey, such as the old, water, tyres, etc etc. A good thing to have to do, but as I say, he always said all this 'have you checked the water . . . tyres . . .oil?' . . . etc etc
We then drove over to Roosksley as Carol wanted to look in one of the stores there, Decathlon, which stocks sports clothing and equipment. She rather likes the Regatta jacket I bought the other week and would like something similar. I don't think she'd get one for the same price as I paid as it was on line. They have a good range of styles, colours and brands in Decathlon, but not the same sort of price. We then went into Halford's a few stores along as I wanted to get valve caps to put on the car tyres. One is missing and I really want to keep the tyres in good order, so caps seem a good idea to replace.
Coming out of the carpark at the retail centre at Rooksley you can only turn left instead of right and onto the grid road. To prevent this, the council has put a sort of island in the centre of the road and it's quite clear, with adequate signage, that you must turn left, go round the roundabout near B and Q and then come back towards the main road. But, no, certain people just refuse to do as they're told. So the barrier to prevent a right turn has been made even larger so in effect it would be quite impossible to get round it. Why do some people insist on disregarding such safety measures???
As we were driving out of the estate, Carol suggested we have some sort of picnic as it was really pleasantly sunny and warm. It would have been a great pity to not take advantage of it, so we drove to the shop in Two Mile Ash to buy sandwiches, crisps and drinks and then went to sit at a picnic table at Loughton Lodge. It would appear to be quite a busy dog-walking area, as we saw quite a few people doing just that.
A couple of youths turned up with a bulldog as we sat eating our picnic. Well, I say youths, but they were probably around 20. One had driven in a rather ancient V.W. They stood and admired the car, regardless of it's age. How could they manage to spend a mid-morning standing around chatting in a carpark? Didn't they have to be at work, or collage? They were something of a cliche, how you'd expect a group of youths to behave, along with the huge, fat dog they had with them. No doubt the idea of having such a dog made them look 'ard. No, on second thoughts, it really didn't. Just fat and lazy. Carol said it looked pregnant. I don't think it could move very fast, certainly not very aggressive. It had a thick metal-studded collar on, a bit like the dog in Tom and Jerry cartoons, which is always chasing around after the cat or mouse. Anyway, these youths spoke in a series of grunts and one of them when to deal with the poor dog which cowered, which made us think it was not treated well to behave in such a way.
So we finished our picnic and returned home. At least we hadn't spent the morning staring at daytime television. With the weather improving and the daylight hours longer as the days move on we can at least get out and about.
