Tag Archives: dogs

And now we turn 200

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This is our 200th toscanakiwi post. When we started the blog it was to keep friends and family informed about our little adventure in Italy. But reading back over some of the last 200 entries I now realise it is also a collection of memories for Jean and I. It might be old age or just the passing of time but little things get forgotten and one adventure gets confused with another in our minds – but the blog is always there with the real story.

In September 2011, post number 100 was sent from our cottage in Tuscany. At that stage around 4,800 visitors had read the blog since it’s launch. As of today that figure has increased to 11,541.

A huge thank you to all our lovely readers. Your feedback is always welcome and knowing that our adventures are providing a little interest and entertainment is all that we can ask for.

Ciao

Graeme and Jean

Making themselves at home

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It’s easy to tell if the girls are feeling at home. The more couch they take up, the happier they are. Now we just need to figure out where the humans sit.

Keeping the girls warm this winter – warning cute alert!

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Winter means warm clothes. That means both us and the girls. So when we made the last visit to our dog groomer in Siena we did some winter coat shopping for the girls. The buying criteria was two-fold. Firstly, warmth for the girls on cold winter days and secondly, out-right cuteness.

In Troyes it was cold enough for the girls’ coats to be used and after a walk in the brisk 4 degree temperature we all adjourned to the bar for drinks.

Girls on patrol

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Villa Greta has a resident family of cats that live a little further along the property. Four cats and a kitten to be precise. You get the impression that they usually spend quite a bit of time at the villa entertaining the guests and generally doing what cats do best.

Poppie spots a cat

With the arrival of our girls everything has changed.

The moment a cat comes down looking for some attention, or their dinner, Poppie goes onto full alert. After 5 weeks you think there would be some kind of truce but no, one cat sitting on the steps outside the gate is still more than enough to wind Poppie up. Daisy, as you would expect, is a little more circumspect about the whole thing.

Daisy has a new vet

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Over the last week or so Daisy’s coughing has got worse so it was time for a visit to a vet. The team at Eden Roc Hotel had kindly offered to arrange for a vet to call if needed and on Monday we decided it was needed.

We’ve never had a house call from a vet before but all was arranged and at 9:15 on Monday morning the wonderful Dott. Antonio Apuzzo called at Villa Greta. His english was good and his understanding of Daisy and her heart condition was even better.

He explained that in terms of the medication she was on, there were no additional pills she could take so it came down to adjusting her current medication to best treat her symptoms. He asked us to visit his practice in the village of Sant’Agata in the commune of Massa Lubrense where he would arrange for a cardiologist to visit and conduct an ECG on Daisy. Based on the results of this, her medication could be adjusted.  It was decided that Wednesday morning at 11 was the time.

We had no idea what the house call would cost and Jean had walked to the village Monday morning to take out additional cash as we figured a house call could be expensive.  The bill was only €30 and as he left he gave us his mobile number to call if Daisy got worse between Monday and Wednesday. What more could we want.

Wednesday morning we set out for Sant’Agata.  This small town is only 15kms from Positano but the windy road meant a drive of 35 minutes.  The village is located right on the spine of the Amalfi Peninsular so as you drive there you see alternatively views along the Amalfi Coast to Praiano and beyond to Salerno in the south, and across the bay of Naples to Napoli, Vesuvius and beyond in the north. It is the most spectacular drive to a vet we have ever had.

And on the way you pass the Grand Hotel Nastro Azzuro – an impressive hotel with a great view of the bay of Naples and named after Italian beer! This is my kind of place.

The village itself is delightful and at 11am, it was in full swing with the fish monger busy, the greengrocer inundated with locals and that general bustle of a busy Italian village.

We arrived promptly, ten minutes late, and met the cardiologist Dott. Antonella Sergio. Once again she had an immediate understanding of Daisy’s condition. You also get the feeling that the respect Italians inherently have for the aged in the community also extends to dogs. Once Daisy’s age was explained (nearly 15 years old – close to 90 in human years) she was treated with the greatest respect.

Despite that, she still managed to have a seizure on the table in the middle of the ECG which prompted even more care, a supply of oxygen to ensure she recovered and a modified ECG so she could stand rather than be forced to lie down.

The upshot of the ECG – her condition is a little worse than it was 3 months ago. But we now have a new pill regime and the addition of a cortisone spray to help with her coughing. We also now understand how to alter the balance of her medication depending on the symptoms she displays.

As we left, Dott. Apuzzo reiterated that we should call him if Daisy gets worse – although he joked that he hoped he didn’t hear from us.

Thank you Dott. Antonio and Dott. Antonella. We hope we don’t have to call either.

We then retired to the patisserie across the road and had a celebratory cake and cappuccino or two. We vowed to return to Sant’Agata and explore it further. There are also some great photographs to be taken on the drive there and back but this trip I didn’t take my camera.  It was business after all – well as close as we get to business these days.

The traditional Villa Greta greeting

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Every time we arrive back at Villa Greta we are met by Daisy and Poppie. They are so pleased to see us and it doesn’t matter how many times we come and go we always get the same rapturous welcome. For those of you who don’t know them Daisy, being nearly 15 years old, is the slower one. Poppie is the one with her favourite toy in her mouth.

It’s officially home

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You can always tell when the girls feel at home.  They start barking at everyone walking past and go nuts when anyone visits.  Based on this, as of last Wednesday Villa Greta became “our place”.  For the next few weeks anyway.

Pups on tour – a feeble excuse for yet another cheesy dog photo

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With space at a premium on the drive to Positano, we had to find room for the girls in amongst the vast quantity of luggage we had filled the car with. Daisy travelled in style in the back seat on a stack of blankets and pillows which raised her to around window height.  Great for her as she had a view of every person, car or bike we passed, but bad for us as she barked at every person, car or bike we passed.

Poppie travelled in the front on the knee of the lucky passenger.  Poppie has eaten well in Italy and her current weight of 7.2kgs does, after a few kilometers become quite heavy.  This necessitated regular stops to allow the poor passenger to regain some degree of feeling in their lower legs.

Oh the glamour of travel.

Leaving for Positano

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Inside stuff to pack

It has been a fantastic 6 months reveling in the Tuscan way of life but all good things must end.  And our ending is just a new beginning as we swap Tuscany for Positano on the Amalfi Coast.

We were there in July when it was summer and it was almost tropically hot. In November it should be cooler but still as warm as a summer’s day back home.

Outside stuff to pack

We shall see, but first we have to get there and that means cramming everything we own into our Renault Megane Wagon and driving south for about 5 hours … 6 with stops for the girls.

Farewell Tuscany, hello Positano.

Note: For a larger version of the video click the “Share” button when the video is playing and select “Download Video”. A new window should open with a larger and better quality version of the movie.

It’s a dog’s life

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Morning in the cottage means chores – dishes, bed making, vacuuming, all the usual stuff.  Recently the girls have started watching this happen from the safety of the couch.  Neither Jean nor I can make a move without two sets of eyes tracking us.

If we show any sign of deviating from the routine, all hell breaks loose.

Heading south – again

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Our stay in Tuscany is coming to an end.  We leave at the end of October but our original plans to head home have changed a bit.

We have decided to chase the warm(ish) weather south to Positano and have arranged to stay for 6 weeks at Villa Greta looking out over the ocean. After we spent two weeks there in July we always said it was somewhere we wanted to return.

So, at the end of the week, we pack up the Renault and head south until early December.

It sounds simple when you say it fast but after 6 months we are quite settled in our tiny cottage in Tuscany.  We have a lot to take with us.  Slightly more, we suspect, than our 3 suitcases can carry.

Poppie relaxing

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Poppie was sitting on Jean’s knee this morning as the sun was streaming in through the window.  For Poppie this is about as good as it gets.

About Daisy – Part 3

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Our girl has shown a steady recovery over the last week. She’s gone from not being able to walk without falling over to something close to her usual waddle. She is still wobbly and when she tries to shake herself ends up flat on her stomach with legs splayed.

Her revised heart medicine has also kicked in and, touchwood, she hasn’t had a seizure in over a week. Mind you with Jean and I running around after her every need there hasn’t been a lot of stress on her heart anyway.

One thing that has fully returned is Daisy’s attitude. She’s almost back to her cantakerous old self, and seems ready to take on the world, or more likely, other dogs, children, anyone who dares to come near the cottage, anyone who looks at the cottage, anyone who comes near the car, you get the idea.

The movie started out as some footage to show the team at our Italian vet clinic her improvement over the last week but it got a bit out of hand. We have nothing else much to do, really.