Still here!

What happened in the past few weeks?

While it wasn’t anything too exciting, the first two weeks of July were truly delightful! I got a house-sitting job for the neighbours while they were away on holiday. That meant I had a beautiful place to myself — well, almost. I shared it with Lilly and Lloyd, the two adorable doggies who graciously allowed me a small corner of the bed. And then there was Chelsea the chicken, as well as Duko and Kodee, the two horses.

It was a welcome change from my usual style of travelling to have animals — especially the two pups — around for company. There was only one incident. Apparently, Lloyd (the Yorkie) had grown so fond of me that he felt the need to absorb my scent — one chewed bra at a time.

I first caught him happily gnawing away at my bra. I rescued it in time and moved it somewhere safer. Or so I thought. It got quiet again — never a good sign. On my second investigation, I found a slightly damp T-shirt in the jaws of the furry culprit. Silence followed. The third time… it was my bra again! I still have no idea how he reached it after I’d placed it far higher than any Yorkie should be able to climb.

But that wasn’t the end.

The next day, I was enjoying a quiet afternoon when it dawned on me — silence. Could it be? My track record of catching Lloyd red-pawed was 4 for 4. This time, he had somehow managed to get hold of the same bra — the one I’d buried deep in my backpack. I found it clenched between his teeth. My first instinct was to try and salvage it, but something felt seriously wrong. Apart from a few gaping holes, the fastener was completely gone — about three centimetres of fabric missing from each side, along with the metal hooks.

Luckily, the vet was still open. I drove there rather quickly with both Lilly and Lloyd in the car. Since I couldn’t rule out Lilly’s involvement, the vet induced vomiting in both dogs.

From the waiting room, I suddenly heard the vet and assistants exclaim, “Oh, Lloyd!”

The vet showed me what he had swallowed: all the missing fabric, in one piece. Hooks and all. How on earth did he manage to swallow that??

(You can look at the photo at your own discretion. 😄)

At that point, I was very glad I’d erred on the side of caution and taken them in.

But apart from that, I had a fantastic time in the house with my new furry friends and was honestly a little sad to leave it behind. I also grew quite fond of Yvette and Mick, who had entrusted me with their animals and home.

The next two days, I tried my hand at babysitting. “Baby” being relative — the kids were 7 and 9 years old. But wow…On the first day, I was there for 7.5 hours. The boys had tablets and TV for entertainment. Even though I kept trying to interact with them, it was utterly futile. Nothing could separate them from their screens.

I was pretty shocked, to be honest.

On the second day, they were only allowed to use the TV. The younger boy actually asked me to play chess with him (I’d been offering the day before as well). Mid-game, though, he suddenly reached across the board and began putting all the pieces away. When I asked why, he simply said, “I feel like watching TV.”
The rest of that day was fully screen-centered. I tried offering a round of UNO, but when I said “UNO or TV,” well… I never stood a chance. 😄

Not sure I need to do that again — the dogs were definitely quieter! (Although the house where I babysat did have two very adorable donkeys.)

After almost two months here in Ocean View, it’s time to move on in the next few days. Where to? That remains to be seen — but the next adventure is calling.Read more