Isabella seemed to have a better night. Still a little vomiting, still no eating and not much drinking but she seems a little brighter. I spent another night in my sleeping bag in the chair. At other times Isabella sleeps in my chair very happily.
I needed to buy the medications from the pharmacy so sent a message to Antonis asking if he knew the opening times. I didn’t receive the reply until I was standing in the pharmacy myself with his offer to take me there and to go shopping. How kind of him! I’d already been shopping in Petrakis so was armed with beetroot, spinach and broccoli. All three have been absent from my diet for weeks as I’ve not shopped for myself. The precautions in Petrakis are similar to the beginning of the lockdown except that the tills and other counters now have new perspex screens to protect the operatives from the smelly customers. Everyone seemed to be ignoring the numbering system to limit entry into the store and I have a feeling I still have a number in my coat pocket. I shopped carefully obtaining some very important items for my diet. Apart from the vegetables, I stocked up in the dried fruit section as this forms an important part of my daily breakfast. I’d been cutting back a little but now I can let myself go! There were loads of Cretan rusks from my preferred supplier so I collected a couple of packets as they are bulky but light. I bought some chicken portions for Isabella and carefully explained to the Canadian checkout lady that it was for her and not me!
My next visit was to the chemist where only one person is allowed in the shop at a time unless you take no notice and just barge your way in. The pharmacist was unsure if he had any Baytril, the antibiotic I required but eventually found some in his fridge at home which was just around the corner. I now have a good stock of syringes and meds so it’s a little like the old days with Dave’s heart condition. Making up chicken and rice for him until he graduated onto the expensive but convenient and more balanced medical kibble. If things go well, this will be the case for Isabella too.
I rode carefully back to the camping avoiding the larger potholes on my heavily laden bike. I noticed that Antonis had visited in my absence and left a document attesting to the fact that I’m staying with his family in their house in Paleochora for the summer. This is in case I get asked where I live during a police check so that I’m able to say I live somewhere other than the camping. This ploy should hopefully satisfy Georgia however I’m going to try to prevent her from finding out what I’m up to. What the eye doesn’t see…
I’d cooked up some rice with lots of water before leaving for my shopping expedition. I let this cool down before offering some to Isabella. She was not interested so I took it away after a while so it should not be consumed by another. She has spent most of the day asleep either inside or outside in the sun. I’ve not encouraged her inside the van as I’d rather not have to be washing all the cushion covers again. I offered her the rice again later. She seemed a little more interested in food as she’d wandered around whilst I fed the others. The mere activity of feeding them can cause her pancreas to start working which would make her feel poorly. It’s better to sneak food to her before her body realises so that she has the opportunity to eat it before her hunger wears off. Hopefully, once she starts to eat, she will make better progress. She can only go on for so long living off what meagre fat deposits she may have. Following fat, muscle is then converted back to energy to keep her going which would cause further weakness.
Antonis arrived bearing 20kg of dog food but said he was unable to buy the cat food as he didn’t have enough money. €40 he said, twice as much as the dog food. I paid him everything I owed from Tuesday and for the cat food. I’d bought a small bag of cat food from Petrakis which was something else to weigh me down. The cats are fed up eating the dog meat which I admit I find really disgusting. It was a donation which I didn’t refuse and have kept as one does not know during these times. Disgusting tinned meat is better than nothing at all.
Apart from sleep in the sun a little, the afternoon slipped away. My fridge is full and the one in the Central Kitchen is switched off as it’s being decorated. It’s huge anyway so I’ve started the fridge in T1 and shoved in some of my produce and frozen peas as my freezer compartment is full of ice and frozen chicken portions. I must defrost and clean the fridge!
I rode my bike around the camping for a while as I’m slipping behind with my exercise routine in the mornings as Isabella is not walking. This morning, I took Skinny and let him off again. He came back with me as far as the field but then got sidetracked by something in the thickets. He was in the compound when I came back from feeding the cats and then proceeded to jump over the fence to steal the food from the mother cat with the kittens. Despite his size, she was having none of it and Skinny had a bit of a meltdown when I dragged him off back inside the compound and put him on his line. Naughty Skinny!
It’s now almost sunset, the temperature continues to fall and the light diminishes. Isabella is outside on a blanket on the decking probably with Obi. She seems to be getting plenty of Pack Moral Support during her illness. Luis and Fido are next to me and Skinny is under the chair where he quite often likes to lurk whether I’m sitting in it or not. The problem is that the chair is tubular steel and has a trolley table standing next to it. Combined, they present plenty of opportunities for his line to get tangled up. If he stopped climbing the fence, none of this would be necessary!
My supper is ready so I think I may go inside for a little as it’s pretty chilly sitting out here!
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