Not for the squeamish

Yes, meet my new shop assistant, Miss Anica Vogel! Such a happy, fun filled 10 month old!

Over this last long weekend, I had the privilege of having Astrella and Anica staying with me for 3 nights. Marius went on a fishing trip to Bloemfontein!

"Pulling all these clothes out of the shelves is exhausting"

Though the weekend was great, it was not without its challenges!
The weather was cold & rainy so poor little Anica was restricted to the confines of my little flat! However, we did go out to bookclub on Saturday and had Sunday lunch with Seth & Shirley after church. The change of scenery really helped!

Unfortunately the amount of wild cats living around the school has increased. These cats are forever ganging up on Tigger and about 2 weeks ago he was in a very big cat fight. Because of his thick fur (not to mention, fatty bulges) I could not see any injury but 5 days after the fight I noticed an area on his stomach which was very sensitive and upon investigation, I found that a huge, painful growth had developed. A friend kindly took us to the vet and Tigger ended up having a massive operation! It turns out that where he had been bitten a hair had gone through and lodged itself, causing an abscess! The vet had cut away much of the dead fat in order to remove the hair, thus giving Tigger his very own Tummy Tuck.
Tigger came home with a huge wound and a cone on his head to keep him from pulling out the stitches! He really was not a happy kitty and soon after his return, he managed to get the cone off his head. Stress levels soared as we tried to put it back on. Thankfully Bev came over and helped Astrella refasten it. The vet was adamant that he wear the cone as he would have bitten the stitches out in no time!
I was so so grateful to have had Astrella with me over those first three days as she helped carry Tiggers sandbox in & out for me and also helped give Tigger his morning antibiotic!

This photo was taken a day after the operation. He has since been to the vet for a checkup and another antibiotic injection. The vet is happy with his progress and his stitches will be coming out next Friday. In the meantime he has become accustomed to the cone for which I am VERY grateful. Not only does it stop him from licking his wound but it restricts his walkabouts to only the courtyard because it is too big and he can't fit through the bars of the gate.

While Tigger is restricted, I am making plans with the SPCA to come and catch the wild cats and remove them from the school!
I would be very relieved if this mission were accomplished!