Ramses Valentine

I have been trying to get a few good photos of Ramses but he spends alot of his time sleeping these days. Not altogether unusual since that's what he does most of the winter anyway. With yesterdays beautiful afterschool light I managed a wonderful series of shots with each of the girls. He actually spent quite a bit of time outdoors by choice this past week in the warm weather; sunning on the picnic table, exploring the garden, probably marking near the entrances to the rabbit holes. He is doing well enough, eating, being social, moving around the house to sleep in the sunny spots. He's still a handsome guy, isn't he?

But you can also see that the left side of his face is becoming more swollen -- even though this is a flattering shot -- and his eye is quite irritated. He struggles so much with the goopy eye meds that I've given up. I'm afraid I'll hurt him and he always managed to squirm away just as I think I've got the stuff in. We're going to see Dr. Allison tomorrow to see if there's something else we can do. I'm a bit afraid to see the inside of his mouth and hear what she'll say, but I also know he's not ready to go just yet. He does let me pet that side of his face and purrs so I think it's mostly sore and not painful. Grooming has gotten difficult, and though he does what he can he enjoys being rubbed down with a wet cloth. {Laugh} - when he was younger he would come into the house all dusty and run to stand on the toilet seat, waiting for his wash-down. He's still quite spoiled.

It's snowing now. Big Fat Flakes. The good news is Sarah made it to school with her Valentines and we still have firewood a-plenty. Hopefully the snow won't interfere with tomorrow mornings Piano recital (Sarah), Girls in Science Day at a local University (Natasha), and the afternoon Valentines party at church, complete with pink lemonade, crafts, and a professional storyteller. Mira is especially interested in the pink lemonade.

Sarahs' Valentines turned out adorable. They looked ever so much sweeter piled in her decorated pail and pinned on the embossed paper hearts wrapped in the cellophane bags, but this is the best I could do last night after the sun set. As I was too lazy to search out a pretty piece of linen to lay them on when there were bags to stuff and children to get to bed you can gaze at Purl Bees' photo if you prefer.

Happy Valentines Day!