Well, many things have happened in the past month or so, except for finding the time…well, okay, to be honest, except for finding the desire to write a post (yes, I’m, still at a bit of a standstill there, unfortunately…not sure why…oh well).

But everything else is, well, stable, or as stable as it can be, which is positive.

Peekaboo, however, gave us a BIG scare about two weeks ago. I really thought she was on her way…out. Actually, in retrospect, it’s kind of a funny story (?), so here goes…

One morning I noticed that Peekaboo wasn’t responsive. She hadn’t come down to have breakfast with the other cats, as she always does. She was upstairs, fast asleep on the guest room bed. She didn’t even lift her head when I came into the room, which was also very unusual. She’s a big talker, you see, and she likes to meow (complain) at me whenever I’m within a few feet of her.

I didn’t want to wake her up…didn’t know what to do, really…but I felt that something was wrong. I called the vet clinic and spoke with a vet who agreed that she should be seen as soon as possible. An emergency appointment. The vet’s voice was not very encouraging. You may remember that Peekaboo has an inoperable, malignant sarcoma near her nose…

As soon as I put the phone down, I burst into tears. I thought this was the end. Memories flooded my mind, upsetting me even more. I went to get the cat carrier, which we keep in the room where Peekaboo was sleeping.

And then, as I pulled out the carrier, I heard a familiar “meow, meow, MEOW?!!!” behind me. Loud and clear. I turned around, and there she was, that little rascal, sitting up in bed with both eyes wide open (her left eye is usually half closed now, see photo), giving me a piece of her mind about the cat carrier, I presumed.

She proceeded to get up and jump off the bed with the grace of a ballerina, no kidding, and went downstairs to eat. Ahhhh, cats! I canceled the appointment at the vet clinic. I did take her to the vet the following week for a just-in-case check-up. A good thing I did that, too: the inside of her mouth was red and inflamed. The vet gave her two shots of cortisone and antibiotics. She’s going to have to have these shots every two weeks, perhaps for the rest of her life. Incidentally, she’s doing well, all things considered.

Anyway, that’s just one thing…keeping a close eye on Peekaboo…

Another is that we also finally (almost) finished our kitchen renovation. What a headache that has been. Now that it’s (almost) over, I can say it was worth it, but a few weeks ago I’d had enough and wished we’d just kept our old kitchen, which we’d had for 20 years. But okay, in the end it was worth it: we now have a beautiful kitchen with a big island (our dark old kitchen only had very narrow, impractical countertops). We love it. So do the kitties. The photo shows Potter on the island…

And of course I’ve been following what is happening with the Covid-19 pandemic, the vaccine issues, etc. Unfortunately, Tuscany isn’t doing that well right now. We’re still in a red zone, and the hospitals are full. I’ve been in self-isolation now for ages, it seems. I leave the house, double-masked, only for emergencies…like taking a cat to the vet. Otherwise, I’m at home all the time, which is fine, since I have plenty to do here.

Anyway, enough blabbering for today. Stay safe, everyone, and wear your  masks!!! Take care! Ciao!

P.S. As I re-read my post, I almost erased the part about the kitchen renovation. In a difficult moment like this one, it seemed like such a silly,  boring piece of fluff. But then I thought that sometimes we all need a bit of…fluff. So I left it in…

A few days ago I discovered that my blog reader/friend Dieneke Ferguson had died months ago, in October. She had been diagnosed with MM in her 50s for which she had undergone many conventional treatments. When she was left with no options (but the final one!!!), many years ago, she came across my blog, got in touch with me, and began taking curcumin, which managed to stabilize her so much so that in 2018 she was interviewed by BBC Radio 4. That interview, if my memory serves me correctly, was picked up by other news agencies. Dieneke became quite well-known.

Unfortunately, she later developed ovarian cancer. The last time we communicated, she was undergoing conventional treatments. Well, with all that was going on here in Florence, I didn’t hear of her death last October.

Dieneke and I had planned to meet someday…In fact, she had invited Stefano and me to stay with her so many times; I’m sad to say, however, that we never met in the flesh. But even so, I was attached to Dieneke, her spirit, her optimism…Her death greatly saddens me.

Here is an article about her: http://bit.ly/3pcJrkd

Ciao, Dieneke…

Wow, I can’t believe that I haven’t published a post in so long. More than TWO MONTHS…That’s definitely my (worst) record. 😕 Sorry about that. Since I’ve received a bunch of concerned messages, though, I thought I’d better reassure everyone publicly that I’m fine, Stefano is fine, the kitties are fine. In short, we’re all fine, although I’ve been dealing with some health issues with Peekaboo in the past month or so.

Last summer (and then in the fall, and then just about a month ago) she came down with a nasty case of gingivitis, which is concerning, not just because it keeps coming back, in spite of antibiotics and cortisone, but because more than two years ago she had an aggressive form of oral melanoma, and a portion of her jaw was removed…She recovered beautifully from that surgery, I would like to add…In this photo, if you look closely, perhaps you will be able to see that the left side of her face is a bit swollen (this is actually a good photo, since her left eye is usually half shut now). My poor Booboo!!!

But we’ll sort it out, I’m sure. Our vets had a meeting about Peekaboo yesterday. The upshot is that I’m taking her to the clinic tomorrow for a CAT scan. A CAT scan for a cat! Hah. Anyway, yes, I’m worried, but Peeky is a tough kitty who has been through so much…So she is going to be fine. Period.

Okay, let’s see, what else? I’ve been quite busy in these past two months of absence from the blog… not just translations, but, for example, after 20 years of living with an incredibly impractical kitchen (very little counter space, e.g.), we decided to have it totally renovated. I’m finally going to have the kitchen of my dreams (with lots of counter space, a new super duper oven, etc.). Very exciting. Demolition of the old kitchen will start on Monday. By the end of next week, I hope most of the new kitchen will be installed, except for the counter top, which will take another ten days or so.

Anyway, as we say in Italian, tutto bene = all is well. But now I really must continue clearing stuff out of the kitchen…Monday is just around the corner! Yikes!

So…ciao, everyone!!! Now more than ever, with all these blasted Covid variants floating around, please take care, stay safe, and wear your masks!!!

Yes, it’s been a long time, a very long time since I last published a post…To be honest, I just haven’t felt like it. Between the U.S. election and its crazy aftermath, something we have never seen in modern times!, AND the fact that Tuscany became a coronavirus Red Zone, I’ve been busy…lots of news to follow, lots of irritation against whiny sore losers, lots of getting organized so I can stay at home most of the time, and so on.

Mainly, though, and here I have to be honest: I just haven’t felt like writing.

But today, just now in fact, I read something written by a member of a Facebook group  to which I belong. Here is the quote, with no further explanation: “I personally believe that multiple myeloma is a spiritual disease.”

I’m going to hold back on commenting for a few days, because I’m interested to see what YOU think…