I wanted to flag up to everyone that there is a new challenge live at A TRUE FRIEND and it is an especially good one.
It is all about scrapping some of life's milestone moments. Things that we really and truly do need to scrap. And those things might not always be easy to scrap.
The page I made is a case in point. It records an event that happened exactly 4 years ago which I have never scrapped because it is still very upsetting. However, it deserved to be recorded and now it is.

The photo was taken just a couple of days after the event and you can see Fiki looks so much younger than he does now.
The tag under the picture documents, in great detail, what happened.
Fiki is not allowed in the bathroom because he plays witht he shells on the glass shelf, enjoying smashing them into the sink below and when that amusement wears off he stands on tiptoes and bashes the light pull against the tiles to make a nice smashing sound!
So, late one evening in may 2006 I went to the loo. He followed me in, as always, just in case he missed anything. I picked him up as I came out, moving Kira away from the door with my feet and, with him still in my arms, I shut the door.
Neither Nij or I have ever heard a noise like it and I hope to God I never do again. There was such a terryfying scream and he flew out of my arms. I had inadvertantly shut the last two inches of his tail in the hinged side of the door. It broke his tail and he skinned it pulling it out as he flew out of my arms.
He was terrified and in a lot of pain. I was hysterical. Eventually we coaked him out of hiding and he was clearly very hurt. It was 10.30 pm so we phoned the emergency vet. they warned us it was £90 as soon as we walked through the door if we took him at night. So what! Our baby was in pain.
We went to the vets and he was given antibiotics and painkillers and we all had a restless night. We knew he might loose the tip of the tail or, even worse, paralysis may travel and he could loose more.

He suffered terribly over the weekend and on Monday we took him to see our own vet. Our vet swears that what happened next wasn't possible! When Tom examined him there was a distinct crack as he felt the damaged part of the tail. From that moment on the tail that he hadn't been able to raise off the ground, the tail that was causing him great pain, was mended. I swear blind it was dislocated and Tom's examination clicked it back into place. Tom says not possible. But whatever the reason the tail was better.

It took ages for him to forgive me - he had been in my arms when he was hurt and he was scared. It took me much longer to forgive myself. In fact I don't think i ever have. I still remember coming back from the vets and cleaning the blood and fur off the door.
It is a horrible story about an accident but it did need to be recorded as part of their album.
There is a companion page for this - I am ashamed to say.
It documents how I shut Kira's paw in the drawer under the bed. Another accident. I am not a careless cat owner - truly I am not. But they do get everywhere. It is a miracle they haven't been hurt more times to be honest.

My quote for today is

Fitting to have a quote about reputation today. I hope I haven't now got a reputation as a negligent owner.
Today I am thankful for
- a hard job over with today
- The fact that - despite everything - my fur babies love me
