A Wish for our dear friends

Selamat Hari Raya / Eid Mubarak to all our Muslims friends.

A special wish to my blogger friends here in Malaysia especially to Emila, Marzie, Khemy, Rizal, Bain, Aki, Yun, Soulie and Jeeb + Qeeb, Diya & Lady Java. Be safe on the roads and have a wonderful holiday with all your loved ones. May all of you have a blessed Raya. Maaf Zahir Batin. 

Let's Talk Straight

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Gentle Reminders and The Cranky Old Man

Great Pretender - The Platters

Don't you just love oldies. They sing more about love and fun. The lyrics are more simple and true. And catchy.

I love oldies because i am an old soul. I love oldies because i grew up listening to all these songs but they were not oldies back then :) That kinda makes me old now :D

The Platters were and still remain one of my favourites.

My dad just got his ipad loaded with loads of oldies. He's been blaring the songs every single day and that kind of makes him happy. Someone has been very kind to share all their oldies with him. Now he's more occupied with singing. He won't get up to answer the phone and he won't get up to answer the door. So try calling him now. *LOL*

To be at his age, life can get a bit lonely. He sends me and my siblings emails everyday even though he's just sitting in the hall. He forwards a lot of funnies, thought provoking things and gentle reminders sometimes.

Here's one of the gentle reminders he sent yesterday which i think that i should share it here with all of you. Its a very long poem. I am sure some of you would have stumbled on it before.

Cranky Old Man

What do you see nurses?. . . . . . . What do you see?
What are you thinking. . . . . . . when you're looking at me?
A cranky old man,. . . . . . . not very wise,
Uncertain of habit. . . . . . . with faraway eyes?

Who dribbles his food. . . . . . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice. . . . . . . 'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice. . . . . . . the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . . . . . . A sock or shoe?

Who, resisting or not .. . . . . . . . . . . lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding  . . . . . .The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?  . . . . . .  Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse . . . . . . you're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am . . . . . . . As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, . . . . . . as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . . . . . . . with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . . . . . . who love one another

A young boy of Sixteen. . . . . . . with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now. . . . . . . a lover he'll meet
A groom soon at Twenty. . . . . . . my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows. . . . . . . that I promised to keep.

At Twenty-Five, now. . . . . . . I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide. . . . . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . . . . . . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . . . . . . With ties that should last.

At Forty, my young son. . . . . . . have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me. . . . . . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more,. . . . . . . Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children. . . . . . . My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me. . . . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future. . . . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing. . . . . . . young of their own.
And I think of the years. . . . . . . And the love that I've known.

I'm now an old man. . . . . . . and nature is cruel.
It's jest to make old age. . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles. . . . . . . grace and vigour, depart.
There is now a stone. . . . . . . where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass. . . . . . . A young man still dwells,
And now and again. . . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys. . . . . . . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living. . . . . . . life over again.

I think of the years all too few . . . . . . . gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . . . . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people . . . . . . . . open and see.
 
Not a cranky old man. Look closer. . . . . . . see. . . . . . . ME!!

My dad is quite a cranky old man too. On some days, i actually tune out. Mentally drained. But its not so bad nowadays. I've learnt to cope and he has learnt not to be too cranky on me... sometimes.

Try watching the news on tv with him. He'll curse and swear at all the government issues in the country *LOL*. You do not know whether to laugh or cry or just run to another room. Try driving with him in the backseat. You'll wish you can just stop the car in the middle of traffic and run out. For every other thing, he will find some negative thing about it.

But when i get too quiet, he will worry. *LOL*

My dad buys me breakfast every morning after his walks. He bought a whole lot of ham and bacon when he saw that i was so sad when Dom was not eating. He told me... give him some ham. Dom will surely eat ham. He folds all the clothes in the house after the laundry. He wipes my car all the time. He buys me food when i am sick.

How can i be angry with my cranky old dad. They might be cranky most of them time. But i guess if i am at his age and have aches and pains everywhere and with no one to talk to except Dommy and Piper... i could be cranky too.

Be nice to your old folks and if they get too cranky and grumpy, just tune out if you cannot take it. Don't pick fights with them. Don't hurt them with words. Silence is always the better weapon. Its funny. When i am silent, people are always afraid. ^.^

Dom is getting much better. Still wearing his road construction orange top. Still sleeps a lot. But he is eating more. Still loves chicken stew and raw fish. Still handfed. I think he just likes the idea of handfeeding.

Some people say that i should stop handfeeding him and just let him eat on his own or starve. They say that he will eat eventually when he's hungry. I only have one Curly. I don't think i can get to heartless yet. He must eat.. and be well first. He does have springs on his legs again :D

Of Spirit and Heart

Piper says...

Hello there :) This is me. Mr P at the puters. Since the Curly and the cow is busy with stuffs, i guess it is up to me to get the blog moving. Some updates for you guys.

Lemme see.. how about a cute picture first.

Ain't this guy the cutest furry on the block. *ahem*

I mean... did i get your attention yet? I was a trying to get your attention first you see. Now... look into my beautiful eyes and say... all together now... oooooOOOOHHHH.. ain't Piper the cutest fella on the block.

Don't mind my messy self. SHE was too LAZY busy to give me a bath. SHE said i still smell nice. I am a mess. But hey... who likes baths anyways. I don't. That's for sure. Anyhow.. here's me on my evening walks. Check out my cute pink tongue and the flowers or flower.

This is what i do best other than picking fights with all the doggies in the neighbourhood. You can't just mark one. You have to mark them all.

Tire christening is a must do. All the tires and the lamp poles along the route have to be checked and marked. I do take my job seriously but SHE says i am just wasting my time and taking too long on walkies. The rain will just wash it all away SHE says. But what does SHE know. She does not have the ultra super sonic noses we furries do.

Here's the curly in his silly orange shirt. He finally had a bath after close to a month. *phew* But poor guy's been sick for so long. SHE only dared to give him a bath yesterday when it was really warm and sunny. Straight after the bath, Curly had to don the silly orange shirt.

I think Curly's all well now. He is just milking the cow. The cow is so silly as to believe that the Curly has to be handfed all the time. All the time i tell you. I can see from the corner of my eyes that the Curly is just pulling a fast one on the cow.

SHE just found out that Curly has a strange liking for raw fish. Maybe Curly's been mixing around with them kitteh kats too much or perhaps Curly is a Japanese in his past life. Curly also develop a liking to chicken stew. SHE was so happy that Curly loves something that she quickly cooked a small pot of stew with no salt just for the Curly... and me. Our stew consists of carrots, potato and glorious chicken. There's also a cob of corn in the pot to make the soup nicer.

I think Curly looks like those workers at the construction site in his orange shirt. Don't you think so? SHE bought it cheap in Thailand. It just cost 3 bucks for the orange shirt.

Curly has started going back on his walks. Short slow walks. He walks like an old man now. Even grandpa called him old man just now. Curly thinks he looks awesome and handsome in his orange shirt. He even had a small spring in his legs.. kinda like he is proud to be out walking in his orange shirt. But i think people will just think he is just one of the road construction crew. *BOL*

Okay.. i think i should not be mean to my orange brother. He looks a wee bit cute in orange.

But surely not as cute as me. Yes. SHE bought the same cheapo 3 bucks shirt for me too. But in yellow.

All these blogging is just too hard work for a small furry like me. I'll take a nap now. See you all tomorrow :)

*woof & licks*
Piper

Webify Me!

If you are a wee bored... and its lunchtime... or you are lazy to do a post... try this quiz from Firefox :)

Webify Me!

here's mine :)

https://webifyme.org/en-US/collage/a9e1008b9bf4/

Wordless Wednesday - Undercover

Raw vs Kibs vs Love

It is the summer... and during summers, people can be allowed to be lazy. Right? It is mid August... and we are picking up speed at work again. Gone are the shaking legs and bum days. July was pretty nice. We had a bit of a lull at work when the markets go for their summer breaks.

My mind hasn't been here or there lately. I took almost 2 weeks to learn something new. The heart is just not in it. But work has to be done eventually. Things can be easily done when you set your mind to get it done. A much wasted 2 weeks of dog dreaming.

I've just been bogged with things about the Curly. Things to cook for the Curly. Things to make the Curly eat. During these past weeks, i have become a chef for a Curly. Perhaps i am a bit crazy.

Everyday, my mind do whizzes and whooshess. I think i am in trouble. Curly's got the upperhand now and he is now the top dog. He has gotten me to handfeed him every single meal. He just gives me the.. feed me or i'll faint look. And i'll be on my knees beside him begging him to eat. Hmmm... Do you think i should starve him a bit? Till he eats on his own?

I can't be cruel to a sick dog. Can i?

I've always believed that you must teach a person to fish than to fish for the person. If you keep fishing for the person, the person will be dependent on you for the rest of his/her entire life. Same goes with feeding our furries. If they are hungry, they will go to their food and eat them eventually. Right?

But if you touch his curly tummy and its all sunken in and he looks hungry and tired but will not eat from his bowl, won't you handfeed him? Maybe i should buy him a new bowl. Maybe he got bored of his bowl. Maybe his bowl smells of stainless steel.

Oh for god sakes... please eat Dommy.

I have tried all kinds of food for him. I've read so many many sites on feeding our furries. We even tried a raw diet. Piper enjoyed his piece of meaty raw chicken and even sneak the bone back to his bed to enjoy it slowly. For someone with very small teeth, he manage to finish up the bone with a big big smile on his face.

raw moment

We ended up washing his bed and pikachu after his meal. Dom... he just have a few tiny pieces of raw chicken. Handfed.

My dad was appalled that i am feeding them raw chicken. He asks me again and again about bacteria and stuffs. He just had this shocked look on his face. He kept asking me if i am doing the right thing.

I did do my research before i handed a raw piece of meat to Piper and Dom. Piper has been with us since he was a kitten puppy. We never feed him anything raw before. Its always cooked and he always have kibbles with cooked chicken meat or peas or carrots. On some occasions, he have some broth and some sauces with his kibbles. But never anything raw.

The 1/2 an egg thief

Dom might have some raw meat before when he was living in Australia. Some people swear by the raw diet. I am just wondering, how many of you out there serve your furries a complete raw diet. I am thinking of going that way with Dom when he gets better.

I am pushed to explore the possibilities of feeding a raw diet as i'm almost at the end of the rope on what to feed Dom. I want him to be well and i just want him to eat.

If you guys would be so kind, please help me with the polls on the top right corner. Thank you.

On one of my own saddest day, i was able to stuff myself with food to sustain and to live. I did not want to allow myself to be sick and to breakdown. Somehow it was the right thing to do. When i am sick, i still try to drag myself to cook something to eat. Eating is a way to live. Why does he not want to eat like he used to?

Curly is sleeping most of the time

We went for the follow-up visit to the vet to get his heart medicines last Friday. He trotted in to the clinic on his own. The vet says he looks much much better but no baths yet.. still. Dom was all smiles when the vet didn't put the termometer up his "toot". He was all smiles when it was time to go home.

We have rain these past few days. The air is so much better. Its cooler in the afternoons too.

I just tweeted the word FML a while ago. For some reasons, i was having my FML moment. It soon passed. For some who are not in the know about the abbreviation FML, google it ya.

This is a good site to have a laugh when you feel like you are having a FML moment. My FML moment passed soonest i read some of other people's FML moments. Here.. have a laugh. www.fmylife.com

What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. ~ C.S. Lewis

Good Life ~ One Republic

Yuki's First Barkday

Today is our furfriend Yuki's First Barkday. Both of us are at her place waiting for cake from her mom. Her mom is a super dooper baker. If you do not know who's Yuki... drop by and check her out. She is one pretty lady.

Happy 1st Barkday Yuki!

Have a great barkday Yuki. Hope your momma made you a super dooper cake.

Ignorance is bliss

Not knowing something is often more comfortable than knowing it.

Smiles for A Beautiful 10th

Today is my good friend's 10th Birthday. 

Do you know who? 

Here she is...

Happy Happy 10th Barkday to you 

Sugar Sima

Here's our smiles for you...

Mr P is quite a cool dude... he hardly smiles..

Have a great birthday with lotta nom and noms and lotta love.

Since my brother Piper came back this morning, we celebrated your birthday with an egg...

and we both had 1/2 of an egg... AGAIN.

I had to share MY egg with my brother Piper AGAIN.

Fragile

Pip's little sister went for an operation last Friday. We hope she's healing beautifully. We have our paws and fingers all crossed for you. Our thoughts are with you Pip and Kristin.

We finally got around the scare and the scary and found a certain balance in our lives again.

I had a scare one morning last week. Waking up and moving over to Dom's chair, i looked at him and he didn't move. Usually when i wake in the morning, he will be all ready to go for a leak. But here i am looking at him and he didn't move a muscle. I put my hand over to his chest to check. Suddenly he jumped up startled. He was just in deep sleep. Very very deep sleep. It must have been the medicines.

A day later, i found him a bit wobbly and didn't quite use his left hind leg. It got worse and he started to hobble around and lie down most of the time. That got us worried and we were off to the vet again last Thursday.

The vet checked all his legs and was bending it here and there just to make sure he didn't sprained it. Then he made Dom walked here and there to see his gait. It turned out he became anaemic from not eating properly. Poor nutrition.

He hasn't been eating his kibs for the past 2 weeks.. or so. Ever since he was sick, he stopped eating his kibs. He has been very choosy about his food lately.. and still needs to be handfed. I think he's beginning to like the idea of being handfed.

Eating just chicken breast without the normal nutrition from his kibs is just not enough. The minerals that are contained in his kibs are just not found in just chicken. The past week has been a bit of a topsy turvy as each day, we struggled to force him to eat something... and trying to come up with new ideas for food for him. At one time, i even started to beg him to eat. He seem to understand and took a few more mouthfuls.

The vet advised that if he really does not eat, give him some essence of chicken... or an egg.. or something. We got to keep him eating else he'll be wobbly. When he's anaemic, he does not feel like eating at all. Lethargy and he just lies down the whole day.

Then we cooked a pot of chicken... added some carrots.. peas... potatoes... and sweet potatoes. We mix some up with an egg... with some flour and oats.. and we have meat patties. Meat patties go into the oven for a crunchy feel and he seem to like that. My sister suggested i put some of his kibs into the mixture too and we have meat patties + kibs included. He ate some of that too.

We made some progress these few days. He is not limping anymore and seem to have more energy. He's even eager for a walk. We had a short slow walk yesterday around the neighbourhood and he was so happy to get out there for his mails. We can't do long walks at the moment as we do not want to stress his heart. We are being careful and am scared.

His lungs are much clearer and he is without fever now. The medicines did help but his enlarged heart will always be enlarged.

We had a long talk with the vet... and dad asked the vet a lot of questions. Even the ones that i didn't want to know. The vet said, if we are lucky, we'll probably get 2 more years with Dom. He was quick to add that his own dog survived 4 more years after his dog was diagnosed with a heart condition. We can't really know. It will probably get a bit worse in the end and some of his organs will give way slowly. But for today, we'll just have to be happy and be thankful for another day well spent.

What we must know is that we cannot stress him too much. He'll just be like an old guy taking it easy now. With love and lots of care, he'll probably outlive me :)

We have a lot of people praying for him everyday. Thank you all so much. He is so loved by so many.

"We who choose to surround ourselves
with lives even more temporary than our own,
live within a fragile circle;
easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps,
we would still live no other way.
We cherish memory as the only
certain immortality, never fully
understanding the necessary plan."

~ Irving Townsend

Wordless Wednesday - An Old Picture from 2007

The Case Of Them Pips

Hmmm... who's in my garden...

A small little furry perhaps... but who...

PIP?

Yes... its me.. George Clooney Pip

Let's play ball

That's kinda funny Pip.. *BOL*

Thanks for coming by to see me Pip. I had a great day with you. But loose the sweater will ya. Its dog days of summer here.

To all my furry friends. I am NOT going to CONK so fast as SHE thinks. I am gonna be around and torture her for a very long time. I am a fighter and i will get through this with all my curly guts.

I am feeling much much better. Not so tired like the past few days. I think my lungs are with less of them fluids as i can move much faster. We don't get anymore AC at night. We just sweat it out in the room with the fan on. I am beginning to bark at all the peeps who stopped by our house. I still perform my job of securing the house very well.

SHE still don't take me for walks because she is a scardy cat. She is afraid that i will collapse and CONK. She and her CONKing business. But she takes me for car rides. SHE still handfeeds me.. hehehehe... i am milking it alllllllllllllll the way.

Today i started my begging business at the table. Being sick and all, they are quite clueless and fall into my tricks. They cave in easily. I get noms and noms. I am not back on my kibs yet as that tasted like cardboard. Who wants to eat cardboard when you can have chicken right?

Hopefully i'll spring back to where i was before i got sick and be better soon.

Enlarged hearts usually do not go back to normal as SHE found out. We will just have to live with this heart condition for the rest of my curly furry self. Its okay as long as i can have my chicken and my furry buddies.

Thank you for all your furry loves and prayers. I love all of yous.

With lotta furry love,

Dommy