There's nothing that lifts the spirits more than a bit of escapism and that's what we got yesterday. We went to see 42nd Street at London's Drury Lane Theatre and I have to say that 'escapism' is an understatement. If you get the chance to go then please do. Compared to the film, they paint the love story angle with a very light brush. On the other hand, to continue a painting analogy, the dance sequences are produced in primary, poster-paint colours. They are amazing, truly stunning, a stage full of glittering, tap-dancing stars, all moving in perfect formation, in perfect time with the music. There are fabulous stage effects too, one uses a mirror lowered slowly onto the stage to change the effects of the sequence-style routine. You've got to go and see it, really!
I could enthuse about the dancing all day but there's more. The Victorians really knew how to design a theatre. The ceilings and walls are so highly decorated that as soon as you step into the Drury Lane you feel as if you've entered a fantasy land. It sets the scene so perfectly for this kind of show.
During the interval, in the queue for the ladies, a young girl wearing a pretty, red party frock was tapping away, throwing her arms around, twirling her skirt.
"Do you have tap lesson?" I asked.
"No," she said looking at her mother longingly.
It reminded me of when I was a kid. I used to pretend I could tap dance. I'll let you into a secret, between you and me, I still do, in the kitchen when there's no one else around. Those dance routines yesterday had me wanting to get up and dance just like when I was a kid. I'm convinced that tap dancing is inside every excited young girl and it stays there as we grow old. We just learn to hide it - most of the time.
I'm adding below a link to the official site where you can get a taster of the show with all those famous songs including We're in the Money, The Lullaby of Broadway, Keep Young and Beautiful, I Only Have Eyes For You and of course, 42nd Street.
42nd Street Musical
Cat Update: I've taken both cats off that medication (see previous post) and I have my happy, relaxed girls back again. I've spoken to the vet and he's agreed we keep a low-key eye on them and let them get on with their lives without being dosed up to their little feline eyeballs.
MA Update: Crikey! (polite expletive replacing what I really was thinking!) I've only got another two weeks before I hand in my assignment and I'm barely halfway through it. Best be going...
Thursday, 13 April 2017
Friday, 7 April 2017
Worrying Cat Update
Yesterday lunchtime the smaller of my two cats, Charlie, had an epileptic fit. To my knowledge she's never had one before. Scroll down to my previous post and you'll see that the vet had put both cats onto medication for overactive thyroids. The medication is Felimazole.
I phoned the vet and he said to keep her quiet and calm. He said that the best thing would be for her to fall into a deep sleep and that I was not to shake her awake from this. He also said to take her off the pills until Monday. Was he kidding? If Felimazole can cause cats to fit then neither of my girls will ever be given it again. A half hour later she had a second fit. It took the rest of the day for her to return to almost normal. She's still very subdued.
Does anyone out there know of any similar incidents with Felimazole and cats having a fit?
I phoned the vet and he said to keep her quiet and calm. He said that the best thing would be for her to fall into a deep sleep and that I was not to shake her awake from this. He also said to take her off the pills until Monday. Was he kidding? If Felimazole can cause cats to fit then neither of my girls will ever be given it again. A half hour later she had a second fit. It took the rest of the day for her to return to almost normal. She's still very subdued.
Does anyone out there know of any similar incidents with Felimazole and cats having a fit?
Wednesday, 5 April 2017
My Cats Have a Condition
Vet: So Charlie needs to have a 1.25 pill with her breakfast and a 2.5 pill with her supper.
Me: Ok, thank you, Vet.
Vet: And Mabel needs to have a 2.5 pill with her breakfast and a 5.0 pill with her supper.
Me: Ohhh kaaay... thank you, Vet. (Thinks: The vet couldn't have made it harder if she'd tried.)
My girls both have overactive thyroids. It was diagnosed at their yearly check up in February and now they'll have to have medication for the duration. I didn't even know that cats could get overactive thyroids. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence that they both have it, or if it's because they're sisters, but it makes no difference to my new headache which is that they don't like taking pills. I have to crush them in their food but then comes the even bigger headache. My girls have always been in the habit of grazing on each others food. Not any more! I'm hovering over them, lifting their dishes up, putting them down, small bits until they're medicated. I can only put food down freely when they've both had their pill. If only I could explain it to them.
Until they get the dosage right they'll have to go in to the vets once a month for blood tests. Poor girls find that very traumatic. So do I, especially during yesterday's vet visit when Charlie's carry case broke as I was putting her in the car. They have to be nil by mouth from the evening before which is disturbing enough without all the shaved necks and needles business.
One kind of good outcome about all this is that we finally get to benefit from the cat health insurance that we've been paying into for years. Insurance is a funny concept. Somebody said to me the other day that as they had never claimed off their house insurance, would they be able to ask for a rebate. I explained that insurance doesn't work like that but I can see their point. If we had all the insurance money that we'd paid out over the years then we would all be rich...I think.
Masters Update: My final assignment for this year (I'm doing a part-time MA in Creative Writing at Leicester University over two years) has to be handed in on 3rd May so I've only popped by to have a bit of a breather and share my cat concens with whoever reads this. For my assignment I'm creating a small poetry pamphlet and writing about the methods which would be required to get the collection published. I might even share some poems with you when it's completed and marked and returned to me....but first I have to write the thing!
Have a good Pesach (Passover), Easter or maybe you observe a different Spring festival. Whichever it is, have a good one. The sun is shining and it's looking lovely in the garden.....but now I really will get back to work.
Me: Ok, thank you, Vet.
Vet: And Mabel needs to have a 2.5 pill with her breakfast and a 5.0 pill with her supper.
Me: Ohhh kaaay... thank you, Vet. (Thinks: The vet couldn't have made it harder if she'd tried.)
My girls both have overactive thyroids. It was diagnosed at their yearly check up in February and now they'll have to have medication for the duration. I didn't even know that cats could get overactive thyroids. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence that they both have it, or if it's because they're sisters, but it makes no difference to my new headache which is that they don't like taking pills. I have to crush them in their food but then comes the even bigger headache. My girls have always been in the habit of grazing on each others food. Not any more! I'm hovering over them, lifting their dishes up, putting them down, small bits until they're medicated. I can only put food down freely when they've both had their pill. If only I could explain it to them.
Until they get the dosage right they'll have to go in to the vets once a month for blood tests. Poor girls find that very traumatic. So do I, especially during yesterday's vet visit when Charlie's carry case broke as I was putting her in the car. They have to be nil by mouth from the evening before which is disturbing enough without all the shaved necks and needles business.
One kind of good outcome about all this is that we finally get to benefit from the cat health insurance that we've been paying into for years. Insurance is a funny concept. Somebody said to me the other day that as they had never claimed off their house insurance, would they be able to ask for a rebate. I explained that insurance doesn't work like that but I can see their point. If we had all the insurance money that we'd paid out over the years then we would all be rich...I think.
Masters Update: My final assignment for this year (I'm doing a part-time MA in Creative Writing at Leicester University over two years) has to be handed in on 3rd May so I've only popped by to have a bit of a breather and share my cat concens with whoever reads this. For my assignment I'm creating a small poetry pamphlet and writing about the methods which would be required to get the collection published. I might even share some poems with you when it's completed and marked and returned to me....but first I have to write the thing!
Have a good Pesach (Passover), Easter or maybe you observe a different Spring festival. Whichever it is, have a good one. The sun is shining and it's looking lovely in the garden.....but now I really will get back to work.
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