Kate from Sydney (Ku-ring-gai)

Hi Kate,

if your cat (Schultz?) has a sore that won't heal, try applying jelly bush honey; it works on ulcers in both humans and horses, so should work on cats. Ordinary natural honey works on some skin problems. There is a honey from NZ (manuka?) that is also apparently very good. Sticky, but won't affect medications.

Sorry, pooch = dog

Very tired, not much sleep last night :)

I've used Betadeine on a chicken that had a raw sore on its back - that worked really well. Didn't know the sore was there until the dog herded the injured chicken out of the flock (of 12) and shooed her towards me. I was about to tell the dog off for chasing chooks until I realised the chook needed attention. The dog sat next to me while I applied the betadeine. She did the same thing a week later - chased the same chook towards me. I reapplied betadeine and let the chook go. The sore healed after that and the dog never did this again.

Kate, hope all is well with you and your loved ones.
Kate I hope you can help me out here, I'm trying to track down who had all those wonderful photo's of the chinese new year parade in Sydney this year. I thought it was Kate - sydney, but she suggested I try you.
I'm in need of a photo of the Dragon, especially the Head. My daughters ballet teacher wants me to make one up for this years ballet concert, and I would dearly love a photo which I could use as a guide. If you happen to have any, and are prepared to email me a photo, can you please buzz me, and we will organise email addy exchanges.
Thanks Kate
Have a great weekend.

OH, btw, you can now upload all your photo's in the Gallery Section that Gath has provided us. These can be uploaded as JPG's straight of your computer. Just go to update details, and click on Upload Photo's. All the instructions are there.

Thank you Kate!
Very much appreciated, they are all fantastic.
Now to figure our where to start.

Schultz is on easy jigsaw today.

Belated greetings for Leia. So glad the sun shone for her.
Hope she had a lovely day.

Leia. Hope you had a lovely day yesterday with lots of cake and presents.

Kate you have another Chinese New Year Parade photo on easy jigsaw.

Will have to catch up again soon.

You have another jigsaw today Kate.

Kate they are playing TAG again and I have tagged you. 4 questions to answer that can be found on page 1 on Easy.
Will have to catch up again soon. Met up with the other Kate a few weeks ago.

Hi Kate,
I just called to say hi and I noticed you said at the top of the page that you have a problem converting formats from Gif to Jpg. If you are not using a Mac then all you need to do is go into paint (in accessories) and choose 'save as' option and select a different format for your files. Hey presto they are saved as a different format! I hope this helps - then you can put more photos on this page. If you are using a Mac I can't help - sorry. However, I know Ian uses a Mac and he might be able to help you.

I'm curious. I've read two comments today about how cold and wet and wintry it is in Sydney. I checked weather.com and it didn't seem so bad, especially for winter. What DO you all in Sydney consider to be cold?

Had to find a C to F temp converter. http://www.wbuf.noaa.gov/tempfc.htm I'm amazed. Tell me about Sydney summers. Here we'll get about 10-14 humid days over 95F per summer and we hate them and have heat advisory warnings. Weather.com says it was 54F last night for you and it's 55F here tonight for us, but it's our summer. We're sleeping with the windows open and calling it "good sleeping weather." Of course, it's been warm during the day, averaging 74F but ranging between 66F and 82F for a daytime high, so there's enough heat built up in the house that it's comfortable for most of the night and it will feel cool-ish in the morning. I had to look at your 5(C) and laugh because in winter we have an average of about 3 weeks each winter when low temps are 5F or lower -- then it feels even colder when you factor in the wind chill. There are usually at least a few days each winter when daytime highs don't even climb above 5F. Acclimatization indeed! One of my daughters is studying a Geography course right now and she's on the world climates chapter. I'm going to share what you've told me with her. She'll be very interested. Maybe we'll have to travel to Sydney some day and do some on-site studying.
Thanks for the insight! (Almost midnight here.)

Kate, you've changed!
Have you moved or is this just closer to home?

I have! It's still me. It took a little while for my loyalties to follow my location!

Kate, I'm glad you enjoyed the story of Patches. Of course, I could go on and on about her -- what fun she was though she nearly drove me mad. She and Beau were puppies together and I was just at the end of my marriage. Talk about crazy time! Serena didn't come along until 2000. All my dogs are foundlings and 100% mutt. Just like me, I suppose. Thanks for your letter. Schultz is a dear old boy!

Kate, thank you very much for your kind thoughts, the future is looking much brighter.

Hi again, Kate!

Sandy can't take rimadyl because she has liver disease, having been poisoned six or seven years ago, and she has amazed her vet by outliving all expectations for her longevity (she was 13 in May)! She takes her denosyl for liver functioning and a tramadol for pain, and does fairly well, but she does fall periodically (back legs give out). She doesn't always want to do our "stroll" around our circular driveway, but does manage it reasonably frequently (a couple of times a week). I tell her that we are two little old ladies muddling through life these days (I am officially old today, now being eligible for Medicare - gads!!!), but I am a youthful 65 compared to how old she is in dog years, I guess (90 something?). But Schultz has such a happy, benign expression - poor Sandy looks worried so much of the time! Because I live on one level we don't worry much about steps (I have a ramp for the four steps to her pen where she's supposed to go potty, but often forgets before she gets there and goes on the deck, naughty thing - the ramp was built for a past pup - Snuvi - who had disk problems that ultimately caused his demise), but am thinking of carrying a towel strip for those times when she just collapses so I can help her up better.

But she's my best friend, so I do what I can to make her life comfy, as you well understand! Thank you for sharing Schultz with all of us! By the way, the day after I did the puzzle of Schultz rolling, Sandy went out and rolled as if to say, "He's got nothing over me!"

- Joan

Hi Kate. It's been a while since I stopped in, but I wanted to drop in and say hello. How goes all in your little piece of the world? Hope everything is fine and life is treating you well! Cheers!

Kate - glad you Did submit another Schultz picture, think most if not All really enjoy your loveable dog - keep them coming... Cheerio

Kate, thank you so much for the wonderful birthday message on my page. You even used the correct number of candles(16 = 61 read backwards)! It's going to be a good day for me, and I hope you have a great one yourself!

Ok my mistake! But it was an easy enough to make mistake.
BTW where did the (Ku Ring Gai) come from?

Kate, is that Aboriginal? Or what other language? And would you know its meaning?

Thank you! One day I would like to see the Aboriginal lands.

Hi Kate,
I finally uploaded some photos of my little family to my gallery - gradually, I'm learning! I just can't get the photo of my third cat down to a reasonable kb size, so that's yet another challenge - photoshop balks at further reduction, even though I got the others down o.k. Live and learn, and this photo technology is a hard one, but I'm getting there! Took in some shots from my first experience with my new digital camera, and now I have friends wanting copies to frame and hang, so I'm doing something right! So now Schultz can see Sandy!

Hello, Kate!
I was just wondering about Schultz, and how he is doing. Sandy is really slowing down now, and she had a bout with urinary incontinence and is on pills for that (I don't mention this to her, but she does smell a bit), but eats well and has her bright-eyed moments. I am going to try to keep the Christmas season a bit more low-keyed than Thanksgiving was, as she doesn't do well when her schedule gets changed a lot. I just can't believe it's Christmas already! She will be more comfortable when I get the pellet stove going (tomorrow? I must clean the blasted thing and I hate doing that) as that gives us a nice direct heat like a wood stove, and both of us arthritic old ladies will enjoy it!

I hope all is well with you and yours, and that you enjoy the upcoming Christmas season!

Good morning to you, Kate, and thank you for news of Schultz!
Yes, today is "washing out Sandy's quilt day" (her living room floor bed - it acts as an absorbent bed when she has her indiscretions - it must be washed in the tub and hung over the deck railing to dry as it's too bulky for the washing machine) - it's windy and milder, perfect for this chore. I shouldn't have been so whiney after Thanksgiving, but sometimes a houseful of guests leaves me a bit stressed (many of my friends are rather eccentric, and the mix at holidays can be problematic - but, then, I'm sure I'm equally eccentric!), but I'm so lucky folks can come here to stay over as I don't want to keep leaving Sandy with her babysitter, nice as she is, she works and Sandy is spoiled, since I am home most of the time. But it's hard living alone as I don't go away much - the Italian work was a big chunk of time away, and I always feel Sandy slips a bit when I'm gone. She rebounded amazingly this summer, thank heavens, but still we live our life "gently" as she can't walk very far. Now neither of us can walk, as it is hunting season! I must find that photo of Sandy and me in our orange vests! I don't make her wear one normally, just keep her close to me when we go around the circle for our strolls. I sing, too - that's punishment for anyone within earshot, so if they're trespassing on my property (30 acres of woods), it serves them right!!

Hello Kate. I just wanted to send my best wishes to you and to all those you care for. Enjoy the festive season, and may today and all future days bring you good health, happiness and peace. Cheers!

Wishing you all the very best for the Festive Season

Kate, I'm stopping in to wish you and Schultz a Very Merry Christmas! I hope the coming year brings you laughter each day and great times spent in the company of family, friends and cherished animals.

Hello Kate,
Just wanted to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I have been thinking about Schultz as I watch Sandy get older. She still is in good spirits, and follows me around the house, but I try to stay in one place longer these days so she can settle down and take a lengthy snooze. She often chooses not to take her walks (a walk is a very slow stroll around the driveway), but her appetite is good. I am content that we did not get a houseful of guests over the holidays and all my beasties could relax and not get terribly thrown off our daily routines!

Has your vet prescribed Proin (PPA/Propalin) for Schultz? I started her on half a tablet twice a day (side effects can be hyper-activity) and now she's on a steady one tablet twice a day. It has really helped with the urinary incontinence. I do wonder if some of the leg tremors/involuntary movements I am now seeing might be a result of the tablets, though. It seems to help if I gently massage the leg (right front leg in particular) but I have noticed her favoring the leg. At 85 pounds it is difficult when she has a problem! I have decided to take her for a ride in the car this weekend, just for her pleasure, and buy her a fast food hamburger. Fortunately my contractor built a ramp for her - very heavy, it can't be taken with us in the car (she totally rejected the $140 ramp I bought for her at the pet store!), so it's no problem if I don't have to get her out of the car anywhere. At the vets I have been asking for help (I dropped her once, just about six inches from the ground, but I felt badly and now am afraid I'll drop her again - must get over this fear, I can't afford it as I live alone!). But I know about waiting until they are ready - was pretty weepy over the holiday out of worry over her, and I just can't be this way, need to be upbeat to keep her happy, she has enough anxiety (she likes to keep an eye on me all the time, hates it when I go out or even down in the basement, she can't do steps, needless to say) without me moping about!

Hi Kate, I love most things about Sydney, but that are is probably my favourite. Thanks again for the photos - I hardly ever get to Sydney these days and those I recognise remind me of just how much I enjoy the place!

Sending you my very best wishes for 2009. May it be filled with love and happiness.

Happy New Year,
We are staying in tonight which is in sharp contrast to last year. We had 60 people at our house last year and partied until dawn.
So here I am, partying with my sudoku mates.

Hi Kate, thank you for your New Year's message. Anne and I hope that 2009 brings you good health, happiness and good fortune.'
Ian

Happy New Year Kate! Hope 2009 is full of good things for you! :)

Happy New Year!!!