A doozy of a week

It's been a tough week.  One of the toughest we've had as a family ever.  Jules has been spending as much time with Duncan and Bella as possible.  There have been some horrendous administrative processes they've had to deal with and Jules has tried to help as much as possible whilst also making sure that they have time and space.  It's a long road ahead.  

Tess has been very sick this week.  It looked to me like she had tonsillitis but because of Covid she wasn't able to see her normal doctor so I took her to a special clinic where she had a Covid test and was able to be examined by a doctor wearing full PPE.  She was diagnosed with tonsillitis and sent home with some antibiotics.  The antibiotics did nothing so 2 days later she was back to the doctor for a blood test.  On Saturday it was confirmed that she has glandular fever.  The poor girl has been completely flattened by her sickness - she was waking up in the morning, coming upstairs, collapsing on the floor/sofa until about 4pm and then heading back down to her bed for the rest of the evening/night.  Her throat was so painful that she wasn't able to eat anything for about 5 days.  Her throat is finally getting better and she's able to eat small amounts so I'm hoping we've turned a corner.  

On Wednesday Jules and I became concerned about Ted because he was showing all the signs of having a sock stuck inside him.  On Thursday morning Ted vomited up a sock and we breathed a sigh of relief.  However, he continued to go downhill so first thing Friday I took him to the vet who decided to operate immediately.  It wasn't a sock this time but pieces of a rope toy that Ted had obviously been chewing and swallowing.  He stayed overnight at the vet and was home on Saturday feeling very sorry for himself.  As I write this on Monday afternoon he's clearly feeling much better and is constantly hassling me for food or a walk.  

Our friend Sheldon had a shoulder reconstruction on Monday so we popped round on Saturday evening for a quick drink to see how he's getting on.  He has to wear a sling 24/7 for the next 6 months!

Tom has been growing at a rate of knots but because he's on crutches it's not easily apparent how tall he's getting.  He's desperate to overtake Tess and I think it might not take long.  

It was Jules' birthday on Sunday.  He and Andrew have bought themselves a new yacht, a Young 88, to replace Okavango Delta.  They've been researching for a long time and after a lengthy process the purchase settled during the week.  She's a 30ft baby yacht with a proper cockpit, a kitchen and a toilet! Kia Kaha means "stay strong" in Maori which seems rather fitting given everything that's happened this year.  Last year Jules bought himself a Land Cruiser for his birthday, this year a yacht, so I'm a little worried about what it will be next year and he's not even 50!  In the evening we went for a very low key family dinner to a local Italian in Manly.