Dear Unwashed  (from a very clean Penny)
 
 
Isn't this a marvellous cartoon - I found the smaller version on a jigsaw puzzle site and then spent some time working on it to create this 3D look - and I think it's one of the best we've done - if I say so myself. (but I think that about every new one I do)
 
FIRSTLY - there's nothing wrong with Penny - she's just fine - and as happy and healthy as any other spoiled, do-nothing, layabout, yachtdog around - so don't be concerned and panic (like everyone seems to do) at the mention of the word 'veterinary' in the title - - it's just a funny cartoon - HA!
 
It's ME that needs the VET.   Not HER.   I'M the one with the sore leg - and she's prancing around and even running across it - without a care in the world - in her neverending pursuit of fun and flippancy (when awake).
 
But just to bring you up to date - and if you didn't know because you're not a 'regular writer' - about 2 weeks ago I encountered a mishap with my name on it .   Now I'd like to be able to say that I was injured on a pirate pillaging raid - or during a swashbuckling sword fight - or even a wild mudcrab attack - but the sad and sorry truth is . . . . . that I tripped on a milk crate on the back deck and skinned my shin.   Pretty ordinary - eh?
 
Well it was a pretty good knock - and there was blood - and there was swelling - and then there was - h a e m a t o m a - a word which we like to use frequently because it just sounds so good.
 
Well - to carry on further - even after the 'usual' cleaning and treating with antiseptic - p r o t o c o l s - (which is another good word) - a few days later it looked like this - which everyone knows - is  a l l  w r o n g.
 
 
 
 
So then began a 2 week saga - of repeated trips ashore - visits to the Emergency Department at the Sutherland Hospital - for tests - and intravenous antibiotics (Cephalothin) - - - t w i c e  a  d a y  - - - which are still going on - and for the next few days.
 
 
 
 
A pressure bandage - and keeping the leg elevated - and above the heart - all help - and when the leg is raised - it doesn't hurt - which is a 'good'.
 
 
 
 
'Pretend' sympathy - from Penny
 
 
 
And now - for all of this week - and still twice a day - I've been attending the Southcare Health Service - which is where they have about 30 Community Nurses - who normally would come to YOU - but because we live on a boat - the Nurses were not lining up for a 'bouncy boat ride on the bay' - HA!.   So I have been making the expedition, morning and evening - by boat, foot, car, and pack mule - up there - to get the IV injections.
 
Yesterday - Penny came along too - to say hello to the Nurses.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Which brings us right up till now - and today - which is the weekend - and it has been arranged for the Nurses to come to Bill & Wendy's house - to give me the IV - which has to continue for 3 more days.   So this morning, Penny & me, motored over to Bill's - and this time - we got ashore - without mishap (we haven't been back there since the 'camera drowning' incident) - and we all sat on the garden chairs under the patio.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I am pleased to report - that the leg has continued to improve - day by day - and with each dose of medicine - and I'm sure that when I go back to the hospital on Monday for a review - they will discontinue the IV - and I will just continue a few more days taking tablets.   The redness is nearly gone - and the  h a e m a t o m a  is nowhere near as sore - so it's all good - so far.
 
In another hour it will be time to go ashore again - and this time - we will drive there - and afterwards - there is a 'Cranky Andy Extravaganza BBQ' - or - 'bring a piece of meat and a drink to the dock' - which Penny and me will rousily and bawdily attend - and I will regale everyone with the terrifying story of how my leg was gravely wounded in the Battle of Botany Bay, while fighting off 6 scurvy rogues, and a sea monster.
 
 
from your friends
 
Rodney & Penny