This is my selfie for the week:-
The stresses of managerial work never ends, and some days I have had to undertake some serious work in the chair.
Sometimes I works so hard I have to have a working lunch too..... and a working nap!
Sometimes I works so hard I have to have a working lunch too..... and a working nap!
............... and now it's Sunday Story Time!
This weeks story is dedicated to a very dear friend to us all, Kali, from The Canadian Cats blog, who crossed the bridge this week. Our hearts reach out to Shoko and the family, and we are sending gentle purrs to help heal their loss......
This weeks story is........... Aches and Pains.
Mrs Hudson is lying down on the parlour floor, whilst Erin, who is sat on her chest, gently taps Mrs Hudson's right cheek with her paw.
"Is it numb yet, Mrs H?"
"Dumb, dear? Now don't be hard on yourself, Erin. I'm not sure it is the best idea you have come up with, but I'm all for trying alternative remedies and treatments. I have to confess that I had hoped though that it would be numb by now. You have been at it for the last fifteen minutes after all."
"I DID say numb, Mrs H. Maybe if you sorted that bun out you could hear me better?"
"The Sun and some beer? Well I'm game for it if you are, Erin, but it is rather irregular of ones employer to ask one out to a pub lunch and a drink. Don't you think we should sort this matter out first?"
Erin slapped a paw to her head and sighed deeply. "OK so maybe I have been a bit too subtle. If I hit you very hard on the cheek like so... WHACKETY WHACK WHACK..........WHAAAACK! Then maybe that there tooth of yours will numb up a bit so we can pull it out. How was that? Do you feel any more numb than before?"
"Hang on dear, I can't hear you. I'll just slide this bun over a tad and I should be OK. My face is numb now though." Mrs Hudson sat up and moved the bun back behind her head and secured it with a hair grip. Feeling her jaw, she winced as she came to the area of the sore tooth. "Hmm, well so much for Felix-opawpatry! What's next on that list of natural remedies?"
Erin had been busy researching tooth ache remedies since Mrs Hudson mentioned it that morning. The palace medical plan would have covered such matters, but for one small point. Mrs Hudson, no matter how she dressed, just couldn't pass as a cat. Any work she had done would therefore have to come out of her own purse.
Of course as she also didn't actually draw a salary this left another minor issue. Erin felt a minor pang of guilt as it was she who had asked Mrs H to rake the leaves in the garden in the first place. She had also not tidied up the rake which Mrs H had trodden on and which had then smacked into her jaw and broke the tooth.
Reiki healing had seemed like an obvious popular choice. But given the rake was to blame it did other seem like adding insult to injury by using it to cure her. Especially as by waving a rake over her jaw, there was a distinct chance of being clobbered by it again.
Crystal healing had come up in the search, and had seemed like the best option as she had used it herself. In fact she had some of crystal dissolving medicinal feed left, but given the pain factor and time, she felt that dissolving Mrs Hudson's teeth might not be practical a solution.
Erin twiddled with length of yarn she had found laying around the drawing room. And then a sparkle appeared in her eyes and she mentally, for want of opposable thumbs, snapped her fingers. "Mrs Hudson, I have it!
"I thought you had the wormer a fortnight ago, dear, or was that just the flea treatment?" Pulling out a small diary from her pinafore, she flipped through the pages until she found the one she needed, and then nodded. Yup it was just the flea treatment. one dose of Frontline Princess mix, to be taken in cream 5 times a day for a week. That's what you told me the consultant said, and I jotted it down, look."
Mrs Hudson proffered Erin the page as evidence, and then popped it away again. "Well if you have worms then it is from all those take-aways you have instead of a proper meal. I could do you a nice sandwich or a packed lunch, with nip salad with a white mouse starter... or finisher dependant whether you can catch it."
"No no no. I assure you, Mrs Hudson, I do not have worms, well not yet anyway. No, what I have is the answer to your tooth ache."
"What? A dentist? Well that is very nice, Erin, but I can't have you spending all your money on me. Not when there are bills to pay, things to mend, and mice to put on the table."
Not a dentist, Mrs H, a piece of string. Well a piece of yarn as it happens. Same difference really unless you happen to be knitting soft undergarments in which case it wouldn't go down well.
All we, meaning you, will have to do is tie this yarn to the tooth and I'll pull hard and that tooth will come out. Well that's the idea anyhow and it worked in a documentary by Messrs. Hardy and Laurel. Meet me in the study in ten minutes and we'll have it out in a trice.
Mrs Hudson entered the unlit study very slowly. There was a chill in the air even though flames licked at a log in the hearth. The flames seemed to dance to a dark and sinister tune that played from the wireless. "Hello, is anyone there? Erin? You did say the study, didn't you?" Her hand felt along the wall and pushed the brass lever downwards. Nothing happened, so she flicked it up and down twice more and still no luck.
Reaching into her apron she withdrew a small lighter and a candle. No sooner than she lit it than a sudden breeze made it gutter and go out. At the same time a large white ghost appeared in front of her and let out a terrible moan.
Mrs Hudson screamed, dropped the candle and fled the room. As she did, Erin crept out from behind the ghostly sheet. The was a muffled banging and thudding sound from the kitchens, and then a large yelp followed by a long sigh. Erin, fearing she might just have inadvertently killed her housekeeper, headed off to the kitchens to see what she had done.
Erin arrived moments later and found Mrs Hudson sat on the floor, nursing her jaw. She had a wad of cotton wool doused in witch hazel pressed up against a rapidly reddening patch on her cheek. "Oh my, Erin, what a start that was. A ghost popped up from nowhere and frightened the stockings off me. I think we really must have words with those guys, and say they aren't to haunt during working hours without prior approval. Gave me quite a turn, not that I mind ghosts, but that was my best sheet they'd used and it reminded me I hadn't got the washing in from the line."
"Erm, Mrs H, I must confess that it was me that tried to frighten you. Look I'm really sorry about that and I do hope that you didn't hurt yourself?"
"I know dear, I saw your tail sticking out from behind the sheet of the ghost. The tiara was a nice touch though. It was very sweet of you to try to cheer me up that way, so I'd forget. Tell me, why a ghost? I mean I hope you didn't pay them to do that when a nice bunch of flowers would have been just as good?"
"Well I was actually trying to shock the pain into going away. It said in the book that a sudden shock was good aches and pains. It was either that or a cold bunch of keys down the back of your blouse when you weren't looking, but I didn't think I could manage that. It did seem like a good idea, honest." Erin, shuffled her feet and bent her head to avoid Mrs Hudson seeing the tears in her reddened eyes, and drooping whiskers.
"Oh my, Erin, you ninny. Those remedies are for stopping the aches of hiccups not tooth ache. Still, you actually did make them pains go away, in a round about fashion that is. You see when I saw that sheet I ran to get the washing in and trod on that confounded rake again. Looks like the smack I gave myself this time has shifted the tooth, look?" Opening her other hand, she revealed a dainty white molar nestling in a small silk handkerchief. If I get a few more of these I can have a set of dentures made." She smiled and winked at Erin. "Of course I could just pop it under my pillow for the tooth fairy to collect and leave me a golden coin."
Erin perked up at the mention of gold. "This fairy, does she come by appointment or is it on a needs must basis? I mean it is always best to know these things for future reference. I wonder If I could maybe mail her and find out if there is an exchange rate for different sort of teeth. There are bound to be a few around here that aren't being used. And I wonder if she could bring something other than gold.... like gold top cream or maybe a mouse or two?"
"Now Erin, I can see where you might be going on that, so don't you go getting any ideas now." Mrs Hudson waved a reproving finger at Erin. "I want to hang onto the rest of MY teeth as long as I can and I'm fairly certain the Kraken's will be rarer than the hens. Best leave that idea until the next time it happens. Now help me up and we can put the washing back out as seems like the suns out and my tooth ache gone." With that she got up and narrowly missed the cupboard door that was open overhead.
Erin grimaced at the near miss, and prayed the clothes pegs wouldn't pose any threat to life or limb. "You know, Mrs H, that's a great idea. It seems every cloud clearly does have a silver lining after all, maybe even gold!" Erin smiled, and picked up the bag of clothes pegs and trotted out into the garden. "I think we can probably get a spot of gardening done too. Maybe you could finish off raking these leaves whilst we're here. What do you think?"
"Mrs H, are you coming....." There was a loud THWACK, a thud and then a groan from behind her. Erin turned to see Mrs Hudson lying legs akimbo on the lawn, beside the rake, nursing her nose.
"Hmm, I think maybe we'll just forgo the laundry and gardening today, don't you?" Erin sighed, and then got a glint in her eye. "I wonder how much I..... er..... WE would get for a nose from that fairy? Mrs Hudson, hold still and don't let that nose run off, I've just got a quick phone call to make!"
The end
Erin slapped a paw to her head and sighed deeply. "OK so maybe I have been a bit too subtle. If I hit you very hard on the cheek like so... WHACKETY WHACK WHACK..........WHAAAACK! Then maybe that there tooth of yours will numb up a bit so we can pull it out. How was that? Do you feel any more numb than before?"
"Hang on dear, I can't hear you. I'll just slide this bun over a tad and I should be OK. My face is numb now though." Mrs Hudson sat up and moved the bun back behind her head and secured it with a hair grip. Feeling her jaw, she winced as she came to the area of the sore tooth. "Hmm, well so much for Felix-opawpatry! What's next on that list of natural remedies?"
Erin had been busy researching tooth ache remedies since Mrs Hudson mentioned it that morning. The palace medical plan would have covered such matters, but for one small point. Mrs Hudson, no matter how she dressed, just couldn't pass as a cat. Any work she had done would therefore have to come out of her own purse.
Of course as she also didn't actually draw a salary this left another minor issue. Erin felt a minor pang of guilt as it was she who had asked Mrs H to rake the leaves in the garden in the first place. She had also not tidied up the rake which Mrs H had trodden on and which had then smacked into her jaw and broke the tooth.
Reiki healing had seemed like an obvious popular choice. But given the rake was to blame it did other seem like adding insult to injury by using it to cure her. Especially as by waving a rake over her jaw, there was a distinct chance of being clobbered by it again.
Crystal healing had come up in the search, and had seemed like the best option as she had used it herself. In fact she had some of crystal dissolving medicinal feed left, but given the pain factor and time, she felt that dissolving Mrs Hudson's teeth might not be practical a solution.
Erin twiddled with length of yarn she had found laying around the drawing room. And then a sparkle appeared in her eyes and she mentally, for want of opposable thumbs, snapped her fingers. "Mrs Hudson, I have it!
"I thought you had the wormer a fortnight ago, dear, or was that just the flea treatment?" Pulling out a small diary from her pinafore, she flipped through the pages until she found the one she needed, and then nodded. Yup it was just the flea treatment. one dose of Frontline Princess mix, to be taken in cream 5 times a day for a week. That's what you told me the consultant said, and I jotted it down, look."
Mrs Hudson proffered Erin the page as evidence, and then popped it away again. "Well if you have worms then it is from all those take-aways you have instead of a proper meal. I could do you a nice sandwich or a packed lunch, with nip salad with a white mouse starter... or finisher dependant whether you can catch it."
"No no no. I assure you, Mrs Hudson, I do not have worms, well not yet anyway. No, what I have is the answer to your tooth ache."
"What? A dentist? Well that is very nice, Erin, but I can't have you spending all your money on me. Not when there are bills to pay, things to mend, and mice to put on the table."
Not a dentist, Mrs H, a piece of string. Well a piece of yarn as it happens. Same difference really unless you happen to be knitting soft undergarments in which case it wouldn't go down well.
All we, meaning you, will have to do is tie this yarn to the tooth and I'll pull hard and that tooth will come out. Well that's the idea anyhow and it worked in a documentary by Messrs. Hardy and Laurel. Meet me in the study in ten minutes and we'll have it out in a trice.
Mrs Hudson entered the unlit study very slowly. There was a chill in the air even though flames licked at a log in the hearth. The flames seemed to dance to a dark and sinister tune that played from the wireless. "Hello, is anyone there? Erin? You did say the study, didn't you?" Her hand felt along the wall and pushed the brass lever downwards. Nothing happened, so she flicked it up and down twice more and still no luck.
Reaching into her apron she withdrew a small lighter and a candle. No sooner than she lit it than a sudden breeze made it gutter and go out. At the same time a large white ghost appeared in front of her and let out a terrible moan.
Mrs Hudson screamed, dropped the candle and fled the room. As she did, Erin crept out from behind the ghostly sheet. The was a muffled banging and thudding sound from the kitchens, and then a large yelp followed by a long sigh. Erin, fearing she might just have inadvertently killed her housekeeper, headed off to the kitchens to see what she had done.
Erin arrived moments later and found Mrs Hudson sat on the floor, nursing her jaw. She had a wad of cotton wool doused in witch hazel pressed up against a rapidly reddening patch on her cheek. "Oh my, Erin, what a start that was. A ghost popped up from nowhere and frightened the stockings off me. I think we really must have words with those guys, and say they aren't to haunt during working hours without prior approval. Gave me quite a turn, not that I mind ghosts, but that was my best sheet they'd used and it reminded me I hadn't got the washing in from the line."
"Erm, Mrs H, I must confess that it was me that tried to frighten you. Look I'm really sorry about that and I do hope that you didn't hurt yourself?"
"I know dear, I saw your tail sticking out from behind the sheet of the ghost. The tiara was a nice touch though. It was very sweet of you to try to cheer me up that way, so I'd forget. Tell me, why a ghost? I mean I hope you didn't pay them to do that when a nice bunch of flowers would have been just as good?"
"Well I was actually trying to shock the pain into going away. It said in the book that a sudden shock was good aches and pains. It was either that or a cold bunch of keys down the back of your blouse when you weren't looking, but I didn't think I could manage that. It did seem like a good idea, honest." Erin, shuffled her feet and bent her head to avoid Mrs Hudson seeing the tears in her reddened eyes, and drooping whiskers.
"Oh my, Erin, you ninny. Those remedies are for stopping the aches of hiccups not tooth ache. Still, you actually did make them pains go away, in a round about fashion that is. You see when I saw that sheet I ran to get the washing in and trod on that confounded rake again. Looks like the smack I gave myself this time has shifted the tooth, look?" Opening her other hand, she revealed a dainty white molar nestling in a small silk handkerchief. If I get a few more of these I can have a set of dentures made." She smiled and winked at Erin. "Of course I could just pop it under my pillow for the tooth fairy to collect and leave me a golden coin."
Erin perked up at the mention of gold. "This fairy, does she come by appointment or is it on a needs must basis? I mean it is always best to know these things for future reference. I wonder If I could maybe mail her and find out if there is an exchange rate for different sort of teeth. There are bound to be a few around here that aren't being used. And I wonder if she could bring something other than gold.... like gold top cream or maybe a mouse or two?"
"Now Erin, I can see where you might be going on that, so don't you go getting any ideas now." Mrs Hudson waved a reproving finger at Erin. "I want to hang onto the rest of MY teeth as long as I can and I'm fairly certain the Kraken's will be rarer than the hens. Best leave that idea until the next time it happens. Now help me up and we can put the washing back out as seems like the suns out and my tooth ache gone." With that she got up and narrowly missed the cupboard door that was open overhead.
Erin grimaced at the near miss, and prayed the clothes pegs wouldn't pose any threat to life or limb. "You know, Mrs H, that's a great idea. It seems every cloud clearly does have a silver lining after all, maybe even gold!" Erin smiled, and picked up the bag of clothes pegs and trotted out into the garden. "I think we can probably get a spot of gardening done too. Maybe you could finish off raking these leaves whilst we're here. What do you think?"
"Mrs H, are you coming....." There was a loud THWACK, a thud and then a groan from behind her. Erin turned to see Mrs Hudson lying legs akimbo on the lawn, beside the rake, nursing her nose.
"Hmm, I think maybe we'll just forgo the laundry and gardening today, don't you?" Erin sighed, and then got a glint in her eye. "I wonder how much I..... er..... WE would get for a nose from that fairy? Mrs Hudson, hold still and don't let that nose run off, I've just got a quick phone call to make!"
The end
