Wrote a thing.

I finished writing my Tolkien RSB story, Angmar Rising. It's a story about Glorfindel arriving in Rivendell in the Third Age and having an adventure in Rhudaur.

The art I wrote for was a picture of Glorfindel in armour looking back at himself in the years of peace by Sempermoi, and it's very well done. 

I had terrible trouble getting to the end of the story and eventually wrote the end in a great rush close to the deadline.  Next year I really am going to give TRSB a miss: I think I prefer to do writing in the winter and doing sunny day things when the sun is here. 

 

Ears again

Theo's ears did not improve, so he had to have a general anaesthetic so his ears could be flushed and treated. That was about two weeks ago.

There were no foreign bodies in his ears, and neither the vet's local swabs nor the ones sent off to the lab found anything significant apart from an overgrowth of yeast.

By the next day, the ears were full of wax again! But a course of steroid pills and ear-drops have resulted in healthy-looking ears that don't seem to itch - though they still smell slightly of cheese. The total cost was £520. Ouch.

The internet has of course a thousand and one theories as to how to prevent yeast overgrowth in dog-ears, and I am now wondering whether to try an exclusion diet in the hope that he might be reacting to something in his food... or just accept that he's prone to these issues.

I don't know. I might try one of the new cold-pressed insect-based foods. On the face of it, more ethical than meat-based food for dogs, and I'm sure he would be happy to eat it : he's not picky.