A Pupdate and a Wordle Obsession ~ February 2022

How has this month been for you? My pup turned one (can I still call her a pup?) and we’ve had to buy expensive hypoallergenic dog food. And…I have a Wordle obsession. That kind of sums up February in my house.

It’s really hard to believe that our gorgeous Hungarian Vizsla pup is one already. I occasionally share photos of Kip on social media, but I haven’t shared anything here for a while so I think it’s a perfect time to give a pupdate.

Pupdate Time

Our little adorable bundle of mischief turned into an even more adorable, but very large bundle of mischief. She was a rascal and a thief when she was little. And guess what? She’s still a rascal and a thief.

She has stolen everything from pens and screwdrivers to Tesco Clubcard vouchers and a toilet brush. (Thankfully, the toilet brush was brand new and unused. She strutted into the kitchen carrying it hoping I wouldn’t notice.) I tell her she’ll end up going to prison if she keeps stealing, but when this wee face looks at you, how can you get upset?

Being a rascal is tiring…for her and for me! Puppies are hard work but my goodness, she’s so lovable and so loving.

Kip’s Health Pupdate – She Needs Hypoallergenic Dog Food

Life’s not been plain sailing for Kip. She suffers from terrible travel sickness. We hoped she would grow out of it, but she hasn’t. We have tried everything under the sun, but if she’s in the car for more than a ten-minute journey, she starts to feel sick. If the journey is more than twenty minutes she throws up. So trips to the vet aren’t easy. And unfortunately, we’ve had to have a few trips there.

Last year, at the end of summer, Kip developed spots on her tummy and inside her legs. The vet thought it was a pollen allergy so gave her steroids and ointment to treat it. It cleared up but came back a few weeks later so we had to take her back to the vet. The vet now believed that the rash was related to food, so gave us more steroids and told us she’d need a hypoallergenic diet.

We wanted to get her started on her new diet really quickly so bought hypoallergenic food at the local agricultural shop. We stopped all her old food, her doggy biscuits and treats that she loved. The steroids cleared her spots quickly but they came back.

Before calling the vet again, I started looking at the food she was eating. The hypoallergenic food we had bought was wheat-free, but it contained barley so I wondered if that was the problem. I found another brand of hypoallergenic dog food that is gluten-free, so there’s no wheat or barley in it. Kip loved her new food but most importantly, her spots started to clear up. Her skin is now looking so much better, so hopefully I have found the right food for her.

Gluten-free food for humans is expensive. My food bills rose when I was diagnosed with coeliac disease. Now I’ve discovered that gluten-free dog food is extortionately priced. She’s worth it though…

Now…My Wordle Obsession

Have you been caught up in the Wordle craze? I love puzzles. I play Scrabble and a few other word games every day, so when a friend gave me the link to Wordle, I was hooked on it straight away. But after Wordle, along came oodles of similar Wordle puzzles. I now have a terrible Wordle obsession and I waste so much time online.

Links to Wordle Puzzles So You Can Share My Obsession

Here are links to some of the games if you’ve got a few minutes to spare. (I take no responsibility if you develop a Wordle obsession.)

Wordle – The original one. The one that started it all.
Worgle – Like Wordle, but with six letters.
Wordle 7 – Yep, just like Wordle, but with seven letters.
Byrdle – This one is for you if you’re musically minded.
Dordle – Two Wordles in one game.
Octordle – Eight Wordles in one game.
Quodrle – My absolute favourite – four Wordles in one game.
Nerdle – If you like numbers, you’ll like this one.
Absurdle – I can’t even explain it…

And wait for it, you can even customise your own Wordle puzzles. So, in true Blue Peter fashion, here is one I made earlier. Please have a go and tell me if you found the word.

Liz’s Wordle Puzzle

Not Into Word Games?

Is solitaire more up your street? I received an email a few days ago from the creator of Online Solitaire, a website where 1,000,000+ people play 3,500,000+ games of solitaire each month. He has made a custom solitaire game for my blog! This game is completely free to play and has absolutely no annoying ads. You can click the pic below to play.

A Surprise

I received a nice surprise a couple of weeks ago when someone from the Feedspot website contacted me. They have included my blog in a list of the top 15 UK Chronic Illness Blogs. There are so many chronic illness bloggers making a difference to people’s lives so it was lovely to be included in this list.

However, I will need to get rid of my Wordle obsession or else I won’t have a blog!

Looking Back at Some Old February Posts

As Rare Disease Day Takes place in February, I’ve written a few posts about that. Last year, I compared living with a rare disease to finding a valuable antique in the attic. Let’s just say, I’d rather find that valuable antique. If you’re interested, I wrote another post last week where I included some facts and figures about rare diseases.

And, of course, February also hosts Valentine’s day.

Too often, when we live with a health condition, we knock ourselves down. Instead of doing that, we should build ourselves up. Last year, on Valentine’s Day, I published a post about learning to love yourself. If you’re always knocking yourself down, please read it. You’re worthy of loving yourself.

Learn to Say I Love You to Yourself

Highlighting Another Blogger

Since the 28th of February is Rare Disease Day, it seems appropriate to highlight a blogging friend who has a rare disease. Sam, amongst other health conditions, has a rare bone disease and lives with an extraordinary amount of pain. Her attitude never fails to amaze me. She is a lovely lady who is exceptionally kind and always thinking of other people.

Sam blogs at My Medical Musings and runs a support group, Medical Musings With Friends. Please, if you have a spare few minutes take a look at her blog and if you’re living with any type of health condition, I know that Sam would make you feel welcome in her group.

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My Wordle Obsession is Giving Me Itchy Fingers

Well, I think I better finish writing this now. My fingers are itching to click on the Quordle puzzle for the day. Hmm…I’m sure I should be doing something more productive.

Take care, everyone.