Christmas 2012
For Christmas this year, myself and Haku made a flying visit to the UK. We departed the Netherlands together on the 22nd. The flight was quick and my parents picked us up from the airport, so by mid-afternoon we were safely back at my house. We didn't do too much on Sunday, just a few final preparations such as wrapping the last of the presents and writing gift tags. We also set up our 2nd Christmas tree and decorated it together, including some round biscuits with holes in that Haku had brought. They are traditional in the Netherlands - you pass a ribbon throught the hole in the centre and then hang it on the tree. There were two kinds, one sort of sugar biscuit with large chunks of sugar stuck to the top, and one that was a thin shell of chocolate chocolate filled with some kind of sugary substance. Haku was feeling a bit unwell - she has a dust allergy which seems to be set off by my house and was wheezing and struggling to breathe a bit, however the headache that she's had for 2 solid months after a concussion had faded.
I had to work on Monday morning, but I got the afternoon off and we could relax a bit. In the evening we went to visit my parents, taking with us a whole pile of presents. Their tree looked very pretty as always, and there was already a large pile of presents beneath it. When we added ours it became a veritable mountain! My mum had cooked a nice lasagna for all of us. After the meal, however, Haku was still struggling to breathe. It had been 24 hours now and and she wasn't showing any sign of getting better, indeed it seemed to be getting worse, so we decided to take her to hospital. I drove her to the hospital in Bangor and we were directed to A&E. She went through triage reasonably quickly, and then we had to wait a little while longer before seeing the doctor. He put her on a nebulizer after a quick diagnosis, and after about 10 minutes of breathing from this mask she was starting to feel much better. By about 20 minutes we were starting to think we'd been forgotten, but eventually the nurse returned and removed the mask. The doctor prescribed a small course of tablets and gave her an inhaler which she used a couple of times throughout the following days, and it seemed nicely effective. Not the ideal Christmas eve, but what can you expect when you have a wuff?
On Christmas day we went to my parents' house, stopping to pick up one of my grandmothers on the way. We gathered together myself, my parents, my two grandmothers, and of course Haku for her first British Christmas. We settled down for some tea (despite my dad being keen to start on the presents already) and chatted for a little while, then we gathered all the presents in the middle of the room and started to hand them out. There was a huge pile and everyone was very happy. My highlights included a large zebra patterned rug and "Dutch for Dummies". Haku got a game for her new Nintendo 3DS XL, and a graphics tablet! After the unwrapping was finished and the excitement died down, it was time for a traditional Christmas dinner. My mum always makes a wonderful full dinner: turkey, roast potatoes, parsnips, sprouts, beans, cauliflower, stuffing, sausages wrapped in bacon, gravy, bread sauce, cranberry sauce... everything! We all enjoyed it very much.
After dinner we had a walk down to the beach. Haku was a little worried about her condition - she'd had to spend the last 2 months virtually in bed because of her concussion - but she made it there and back without too much trouble, despite the steepness of the hill. We relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon, then had a nice buffet-style tea afterwards.
Boxing day was very similar - we again collected the grandmothers and went to my parents' house for a meal, this time of roast pork. We spent the afternoon relaxing and playing some games.
The day after Boxing day we had to ourselves, so we relaxed a bit and packed our bags in preparation for travel back to the Netherlands. The following day my parents arrived to take us to the airport, and we said our goodbyes - Christmas was over, but it had been a great time and we enjoyed ourselves very much. There was one final surprise in store, however - when we joined the queue for check-in at the airport there was a familiar face standing in front of us - Ultraviolet! She was on her way to visit Nimrais and Kage in Germany, and just happened to be taking the same flight as us. It was quite an amazing coincidence, and we stuck together for the journey. It was really nice to see her again, and it was good to catch up.
We're now back in the Netherlands and taking it easy - but not for too long. We're both going to Furs on Fire - a new year furry party in the south of the Netherlands. We'll be staying in a hostel for a few days with about 60 other furs, some 50% of which are fursuiters. It should be fun!
I had to work on Monday morning, but I got the afternoon off and we could relax a bit. In the evening we went to visit my parents, taking with us a whole pile of presents. Their tree looked very pretty as always, and there was already a large pile of presents beneath it. When we added ours it became a veritable mountain! My mum had cooked a nice lasagna for all of us. After the meal, however, Haku was still struggling to breathe. It had been 24 hours now and and she wasn't showing any sign of getting better, indeed it seemed to be getting worse, so we decided to take her to hospital. I drove her to the hospital in Bangor and we were directed to A&E. She went through triage reasonably quickly, and then we had to wait a little while longer before seeing the doctor. He put her on a nebulizer after a quick diagnosis, and after about 10 minutes of breathing from this mask she was starting to feel much better. By about 20 minutes we were starting to think we'd been forgotten, but eventually the nurse returned and removed the mask. The doctor prescribed a small course of tablets and gave her an inhaler which she used a couple of times throughout the following days, and it seemed nicely effective. Not the ideal Christmas eve, but what can you expect when you have a wuff?
On Christmas day we went to my parents' house, stopping to pick up one of my grandmothers on the way. We gathered together myself, my parents, my two grandmothers, and of course Haku for her first British Christmas. We settled down for some tea (despite my dad being keen to start on the presents already) and chatted for a little while, then we gathered all the presents in the middle of the room and started to hand them out. There was a huge pile and everyone was very happy. My highlights included a large zebra patterned rug and "Dutch for Dummies". Haku got a game for her new Nintendo 3DS XL, and a graphics tablet! After the unwrapping was finished and the excitement died down, it was time for a traditional Christmas dinner. My mum always makes a wonderful full dinner: turkey, roast potatoes, parsnips, sprouts, beans, cauliflower, stuffing, sausages wrapped in bacon, gravy, bread sauce, cranberry sauce... everything! We all enjoyed it very much.
After dinner we had a walk down to the beach. Haku was a little worried about her condition - she'd had to spend the last 2 months virtually in bed because of her concussion - but she made it there and back without too much trouble, despite the steepness of the hill. We relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon, then had a nice buffet-style tea afterwards.
Boxing day was very similar - we again collected the grandmothers and went to my parents' house for a meal, this time of roast pork. We spent the afternoon relaxing and playing some games.
The day after Boxing day we had to ourselves, so we relaxed a bit and packed our bags in preparation for travel back to the Netherlands. The following day my parents arrived to take us to the airport, and we said our goodbyes - Christmas was over, but it had been a great time and we enjoyed ourselves very much. There was one final surprise in store, however - when we joined the queue for check-in at the airport there was a familiar face standing in front of us - Ultraviolet! She was on her way to visit Nimrais and Kage in Germany, and just happened to be taking the same flight as us. It was quite an amazing coincidence, and we stuck together for the journey. It was really nice to see her again, and it was good to catch up.
We're now back in the Netherlands and taking it easy - but not for too long. We're both going to Furs on Fire - a new year furry party in the south of the Netherlands. We'll be staying in a hostel for a few days with about 60 other furs, some 50% of which are fursuiters. It should be fun!