Wednesday, December 30, 2020

5 July - Dec 30 2020 aka Life in 2020 part-2

 

2020 will be a year to remember. Life will not be same now. But even in this lockdown year, it was not a dull year. The second part became even more colorful with us adopting a pair of kittens and life changed again for us. 


Puchka & Fryums

As I shared earlier, Fryums passed away on Dec 5.  Fryums was the one who had grown closer to us. Puchka was the shy one, more sneaky one. After Dec 5, it took us lot of strength for us to move on. We thought that the worst was over. We wanted to spend time with Puchka and make sure she moves on as well. However, after 5 days, on Dec 10, Puchka had vomiting, loose motions and after couple of vet visits, a blood test, it came out that her White blood cell count is critically low and all her symptoms point to FPV - Feline Parvovirus. 


FPV was supposedly over but it has taken a resurgence in last 1-2 years. It is more contagious than Covid is in humans, it has no cure, (there is a vaccine but out kitten was not vaccinated), and has about 70% fatality rate. GIven the low WBC count of Puchka, vets were very concerned. Puchka refused to have any food and we had to take her to the clinic for morning and evening IV fluid drips so that she can be hydrated. This was a painful 10 day time period. Her conditioned worsened where in she even showed symptoms of FCV - Feline Calcivirus. Her mouth had ulcers, she was drooling everywhere. Loose motion would not stop. A kitten having both FPV & FCV is incredibly rare and for someone to survive this is a miracle. Big shout out to vets at My Pets Choice who were very knowledgable and handled her with due care. 

Kanishka took it upon herself to ensure that Puchka gets full love and affection. The cold weather in Bangalore required us to give her heat packs whose water had to be changed every four hrs. Kanishka kept alarms and slept with her to ease her pain. She regularly cleaned all poop and made sure her surroundings are clean. I mostly got the vet duty and figured out clever ways to keep her quiet when her IV drips were going on. 

After the 10 day period, Puchka's health improved. She came out of IV, and is now also out of oral medications. This Sunday, we got her first vaccine treatment. Her energy is coming back, her hunger is unstoppable. Here are some of her recent excursions - 






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Cooking 

Made authentic alcohol filled plum cake during this Christmas. Came out very well. 





Sandesh during Diwali

Our Diwali sweet this time was Sandesh, specifically Naren gur Sandesh. We made Sandesh in three different varieties - one using milkmaid, one using Naren gur and third one using chocolate




Chinese style chilli Tofu and veggies

No pic unfortunately but it came out pretty well. 

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Movies / TV

Once upon a time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino

4/5 - There is a different energy in each of Tarantino's movies, even when they are not westerns :) Although this one is both a western and not one either. 

Ak vs AK by Vikramaditya Motwane

2.5/5 - Masala movie that is one time watch. 


Kim's convenience - Season 1 & 2

Could have been an Indian family. Lovely Canadian show (Canadian TV is awesome) perfect for family.


Shoplifters by Hirokazu Kore-eda

4/5 - Poignant story about what is a family, about survival and poverty.


Line of Duty - Season 4

3.5/5 - Less gritty than the previous ones. But still pretty good. 


Mandalorian - Season 1 & 2

2.5/5 - I wanted some mindless masala when I started this. It delivers on that. Yes, baby yoda is cute. 


The trial of Chicago seven by Aaron Sorkin

3.5/5 - Pretty good. Great actors, decent script. Semi-based on a true story. Sorkin fans will love it


Morning Show - Season 1

2.5/5 - I honestly watched it for Billy Cudrup and Mimi Leder (of Leftovers fame). Reese Witherspoon definitely provides the energy needed for this show.  Never a fan of Jennifer Anniston. Story arc was ok.

More AV here - http://arvindbatra.blogspot.com/2020/10/av-report-june-sept-2020.html



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- Presently reading Sandman vol - 5. Brilliant series. 

- Installed Swing at home. 

- Travelled to Sakleshpur, Kabini and a day out to Nature's village to celebrate Babu's bday. 

- Home deep cleaning done, ahoy! so much effort it is.



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