DAY 10 Tue 22 June

Woke up early this morning, and got up early as Maryanne was heading off to Alex. First stop was Figgy to see if there was any change since last night. He was standing between his mum and his big brother munching on hay – and he had a brighter look in his eye. His legs however were more swollen than the day before.
I went over to talk to Maryanne before she left, and we went out again to have a look at Figgy.
After she had gone, I went over to the house to do some work on the computer. Unfortunately I got sick of the sound of the dogs, especially Demon, barking at Maryanne's staff, so I gathered all my stuff together, and like the pied piper, walked out of there with a trail of dogs behind me. Once in the guest house in the airconditioning, the dogs crashed out on every available bit of floor or couch space.
At one stage I got a phone call from Maryanne, asking me to take another look at Figgy, so I went out to have a look, with the dogs trailing behind me as if I was Maryanne – lol. For a change Figgy was actually standing in the shade! While I was standing talking to Figgy, one of the grooms bought him the leaves of corn for him to munch on, which he started eating with relish. Then I was left holding the leaves for Figgy, while Bunduq kept stretching out his neck trying to steal them. Eventually Figgy gave up on the leaves and wandered across the drive and started munching on the grass, and then Figgy was given a bowl of pelleted food, held up for him so he didn't have to stretch down – he's going to want the royal treatment when he is better I'm sure! He cleaned out the first bowl and started on a second, and then Sabine turned up. After she had had a look at Figgy, the prognosis was hopeful – though there was more swelling in the hind legs, the forelegs hadn't swollen up any more, and the abscess weren't as hard as they had been. We then headed back towards the houses and shade, me taking the dogs into the guesthouse, while Sabine went to find some breakfast. It wasn't long until she called me over to the house though because Groucho was coughing. He stopped not long after I got over there – though it was hard to tell because all the dogs had followed me over, and were barking at the workers, so I got banished back to the guest house.
Eventually Sabine made it over to the guest house, and we proceeded to put up her massage table and she gave me a massage, working on my troublesome right shoulder. If anyone is over in Egypt, and looking for a massage to relax tired weary muscles after too much sight seeing or riding, I can certainly recommend her!
We went out in the afternoon heat to check on Figgy again – he was just finishing another bath, and then they led him over to the shelter, and he stood with his head in the shelter while once again Prince Figgy was hand fed – he certainly deserves it though, that boy is a fighter! He hasn't given up at all, though at times it must be very tough for him.
While Sabine was treating Figgy, I had to give up and head back inside to the cool of the guest house. Hopefully there aren't many hot days like these last 3 days left in my time in Egypt!
Not long after Sabine got back inside, she had to run off home, as she had guests coming round. I need to meet her flatmate before I go – Hala teaches belly dancing and makes costumes – sounds like the perfect person to take shopping with e to buy belly dancing stuff!
It was then just a matter of waiting for Maryanne and Mohamed to get back from Alexandria, and when they did the dogs were very happy to see them (as was I because it meant the pack would follow Maryanne, and I would just have Buffy and maybe Bella as my shadows. We checked on Figgy once more, and as we were heading back inside, Maryanne was talking to one of the grooms, and we found out that the neighbours in what she calls the Disney house (because it looks like something you would expect to see at Disneyland) were planning a party for the night. Hmm – an Egyptian party right next door – uh oh. So she left plans with the grooms of what horses needed to be kept away from the fence. Looking over the fence you could see them draping lights down the side of the building.
I had retired to the guest house when Maryanne called, wanting the key to the back gate, so I handed that over and went in to get my camera, to take some photos of the lights on the house – no fairy lights over here in Egypt – they use regular sized coloured bulbs!
They were opening the back gate to let in a vet to have a look at Demon's eye, and to check out Groucho's cough. Poor Groucho has kennel cough and has been prescribed medication for that, and there are also 3 medicines to go in Demon's eye – he isn't at all happy about that!
As it started to get dark, I thought maybe it would be a good time to head over to the guest house and maybe try to get a little sleep before the party started – didn't happen though – I started reading a book and then talked to Morad for a bit on the phone as the music played in the background. It wasn't too bad though – the music was loud, but the walls of the guest house dampened it quite well, and I dozed off to sleep for a bit with the music going, but about an hour later I woke up again for some reason, and stayed awake until the music stopped at 12. There was the music, and I could hear kids yelling, but there were no gun shots or any of the louder noises I had expected. In fact, it was almost subdued for an Egyptian village party.