Princess Ayva, age 12 and our oldest of the bunch had started chattering her teeth. It had been going on for a few days; it was odd behaviour that I’d never seen before. We decided it was worrisome enough to take her to the vet.

If months of the year could have a personality disorder, October 2024 would have been the one.  Bipolar October I shall call it.  It started off glorious. And then all hell broke loose in our world.