Just goes to show when I think I just haven't got it in me to write, I can.  Lousy night (when was the last time the mirror didn't reflect the truly colourful shadows beneath my eyes?), then rush rush rush.  Four new horses at the Farm.  One owner preparing to ride her quite stunning Andalusian down the breezeway to explore the open paddock.  She is locking the mare in the laneway to meet the other horses over the fence for a few days before joining the herd.  Hence I had to go out in the paddock, put a halter on Pagan, lead him and Balthazar through the gate and up the hill to prevent the 'riff raff' from coming in.  And do everything in reverse.  What usually takes 30 to 40 minutes took an hour.  It's not particularly hot today but there's 100% humidity.   I had sweat deltas down my neck, sweat dripping in monotonous drops off my nose, dripping into my eyes, blurring my vision.  And I still had to look (and smell!) presentable to get groceries, go to the vet for some feline laxative and then see Richard.   I looked as though I'd washed my hair it was so wet.  

So did errands, ran out of time, saw Richard then went and did more errands before getting home at 1 o'clock.  SO GOOD to sit down and have lunch, then I came in here and vegetated (read news, FB's, Insta'd) before thinking, so what's preventing your brain from working.  Open the damn software and try and write.

So I did.  Writing was slightly easier as I had an idea of where to go today.  Usually I sit down and haven't a clue.  Yesterday while walking, I 'saw' an avenue --- do you know when a parasitic wasp injects venom into a caterpillar it also injects a virus?  A virus to keep the caterpillar's immune system from neutralizing the venom.

The strange thing is, it kind of backfires as it serves as a marker for other parastic wasps to target the young of the original parastic wasp.  And as markers through caterpillar spit to change plant 'volatiles' so the wasps can locate parasitized caterpillars. 

'We found that the virus and venom injected by the parasitoid during oviposition, but not the parasitoid progeny itself, affected hyperparasitoid attraction toward plant volatiles induced by feeding of parasitized caterpillars. We identified activity of virus-related genes in the caterpillar salivary gland. Moreover, the virus affected the activity of elicitors of salivary origin that induce plant responses to caterpillar feeding. The changes in caterpillar saliva were critical in inducing plant volatiles that are used by hyperparasitoids to locate parasitized caterpillars.'

Symbiotic polydnavirus and venom reveal parasitoid to its hyperparasitoids

Feng Zhu, Antonino Cusumano, Janneke Bloem, Berhane T. Weldegergis, Alexandre Villela, View ORCID ProfileNina E. Fatouros, Joop J. A. van Loon, View ORCID ProfileMarcel Dicke, Jeffrey A. Harvey, Heiko Vogel, and Erik H. Poelman

 

So the above was fun research I did to give me a broad overview over chapter 44.  Am nearly at 80,000 words.  With no end in sight.  

 

A quick update on Richard and Matisse.  Richard wasn't so good today.  The problem, besides the obvious, is it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand him.  If he says a rote sentence, like, 'don't worry about', I hear him.  Yet when he tried to say something specific, I might 'get' the first couple of words before he trails off into mumbling.  No eye contact today either.  Did see him smile, the old flirt, at the new RN, a lovely caramel skinned Filipino?  Black hair and warm dark eyes.  So he can make the effort.  

 

Matisse had another bout of vomiting and anorexia but has eaten the past 2 days.  Finally (DUH!) dawned on me I could get him Catlax for his hard poos.  And perhaps if he doesn't have to strain so much to get him out, he'll be less likely to leak urine.  Morning clean jobs are major undertakings now. He helps me write.  And in a minute he'll help me do yoga too.  Every day with him is precious.