My beautiful Maggie died in her sleep last night.

She was a gorgeous, sweet little dog. Cuter than cute. She loved to twirl around chasing her tail, and seemed to do that to entertain us, the more we laughed, the more she did it, with a big smile.
I found her at a rescue place,she had been cruelly treated. She stole my heart, and I just had to take her home. She loved being with me. She had her own settee. She made her own den, under the table, on a big cushion, where she would stash away bits of biscuits, or any odd things she would find. Whenever I cleaned out, her 'den', she had quite a collection. She always seemed happy. Everyone thought she was cute, and beautiful, and did I say cute! so cute! She started going grey with old age. She lost some of her teeth. She developed a thyroid problem, and was a bit overweight, but all in all she was her usual perky, chirpy self. She ate her supper as usual Saturday night. She seemed fine. we went to bed. Sunday morning I went downstairs, and there she was in her bed. But she didn't look up. She was dead. I guess the old cliche, that it's the best way to go, without suffering, in your own bed, just pass away during the night, hopefully, peacefully, as she slept. But it's hard being without her. I miss her. I miss her little bark, when she wanted attention. And her running around my legs when she knew she was getting a treat. And her snoring - she snored very loudly, it was reassuring to hear her snore in the night. She was a darling, and I miss her so. God bless you, sweet Maggie. Rest in Peace.

A Day Out at the Beach.

Britain is not sunny very often, so when the sun does come out, we have to make the most of it. Today the sun was out. We gathered our dogs and head for the beach. It started to rain on the way, but we carried on. By the time we got there, it was sunny again. Dogs are allowed on the beach until the end of April. So no surprise that most people on the beach had dogs with them. It was a lovely walk, and the dogs played fetch (the stick), said "hello" to lots of other dogs, it stayed bright, and it was not too cold. 

Days like this are good for the soul.

Making the most of a sunny day.

With the weather being quite unpredictable lately, we were glad to have a sunny Sunday. What better excuse to take the dogs to the park and enjoy the fresh air!
We all has a lovely time and felt so much better for it.

Our Dear Sweet Molly was laid to rest.

My beautiful little girl Molly has died. Just when we thought things could not get any sadder, Molly became ill. She was having trouble with her back legs giving way now and again, for quite a while. We worked around this, I held her up to eat, and placed a bowl upside down under her dish so she wouldn't have to lean forward to eat. We walked less distance, but still went out. We talked about one day, she would need a 'trolly thing' to help her get around. If she showed signs of being too tired while we were out, we carried her. She seemed to like this, and always looked pleased at being carried, we said she looked like the queen!
Last Tuesday I was working a late shift, so was able to take them (my 3 sweet girls), over the park in the morning. She was a bit wobbly and slow, but I'm used to that. A short walk did us all good and she seemed to enjoy it. The next day she was unable to lift herself up at all. her front legs had gone stiff, she was unable to eat. The next couple of days we tried spoon feeding her, syringing water into her mouth, constantly changing her bedding as she was totally incontinent. She could not get up. Her eyes looked frightened and distressed. We knew the end was near. We spent time with her comforting her. She gave up eating, she couldn't even lick liquid food off the spoon. When we tried to syringe water into her mouth, she struggled, and really hardly any water went in. Finally on Saturday we took her to the vets. We have been going to our vets for years and she is a good vet. She explained that the stiffening of the front legs, and given her history, it was indicative of either tumour on the spine or a blood clot, and that it was spreading quickly. The kindest thing to do was euthanasia. We had to let her go. I had to sign the consent form, which was signing her death certificate, which no matter how it's justified by being the 'kindest thing to do, to end suffering' it's still signing to end her life. the end was quick and peaceful. It took a few seconds and she was gone. We smoothed her and cried, we said goodbye to her. Our dear sweet Molly is gone from us. She was beautiful, and a really sweet natured dog. She would always run up to any other dogs in the park, and want to be their friends. We always had to keep an eye on her in case she spied another dog and went wandering over to them. People always commented on how pretty she was, and how unusual her coat was. I gave her a home from a local rescue centre. She was eight years old then, and lived another eight years with me. That's about 90 in human terms of years. She loved us, and we loved her. the house seems emptier and quieter now, and we miss her dearly. Rest in Peace Molly, my dear, sweet, beautiful girl.

A Green Day

The UK is well known for it's rain. Luckily this year we have had a glimpse of sunshine in between the downpours. All this rain then sunshine makes for very lush green grass.

My local park is not very pretty, but if you can ignore the rubbish and vandalism, look beyond the graffiti, which by the way is NOT street art, not here anyway, step over the broken glass and empty beer cans, switch off to the sound of screeching cars and police sirens, there is green space which can be enjoyed.
Here, the girls stop for a pee.
We like to stroll around, and maybe sometimes see other dogs that we've got to know over time. The girls love it, and I do too. I can daydream of a better world of peace and harmony, a world without cruelty and oppression.
However chaotic it is all around, our little bit of green park bring us all a little bit of peace and sanity, and makes life just that little bit better. Feel the breeze in the air, enjoy the lush green colours, smile at the swallows (or are they swifts) as they go sweeping by, and enjoy.