Death of the old dog

Today we had to make that heart rending decision to put the old dog to sleep. He had started to go downhill and was painfully thin even with his three meals a day and last night we got up 14 times to let him out and this morning he looked at me with woebegone eyes. When the vet arrived it was hard for him to stand for more than a few minutes although he managed a deep woof but his rear legs were trembling with weakness so we all knew it was the right thing to do . He went with his head peacefully in my lap lying on the dining floor next to his bed being stroked and being talked to.
The springer spaniel looks a bit bemused but we went out for a walk and enjoyed ourselves, although after the walk she had a good sniff around the house . Talking to the postman who is a great dog lover and owner he reminded me how awful it is when the only dog goes which is no doubt true but the old dog won't be replaced much as we loved him and enjoyed his company- keeping two dogs is proving a luxury we feel we can no longer afford.

nothing about dyeing but a bit about reality

Anybody reading my blog about the fliming of the dye garden may very well feel that it sounds a little flat. I did enjoy the day and found it interesting but in the middle of the day I received a phone call to say that on the eve of exchange of contracts ( that is a house sale just about to become legal ) that the sale of my father's house has fallen through, and for the second time. My father lived next door to me, after the death of my mother, for three years in a big bright sunny bungalow with views of the Clywdian hills and loved it. He died 18months ago and I still miss him. I was looking forward to seeing someone else living there and being able to move on but we have been hit by the savage downturn in the UK housing market. I found it quite hard to put it on one side and be cheerful , while the film crew was here. The real underlying sadness however is that my dearly beloved dog a big friendly Golden retriever in his last days of liver cancer. The vet exclaimed with horror as he felt how much the tumour had grown and promptly gave him huge doses of steroids. He is back to lying down in shallow streams which he loves with a huge doggy grin, playing with his lead as we go out which drives me mad, begging for food -he always, like a lot of golden retrievers, has been greedy and even joins in with the springer spaniel's ball throwing games but he is getting slower very day and we watch with apprehension as while he enjoy life and at the moment he seems a cheerful dog who greets every human with his waving tail , the vet has warned us that it could all change very quickly.
Usaully I would disappear into my studio and start creating colour and I have indeed put some madder & cochineal combination and madder in soak reasy for a dyeing day. However I have had to face up to my accounts which have been reproaching me for a very long time. So with great determination I am spending three days sorting them all out. Thiswas something I have neglected for all sorts of reason and then found as the backlog built up it was difficult to start on it, so now I am paying the price, and so is the longsuffering DH. Bye for now as the dogs want their bedtime biscuits.