Where has the time gone??

Oh my word, 6 weeks without a blog post…I think that’s probably my longest gap yet! Well, as you might expect, an awful lot has happened in those last 6 weeks…hence the lack of posts!

My grandfather was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer back in February, the nature of this type of cancer is that it’s already well advanced (stage 4) by the time it’s discovered. He went into a hospice some 6 weeks or so ago and died, very peacefully, on the 14th June. I’ve always been very close to my mum’s parents; growing up without a father meant my grandad was the closest thing I’ve ever know to a father and he taught me an awful lot. I can’t tell you what an enormous loss this is to our whole family, particularly of course my grandmother to whom he’d been married for over 60 years. He had a fabulous send off at the funeral, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a happier funeral, it was a very sad but joyous occasion….just as he had wanted. We all had to wear bright colours and all the hymns were happy and uplifting ones. We’re all comforted by the fact he’s ‘home’ and at peace but we miss him so much and it still really hurts. Here he is, home visiting his beautiful garden for the last time, just 3 days before he died and having a cuddle with Esther...

Esther has stayed with my grandmother and I’m sure is a great comfort to her as she adjusts to living on her own; I’m so amazed and proud of her…she’s an incredible lady who I will never cease to admire.

We’ve been to a few agility shows (Wigton and RVA Just Dogs Live) as well as a couple of flyball tournaments (Rotherham and Eastham) and of course…the European Flyball Championships in Brecht, Belgium followed by East of England Championship breed show and Cambridgeshire Canines flyball tournament on the way home. I will do a couple of blog posts to cover these off later.

Most of the puppies have left but I still have a black/white girl from Lori’s litter after the person taking her couldn’t at the last minute :o( and two black/white boys from Mercy. I need to get new photos of these, obviously being away for 2 weeks has meant they’ve been left longer than I would have preferred before finding new homes but they’re beautiful happy puppies :o)

Kitten’s pups are now 6 weeks old and absolutely stunning too, I’m so pleased with what Spark is producing. We have a couple of weekends off now before gearing up for a mammoth month of flyball in August which will involve us attending seven separate sanctioned tournaments in a single month!