Suki

Suki quickly found a way of stealing most of my side of the bed for sleeping - but obviously enjoyed having the whole "pack" in on place to sleep with.  She was very reluctant in the mornings to get up - particularly if Mike was still in bed.  I often had to sleep with my legs curled up or down one sliver of the edge of the bed! 

Occasionally I would come back from my shower and find her asleep on Mike's legs!

Or find she had made a nest for herself

She was adept at finding comfy places to lie in the sunshine

I quickly lost ownership of the sun lounger whenever I got it out!

And of course the water in the watering can was much nicer than the clean water in her bowl

Most days she didn't want to walk very much - sometimes planting her feet in at the end of the drive - but I could usually persuade her to do a gentle 10 mins.  While we weren't allowed to drive to exercise this became a bit limited, but the rucksack came in handy for getting a bit further afield.

We would often walk Suki down to Mill Marsh Park for a dip in the river and a run around - taking the carrier with us so that I could carry her when she got tired or started to limp.  On one of these walks a man in the park came up to me with a camera and huge telephoto lens slung round his neck, and said he had taken some photos of Suki and asked for my email so that he could email them.  They turned out to be really rather good!

Once we were allowed to drive I took her up on the moor - she did quite a long walk with me, Jayne and Jackie one day, and also came up with us to scatter Mary's ashes one evening (see separate post Highlights).

But mainly she was happy running around in the garden and sleeping most of the day.  Her arthritis is getting worse and she often limps now and occasionally her legs give way.  She struggles to jump up on to the bed and I have placed a stool by the bed so that she can do it in two stages.