drawings of Rosie

I've been trying to draw my beautiful Irish Wolfhound, Rosie, for one of the classes in Sketch Book Skool . Luckily she's been staying still for me because her cousin, a border collie, came to visit yesterday and wore her out! Here are my attempts

I did them both using a Pilot Lettering Pen 2.0 - it's a lovely pen to use for gesture drawing like this.

Goodbye to a true friend

Misty died today. I had never realized how aggressive some cancers are and how fast they work. Our expected twelve weeks more with her in reality became just four. There are too many empty places in the house and garden and Rosie and I are struggling and keeping close to each other.

Stitching again!

Whatever I start doing, I always seem to return to a desire to stitch, or hand embroider. So, with the help of a great book by Effie Mitrofanis, I've decided to start a little fabric book of stitch samples. These three pieces of silk are to be the basis of the first page. Boring, I know, but hopefully the start of something OK. And I'm aware that I haven't posted on my blog for too long, so I'll try to record this project as it goes along. Interspersed maybe with other stuff now and then.

My beautiful old Irish Wolfhound lady, Misty, who is just over nine years old, has been diagnosed with bone cancer. She has a huge tumour on her upper jaw which at the moment gives her no pain thankfully although the time will come. She's still able (and very enthusiastic) to eat which is good but I'm beginning to think of soft things rather than hard now. The forecast from the vet is 10 weeks, possibly extendable to 12 months if we resort to hugely aggressive surgery followed by ongoing chemotherapy. How lucky we are that we can make a considered choice on her behalf, and give her 10 weeks of happiness rather than 12 months of misery. We'll know when she's ready to go and can offer her the mercy that we are unable to offer our fellow humans!

AT SLEEP AND AT PLAY

At sleep and a bit out of focus! Those paws are absolutely huge - completely out of proportion with the rest of her. I think it's a bit like white shoes making your feet look bigger - these white socks make hers look bigger too.

At play. She took all her toys outside into the sunshine, one by one.

Sorry folks - I'll try not to be too doggy for too long!

WOLFHOUND PUPPY

This is my new Irish Wolfhound puppy, Rosie. She's 13 weeks old and we just brought her home today. This shows her fast asleep in the crate we've erected in the kitchen for her (she's the grey one, not the pink one!). The pink pig is a toy I bought for her which is apparently indestructible! I give it about two weeks!! I hope the eyes go first - they're a bit scary :-)

No doubt there will be more photos of Rosie as she grows up with Misty.

HEATHER IN BUD

It's a beautiful day today - the wind has dropped and the sky is blue, and I went for a walk up on top of the forest with Misty.  We met an old dog-walking friend who, like us, has owned many Wolfhounds and she told me of the death of her beloved Flora at the weekend. Flora was only just over 6 and died of bone cancer. Wendy has lost three Wolfhounds to bone cancer and, of the six that we've owned, we've never had one case. Isn't that strange? I felt so sorry for her - she just wanted to cuddle Misty and smell Wolfhound. I know exactly how she feels and I dedicate these heather buds to Flora.

SHINING LIGHT

I love this light. It sits on the mantlepiece of a brick fireplace together with a little oval wooden box and a glass elephant sculpture. The box and elephant are both treasured gifts that I've had for years.

I seem to have a lot of these little groups of things about the house. I give the objects a lot of thought when I put them together and once they look right they stay there for ever.

This drawing of an Irish Wolfhound completes the montage.