Not a very good day.  Our older dog( she' was  almost fourteen which is over a 100 years old in our years) had a funny turn a couple of nights ago.  She cried out in pain, and later had difficulty getting to her feet.  The day after, she stayed in her basket all day; she didn't have a drink or anything to eat until late that night when we managed to persuade her to lick some water and we hand fed her with some ham (her favourite).  Sandra made an appointment at the Vets; we knew the end was near, but where there's life there's hope and we had lots of hope.  She came up the stairs last night and slept in her basket.  Sandra brought her down this morning.  She had a drink and managed to get out to the garden, but she was totally confused, awfully thin and felt just like a rag doll, all limp.  I want to work and waited for the phone call.  Sandra phoned about 10-45.  She had left Mitzi with the Vet, who said that it was possible to run tests, but looking at the dog's condition, she was of the opinion that the kindest act was to put her to sleep.  She offered Sandra the opportunity to stay, but she decided to leave and come home to ring me.  We were both tearful; after all, Mitzi had been part of our life; she was the last of the original Shih Tzu. dogs we had owned or adopted.   Bonnie, Gizmo, and now Mitzi.  They're all gone now.  It's almost the end of an era.  We still have the young one; well I say young one, Suki is ten now, and though she still walks a couple of miles every morning, she's stiffening up.  Will we get another dog?  At the moment the answer is no, but I need my walks in a morning, or I'll stiffen up more than I am now.  So the answer is probably yes; but what breed; we're unsure.  We've talked about getting a schnauzer but I'm prepared to wait and see.

Another bank holiday, and the weather is in- clement to say the least.  Peter Rees has cancelled the dive weekend so unless the forecast is totally wrong I'll be fishing tomorrow, and Monday as well.  Sandra seems to have got over the loss of our little dog so I'll be able to laeve her  to her gardening and go down to the lake.  There's a match, so I may try some new tactics; see if I can hook some of the bigger carp, and get amonst the prizes for a change.   I hope to get some scuba in before we go to Cuba.  I need the practice.