First weekend in September 2011 - a happy and sad time

Though we enjoyed a great weekend (the annual Bridwell Ball for the young people - all dressed up - girls in beautiful ball dresses, men in dinner jackets and black tie - Colin and I on chauffeur duty - me wishing I was dancing at 1.00 am since we arrived to collect a whole hour early!).  

Then the TVH Hunter Trial yesterday - scoring!  Great Fun but then in the afternoon I received sad news from home ....

Great sadness ...  although not unexpected .....

Yesterday Lettuce died .... (tiny minitiature Yorkshire Terrier bought for Lulu in 1995 aged 6 weeks old).  

Lettuce was born on 1st November 1995 and she died on 4th September 2011 - aged almost 16 years.  We buried her with some ceremony last evening in the garden in the pet cemetary corner, in the rain with a glass of prosecco to wish her on her way to doggy heaven.

She was a great doggy but it is so sad to bury a much loved dog even when they have had such a long life.  Maybe it is worse when you have looked after the dog for so long.  She used to go to all the horsey events with us and we used to joke that she jumped the ditches much better than the horses!

She hasn't been well for some time but she wasn't in any pain at all and we nursed her at home until she passed away peacefully yesterday.

Lettuce belonged to Lulabelle (her Christmas present in 1995 (Lulu aged 8 years).  

She accompanied Lulu to the market every Saturday when we sold eggs and Lulu sold her cakes - she was such a favourite with the customers!  All the dog lovers used to visit the egg stall and say "Have you got Lettuce with you today?"  She was a right nuisance because she wouldn't let Lulu go anywhere without her - she would bark if Lulu went away shopping and insist on being held in someones arms - not easy when you have a queue of customers waiting for their eggs!

Lulu used to keep her in her handbag and often took her to events like point-to-points in her bag.  She would even take her in supermarkets in her bag in the trolley!  She only once got told off for that!  Mostly people didn't notice there was a dog in the bag!!!

Being so tiny, Lulu worried that she might be cold and she had the full quota of tiny pink doggy coats for every occasion ...  so many stories to remember about Lettuce but that is all for now.

Well I hope she is okay wherever she has gone.  We loved her and she had a good long life.

She will be sadly missed.