Rest in Peace Lady

Tonight we regret to announce the passing away of what might well be our last but one remaining pup from the Megan and Haggis stable, "Lady" who had to be put down a couple of weeks back. Lady lived an 11 year long, happy and very gently life with two very good friends of Mum and Dad, Bill and Pauline.

She suffered in her later years with diabetes and was completely blind but she was still able to wander about because Bill and Pauline's house was so quiet and still, and old Bill always took her on the same gentle walk, same route each day, so she always knew where she was.

We loved having you as a pup, Lady, and it was wonderful to know you lived locally and we saw you regularly in town out with either your Mum or Dad. We will miss you. Rest in Peace

Deefer

ps - the only remaining Pup we are sure about is another "Lady" who lives in Maidstone with Dad's work colleagues Tracey and Sarah.

Farewell to Owen

We are sad to relate the passing away of one of Meg's pups from the first litter, little Owen, who went to Mum and Dad's very good friend Bob-the-Plumber. He was named by their youngest, who was a mad keen Michael Owen fan, because he loved playing footie with the boy.

This was 2 weeks ago but we only just heard, Bob bringing his family down to see the SB Cambria, not knowing that Dad was on the volunteer rota this weekend.

This pic dates from May 99 and is pre-digital. Owen (left here) would have been less than a year old, and came back to spend a weekend with Megan and Haggis when Bob and Co went away for the weekend. He would have been 10 this year, and we know what a happy, loving family life he's had.

We hear that Owen had a perfectly happy and healthy final day, nipping out in the evening to bark at the moon as usual, just before bed time, drink from the pond and generally sniff about (his normal last-thing activities), but then keeled over on his way back into the kitchen, passing away quickly and painlessly of an apparent heart-attack. He had a "lovely funeral" apparently, buried at the top of the garden, and 11 friends were there to see him off.

Our sypathies are with Bob and Lynn and their family at this time. He has left a big hole in their family and they miss him a great deal.

Rest in Peace, Owen. We'll miss you too.

Deefer

Christmas Cards

I'm dreaming of a whiiiiiite Christmas......
with every Christmas card I write

It's that time of year again! As usual, Mum and Dad are sending 60-odd cards out in the post, and a good few of these go to Westie related friends they've accumulated over the years of Westie owning, including some as far afield as Mississippi in good old US of A. Those are people Mum and Dad "met" on a Westie chat room / subscriber list which, as far as we know, is still going. Meggie was young then and Haggis a mere pup, but they had great adventures on those lists, with Dad inventing stories and all the listers contributing plot twists and characters

Others are the people who bought Meggie's pups. Meg had 2 litters, 5 pups by Haggis, and then 3 by a very handsome, Champion chap called Wellie. (Megan sighs at this point, the sigh of one who feels she is destined for far higher things and now has to slum it with Haggis and me due to reduced circumstances, or something). Posh bird!

Haggis, by the way, doesn't know that the 2nd litter was not his. He did "his bit" after all, and the pups came out white and exactly the same shape as the first litter, so he Fathered them, played with them and enjoyed them just the same, so please don't tell him about Wellie

So we still send all these people Christmas cards and a small note about the continuing health and life of Meg and the H, so they can tell the "kids". We dont always hear back, so we're not sure how they are all getting on. We know, of course, that poor Ben (first litter), who went to the Angel B and Jim is no longer with us, tragically hit by a car a month or so before I was born. And we are pleased to still get to run around with Owen (2nd litter), who went to Mum and Dad's friend Bob. Likewise, we still see Lady (2nd), who went to Bill and Pauline on the other side of town and we hear regularly from Holly (1st) who lives with two of Dad's colleagues, Tracy and Sarah.

As far as we know, our cards are still being enjoyed by the other three from the first litter, Cassie, Benji and Tinker, and the remaining pup from the 2nd litter, Daisy but they lived further a-field and do not reply to our cards

Cunningly, Dad has included the blog address in the cards this year, so maybe a few of you silent ones will pop up and have a read, leave a comment or whatever. We hope you're all well

Deefer