Thursday photo #205 – the hardest week

There were high hopes for the Easter holidays around here. The weather would improve, we’d go on holiday in the camper van in the sunshine. There would be days out, chilled evenings and walks on the beach with the dogs. But you know what they say about best laid plans.

Warwick Castle

It seems like a long time ago now that we went to Warwick Castle for the day, but it was only last Thursday. The girls had both been suffering with a cold and Libby was still a bit under the weather that day. But we’d said we’d go and they were looking forward to it, so we persevered.

We had a relaxed day at the castle, taking in their favourite Princess Tower and having a go at archery. Luckily we made it there on the one sunny day of the week, so we relaxed with a picnic and watched the birds of prey show.

On Friday we headed to West Wales for a night, followed by a walk around Pembrey country park on Saturday. The girls loved going on the toboggan ride down the hill, with Libby egging on her uncle to go faster.

When it all went downhill

By Sunday, Libby still wasn’t quite herself so she missed swimming and ended up having an afternoon nap. On Monday, we had a lovely day with my sisters and I took the dogs on their usual evening walk. They didn’t do much that day because my husband was going out so I just fitted in a quick dog walk before he left. I never could have imagined that it would be Pluto’s last one.

I woke up in the early hours of Tuesday morning because I could hear him shuffling around on his bed. This sometimes means he wants to go out or needs help getting into his bed, so I got up to see. He wanted to go downstairs, but got to the top and his back legs wouldn’t take him any further. He and I slept downstairs that night and we took him to vets the following morning. I didn’t expect to be bringing him home.

The vet tried some medication and said we’d give him 24 hours. Initially he perked up, walking a bit more normally and livening up a bit. But overnight, he deteriorated dramatically and the signs were that he’d had a stroke. By the next morning we knew we had to do the kindest thing and let him go.

It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through. I’ve kept busy with work today. Last night I travelled to Norwich and I’ve only got back within the last hour. It was pretty intense and just what I needed to force me to keep it together. But arriving home was difficult. The house doesn’t even smell of him anymore – and I hadn’t realised it did in the first place. It will take a little while before it feels like home again and I’m not sure I’ll ever stop missing Pluto.

Our Thursday photo #205

A little different to our usual photos, but I love this one of the two of them doing archery. They’re both so confident when it comes to trying new things and have been desperate to have a go at this since we started going to Warwick Castle. They enjoyed it just as much as they thought they would.