All about dogs

drawings of honor

What a week;it started with the sad news that Honor the dog from my son Paul and his fiancee Emma was very sick. Honor is the most beautiful and adoring Golden Retriever, she is funny, stubborn and extremely loving to everyone she meets.

This year Honor played the roll as Sandy the dog in the musical Annie in Queenstown and she was the star of the show.

Only two weeks ago Honor started to refuse food and water and she went down hill very fast, the vet put her on intravenous fluid, but after an ultrasound the vet found out Honor had severe kidney disease and her kidneys were failing.

For a whole week she stayed on the IV and  Honor went home to Paul and Emma on Monday.

Honor and Ollie swimming together

Beautiful Honor, we will remember her

But sadly Honor lasted only a few more days and then on Friday this week Honor was put to sleep.

We all feel very sad and especially this loss is very hard for Paul and Emma, because Honor was only four years old and they loved her to bits.

A few years ago I did a drawing of Honor and this was a Christmas present to Paul and Emma, I did another drawing today to send to them as a memory of Honor.

On Wednesday I went with Ollie, my dog to the rest home and hospital, Ollie was the happy therapy dog again and we visited the hospital, dementia ward and the rest home wing.

In the dementia ward Ollie helps to connect people with the world again, even if it is just for a moment.

The nurse took me into one of the residents rooms, Brian was asleep in his bed and dementia patients seem to sleep more and more. Ollie put his nose in his hand and just for a moment Brian reacted slightly, but not enough to wake him up. Ollie lies down next to his bed and just is there in the moment with Brian.

One of the other residents has hardly any facial expressions anymore and doesn't talk, but when he noticed Ollie he smiles, just a little.

Ollie has this gentle influence on people, they come up and like to stroke him.

Honor was the same, she made a difference in peoples life and we will remember this beautiful Goldie.

I am part of Sunday Sketches 

Inspired by grapevine cuttings

Water colour wreath

This week was another busy week for me, the days went very quick.

On Wednesday I took Ollie for a visit to Jack Inglis, the resthome and hospital I visit with him every week as Ollie is trained as a therapy dog with Canine Friends Therapy Dogs, a New Zealand organisation.

Normally Ollie is very happy and outgoing with the staff and residents, but this week he was not himself, withdrawn and shy.

I didn't know what caused his behaviour this particular visit, one of our friends, George passed away last weekend and every week we paid George a visit and he was so happy to see us, he loved Ollie.

We walked passed  his room, already occupied by some one else again and we didn't go in.

Did Ollie feel a difference, did he smell what we don't smell; illness and death.
Had Ollie enough of it all? I don't have the answers, we see what will bring this coming week.

I live near a vineyard and the last few weeks the workers are pruning the vines, every winter I gather the cuttings and make grapevine wreaths and hearts to sell or give away.

My watercolour painting was inspired by my wreath making and I also painted a pretty children card with Spring in mind.

Grapevine  wreath

                                              

Spring Children's card

Grapevine heart

My goldfish in our pond

Every Sunday I take part in Sunday sketches.

Winter work in the garden and Collage from magazines

Tiger collage  made from pieces of magazine

We had our shortest day and slowly the days are getting a little bit longer.

Again a lot of rain this week and the garden is very soggy with a slippery lawn . 

I had a fall this week, slipping on the wet grass when going down the hill to pick a few mandarins.

Luckily not to sore afterwards,but it was a bit of a fright.

Henk, my husband and daughter Rachel worked the whole weekend in the  bottom part of the garden to make vegetable plots ready for springtime.

It was lovely to see them work together to create and think out a design for this part of the garden.

On Monday I taught an art workshop at Gateway Trust,a drop in center for people with mental health issues and this time we made collages with old magazines. 

First a drawing was done on thicker paper and then small pieces of paper were ripped and glued on the drawing with PVA glue.
I made the collage of the tiger as inspiration for the students.

Olives from the olive tree

I made a small watercolour painting of olives from our olive trees in the garden,most of the olives are dried up now and the birds have eaten the rest,I find it to much work to preserve olives,but I love the olive trees in our garden.

father and daughter having a rest near the pond

Ollie inspecting the workers!

 the chooks want to know what is happening

The end of winters day

It was a productive weekend.

Have a great week ahead, many blessings.

Sunday Sketches;more shells

Shells found at the beach

This week was a busy week and not a lot of time for art.

Henk and I went to Wellington last weekend, the Capital of New Zealand and we had two nights away and did a bit of shopping and went to Te Papa, the National museum.

I had one afternoon this week to paint two more watercolour shell cards, but this weekend I prepared for my art teaching tomorrow at Gate Way trust, we are doing "painting" with old magazines, I will show some of the work next week.

Hope you all have a wonderful week ahead.

Colours in purple and blue this time

I am part of  Sunday Sketches bluechairdairy blogspot.com