Over The Past Year...

I realised that I had written a post of "Hey, look, I'm back!" but didn't explain why I had been away...

Last year my father had been quite ill, and on September 11th, our family were told not to worry, he'd have a simple operation and then all would be well. On September the 16th, the surgeon and doctors changed their minds drastically, and my dad was told he had cancer. But... not to worry, as it was operable, and his outlook was good. 11 weeks to the day after this, my wonderful dad passed away. It was such a shock to us all, and it sent me into a spiral of grief and depression. I have been diagnosed with 'prolonged extreme grief' which is similar to PTSD in some ways.  I don't write this here for sympathy - only to let people know why I haven't been around and why I may seem to have changed a bit in the past year.

Things are sometimes a little better, and I take each day one at a time - never expecting to have a good or bad day, but just hoping to get through it and remember my dad with a smile and fewer tears than the day before.

This photograph was taken on my birthday - the last birthday I had with my dad.

I have a wonderful family - Mum, brother, husband and children - who have all helped me (are still helping me) every day... and great friends who understand.

So... there it is.

I'm not sure if I ever updated about my dog Lily, or my cat, Baby - well, Miss Violet... but I always called her 'Baby' :) Poor baby was run over and died in my arms on the way to the vets. I do have other pets now - but miss her terribly. My jack Russell Terrier, Lily, had mammarial cancer, and we had to have her put to sleep. I swore I would never have another dog... and that thought lasted about 5 days before I went out and got a little Yorkie who we named Barkley McScruffles. He'll be 2 years old on January 1st 2016.

When Miss Violet died, I eventually got another cat who we named Kitty Belle. She is a cross between a Persian and a Black Bengal - so she dribbles a lot and meows all the time :)

Kitty Belle had kittens, and I kept one because she was so very tiny, and her name is Coco (but we all call her Coco Bean)

This is Coco and Barkley.

Kitty Belle

Kitty with one of the kittens (not Coco)