how things go

"selfie": roger gribble

It has been a bitter sweet month so far. On Sunday 3rd September we completed the purchase of Petrella, as planned, and with the help of Rebecca and T|J, the now previous owners, moved her around the corner to her new home in Brixham.

We are, obviously, delighted, but work, band and other previous commitments have kept us from heading down to Brixham since, which although not unanticipated, has been frustrating.

photo: tj cowell

On a more positive note, we sold Calstar at the end of last week, for very close to the asking price, which I actually thought (but allowed myself to be influenced by the broker) we'd set unreasonably high, judging by other boats of the same class on the market.

But I do think Calstar is an exceptional example of her type, and it seems the market bore me out on that.

I shall actually miss her. But she's going to bring joy and adventure to somebody new, so I only hope they'll enjoy her as much as we did.

"selfie": roger gribble

On a sadder note, Dad had to put his old dog Bruno to sleep last week. Just age and failing bones, which I guess get the better of us all eventually. Likewise, our Jack is now on a very rapid decline. Like Bruno, he's 11 now, which is a more than fair innings for a GSD. We've known it's been coming for quite some time, since our vet spotted some irregularities with his heart when he last had his annual vaccinations, almost a year ago now. 

We were pretty sure then, and have become more certain since, that something sinister was going on, likely an abdominal tumour of some kind. But the scans and tests couldn't find it, and there's only so much intervention that's fair with a dog of his age.

He's tired, very tired, but doesn't seem to be in any distress or pain aside from the occasional cough that comes or goes; he still loves a belly rub and still begs by the door for his evening walk. Or the decision would be simple, no matter however hard. And it always is. But he's stopped eating over the last few days, no matter what we try, and we've tried everything, and is visibly weakening. 

I'll admit, I've been finding this week exceptionally hard.

With no gigs, we were hoping to get down to the boat this weekend. But we shall see how things go.