What I've been working on

I have done some tatting - a couple of cross bookmarks for a very good friend & I'm half way through the doily I needed the thread conversion for (succumbed & used boring white 40 but the found a small bit of purple 40 so it is now in both).

What I've been girding myself to do you'll see in a moment below but to give you a bit of background first - as most of you are aware we lost our precious doggie, Belle, in April & when I said in that post....We are heartbroken - I meant it. She is my 4th dog and by far the most important..........she was my first baby as we had a tough time having DS and I am 100% certain that if we hadn't had her we would not have DS either. There was something wonderous that I just can't put my finger on about Belle - she had definitely been here before - an "old soul" - if you know what I mean. She chose us, not the other way around. We had gone to see another dog that the family were giving away, a 12 month old blue merle collie, but it was a really nervous dog and not for us so we were leaving but my husband spotted this 12 week old collie pup & I was adamant that we were not having a little one as I didn't want the toilet training etc. He picked this puppy up and she put her paws round his neck and wouldn't let go. The owner said that she was also being given away but that she had already been taken by a lady who was clearing it with her husband and we went to leave with the puppy still clinging for dear life to my husband. Just as we got to the front door the phone rang, the owner excused herself a moment, came back and said that the other ladies husband had said no to the puppy. Needless to say the puppy still hadn't let go of my husband and she didn't until 6 months later when he broke his back and she obviously decided that he had abandoned her after a month in hospital and she became "mine" totally.

Trying to describe her in words is nearly impossible but she wasn't a dog - not according to her anyway, she was a girlie, just that she had 4 paws not arms & legs. My Uncle was adamant that she would not accept the new baby when I was pregnant as she had been my baby for 4 years by herself. We involved her entirely in things for the baby and when he eventually came home she was very wary for 2 -3 days then he was just accepted totally - she literally would have done anything for me or him.

Given what I've recounted my heart was heavy when I undertook the following I really would like your opinions PLEASE.

As it is a photo of my sketch not a scan it hasn't come out quite as it is in real life but I'd like some feedback anyway.

PS What I meant to ask was "Has my drawing done her justice?" - that is what has been concerning me so much with drawing her. That the drawing would give some sense of how special she was :)


TTFN