A lovely gift

I must show you the beautiful gift Lyn has sent to me, which arrived today with a cat card too:

She is such a talented artist as you will see if you pop over to her 'art' blog, and has done this picture of Newton specially for me, this was a complete surprise gift, I had no idea she would be sending something so personal and special. It really does capture his character, not always easy when working from a photo, and will be a treasured memory of him and of her friendship, so thank you Lyn so much, I know I've already e-mailed you but am saying it publicly as well!

Following Newton's death I have been so grateful for the support of friends, and being so new to blogging I've been so touched by the messages I've had from those of you I've never actually met, some of you are a very long way away geographically but it has felt like you're just around the corner! My good friend Tammy really is round the corner, and has been fantastic too. We continually try and encourage each other in keeping on being creative and I'd be lost without our weekly (if we can manage it) coffee-and-inspiration meetings! She's another very talented painter as you can see from her website.

I have another thank you too, to my friend Annalisa who has given me my first blog award! I'll be posting properly on this when I've worked out how to do it!

Archie is getting on well and is becoming more confident by the day, he had his first innoculations today which he hated! He's managed to get into a few cupboards and being so small and black we lost him in the big kitchen one. He is trying to wash me as I type and has a damp leg as he's run right through his water bowl!