The reality of our loss

So hard to believe that it's been a little over four months since we lost our beautiful Boris, we had no idea that it was our last day together when we got up that morning, everything was normal and Boris was in good spirits as we set off on our walk that afternoon to try out the new elbow splints I'd recently purchased for Boris's arthritic elbows on the advice of our wonderful vet Dr Tania

Below is the last ever photo I took of Boris and Eko together on the walk that changed our lives forever, little did we know that only 10 minutes later Boris would suffer a massive stroke and need rushing to see the emergency out of hours vet, there was no warning at all as the boys happily ran off around the corner and only Eko returned on the recall

Image Description - Eko the golden cocker spaniel and Boris the black cocker spaniel sitting side by side out on the common Boris is wearing Elbow splints to help keep his elbows stable

We’ve always shared our lives simply because we loved telling our story — the beautiful moments, the painful ones, the chaos, the laughter and everything that comes with living alongside dementia

We're getting there

It’s been a really tough couple of months since we lost both Boris and then Dad so suddenly a couple of weeks later, through it all Eko has been an absolute superstar at helping to keep me grounded

Eko has always been a little standoffish with me, ever since he was a tiny puppy he's made it very clear who his favourite human was and it wasn’t me, but lately things have started to change

Image Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel laying on grass facing the camera on a sunny spring day with a bush behind him with some white blossom, his tongue is out as he's been running around on a rare warm day for this time of the year  

It’s taken time for us to find a new normal but now Eko comes to me for cuddles and shows me

In honour of my Dad

It's with a heavy heart I write this post that my dad David Hart passed away quietly at home after a long battle with esophageal cancer on the 9th of February 

Dad knew so many people, but he's probably best known for all the years he was the entertainment secretary at Shottermill Club in Haslemere, dad loved to sing and was an entertainer through and through, he never let the fact he had a chronic stammer or that he couldn't tell a joke for the life of him without cracking up before the end hold him back

Image Description - Close up head and shoulders shot of my dad looking directly at the camera, the background is out of focus

Dad was always willing to help others and would quite literally give you the shirt off his back if he thought

Things went bad very quickly

I'm heartbroken to share that on the 3rd January our sweet boy Boris suddenly and unexpectedly gained his wings as he peacefully made his way across the Rainbow Bridge surrounded by love and cradled in my arms

A day forever etched in my mind for the wonderful family walk we were all enjoying right up until the moment Boris staggered round the corner coming towards us with something very seriously wrong going on

Image Description - Boris the black cocker spaniel sitting facing the camera on a warm summer's day, he's sitting on grass with a hedge behind him looking very relaxed and majestic with his tongue out

What happened next was a traumatic blur having to deal

Happy New Year

Image Description - Multi coloured patterned writing on a pink background that says Hello January and Hello 2026

I've been taking some much needed time for myself since I last posted and feel so much better for it, sadly my parents dementia is getting worse - dad no longer recognises me until I remind him who I am 

 I do appreciate that I still have both my parents at my age, not everybody is so blessed but some days it's just so hard to recognise these two strangers as my parents, dementia has really done a number on them

I'm also really lucky to have such amazing supportive friends who've helped me too see that things couldn't carry on as they were, I hadn't realised until a few days ago just how much I'd made myself unwell as I struggled to cope with everything

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year

Dawn, Boris & Eko xxx 

We will remember them

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒍𝒅, 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒍𝒅

𝑨𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏

𝑨𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈

𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎

Image Description - Poppies growing along the left hand side of a country lane with the words Lest we forget written in white on the right hand side for remembrance day

Bank Holiday Weekend

 It feels so strange to be at home today, in the past we'd spend the August Bank Holiday weekend away at the beach, how I miss those carefree days of packing up the camper van at a moment's notice and disappearing with the boys for a few days

Image Description - A beach sunset with Himself, Boris and Eko in silhouette on the beach when the tide is out, the setting sun is behind them casting a red, orange and purple light across the whole beach and the setting sun as a white orb in the centre top of frame

 Caring for my parents is a full-time job these days and I have to be available 24/7, we have a fantastic live-in carer who I honestly couldn't manage without as I struggle to come to terms with the changes in my parents which has made them people I no longer recognise, but the biggest and most definitely strangest change is that my dad's life long chronic stammer has

Touching Base - It's been a while

So much has happened since I last posted

I've been really struggling with my own mental health as well as my parents health problems which has made me feel so very anxious

A couple of weeks ago mum suffered another mini stroke (TIA) it's the third one since her original  stroke, which makes it so hard for me to find both the time and inclination to update my blog for which I can only apologise for my absence

As a family we recently spent a long weekend in Windsor as I was also doing a sponsored 10K to raise funds for The Hunter Centre which is the day centre my dad attends each week for people with dementia and without who's support I'd be really struggling, Boris also celebrated his 11th birthday whilst we were away

Image - Full body shot of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel majestically sitting on the Long Walk leading up to Windsor Castle, his head is turned towards the left of shot and he's wearing a rainbow and silver coloured rosette that says Happy Birthday in the middle

Since dad broke his hip last

Galloping towards the weekend

Image - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel in the middle of a green field galloping flat out with his tongue out and ears in the air, under him in blue text are the words galloping into the weekend

Yes that really is Boris galloping along at full pelt and fully extended, I used to love watching him galloping for the pure joy of it

When Boris could no longer gallop flat out due to his Arthritis, I stopped doing Galloping into the Weekend posts

This morning I was in a lot of pain and feeling particularly down about my own Arthritis, when this

Difficult decisions and allotment news

Springtime is my favourite season with all the blossom and new life sprouting from the earth, the clocks have now changed and the days are getting much warmer and longer

Boris is doing really well on the new medication regime for his arthritis, I'd noticed he was starting to struggle more with the stairs and sometimes in the mornings he was finding it difficult to assume the position when toileting

Image Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in front of a large bush covered in white spring blossom, he's sitting proudly and looking very intenly at something that's behind me out of shot as I take his photo, he's also wearing a grey Y front harness 

I was really starting to worry about Boris and his quality of life as he's such a master manipulator (like many dogs) about hiding his pain, we had a long chat with Dr Tania about how

Fighting Fit

It's been a great week with sunny weather for the most part and some much needed time to myself, I've managed to capture lots of new photos of the boys both together and also individually, I'm finally getting used to the camera on my Pixel 9

I love to use whatever is available as a prop for the boys to stand on and delivery day from Paleo Ridge is always the perfect opportunity for a fun photo, the box is the perfect size and the lighting is always great by our front door

Image Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel side by side laying atop a large cardboard box with WOOF written in bold black letters across the front on a bright sunny day. Both are facing towards the camera, Eko has his front paws curled under his chest like a cat whereas Boris has his front legs stretched out in front of him, only Boris is looking directly at the camera whereas Eko is transfixed by something out of shot to the right hand side 

The boys love posing for photos together although I find it strange

Spring has Sprung (almost)

After all the dreary weather things have taken a much needed turn for the better down here in the South of England, this past week has been so sunny that it feels as if Spring has arrived early this year

When heading to the allotment to start digging in the beds and prepare them for planting I was so pleased to spot a small patch of early Crocus at the side of the road with their delicate purple flowers poking up through the grass to brighten our day

Once the Crocus and Daffodils start to bloom it really lifts the mood knowing that Winter will soon be but a distant memory 

Image Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel laying on a patch of grass at the side of the road with his head facing towards the camera behind a dozen purple Crocus flowers who's colour really pops against his black coat

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

This year didn't get off to a great start, first with the whole scaffolding debacle which was then closely followed by a complete nightmare when the Gas Safe engineer we've used previously came to do the yearly service of the heating and boiler at mum and dads house. Without warning the engineer disconnected

My Sunday Photos

I used to love doing the Silent Sunday blog hop every week, without fail I'd been sitting there at midnight on a Saturday night along with many others waiting for the linky to go live and when it did we were off

Image Description - Head and shoulders shot of a very wet Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel in the woods, his ears are heavy with water and he's wearing his green fleece jumper as he looks at the camera 

I've said it before that because of having had such a long break we've lost contact with so

I couldn't make this up!

Why do things always go wrong at the weekend

I arrived at mum and dad's on a Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago to discover my parents are effectively trapped inside their property with no means of leaving it for any upcoming appointments or in the event of an emergency 

The local council had put scaffolding up in the alleyway without any prior notice or consultation with myself about the access or egress required and have totally blocked mum and dads only wheelchair accessibl route into and out of their property since mum had her stroke and dad became immobile after breaking his hip

The support poles for the scaffolding were so close together that

Round up of 2024

What a year it's been here at Crazy Towers I've achieved the square root nothing, I didn't even have the time to get down to our allotment to prepare the beds and plant all my seedlings so no home grown vegetables this year, to add insult to injury the birds stripped the plum and cherry trees bare of fruit so we had none of those either, the only thing l did succeed in growing were some spectacularly tall weeds

Image Descriptions - Head shot of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting outside in our garden, both are wearing red Santa hats tipped at a jaunty angle looking and the still with a white pop tipped forward between their eyes too o look adorably cute

Thankfully I was given a pass for this years allotment inspection, but if I don't plant it up next year I could

Eko Update

Boy oh boy was I recently lulled into a false sense of security, one minute all was going well with Eko in his recovery on his new low fat diet then BOOM, when getting up one night to visit the smallest room in the house I stepped into a cold wet puddle

Image Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel sitting in the boot of my car wearing a green drying coat to keep him warm as it was all I had in the car when I collected him from the vets still wearing a cannula in his front leg after a day visit requiring fluids

I cursed assuming it was urine from one of the dogs that I'd not heard asking to go out and hopped my way to the

December Already 😲

So much has happened since our last post that I've not been able to keep track of the time, when we last spoke Eko was recovering well from an acute case of pancreatitis and my dad had  finally had his cataract surgery, has since made a good recovery and things were starting to settle down again

At the end of October Paleo Ridge launched Paleo Senior to the Paleo Plus range which we were excited about as they will really benefit Boris and his specific dietary requirements as a senior boy of 10 years old with chronic arthritis 

Image Descriptions - Two head and shoulders shots of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel looking very majestic holding in his mouth the distinctive and artistic new packaging of the Paleo Senior Turkey and Lamb Dinners. Boris is looking at the camera standing amongst a small clump of trees out in the woods and is slightly damp from the wet grass he'd been running through previously 

Paleo Senior is designed to meet the distinctive needs of senior dogs by using lean high-quality meat cuts enriched with nutrient-packed green leafy vegetables, this low-fat formula is also enhanced with Reishi mushrooms to support the immune

Where have we been?

So much has happened and life has been extremely hectic of late, between Eko suddenly and unexpectedly becoming very unwell and my dad's health problems I've been the most tardy of bloggers of late for which I can only apologise

September started off fairly quietly and finding some much needed time to tidy up at the  allotment which has been pretty much neglected this year due to being so busy caring for my parents

8

Image Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in the shed on the allotment looking at the camera, I've added a comical gnome doormat just inside the door that says "Welcome to our Patch"

On one of his recent trips over from

Bitter Sweet

August is always a bitter sweet month for us as it's the month we lost the original star of this blog Badger Boo

Who'd have imagined all those years ago that people would be remotely interested in what Badger got up too when I started writing an online diary for myself on Blogger

Being new to social media I had no idea how it all worked, I didn't even have a facebook account, I just started writing and people started to find my original blog

Image Description - A Blue Roan Cocker Spaniel laying on his back on the floor with his mouth open, clasped between his front paws is a mans hand caressing the side of his face

It wasn't long before I realised Badger needed

Sunday Funday

Eko's excited it's training day today, it's been a few weeks since we were last able to attend, if there's one thing Eko loves above all else it's learning new things

This past year or so has seen a massive change from what this account originally started out as, to log Badger Boo's daft adventures and then Boris's life as my assistance dog

Image Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel looking up at the camera as I look down on him as he stands on a woodland path, his face looks very cheeky as he's in the mood to play as I recall

I hadn't realised just how much stress I'd