Hello Rosemary,
thanks for the kind words , they do help . We all know when we get dogs or cats , that this will happen at some time , but when it does, knowing it doesn't help at all . It still rips your heart out. The sudden shock is like being hit with a sledge hammer. But , life kicks in and there are other dogs to feed , horses to feed and a hundred other jobs to do . So in reality ,most of the time I am getting on with life ,but then BANG ...the sledge hammer hits again and back to tears and lots of tissue .....playing with the boys Al ,Arnie and Steve (Ghillies sons) and Millie (Ghillies partner in crime) makes life bearable , and things like the farmer dropping a very heavy large round bail of haylage , right in front of the gate to the land . Try as I may I can not push it out of the way to get the 4x4 past, I can't use the 4x4 to pull it with a chain as it just pulls it more into the way. So will have to just use some of it and then when it gets lighter , put the poor old back up against it and try pushing again....Oh the fun of being a smallholder lol. I have now ordered a hand winch off of ebay now . It is a 4 ton one for ten quid, so although it won't help this time , it will be handy for next . Bugger ...sledge hammer time again ....and the dogs want a walk. Russ