Today's your birthday, friend

It's Beattie's birthday! When she was an adolescent she developed a health problem that we were told meant she'd be unlikely to make old bones; that's when the course of her life changed and her planned role as mother to my next generation of dals went out of the window and she assumed the sole role of companion dog. So to reach her 14th birthday, especially after her stroke last autumn, is surely a cause for celebration!

In her prime ...