To the McDuff

In Memory of Duffy

Duffy finally left us the evening of December 21st, 2009. His little body was no longer able to contain his fighting, tenacious Scottish spirit. We will miss him greatly. It is nice to know that the spirit never dies. He’s out there chasing squirrels and sniffing the winds keeping track of the all that transpires.

Painting Prep and Duffy Update

Duffy is still here!

Well he is still with us. He has been eating (turkey meat only) and drinking consistently and seems to be quite alert. His back legs are continuing to decline due to the severe spinal arthritis. Compared to eight weeks ago he is doing quite well. For a little buddy who wasn’t supposed to last beyond mid November he has now made it to mid December. It is a day by day novella.

Artwise

I finally made a purchase. I’ve bought an Artist Essentials EASyL Lite. My holiday present to me. Not the most expensive but not necessarily cheap. It will be here by the end of next week so maybe I’ll have a chance to use it once or twice before the holidays. More to come

Update

Duffy update:

He is still hanging in there! The last 10 days have been up and down. He still needs to be watched or have a human around fairly constantly. He tends to forget just where he is when he wakes up from a deep sleep.

For a while this last week he stopped eating again. I stopped all of his medication. It’s time to let him go. It turns out his meds are what was making him refuse his food. As of Wednesday (12/2) he started to eat a small saucer of turkey twice daily. More than I’ve seen him eat in 4 weeks at one feeding. And he has continued to eat this quantity through today (12/6). Today at the first feeding he even ate a tablespoon full of rice. Yes!

Now for the bad news. The arthritis at his pelvic/spinal intersection grows ever more painful. He has increasing problems moving/walking with his back quarters. His right rear foot drags a bit. In addition his bladder cancer has progressed. He’s been having problems relieving himself, but continues to be a good water drinker.

It is very hard to consider what to do when seeing his pain. His little soul is still vibrant and aware. His body just won’t let him live much longer. I’ll continue to provide the home care until he makes it clear he would like to leave. That point hasn’t arrived yet. Soon though.

Drawing/Painting

Meanwhile, I’ve been shopping online for a lightweight plein air pochade kit. There seems to be many available from the home made cigar box to the ultra expensive. The two now on my list (after reading blogs and discussion forums etc.) are Open Box M Light and Artwork Essentials Prochade EASyL kit. Both are a bit expensive so I’ll have to think about it a bit more. Since one of my goals is to spend a year on the Orkney Islands (beginning 2011) sketching and painting I want to have a box that will travel well.

Maybe I’ll actually get some art posted soon.