My friend Ruah and her friend Amber

Ruah is the smallest member of my family. She's a Blenheim Cavalier King Charles Spaniel from Fife.

Amber joined me from my daughter's family in Edunburgh. I don't think anyone has claimed any pedigree for her, except 'housecat'!

Thanks for this lovely photo by Val Harrison in June 2011.

Ruah's not really a greedy dog - but the prospect of cake, so close but so far away was just too much, and so she made sure that the guest knew she was there ... and liked cake...

A gorgeous photo taken in the east bedroom, were she isn't normally allowed.  I also don't know whether this emotional blackmail was successful!

Thanks to my guest Michela Cicatello for this photo, taken in August 2012, that is used with permission.

As her breed goes, Ruah is at the top end of the scale, height wise – still not very tall. She also loves to station herself on the couch in the livingroom and dare us to turf her off!

This is a favourite photo of mine.  My son John really preferred Collies, but little Ruah just kept going to him till he gave in.....

She enjoys taking selected guests on walks through the village, and when she does, that instantly identifies these guests to the locals as mine.

During the summer she'll probably mostly have a busy morning, with guests to attend to, a bone to really enjoy, a walk to the shop and some playtime with Meacha from next door. She's already become more sedate than her wild times as a young puppy - but not too much so, I hope.

She's a fairly unadventurous soul and while she will wander around the garden, front and back, she doesn't deliberately make herself scarce.  I can open the doors, as I used to, not worrying where the dog is!

She's a very friendly wee soul and just wiggles with delight when acknowledged! The Edinburgh Family quite often refers to her as 'Miss Wiggle'!

She is perhaps not quite as desperate for food as she was... she'll sit and stay till I tell her to "eat it". She has NEVER left any of the very boring dry food uneaten, however!

Ruah's tail is long and it wags from morning till night. She loves other dogs and is fortunate to have little Meacha (a miniature Jack Russell a month younger) at the top of the lane.

Frequent guests will remember my large and imperious cat Sponge. Sadly, Sponge is no longer with us.

Sponge's sort-of replacement is Amber. In her much younger days, she was supposed to be a 'mouser' but there's not much sign of recent success, and she is pretty big too.

But she's very friendly and is great mates with Ruah, so she has fitted most comfortably into my home. She is most definitely NOT usually allowed on this bench, but she clearly was enjoying the sunshine and being at 'human height' just this once. 

Ruah has had a hard act to follow. I wonder what Yarrow would have made of her?

Of course Ruah is not a substitute for him, she's an essential member of my family now and much loved by everyone who's met her.

But Yarrow'll never be forgotten by me and others who loved him.