Emotional weekend, new camera and legal news !

Nearly a week ago I last blogged and tomorrow is St Valentine's day, so half way through February. Has been a very busy week with family human and canine. My Mum is back in hospital with a flare up of a stomach infection, she had just before Christmas. With an emotional weekend, Mum admitted to hospital on Saturday and attending on Sunday the funeral of someone my husband and me have been associated with working for for over 25 years. He was only 65 years old and had prostate cancer, which he had bravely dealt with for 7 years. His family are very well known and liked in our local community, very gentle and kind natured. To see grown men shedding tears at a funeral ( including my husband,) says a lot about the man without using any words. I milked their cows for 13 years until the evening before I gave birth to our first child, and me meeting my husband and father to my children is because he came to work for this family (my husband still does a day here and there for them when needed), so they have became more than just people we work for and they have helped and supported us, as we have them over the years, beyond the duty of employer or employee. I consider my self lucky to know them and to of worked for them.
After destroying my camera, my replacment camera has arrived (very early Birthday present). This is now my fourth camera in two years. I think may be camera's should start using the Jane mark, which is if it can survive me, then they must be very tough. So tonight is a selection of photo's taken with the new camera, which is a better quality camera. Some nice photo's of the dogs with two of our son's and especially the group of our son Bert with Smudge, then joined by Millie and then Jessica.
All the dogs are well with Belle just coming to the end of her heat cycle and hopefully Dolly will be on heat soon followed closely by Ysobel. I'm not going to mention the weather, as would not want to depress you but to say that we are starting to develop webbed feet, might give you an idea how wet it is here in the countryside and still doing two loads a day of washing, just from dog towels and bedding. 
A little bit of legal news. It looks like most definately that dogs being microchipped, will be a legal requirement in the UK soon and me for one will be very interested in the legislation for this. I believe it is one of the right ways forward with dog ownership and if legislation is done right, it could have a knock on positive effect for the breeding from dogs. Trouble is very often legislation is done by those who have little or no understanding of the subject they legislate over. It could be very simple or  I should say, "It should be very simple",  but watch this space !
Must get to bed now, as this old parvo virus thing I've had has not yet passed totally and feel very tired come the end of the day.
Have a loving St valentine's Day but don't forget to be loving for the other 364 days of the year too !