On your marks...

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Last day of our friends visiting.  They head home tomorrow.

They were up sharp and in the pool for a final swim.  Lily went in too and Lola was desperate to join her but ultimately too scared.  She danced about the edge of the pool then David noticed some blood on a floor tile.  Turns out she'd caught a nail on her back left foot.  

He checked it more thoroughly once he was out the pool and dressed and contacted Carole (our friend and Lola's breeder) for advice.  She said she would pop up and check it after lunch.  What a star!

We had lunch and S&L were debating with the girls about what to do for the rest of their final day's holiday.  Turns out they just wanted to hang around with us and play in the garden.

Carole arrived in time for coffee.  She checked Lola's nail and ended up trimming all her nails and tidying her feet.  We had bathed it in salt water and put baking soda on with a sock as instructed but the sock lasted all of 30 seconds before she pulled it off.  Carole tried again with the sock but it was drawing her attention to it whereas without the sock, she wasn't bothering about it, so we left it off.

After Carole left we all piled into the garden and I got some shots of the girls for their mum.  A mix of unposed and posed (posed one for their mum in extras as well as one of them under the Japanese maple.  I thought it  apt that the tree is in it's casual state (ie not dressed up in leaves) and the girls were in their casual gear too, whereas the last time I photographed them beside the tree, the tree and the girls were more formally dressed :-)

After dinner (the last supper as it was called by L) S and I chatted about the small charity she and L set up to provide financial and practical support to disadvantaged young people in the Sabaki area of Kenya to gain a secondary or further education ( Insta - @futurefoundationskenya ) I am hoping to create a Wee Chookie Birdie mascot for the charity and hopefully some cards that they can sell to raise funds.  

The energy this family puts in to helping others never fails to amaze me.  They both have demanding jobs (S is a Social Worker and L works for an organisation here in Scotland supporting young people at risk of offending or going off the rails, to gain self esteem and learn life skills to help them experience success in life, sometimes for the first time.  

To find the time to set up, run and fund raise for Future Foundations Kenya, as well as raise their two girls (and a dog and cat! :-) is testament to the amazingly kind and wonderful people they are.  S also has cerebral palsy so that complicates her life further bringing added pain and physical restrictions, but she has never let it hold her back and I am constantly in awe of all of her achievements.  Their life story could be made into a movie.  It would be a blockbuster! 

Finally fell into bed just after 2am but not before getting a text from my friend Fiona who is home from New Zealand, asking if D and I are free on Sunday for a wee get together.  Turns out we are!  But only just!  :-))