It’s time to hold on to your hearts dear Twilight supporters – we have a new girlie in the house. Those of you who remember our dear Pearl will know that daddy lost his heart to that precious lemon setter and now we have Opal who has fallen into our lives and already taken our hearts.

There we were, waiting for our appointment time for our new carte de séjours. A bit of a historic moment really, given all the Brexit malarkey. So we were of fine mood, and optimism for the future was in the air.

The text arrived: a lemon setter in Poitiers SPA, eleven-ish, with grim mammary tumours. “Oh” says ma and pa together. Then Mike, bless him, didn’t even look up, he just said, “when is she coming!”

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So, bless you dear Katarina for drawing her to our attention and making all the arrangements and bringing her to the door, after SPA volunteer Julie had met you half way.

Dear Opal had been found wandering and had been at the SPA for some time. Sadly, she was not well enough for the happy bus to Germany as those tumours are huge and apparently not looking good internally. So, precious girl, with a name taken from your new daddy’s mum’s birth stone, we welcome Opal to Twilight – your home that is run on pure love xxx

Dear Opal is a little timid, but eat well on her first night, met all her new family, and checked out much of her new environs. She spent her first afternoon cuddled on mum’s knee in the living room. Vets will be needed, as she is riddled with lumps and bumps but we’ll give her time to settle in first. Over on Facebook our fundraising team swung into action and funds are already in place for her vet care – deepest thanks once again to our loyal supporters.

Opal sends a special message: “I love being here at Twilight. A very nice lady left some salmon for us all. I’ve never had salmon before – it’s delicious. We all share everything ‘cos everyone is special here. Thank you all for caring Xxx”