Annie's Playground - the Verandah

I took this photo on 17 June 2012. Annie had been living with us for almost 4 weeks. By this time, amazingly, she could climb onto the verandah chairs. I did not get a chance to take a photo of Annie sitting on her verandah chairs. I had these chairs re-covered for Annie before she arrived. I still feel very upset when I look at these chairs. When I had to go to work I did not want to leave Hobson and Annie inside the house. Hobson was not coping on the verandah. He still does not cope on the verandah when I am away at work. Because Annie was so small and so young, I was worried about Annie being inside when I was not there. I decided to screen off the end of the verandah so that Hobson could come outside and be with Annie but also sit on the couch inside. The screen was only made of plastic because Annie was so tiny. The remainder of the verandah, which is quite large, was Annie's playground. Annie could see Hobson inside the house, wherever he was, because there are sliding glass doors along the verandah. Sam was also very concerned about Annie. In hindsight if I had known my baby girl was going to die in 5 weeks, I would never have left her at all.